Bad video quality on Videopad

Emmal_October

Whenever I record a video using OBS studio, it had fantastic quality. Then I move the recording to Videopad to edit it and suddenly the video quality is just terrible. I've seen other questions of this and they explain, and the people who asked are satisfied, but it's so vague and confusing. I have no idea what the explanation is talking about or where to find anything they're mentioning. Please explain to me how i'm supposed to get Videopad to show me a high quality video

[deleted]

I assume you are referring to the preview quality in VP and not the quality on export. If you feel the resolution of the preview screen is too low then click Tools/Options and select a higher resolution with the correct AR. e.g. The highest value is 1920 x 1080 (16:9)

You should also see a marked difference over lower resolution settings if you undock the preview pane and enlarge it. Note however, that in doing this the speed of caching and rendering the project can suffer when making editing changes particularly with less powerful PCs.

If you are referring to the export quality then using auto detect and Lossless export (if possible) should ensure export is close to the original file resolution.

Nat

chayse

@[deleted] October I found it out!! what you do is go to EXPORT VIDEO then go to VIDEO FILE then all you do is click RESOLUTION and put the resolution at AUTO MATCH CONTENT. this makes the video the same as the original quality 😃

DCS

On this subject , I have just had a fright. When enlarging the preview to full screen the picture quality is just awful. I then checked a same picture against the one I have on WMMaker and Wmm is outstanding. Also checked the original of course - again perfect.

So I did the export to PC file and what a relief, so much better. Not as good as on WMM though for some reason, but as I am still experimenting I have the choice ; WMM - but lacks channels and little can be done with audio, versus VP - which I like the features but a little disappointed at final result. Yes, someone is going to ask what settings i used for the export - and of course I don't know.

I will re-export with "auto match content" for starters as the gentleman above suggests and also note what other settings I use. Thank you for listening, just nice to know others are as interested as me.

borate

Auto-match is a suggestion. A good bet is to export at the same resolution as the bulk of the source files.

In the export box there are many quality choices: click the Default Quality/Filesize link. Frame rates may also make a difference.

And, if the project meets certain criteria it can be losslessly exported - very fast, no re-encoding.

In recent releases the PREVIEW resolution is automatically chosen for your monitor.

[deleted]

"......When enlarging the preview to full screen the picture quality is just awful......"

The preview image is what it says it is - a preview. It has a medium resolution. Old versions of VP did allow the user to set the resolution of the preview screen but playback speed often suffered as in many instances users set the values too high and VP couldn't keep pace with the rendering of multi track, multi effect projects. To overcome this developers fixed the preview screens at a reasonable resolution so playback was less impacted and the overall result looked OK even when enlarged. Enlarging the preview to full screen will not compare to the raw clip or an exported clip which will usually be of a higher resolution.(Set by the user at export) Neither can it reasonably be compared with another product which may not use a low resolution preview. (In fact the full screen preview in MM is full resolution) but the small preview image is about the same as the preview image in VP.)

Examples.... Here is the full area of the frame of a clip in Sequence preview ..

Close up of the above in a full screen** preview frame.... Slightly blurred yes, but quite usable for preview purposes...

Here is the same area of a full resolution exported mpg4 frame..

The difference in quality is obvious.

For comparison below is the same frame (about) from the full screen MM preview...

Yes! It does look clearer than the VP full screen preview image because in MM the full screen preview is full resolution. However whilst in full screen the MM sequence can only be played; it can't be used to monitor effects etc. as it can in VP. It can't be stepped forwards and backwards etc As I mentioned above the standard small preview screens used in both programs are pretty well identical.

At the end of the day why do you want a full resolution full screen preview? In some of the projects we see on the forum it would barely play. 🙂

Nat

DCS

Once again thank you Borate and Nat for supplying all that information. You guys go to a lot of trouble to help us novices and is most welcome and appreciated.

I didn't know any of the above, so that answers my feelings toward the limited WMM, very well explained.

Yes, I get the buffering whilst in preview too. I cleared cache and also noted the green line on video track. This line is only on the imported videos (from you-tube) - not above the still clips.

You mention in VP that edits can be made when previewing. Not sure what you mean, sorry.

Great to have you both on help, I have much to learn. DCS.

[deleted]

Hi DCS

"...You mention in VP that edits can be made when previewing. Not sure what you mean, sorry. ...."

As a simple example you may want to move a scaled overlay clip or a masked area on a clip to a different position relative the underlying clip giving a Picture in Picture result (it doesn't have to be these particular effects BTW) The Clip Preview window only shows the clip that you are applying the effect to and the effect limits...like a dotted rectangle for example or the scaled image. Unless you are going to guess exactly where to position it you need to see the actual sequence. .....i.e you move the clip but need to see where you are moving it to. This requires you to monitor the movement in the Sequence Preview.window at the same time as you move it..... Here, both displays have been set up and the position of scaled clip (left) can be monitored in real time on the sequence preview which displays on the right.....

If more precision in positioning is required the Sequence Preview can be undocked by clicking the little arrow at the top right and enlarged..up to full screen if required. Even with a lowish resolution that we mentioned in the thread above it's adequate to do what is required. Also the display need not play whilst you do this positioning. Hence "Edits can be viewed in preview as you do them."

Nat

DCS

Thank you Nat, you have given me more homework, DCS