Can I edit with a proxy?

drk3351

Hi, so my computer is not very strong, and when I'm editing 720p footage it can lag and slow down my workflow. Is there a way to edit everything with a proxy like you can in adobe premiere pro? It would be very helpful, thanks.

Also is there a way to have animations on screen while the film is rolling? Like a red circle on screen to highlight something while there is no pause?

Thanks

[deleted]

Part 1

If you take all the constituent Video clips and copy them to a folder ( Folder No1.) Then use a separate software conversion program like NCH prism to convert the originals into smaller files and place them with exactly the same names into Folder No2, you should be be able to edit these smaller files. When finished save a .vpj project file. Now change the name of Folder No2 to No3 Now rename Folder No1, Folder No2 Provided all the folders are in the same location (e.g. the desktop) VP will see the larger files in the new Folder No1 as being the proxy files and should load the project with them. That's the principal. Try it with a few files for a start.

Part 2

Create your animations like a red circle (You could use an enlarged zero or O in a font that gives a decent circle. You could use a separate png image with a transparent background. Or create a jpg image with a pure colour background like Green.

Place the main video clip on Video track1 and the image to animate on Video Track 2. (If you use a transparent png the background will already be transparent. If you use a jpg then you can make the background transparent in VP with the Green screen effect.) In either case your image on Track2 will be seen on top of the main track clip when viewed in Sequence preview mode.

Click the FX box on the Video Track 2 clip/image and use the Position effect with keyframes to move the image (circle) about to highlight the object in the Video Track 1 clip. Use Dual preview screens to monitor the positioning.

If you are not sure how to do this come back on the forum for detailed instructions.

Nat

drk3351

Nationalsolo wrote:

Hi

Part 1

If you take all the constituent Video clips and copy them to a folder ( Folder No1.) Then use a separate software conversion program like NCH prism to convert the originals into smaller files and place them with exactly the same names into Folder No2, you should be be able to edit these smaller files. When finished save a .vpj project file. Now change the name of Folder No2 to No3 Now rename Folder No1, Folder No2 Provided all the folders are in the same location (e.g. the desktop) VP will see the larger files in the new Folder No1 as being the proxy files and should load the project with them. That's the principal. Try it with a few files for a start.

Part 2

Create your animations like a red circle (You could use an enlarged zero or O in a font that gives a decent circle. You could use a separate png image with a transparent background. Or create a jpg image with a pure colour background like Green.

Place the main video clip on Video track1 and the image to animate on Video Track 2. (If you use a transparent png the background will already be transparent. If you use a jpg then you can make the background transparent in VP with the Green screen effect.) In either case your image on Track2 will be seen on top of the main track clip when viewed in Sequence preview mode.

Click the FX box on the Video Track 2 clip/image and use the Position effect with keyframes to move the image (circle) about to highlight the object in the Video Track 1 clip. Use Dual preview screens to monitor the positioning.

If you are not sure how to do this come back on the forum for detailed instructions.

Nat

Thanks for your help. I had a few issues though.

I could not perform your instructions for the proxy part. "If you take all the constituent Video clips and copy them to a folder ( Folder No1.)". Let's start here, can i get some screenshots? Are these clips already on the editing timeline? Or clips that I have saved in windows?

For the animation part, I made it to here

" Click the FX box on the Video Track 2 clip/image and use the Position effect with keyframes to move the image (circle) about to highlight the object in the Video Track 1 clip. Use Dual preview screens to monitor the positioning."

Where is the FX box? Dual preview screens? Also I have a 2017 edition of videopad (because the 2019 edition didn't work on my laptop)

Thanks!

borate

Proxy editing can work well, especially on under-powered systems. See http://nch.invisionzone.com/topic/26563-proxy-editing/

The FX button appears at the bottom-left of each timeline clip. If they don't appear, expand the timeline with the slider near the bottom-right side of the VP window.

Or click EFFECTS on the menu bar. Or click the hamburger menu (top-left corner) if your VP version has it and select the desired effect class from the drop-down menu.

To enable dual preview windows, right-click in the preview window. Click on Change Preview Settings. Check the Show Dual Previews box.

Try the latest version, but retain your original installer file in case it doesn't work or you don't like it.

[deleted]

Hi drk

To make it possibly a bit clearer....Note Borate's link. Here's a possible scenario you might follow.......

You have a number of Hi Res video files. Normally you would have these in a single folder on your PC (e,g, a folder called "My Video Clips") Since these are Hi Res VP may find them slow to edit.
Select the clips that you are going to use in your project and copy them to a new folder called "Big Files" (I usually do this so the originals are safe.)
Create a new folder called "Small Files"
Now use a program like Prism to reduce the size of these clips e.g. to 320 x 240 pixels. and output them to the folder "Small Files"
In both of these folder you will identically named clips...one set Hi Res in "Big Files", the other set Lo Res in "Small Files"
Open VP and load the Lo Res clips from "Small Files" These are the Proxy Clips
Edit your project
When finished Save Project File As This gives you a .vpj project file
Now....Rename the "Small File" folder "Used Small Files" so VP ignores it. You could also drag it to a different folder or even the Dustbin.........These clips are now not required.
Rename the "Big Files" folder "Small Files" This folder, of course will contain your Hi Res clips but VP won't know this.
Load your project back from the .vpj file. The data in the .vpj file will tell VP to recreate your edited project with the files in the folder called "Small Files" As this folder now contains the Hi Res clips. Your project should now be created from them.

Nat

[deleted]

Hi drk

"....Also is there a way to have animations on screen while the film is rolling? Like a red circle on screen to highlight something while there is no pause? ..."

The first thing is to create an image of a Red Circle on a transparent background. This can be a transparent png of a red circle or a jpg of a red circle on a pure colour background.

Place your Main video clip on Video Track 1
Place your Circle image clip above this on Video Track2. If you use a transparent .png image no extra steps are needed. The background will show a chequered pattern. If you used a jpg image you will need to set the background transparent by using the Green Screen effect..........
Click the FX at the left end of the jpg clip on Video Track 2. This opens the Effects window
Click the large green + and from the list that opens select Green Screen effect.
In the Clip Preview window hover the mouse over the background..It will turn into a pipette. Click the background to make it transparent. For this to work the background must be a single colour. The background will now have a chequered pattern showing it is transparent
From the File menu select Tools/Options and on the Display tab tick the box Show dual previews.
Click the FX on the Video track 2 image clip followed by the large Green +.
Select Position from the effects list. (It will an additional effect if you are using a jpg image)
In the effects window graph move the red cursor line to the left (Start of the clip)
In the Clip preview window drag the circle to outline the object. You can see the position in the Sequence preview window on the right.
You can also enter values in the appropriate boxes to move the circle.
Click the small green + to create a keyframe.
Move the cursor along the graph and when movement in the target becomes evident re-position the circle and create another keyframe
Continue in this way... Following the target/Moving the circle/Creating a keyframe
Playing the resulting clip will show the target moving and being continually outlined by the circle. The smoothness of this procedure depends on the number of keyframes used. If the target moves in a straight line only a few need to be set up.

Hope this helps

Nat

drk3351

Nationalsolo wrote:

Hi drk

To make it possibly a bit clearer....Note Borate's link. Here's a possible scenario you might follow.......

You have a number of Hi Res video files. Normally you would have these in a single folder on your PC (e,g, a folder called "My Video Clips") Since these are Hi Res VP may find them slow to edit.

Select the clips that you are going to use in your project and copy them to a new folder called "Big Files" (I usually do this so the originals are safe.)

Create a new folder called "Small Files"

Now use a program like Prism to reduce the size of these clips e.g. to 320 x 240 pixels. and output them to the folder "Small Files"

In both of these folder you will identically named clips...one set Hi Res in "Big Files", the other set Lo Res in "Small Files"

Open VP and load the Lo Res clips from "Small Files" These are the Proxy Clips

Edit your project

When finished Save Project File As This gives you a .vpj project file

Now....Rename the "Small File" folder "Used Small Files" so VP ignores it. You could also drag it to a different folder or even the Dustbin.........These clips are now not required.

Rename the "Big Files" folder "Small Files" This folder, of course will contain your Hi Res clips but VP won't know this.

Load your project back from the .vpj file. The data in the .vpj file will tell VP to recreate your edited project with the files in the folder called "Small Files" As this folder now contains the Hi Res clips. Your project should now be created from them.

Nat

Hi. Thank you so much for your help. So I tinkered with this and it worked for just video files. BUT when I edit my projects I use a lot of snapshots and add arrows on the snapshots using Paint. When I edited my project with the snapshots and then did the proxy transfer, the final result was HD clips at the end but with low res snapshots.

This seems like a difficult problem to solve. Am I pretty much screwed in this regard or is there a solution to this. Thank you.

borate

Another approach to constructing a project using proxies...

Convert large video files to smaller ones with identical names but in separate folders, as Nat has suggested.

Input your files to the timeline, loading the low-res videos but the original-res versions of snapshots, still images, etc.

Make all edits and add transitions and effects. Save your project with a unique name, so as not to overwrite earlier saves.

Now rename the folder that contains the low-res conversions.

Reload the saved project. Since it won't be able to find the converted files it will prompt to resolve them.

One-by-one, point VP to the original high-res files until all are loaded.

Export the project.

Artist3d

Other editing software (ie: Vegas/Magix) incorporates proxy editing with no need to manually create folders and smaller files yourself. However, Videopad is so much nicer to work with, sad that it is lacking this basic feature given how cumbersome the process as detailed here is. It should probably have been written into the software years ago. As it is, I still use the process detailed here because VideoPad is one of the few editors that outputs super nice '4096 X 2304' 360 videos (better than 4K) and the difference is noticeable in VR Headsets! Beautiful results. As far as I know it is the only editor that currently outputs that kind of resolution for people using Insta360 OneX footage, although, maybe Adobe Premiere does but alas it is an ongoing subscription-based piece of software. []-| --- If support is listening, this is a feature the program needs built in now more than ever! Send us an updated version asap

[deleted]

Hi......

Nat