What a complete disaster this is!!!

Sjjwing

I've used videopad since 2016 or so. I knew it was not the best video editing software out there, but it suited my needs. And all worked pretty well, despite there was no graphic card on my old PC. Rendering was slow but I figured that was because my PC was not fitted for video editing.

My PC got old so I got a new one. With high specs and a graphic card. Couldn't move my videopad-version to my new PC because old versions are not downloadable. Tried the free newest version. What a disappointment, everything went slow, the slightest change on the timeline took minutes to rearrange and meanwhile the PC just didn't react on any input. Like the re-rendering took all of the cpu's capacity.

I figured it was the free software so I bought Videopad AGAIN. Hoping that would solve my problems. But it didn't.

I used Videopad because I know the workflow and rather not spend too much time on learning another program. But today I decided to never use Videopad again. What a major disaster this software has become.

Example 1: Still I can not go on with making changes in the timeline or even make use of my PC even though I made a small edit on the timeline, I have to wait for minutes.

Example 2: When rendered, the video looks worse than the preview in Videopad itself, with a LOT of pixelating, espacially in fade outs.

Example 3: Tonight I tried to fix a fade out-bug by adding a black picture over the scene, and it still continues to show flares of images THAT AREN'T EVEN THERE ON THE TIMELINE!!!

In this way it's a scam. This is no video-editing software. This is a life shortening experience. THAT'S HOW BAD IT IS!!!

borate

What are your new PC's specs: CPU/GPU/available RAM?

Use this release, and check back with your results. Under OPTIONS | ADVANCED, confirm that the GPU processor is set to either Default or your Video Card.

Older versions are available here. Ignore any virus warnings.

Sjjwing

Intel Core i7 10700F, GeForce GTX 1650, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Windows 11 Pro.

I've downloaded Kdenlive to find out if that could be a proper replacement as my goto video-editor. And it's gonna be!

The obvious and huge difference is this: When you make a change on the timeline or to a clip (adding an effect for example) in Videopad, it seems as if all the CPU's (or GPU's)capacity is used to re-render the whole project to a new preview. And that takes some time in which I can do nothing else with my PC. This evening I played around with Kdenlive and none of that. I've made change after change and it works smoothly with no stalling at all.

borate

There will be advantages - and disadvantages - to every NLE.

When working with large, very high-def or lengthy, complex projects, Proxies are common practice. Minimal recaching delay, snappier performance.

Good luck!

ROUS

Proxies are a fascinating concept. I regularly struggle with project like this and have invented all kinds of workarounds. This seems so much easier. I must experiment with this. Thanks, Borate.

borate

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-proxy-video-editing/

As a test, a project contained two 4K mp4 files - a 10.7GB 25-minute and a 2GB five-minute. Resolution of those files was reduced to 576. Other files in the project were already a manageable size, so no proxies were made. The proxies looked fine in preview.

Even after transitions and animated effects were added, there was no buffering or recaching delay.

Yes, it takes time to create the proxies - in this case, about 20 minutes total - but as a result extensive editing could be handled with minimal frustration.

Sjjwing

My last project in VP consisted of 3 files about 2 minutes in HD. Shouldn't that be considered manageable? And mostly I render the separate clips when I'm sure of an effect (pan/zoom or splitscreens) so VP doesn't have to calculate that in the next step of a project. That could be consisered as a workaround also, doesn't it?

borate

That's certainly a viable approach and, from your description, it sounds manageable..

The best way to see how your project performs is to share it for analysis. Sometimes it's surprising what that can reveal.

We'll look forward to seeing it. The process is easy, quick and can be done privately. Just follow these steps...

Back up --- With your project on the timeline, click on MENU at the top-left. Click FILE|BACK UP PROJECT FILES TO FOLDER. Choose a folder and SELECT FOLDER.
Upload --- Use a free server - Google Drive, MS OneDrive, etc.* - to upload the saved, numbered FOLDER. Do NOT upload the individual VPJ or export file.
Get link --- Get a public link. Right-click the file and click SHARE. When using Google Drive, if necessary change "restricted" to "anyone with the link can view"
Share --- Click COPY LINK | DONE. Paste that link here, or click the folder at the top-right of this forum to message it privately to me. It won't be shared.

* Before uploading, right-click the folder, click PROPERTIES. Look at the File Size to confirm that it's not too big for the free space on the server.

Sjjwing

Dear Borate,

Instead of the whole procedure of sharing my project, I did some testing myself. I wondered how VP would perform on my laptop in comparison to my PC.

PC-specs: Intel Core i7, GeForce GTX 1650, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Windows 11 Pro.

Laptop-specs: Intel Core i5, no dedicated GPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Windows 10 Pro

In both cases I used a fresh installed version 16.34 with a cleared cache (just to be sure) with the GPU-selector (Advanced Options) set to default. I loaded a 3:25 minute clip shot in HD 30fps (252 MB) in the bin and timed the blue line in the clip-previewer to disappear. Then I placed the file on the timeline and applied the pan/zoom effect and timed the green line to complete.

It took the PC 4:55 min to completely load the file while it took the laptop 37 seconds!! The PC then took 6:45 min to complete the effect while the laptop was done in 1:25 min... How is that possible??

I ran the whole thing again with cleared caches, first with the GPU-selector set to None (CPU-only) and then with the GPU-selector to the available GPU (for the laptop that is the internal GPU of the i5 processor).

In the CPU-only mode the loading time of the file was the same on the PC while the laptop timed 1:05 min. But the PC took 7:50 min to complete the effect and the laptop took 4:30 min!!

In the GPU-mode there was (as to be expected) no significant difference in performance compared to de default-mode.

I'm no expert so I don't know what to make of this, but it seems that Windows 11 (Pro) is the problem. If that's the case I sincerely have to apologize for my rant in the beginning and I won't give up on VP yet. But also I wonder if there's anybody out there who's experiencing this problem and/or has a solution for this! I Googled around but I couldn't find much.

And just out of curiosity, what's your link to VP? Are you a developer?

borate

Interesting. Please share the 3:25 test project, complete with the effect, per the above steps. Something isn't kosher and this is the best way to track it down.

Use this release. While the file is rendering and exporting, observe GPU usage in Task Manger by pressing <esc-ctrl-shift> simultaneously. The PC may not be utilizing GPU (last column on the right).

My link to NCH is forum moderator, not on the payroll.