Lighting Changes in Exported Video

Spike109

VideoPad Professional v13.80 64-bit Dec 11 2023

I have a video with a 5-second segment where I don't like the audio. So, I did these things:

I recorded about 5 seconds of video and audio that has the audio I wanted. (I'll call this the "dub-in" segment.)
I loaded this dub-in video into the project and placed it in Video Track 1/Audio Track 1 off to the right, past the end of the original video track.
I unlinked the audio from this dub-in segment and deleted the video portion leaving only an audio track for the dub-in segment.
I split out 5 seconds of the the original video/audio track. (I kept those 5 seconds in line with the original track but, because I split it, I have separate control over those 5 seconds.)
I unlinked the audio from this original 5 second segment and deleted the unwanted audio leaving 5 seconds of video with no audio.
I took the 5-second dub-in audio and slid it into the place where the original 5-second audio was deleted (in step #4, above).
I exported the video.

When I view the exported video (in the Windows 10 Movies and TV app), when the video gets to the segment that was dubbed in, the "lighting" changes. The only way I can describe it is like this.

The 5-second, dubbed-in segment has a "boundary" at the beginning where it starts and another "boundary" where it ends. When I play the exported video, when it reaches the "starting boundary" of the dubbed-in segment, the video lighting changes from the original lighting to something slightly brighter and then back to the original lighting. It's about a 1/2 second change/shift and is definitely noticeable. Then, when the "ending boundary" of the 5-second dubbed-in segment is reached, the video lighting, once more, shifts from the "original lighting" to slightly brighter then back again to the original lighting. After that, the lighting stays constant.

The only thing I am selecting in the Export dialog is a Preset of either YouTube 1080p HD or HD 1080p.

This has put the brakes on the project for this video. I welcome any ideas on how to fix this problem. I will provide any clarifying information that I can.

Thanks!

ADD'L INFORMATION:

As part of the experiment, after splitting the original 5-second segment, I unlinked its audio and deleted it, leaving the 5-seconds of the original video without any audio. I then exported the video. When I played it (in the Windows 10 Movies and TV app), when it reached and passed through the 5-second segment (which now had no audio), the lighting remained constant. There were no lighting changes or shifting.

Later, when I inserted the dub-in audio segment, as I said in my original post, I observed the lighting shift in the exported video. So, for the heck of it, I deleted that dub-in audio from the video and exported the video again. When it reached the 5-second segment that now had no audio (because I deleted the dub-in audio), the lighting still changed/shifted on the boundaries of the 5-second segment as I described in my original post.

borate

To analyze this, please share the project, complete with the newly inserted audio. The process is easy, quick and can be done privately. Follow these steps closely...

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. No need to upload the individual VPJ or export file.
Get link --- Right-click the file and click SHARE. If using Google, right-click the file, click SHARE | SHARE. Change "restricted" to "anyone ... can view"
Share --- Click COPY LINK or OK | DONE. Paste that link here, or click the folder at the top-right of this forum to message it privately. 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.

If using Google Drive, don't forget to change "restricted" to "anyone with link can view."

We'll take a look.

Spike109

UPDATE:

I found that, for me, I can recreate the problem by simply splitting a video/audio track and leaving it otherwise intact. That is, I split it, but I do not move it. I leave it in place. (I would normally do something with it after splitting it, for example, swap in a different audio track, but to recreate the problem, splitting the track was enough.)

@[deleted] tried helping me (many thanks) with these suggestions: (1) Make sure my DirectX and graphics drivers were up to date. I did that. (2)Try the latest version of VideoPad. I did that. Unfortunately, these changes did not fix my problem and, also unfortunately, @[deleted] was not able to recreate the problem on his end. That's that bad news.

The good news is I found a clumsy but usable workaround. I found that if I export the video in 2160p (4k) format, the exported video plays without any of the problems that I have been seeing. Then I re-import that exported 2160p video back into VideoPad. And then ... I can export it in 1080p format and everything works.