Is not "Time Line time" real time?

nadero

I have several files mp4 h.264/AVC (AAC LC audio), high definition 192x1080 (between 19MB and 320MB each)(h.264 4.2, 29.97fps). My computer has an AMD Athlon 5800+ Dual Core 64, 3GB RAM (4) and WinXP 32.

When editing those files with Video Pad, it appears alrigth but the "time line" is not the in real time, so the secuence clips don´t truly matchs with the actually reproduced sound and video between "in" and "out" points.

Where is the problem? I suppose it is problem with codecs. Which codecs should i install?

Thanks you in advance.

IAN_SMITH

nothing wrote:

I have several files mp4 h.264/AVC (AAC LC audio), high definition 1080 (between 19MB and 320MB each)(h.264 4.2, 30fps). My computer has an AMD Athlon 5800+ Dual Core 64, 3GB RAM (4) and WinXP 32.

When editing those files with Video Pad, it appears alrigth but the "time line" is not the real time, so the secuence clips don´t truly matchs with the actually reproduced sound and video between "in" and "out" points.

Where is the problem?

Thanks you in advance.

IAN_SMITH

I have only recently started using 'VideoPad' and wish to make more use of it in the future due to its excellent audio-facilities. But I, too, have been a bit 'at-sea' with the timeline(s). I cannot achieve the precise matches which I once enjoyed on another much-loved editor which a new owner (of the company), has seen fit to discontinue support on.

So, I have thrown my 'two-pennorth' into the 'mix' by suggesting a more conventional timeline to NCH. I would have to say, that this software looks very promising. In my experience, many video-editors would benefit from a measure of 'stripping-down', that is to say, the removal of all those useless 'features' which are simply pointless 'tarting-up'. For that reason, I have usually not downloaded the packages of 'bonus' material and 'effects', many of them are either rubbish, or have such an 'American' focus, that they are useless to me, (I live in New Zealand, but no 'sheep' jokes.......please). So, I think I may have found the same things as you have, namely that the timeline images are not strictly 'keyed' to the audio-tracks, but appear somewhat arbitary.

By the way, I have used up to seven audio-tracks in a production. If nothing else, multiple tracks allow for options' and 'trial-and-error' without undue upheaval on what is already OK for your production. A documentary series I have been working on for some years features much footage taken on rugged coastline where wind-noise is the norm, rather than the exception. Therefore, with much location-sound having to be replaced by 'library' sound, eg sound-loops constructed from footage recorded separately, multi audio tracks are vital. It helps, if I am able to record the video during the summer (I live at 46deg. South) and the audio during the winter when there are more calm days.

nguoimot

I have the same problem with some notable exception which may help pinpoint the root cause:

I have successfully made a very nice video and used many of the features of video pad (including cropping, adjusting brightness, fading to crossover or black/white, adding some text, and overlaying an audio track). I created an MPG file, from source files which were also all MPG files (except for teh audio which was an MP3 file).

I then tested this video by playing it back using an Open Source application called VLC Media Player - I prefer this one over Microsofts Windows app (Media Player), as it seems to work with just about any codec. The video played back just fine and the audio and video were in real time (according to the clock of Video Pad) and in sync. The total video length was 3'50" (230 seconds) long, and 115.1 MB.

I then uploaded this video to YouTube. They stripped off the audio track as it hasn't yet "been authorized by WMG". Watching the video from the host Youtube, it is seen in fast forward. Since it stripped off the audio, and only had video remaining, I can see that the time has been reduced to only 2'16" (136 seconds). This is 59% of the original time length.

I had a similar result when uploading it to another remote host (Shutterfly, in this second case), except tht the audio tack was not removed. It was fast forward motion video which freezes on the very last video frame while the audio plays until the end.

So why do the resulting videos work fine when played through VLC Media Player, but not when played back from the remote hosts (YouTube and Shutterfly)?

Might there be some way that we can adjust the settings in Video Pad to maintain the timeline, regardless of what codec is used to view it?

Thanks

nguoimot

Just in case this is helpful, here are the links to where I uploaded the resulting video:

YouTube:

Here, the video is only 2'16" because the audio was stripped, and only the fast forwarded video is shown.

Shutterfly:

http://usfamilyvn.shutterfly.com/137

Here, the length is the full 3'50", the audio hasn't been stripped so plays all the way through, but again, the video length was reduced so it appears in fast forward, just as it does on YouTube.

And here is the link to download VLC Media Player if others want to see their videos created by VideoPad play correctly, and/or if a dev could dig in to discover any clues, such as which codecs are included, etc:

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

nguoimot

I think I found a solution to this issue that may work for everyone.

When you are ready to "build" your new video,

notice that when you click on teh "build" icon and the "Video Output Setup" appears, within the "Windows PC" tab, we are limited to our output formats (offers MPG, AVI, WMV, ASF only). I looked on YouTube's site for preferred video format (to upload), and it says MPEG3 or MPEG4.

So within the "Video Output Setup" window, I looked under the "Mac" tab (as opposed to Windows PC); There, they offer MP4 format (which I assume is the same as MPEG4). I quickly created a short trial video, 11.5 seconds long, through the MAC tab with MP4 format, then uploaded it...

Played it back from the remote video host, and this time, it played back video at proper speed. This solution worked on both Youtube and Shutterfly.

So try that out, should work....

works fine, and best thing is the video is now only 19 MB (as opposed to 115 MB in MPG format).

blob

I wonder if that's fixed in the current version?

Anyway, for YouTube, they recommend "you may get the best uploading results from converting your file to MPEG4 video with MP3 audio ... it is recommended that you use FFMPEG" ( http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=55744 )

(so if you're using Prism converter, select Options.. Conversions.. and tick the box to use FFMPEG)

For the sound, use 44100 Hz instead of 48000 ( http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en-uk&answer=132460 )

I use AVI, 1280x720, framerate as per original clips (YouTube preserves this, allowing 25 or 30 for example), and it works well for me with Encoder Options as follows: MPEG4 (Native) with average/max bitrate 9000.

swingkat7

IAN SMITH wrote:

By the way, I have used up to seven audio-tracks in a production. If nothing else, multiple tracks allow for options'

Did you use seven audio tracks in VideoPad or in a different program? I tried using 3 audio tracks and it seemed to work fine. I saved and closed my project. When I returned to it, I could hear all 3 tracks -- but could only access 2 of them to edit the audio tracks. I could no longer figure out how to bring up the third track. Anyone else run into this?

blob

I was playing with that yesterday and noticed that I couldn't get the up/down arrow buttons to appear (and so I was stuck with 2 tracks) until I selected Move Track -> New Track and then the buttons appeared and I could scroll downwards to track 40 or more

It must be a bug. Just try adding a track to a New Track and see if the buttons appear?

swingkat7

Thanks blob! I moved a track to a new track and my other tracks showed up again! (also, the tracks remembered the names I had given them...at first they were showing up as just Soundtrack1 and Soundtrack2)

Whew. I thought I was going to have to start all over.

blob

Glad it worked! I hope the programmers read these forums from time to time and fix it