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I just received my copy of Videostudio 11.5 Plus todayv and installed it on my home machine running Windows Vista Ultimate 32bit. I have a Canon HF10 SDHC based video camera that records to AVCHD based files. I can successfully import my AVCHD clips into Videostudio but when I play them by clicking on them or after adding them to the timline, they do not play at the proper speed. Most clips regardless of length play the first 2 seconds and stop. I see the time counter fly over the clip. Basically it treats all clips as 2-3 seconds in length for playback but the properties show the proper attributes. As a test I created a test project and rendered a few transitions and created a mpeg file output and it played properly in Windows media player. Has anyone experienced this problem?

Welcome to the forums!

You may think you have VS11.5+, but you may find you have not quite got there yet! Click on the ? symbol up in the top right of screen, then About Ulead Video Studio. The version number which shows needs to be 11.5.0157.2 PLUS.

If it is not that number, then you need to do a couple of things. The first is to make sure you have registered the program on either the Corel or Ulead websites.

Then you need to go to http://www.ulead.com/tech/vs/vs_ftp.htm and download and install in this order: (1) the 6 November 2007 update patch at the bottom of the page; (2) the 8 November 2007 Power Pack above it. Ignore the top one, the so called Hot Fix as it is only used if you had a specific problem which would have prevented VS from installing in the first place and that obviously has not happened in your case. And the Power Pack is only available to registered owners of the program, which is why I suggested you first make sure it is registered.

The effect of the patch and Power Pack fixes problems especially with AVCHD, and gives much more functionality with high definition more generally.

Certainly your computer is up to the job of playing and editing AVCHD -- thanks for filling in your system specifications! But do you have a Core 2 Duo as you say, or a Core 2 Quad, since the 6600/2.4 GHz usually refers to the latter. And if you click on my System button, you will see I too have one of them!

Thanks for the quick reply Ken.

When I look at the version it says "Ulead VideoStudio 11.5.0157.2 Plus". When I installed it, I did it in a different order. I installed the 11.5 Power pack and then I installed the .2 patch. Should I un-install and try the order you suggested?

I updated my profile to show the processor as the E6600 which is the Core2 Duo version. Sounds like you have the Q6600 Quad.

Hmmm. No, I don't think getting the order wrong would do that, though you could try it if you like.

When you say you rendered a test mpeg, I assume it was an mpeg-2 since I don't think WMP can play AVCHD mpeg-4s... But have you tried rendering a test AVCHD output file and see how that runs either in VS or in an AVCHD rated software player like WinDVD or PowerDVD?

As you may be just beginning to realise, AVCHD is just about the most demanding video format which currently exists. It plays fine on my Quad, and I can edit it without using SmartProxy. In VS it plays smoothly in Clip view, but in Project view, where Video Studio has to simulate a rendered file with edits, on the fly, playback can be a bit jerky. Ditto with my Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz laptop, though the motion there is even more erratic in Project view. Both computers can render a fine final AVCHD, though.

I uninstalled and re-installed in the order you suggested but it didn't make a difference.
I noticed when I am importing the AVCHD clips through File->Insert Media file to Library->Insert DVD/DVD-VR or AVCHD, the video preview window in there plays the clips at the normal speed.

The mpeg that I rendered was just a couple of clips with a single transition. I selected HD output settings and the final file type had a mpg extension which played fine in media player.

I realize AVCHD is a pig to edit but I can live with that. The Videostudio program looks promising and I really want to use it but if I can't get past this problem, I'll have to use Corel's money back promise and move on to the next software. Does Corel offer phone support for Videostudio?

I think Corel has a phone service (none of us here work for Corel -- we are all volunteer users). But you would probably have to pay for that. Otherwise they have an email tech support service.

Hopefully our AVCHD guru etech may pop in on this one in the not too distant future. I've heard quite a variety of problems with playing and editing AVCHD in the relatively short time since it has been on the market, but not this precise one...

Thanks for your help Ken. I've submitted the question directly to Corel support as well. I'll post here if they are able to provide a resolution.

Still no response from Corel but wanted to post some additional information.
As a test, I installed Videostudio on my laptop which is a Core2 Duo with 2GB of RAM running Windows XP SP2 and I exhibited the same problem. This really points to the AVCHD files that the Canon HF10 is creating. Other video editing software like PowerDirector 7, Pinacle Studio 11 and Vegas 8 did not have issues with the same AVCHD files.