MovieFactory 7SE mp4 files

[KChoo]

I use VS Prox3 to create mp4 files using 30fps rate. However, when I load them into MF 7SE to create DVD they appear as 60fps! When I use Factory Pro 2010 I have no problem. Has anyone experienced this or can anyone explain this?

[Ken Berry]

Can you please right click on one of the files in either the VS timeline or library window, and copy ALL its Properties here please. That way we will know exactly what you have produced. If, for instance, your video was originally mp4 from a camera which film at 60 fps, VS, and after editing in VS you chose Share > Create Video File > Same as First Clip, it would in fact still be 60 fps even if VS showed 30...

But why are you producing mp4 for burning to a DVD in MF7? A DVD requires mpeg-2, and you will have far fewer problems in MF7 if you first produce mpeg-2 in VS as part of the editing process, and insert that in MF7 instead of mp4...

[KChoo]

VSProX3
File Name UrumqiKashgar
File Format MPEG-4 file
File Size 1,881,076 KB
Duration 1139.400 seconds

Video type H.264 Main Profile Video
Total frames 34,182 frames
Attributes 24 bits, 1920 x 1080
Frame rate 30.000 frames/sec

Audio type MPEG AAC Audio
Total samples 36,461,568 Samples
Attributes 32000 Hz, 16 Bit, Stereo
Bit rate 128 Kps

MF7SE
File Name UrumqiKashgar
File Format MPEG-4 file
File Size 1,881,076 KB
Duration 569.700 seconds

Video type H.264 Main Profile Video
Total frames 34,182 frames
Attributes 24 bits, 1920 x 1080
Frame rate 60.000 frames/sec

Audio type MPEG AAC Audio
Total samples 36,461,568 Samples
Attributes 32000 Hz, 16 Bit, Stereo
Bit rate 128 Kps

1. above properties from VS Pro and after importing same file into MF. As you can see somehow the duration and frame rate have been changed for some reason by MFSE7. When same file is imported into DVD Factory Pro, properties remain same as VS.

2. the video clip consists of short dvd video clips taken from videocam and photos taken from digital cameras. Clips shot at 25fps, i checked. I do not normally use Same As First Clip as I always ensure my clips are what I want and expect.

3. why mp4 and dvd? we have a mixture of friends, some have hd media player and lcd while some only have dvd players and tv's. so need to have both.

4. yes, i could render in both formats in VS and then import into MF7. That I did to overcome problem. I also tried out with mp4 files using Factory Pro 2010 and have no problem and successfully producing the dvd files and disk. I also then imported the dvd disk produced by FP into MF7 and it's ok as expected.

5. having gone thru some of the forum, I think what I have explains the issue of MF7 raised earler by others. This concerns the question of MF7 producing dvd with only half of the original video. The root problem is why is MF7 not reading the mp4 files as rendered by VS.

6. btw, this problem also exists when i want to produce a avchd /bd disk - the imported file is still wrongly changed to 60fps.

[Ken Berry]

Re (2) -- what brand and model are the video camera and still camera that you used? That will tell us whether or not either of them films in full 60p mode. I am interested in the fact that you checked and say that everything was filmed in 25 fps speed, yet both sets of properties show 30/60 rather than 25/50...

[KChoo]

I do not have all the details about the cameras and videocams used. I do not believe the explanation lies there because:

1. whatever, the clips are processed by VS without problem and the resulting clips are shown to be mp4 30fps. When creating mp4 files under VS Pro there does not seem to be option to change the settings.

2. I also have created clips with just stills and no video clips from videocams. These when imported into MF7 give same problem.

3. all the clips when imported into DVD Factory 2010, the other option for creating disc, do not show any similar problem.

4. I have also tested with Adobe Premier with these same files from VS and again have no problem.

5. the only conclusion left is there is a bug in MF7 when importing mp4 files produced by VS Pro X3!

[Ken Berry]

I'm sorry to sound insistent, but the only way to establish if there is a "bug" or not, is to be able to replicate the problem. And to do so, we have to know the exact details of the files you are using...

[KChoo]

I'm not sure what other details are needed. But if you are interested you could do what I did to replicate.

1. insert a few images into video track in VS Pro
2. share/create video file and choose MPEG-4 HD. Right click on icon and see properties fr should be 30fps
3. start MF7 SE as new project and next step
4. Add video file created in (2) which is in mp4
5. when the file has been imported, right click on file and choose Media Clip Properties
6. review the properties box and you will see the frame rate and duration problem .... under my system, anyway

Good luck! However, I hope you don't get same problem!

[Ken Berry]

OK. I see what you mean, and it *does* indeed seem to be related only to the mp4 format used. I will draw this to Corel's attention and hope they might act on it. However, I would not be overly optimistic. They may simply put it in the "too hard" basket. This is especially so since I have just tested the same routine with the new VS X4. Putting exactly the same new mp4 file into the X4 burning module, which has essentially reverted to the same engine used in X2 and earlier versions, it behaves perfectly -- 30 fps and the whole clip plays, not just half.

The other thing I tried was to render the project as an AVCHD instead of HD mp4, and that worked perfectly in MF7, showing the full length and 25 fps. Of course, AVCHD is also HD mpeg-4, but the big difference is that it uses interleaved video with Upper Field First. HD mp4 uses frame based, which I suspect MF7 is seeing as progressive video which would run at 60 fps. However, that would still not explain why only half the video is played.

So have you tried AVCHD as an output from X3? That should play on your friends' Blu-Ray and multimedia players and HDTVs. (It does on my PlayStation 3 and 46" Samsung HDTV...) It should also convert to DVD-compatible mpeg-2 in MF7SE -- though I would still prefer to output a specific mpeg-2 file in X3 and use that in MF7.

[Ken Berry]

Just to let you know that I have now drawn this to Corel's attention, with a link to this thread.

[KChoo]

Thanks.

After I did the last post I did what you did - importing from an Avchd disc I produced last year and had no problem. I guess I should have stuck to the same format! But whatever, I used Factory 2010 and manage to still produce the same DVD with same menus, etc.

Yes, it's safer to have every clip rendered in VS in mpg2. But since I have so many clips already rendered in mp4 I thought it would be more convenient to import every one of them into MF7 and let it do the conversion and produce a dvd in several hours so that I can do something else ....

Let's see what happens with Corel ...thanks again.