X4: how to remove service pack??

[playthatbeat]

I got great results with X4, until it installed the service pack this week.. Now i cannot render an mp4 without long sections 'staggering' - like a strobing effect on the entire render, the picture lurches as it plays, and things like VLC hang when scanning thru the file..

Also, the framrate i set now has little relation to the actual outcome..

The piece i am rendering fails at a different point each time - the staggering starts and thats that, framrate drops to about 2fps - utterly useless..

I have tried removing the install and re-installing, but when i do this i can clearly see by 'check for updates' that there are no updates, which means SP2 is surviving the uninstall.

I have tried every combination of every setting for days, this is a new problem directly related to the service pack..

Where can i get a manifest of the files in the service packs? i'm going to have to remove them all by hand and start again..

[lata]

Hi
Welcome to the forums

Re-installing Video Studio will remove the update service packs.
The serial number I see with all packs installed is 14.2.0.23.

Not sure what the original Serial number is, but varies depending whether you have the ultimate or the original X4. The serial number does change as you install the updates.

You are best to check the Corel site for updates rather than relying on the “Check for Update option”

[playthatbeat]

my story is similar to others with these problems, started with the TBYB download, all was fine, then paid for the software and things started to go pear-shaped..

so i just used the VSX4_cleanup tool, the re-install went well, and now i'm trying a render again..

hope this will clear up the issue: before registering, paying, and installing service pack - perfect smooth mp4 rendering, 25fps etc., but after allowing service packs to install, impossible to make a clean mp4 render at any bitrate other then maximum - any deviation from maximum rate leads to staggering & stuttering video and long passages of 2 or 3 FPS 'strobing' that are not in the same place if i render multiple times - that is to say, this fault is random, and not content dependent. i re-rendered a project i made before the service pack install, with no changes to the project or source material, and it came out at 2/3 the size it was before the upgrade, with long passages of juddering and strobing etc.

Anyway, rendering away here, if i don't update this thread, it means the rollback to pre-service pack worked for me..

[playthatbeat]

This is still happening... I'm now going to compare all of the source material on the faulty project with that of the project a week ago where everything worked fine.. If i cannot see a pattern emerge, I will then 1 by 1 remove elements and effects until i get a good render.

I cannot begin to explain how infuriating this is..

[playthatbeat]

OK, got a result here..

If You intend rendering an mp4 at max rate - 4000 - then Just go ahead and knock Yourself out with the different types of source material, but, for me, i could not get a proper result when using DivX on only 1 clip, and 3gp on another.. DivX caused 'staggering' - a strobing corruption to the picture, not only in the place where the DivX file was used, but randomly throughout the render.. You can confirm this Yourself by observing the filesize of Your result - it will change every render! this is due to the loss of 20+ frames per second for passages caused by the DivX bug. A corrupt file will not play properly in mplayer or VLC - when You drag the locator the video will stop, time will pass and then it will play if You are lucky. A non-corrupt file You can drag the locator to any point in the timeline and it will jump there and play instantly.

Removing the DivX from my project (source file recorded on an archos 5 docking station btw) and replacing it with a nice boring SVCD .mpg produced by 'tovid' (an ffmpeg batch handler) cures the problem. having the 3gp file in the mix causes a different type of artifacting, a distinct blocking and (in VLC) some very interesting but irritating trails and sticking frames. Again, tovid made this clip good.

So, keep it all bland source, mp2 or mp1, or render at max blast. Me, i had to bland up the source parts as my project is 2 hours long, and a near 4gb file is stupid for an mp4 - i may as well use mpeg2 for that filesize and save myself the time.

Oh, BTW, i still have not installed the service packs after the complete reload.. i care not for it..

[lata]

Hi

I’m a little confused here………..

Can you give the properties of the original video file, right click the clip in the timeline and select properties, what are they?
Now you mention converting to Mp4, and a max rate of 4000, yet I can set 20000kbps when using MP4-H264
So how are you converting your videos? what settings are you using in Video Studio?

What are you using the video file for, maybe upload to internet?
Give details of the new video files properties.?

Now you mention Div X and SVCD??????????

[playthatbeat]

The error causing files were:

an .avi, DivX 6.7, 640x480, 24bit colour, 29.9fps with IMA ADPCM 48k 4bit stereo sound

and..

a .3GP, MPEG-4 SP Video, 640 x 480, 24bit colour with no sound

If i include either of the files (as an overlay with chromakey) then the render is corrupt. They were being used over a longer file - an mpeg2 .vob lifted from a DVD recorder, picture only, VBR - as effects only, but their presence caused very poor final results.

the avi causes long and random passages of 2 or 3fps 'strobing', starting exactly after the first use of the file, the 3gp causes a consistent overall reduction of quality from the point it is first used.

the mp4 type i was using for the render, M4V-SP, does indeed have a max video rate of 4000kbps..

My methodology for finding this all was simple - re-render the entire 2-hour+ project removing groups of content as i went until the quality was uniform and the framrate 25fps. when i removed the .avi files from the mix the strobing and low framrate issues stopped, when i removed the 3gp files, the quality stabilsed. I had performed the very same task the previous week, with total success - the only difference being in that instance, the source material was all Mpeg1 or Mpeg2. In both projects there is a wild mix of frame rates, effects, frame sizes and so on, but, with previous revisions of the software, variations in filetypes caused serious crashes, so the workflow for the past year+ has been all source material would be batch converted to Mpeg2, or Svcd (Mpeg1) format before projects are built.. Since the latest version of Videostudio is happy to work with mp4, 3gp and some mpeg transport streams RAW, we attempted to eliminate a process by using the files themselves last week, but this obviously did not work.. SO, it's back to pre-conversion from here on..

I made the wrong assumption that the service pack i blindly installed had interfered with the mp4 rendering function, as the release notes for the service pack mentioned something about changing the mp4 functionality. In actual fact, it's just as X4 still has issues with some filetypes. In previous revisions, these issues would make a project unstable, now they just effect the rendering process.

Now, i'm not saying all DivX and all 3gp files are going to cause problems for everyone, i'm just saying they caused ME problems, and reminded me of why i grade things in batches for use in projects before i start them!!!

[lata]

Hi

I don’t think I have heard of anyone adding so many different formats to a project before.
At least you have identified the problem types.

You mention AVI of which there are hundreds, it is just a container the contents could be many.
To view the details, right click a clip and select properties?

Frame sizes
SVCD is Mpeg2 not Mpeg1 using a frame size of 480 x 576 (pal)
Div X is using 640 x 480
Mpeg2 Pal uses 720 x 576 (16:9 or 4:3)
The 3GP frame size well certainly not pal sizes??????

The Video Studio project is probably set to widescreen?

Frame Rates
For pal is 25 fps

Each of your video files may be using a different frame rate.

If you convert say 30fps to 25 fps then ultimately 5 frames/sec are removed from the video file, this may/will impact on the quality.
If you convert from 25 fps to 30 fps then 5 frames are added, unfortunately these are duplicate frames again causing quality issues. (blips)

Right click each original video file and select properties, what are they?

If the frame sizes and frame rates vary then combining them will cause quality problems.

[Ken Berry]

Trevor wrote:

Right click each original video file and select properties

Just by way of clarification, you need to right click a clip either in the VS timeline or its library window to get the Properties we are after. Just right clicking in Windows Explorer/Computer will not tell you or us all that much.