Pro X2 - Programme crashes in Project playback

[David Ellis]

Hi all,

I am currently editing HD video on VS Pro X2 and am editing some of the sound levels in the video clips (reducing the sound levels due to wind noise on some clips). This is working ok, but then when I review the Project, it plays fine and then suddenly the sound goes on playback...at the point the sound goes, the programme has effectively frozen, and is unresponsive. If I click the mouse it says the programme is not responding and I can exit the program or wait for the program to respond. Sadly the second option never works...and the only option is to exit the program and reload the project.

I am using a pretty high spec PC which was built specifically for HD editing, so I have plenty of RAM and processing power, but I am finding it almost impossible to get beyond a certain point in the project without it crashing.

Has anyone else experienced this loss of sound on project playback followed by a freeze before? If so, are there any solutions...does anyone know what might be causing it?

I am using Windows 7 (64 bit) with 16Gb RAM using Intel Core i5-3450 3.1GHz CPU

Many thanks

David.

[Ken Berry]

Certainly your computer would seem to be up to the task of editing and playing back high def video, even the demanding AVCHD format. Can you confirm what the properties of the video are, however? (Right click on a clip in the VS timeline or library window and copy ALL its Properties here, or take a screen grab and upload it here.)

One thing you might look out for is whether your high def video is fully progressive or not i.e. whether it is 50 (PAL) or 59.94 (NTSC) full frames per second, or whether it is 25/29.97 interlaced frames per second. If the Properties box does not mention "Upper Field First", then it is fully progressive. IIRC X2 could only deal with fully progressive video if it was 1280 x 720p. The reality, sadly, is that video cameras and the accompanying technology have moved on quite a bit since X2.

Though it should not be necessary, you might also want to try SmartProxy -- though to be honest, I cannot remember if that exists in X2. If it does, then it functions by creating a standard def copy ("proxy") of your high def original. You do your edits on that, and Project playback should be smooth. When satisfied, you apply the edits back to the original.

[David Ellis]

Many thanks Ken,

Here is a screen shot of the properties of one of the clips...the footage was shot with a Panasonic HC-X900, which I believe records in AVCHD.

X2 does have Smart Proxy...I have never used it before to be honest...there is a button that says 'enable / disable smart proxy'...I assume I would enable it, do the editing etc and then disable it at the end...is that how it works?

The footage will all be PAL full HD.

I was contemplating upgrading VS but so far I had not had any real problems when doing small clips in HD for YouTube...this is the first big project in HD I have done, so am encountering this for the first time.

Would like to give all options a go first before spending more money though...but if that is what it takes...

Cheers,

David.

[Ken Berry]

Yes, that is fully progressive video at 50p. And as I say, X2 cannot produce fully progressive video at 50p unless it is 1280 x 720p. So I would say that is why you are having difficulty in Project mode.

You could try the SmartProxy route -- and that is indeed how it works. You need to be patient, though, since it takes a while to make the proxy files. But essentially you would face the same problem at the end since X2 cannot produce 50p video at 1920 x 1080.

[David Ellis]

Hi Ken,

So if I understand you correctly, what you are saying is that I need to upgrade, based on the files I am using...is that the reality?

Would I need the latest version...or putting it another way, which version would you recommend I purchase given the material I am using and the forum's experience of problems with any of the newer versions?

Thanks,

David.

[Ken Berry]

What I am saying is that if you want to produce 50p 1920 x 1080 video, you have to forget X2 or else settle for either the 1280 x 720p option (still good quality) or else interlaced 1920 x 1080i video -- still good quality, but not optimal. Or else upgrade. Both X5 and X6 will allow editing of 50/60p video. But you might want to consider waiting a few more weeks for the release of a newer version still, if the usual Corel release cycle runs true to form -- though I hasten to add we have no information about any likely release date. I'd imagine that X6's price would fall -- usually considerably -- just before any release of a new version if that was the way you wanted to go.

[David Ellis]

Thanks Ken,

So far I have just been producing 1920 x 1080i videos for YouTube using X2 and that has worked fine. At the moment I am not too fussed about producing higher quality output as I don't have Blu-ray so will only be exporting the file in SD to make DVDs out of...so that isn't a problem...the issue is that the project file keeps freezing up and so this is hampering my editing big-style.

Also, I have just checked my VS project and the Smart Proxy button is already ON...so that clearly isn't the answer for me, which does leave me back at square one in that my VS project just won't play for very long before freezing up, and quite often losing the changes I just did...I am saving the project after every few minutes, but the repeated freezing is really unhelpful.

Any other ideas? Thanks.

David.

[Ken Berry]

I know it might seem counter-intuitive, but could you try it -- or another short test project using some of the original footage -- and this time turn off SmartProxy before you start. However, I am still worried about X2's inability to deal properly with 50/60p footage which is not 1280 x 720p. One other possibility is that even with SmartProxy enabled, in project mode there is a conflict with the original HD frame rate... But I confess I am just guessing here.

A footnote on Blu-Ray... I know you said you don't intend to produce it. But you need to be aware that the current international Blu-Ray standard also only allows 50/60p footage in the 1280 x 720 frame size. 1920 x 1080 footage has to be either interlaced (i) or else 25/29.97 full frames per second.

[David Ellis]

What I am saying is that if you want to produce 50p 1920 x 1080 video, you have to forget X2 or else settle for either the 1280 x 720p option (still good quality) or else interlaced 1920 x 1080i video -- still good quality, but not optimal. Or else upgrade. Both X5 and X6 will allow editing of 50/60p video. But you might want to consider waiting a few more weeks for the release of a newer version still, if the usual Corel release cycle runs true to form -- though I hasten to add we have no information about any likely release date. I'd imagine that X6's price would fall -- usually considerably -- just before any release of a new version if that was the way you wanted to go.

Sounds like an upgrade is the way forward in order to future proof my options.

Does anyone have any strong views on whether the extra features are worth upgrading from Pro to Ultimate? Not sure if it is worth paying the extra for them or not?

Just checked out the prices of X6 online...and found it annoying that in the US you can buy X6 on Amazon for around $35 (£21) yet in the UK the equivalent item on Amazon.co.uk sells for £46 ($75) - why is that always the case in the UK? Corel (UK) also sell it for around £45...over twice the price in the US

David.

[BrianCee]

Just be aware before you buy any thing - there are lots of references about at the moment about the release of X7 - Amazon UK are taking advance orders for a release date of 14th March.

The VideoStudio programme supplied with the Pro or the Pro Ultimate packages are exactly the same - the only difference is the extra effects with the Ultimate version - if you - like me are not into a lot of fancy effects then it is not worth buying the Ultimate - but if you are a great user of New blue, Mercali and Pro-Dad then you may think it is worth it.

[David Ellis]

Just be aware before you buy any thing - there are lots of references about at the moment about the release of X7 - Amazon UK are taking advance orders for a release date of 14th March.
The VideoStudio programme supplied with the Pro or the Pro Ultimate packages are exactly the same - the only difference is the extra effects with the Ultimate version - if you - like me are not into a lot of fancy effects then it is not worth buying the Ultimate - but if you are a great user of New blue, Mercali and Pro-Dad then you may think it is worth it.

That's really helpful Brian...many thanks for highlighting that - not sure if that will change the price of X6, but sounds like it might be worth waiting a few weeks to see. Regarding the software I don't think the extra effects will be something I am likely to use (enough to remember anyway dealing with the existing software settings, and I am totally new to HD so lots to learn there too) so looks like the Pro version will be all I need. I will have to check out what Amazon are saying about X7, but given I am using X2 at the moment there is probably enough of what I need in X6.

David.

[David Ellis]

OK - just bitten the bullet and bought Pro X7...arrived today, although not yet installed on the PC.

Does anyone know if it is possible to import a project written in Pro X2 into Pro X7 to avoid me having to re-edit 100+ video clips...I started doing a big project a few weeks ago and got so far in and then it started crashing and freezing (which is why I posted this thread)...but would want to avoid having to re-edit all the clips I have already trimmed and split. Can you simply open up an old X2 project in X7, or is it not possible?

Can anyone advise please?

Thanks.

David.

[Ken Berry]

There should be no trouble at all opening an X2 project in any subsequent version, including X7. The program is designed that way. But once you save it in X7, you will no longer be able to reopen it in X2, so you might want to make a copy of the project file before you open it in X7.

X7 can also save a project in X6 and X5 format, but not further back than that.

[lata]

Hi David

Do not uninstall Video Studio X2 otherwise.........

The samples provided will be in a different location on your pc as those from X2 VS12.
So if you have used any samples from the library then you will receive a re-link, however that’s pretty easy to overcome.

Other effects like FX filters may also cause some issues, these are not clips but effects applied to clips, and indeed if you have purchased effects (maybe NewBlue) they may not install with 64 bit version.

I would advise that you download both 32bit and 64 bit versions, you can only install one at a time, but use the same serial number, just in case you need the other program.

You may be best to create a Smart Package of your projects, this copies all clips used in the project saving to a new folder, I assume X2 has that facility?

David, given that you are having problems with the project crashing VS then you may still have that problem with X7.
It maybe that you have a corrupt file causing the problem, or some conflict with your editing, using the same project is simply moving the problem to X7.

I hope this is not the case and that the upgrade has improved things

Given time I will run a quick test using X2, then open in X7 64bit to see what actually happens, however with X2 still installed there should be no problems.

[David Ellis]

Many thanks Ken and Trevor...that's really helpful.

I was able to read in my old X2 project into X7...will see if I get any problems or not...hopefully it will all work ok. Once I have finished the project I am working on in X7 I will then be able to uninstall X2, but good point about not uninstalling it yet...forgot about the clip re-linking issue, so that was a very helpful reminder

For now I have just installed the 64-bit version...so will see how I get on with it, and will report back if the freezing problems have gone away.

Cheers.