VS8 Ultimate Continually Freezes / Locks Up

[JPW]

I've used VS8 Ultimate for some time. I try to keep my PC as lean as possible and installing only the apps I definitively need. I do however keep things current with patches, updates, service packs, etc..

This issue has sort of slowly creeped in over time and now it is getting more pronounced. That is, mostly during playback or pausing of a single video file in the preview window will cause VS8 to lock up / crash. This happened under Windows 7 and now Windows 10. I want to say I uninstalled and reinstalled VS8 a few months ago and it didn't seem to help. I also created a new profile under WIndows 10 to see if that might help, but the issue persists.

Any suggestions on what I might do to get normal stability back? I don't have this issue with any other apps on this PC.

[Ken Berry]

If the computer specs in your Profile are still those of the computer you are using, then I would have to say they are very low-end -- particularly if you are editing high-definition video (let alone 4K). Have you started editing more of the latter types of video lately, and has this corresponded to the creeping 'instability' of Video Studio?

It would be helpful to know where your video comes from and what it's Properties are (right click on a clip in the VS timeline or library window). Some smartphones are now using things like variable frame rates which VS has trouble with even on more high end computers.

[JPW]

Thanks Ken. I wouldn't consider this a high-end system either, however, when I built it years ago Corel had just released VS8 so this is what I bought. It worked fine then using all the same source files almost exclusively including 1080i or 1080p, (MOV or MP4) at 30fps. No 4K. Also, all the source files are on the local hard drive. So this is why I'm a little bewildered. Nothing has really changed throughout the years except the stability of VS8 itself.

I just uninstalled and reinstalled VS8 and it made no difference. I would really like to avoid a full re-image of this PC if I can. Again, it works perfectly with the exception of VS8. Any more guidance is appreciated.

[lata]

Hi

If you are editing HD video you should enable Smart Proxy
Then for new clips being added to the timeline proxy files will be created.
For clips already on the timeline, right click for Create Smart Proxy Files.

They do take a while to render but once done should improve project playback.

[JPW]

Thanks Trevor. I had never used Smart Proxy so I had high hopes for it, but it didn't really change anything. I had probably about 100 MOV clips and I put all of them through Smart Proxy. The little icon is visible and I can tell by looking at the Smart Proxy File Explorer that they are all there, but the issue is the same. Basically, the most common problem is just playback in the preview window. If the video ends or I pause it VS will freeze. It isn't every time and its intermittent. I've just about had it with this issue so I might just take more of a sledge hammer approach and reimage the machine even though I really don't want to. If I have to go to that trouble I'll likely drop in a solid state hard drive, which should help with some of these read / writes.

[Ken Berry]

Have you got the latest version of Quicktime installed (as that is the .mov codec controller)?

Some people who have had trouble with .mov files find that for some mysterious reason simply changing the extension from .mov to .mkv (Matroska) fixes their problems. X8 was the first version of VS to accept mkv clips...

[lata]

Hi

Good idea with mkv Ken…

Just to add, the program has had its problems in editing mp4 and Mov files in the past.
Not surprising with the many different varieties out there, new cameras, iphones, tablets etc. with manufacturers tweaking the codecs.
Corel did provide several fixes for X7, so we assume should be included in X8.

This is a link to download the latest hot fix, although again we assume it is incorporated within the X8 service packs. It is simply a replacement for the ulmp4lib.dll file.

Maybe worth a try, and if things get worse, revert back to original file

https://1drv.ms/f/s!ApBs8FwBwJ5jhVGB4aIJnzMIYz_n

It could of course be your pc capabilities in editing HD video that’s the problem here.
What are you intending to create, if you are to burn a standard DVD then you may benefit in first converting all video files to Standard Definition

[JPW]

Thank you Ken! I'm not sure why I'm still a little apprehensive about completely celebrating yet, maybe because I've just lived with this issue for so long. But I uninstalled Quicktime and then re-installed it. Rebooted and went back to a project I've been working on in VS. I've worked the past 2 hours editing probably 50 MOV clips including a large 2 gig MP4 drone file and not a single freeze! I was pressing Ctrl + S to save probably every 30 seconds just anticipating the issue would resurface, but it never did.

I still need to go back and install Mercalli again since I re-installed VS trying to get to the bottom of this issue, but once I do that I should be "whole" again. At the very least this is an incredible improvement and at the best it might fully resolved. Thanks again, very much.

[JPW]

I just wanted to say thanks again for the incredibly helpful input within this post. After reinstalling Quicktime I spent additional hours with probably 150 clips and not a single freeze or lock up by VS8.

Then I attempted to use a function I had never tried before, track motion. This did result in VS8 locking up. I saw the comments about changing the extension of the MOV files to MKV, but VS8 would not see the MKV files. A few quick searches on this forum suggested I run Matroska Splitter, which can be found in Corel's setup files. This allowed me to see the MKV file, but VS8 recognized I had only done a name change and it did not like the file format. It was simple enough to just "Mux" the original MOV file and convert it to MKV. Voila...VS8 saw it and track motion worked perfectly with it.

I may not bother to do so in the future since the issues now are so rare, but one possibility is just to Mux / convert all the files to MKV before editing. Muxing appears to be a pretty quick process. Also, I really like using the SmartProxy option. The only thing I can't really figure out is it seems to only leverage the SmartProxy when PROJECT is selected. If I simply select a single CLIP and attempt to play it back it does so with some grainy stutter and gives the impression it is not using the SmartProxy file. No matter though. It is still all very doable for the type of work I'm doing. Thanks again for all the help!