Jumpy Footage in Final Output

[mac10biker]

I am using Video Studio Pro X4 and have looked at upgrading over the years but never really saw any real need as VSPX4 seems to do everything I want for my amateur videos, but now I have a problem and not sure if it's VSPX4, my PC or the way the video is rendered?

So I recently bought a DJI Spark drone and on one of my shots the drone is hovering in place while I pan around 360. When I play this footage back on my PC it looks absolutely fine, but when I make a project in VS4 and then render in MPEG4-HD, it looks really jumpy, almost like it's not rendering every frame.

I have had a suspicion over the years that the output I get from VSPX4 was not as good as the files going in, but with this video it's really noticeable and not sure why?

Cheers, Paul

[Ken Berry]

Welcome to the forum!

I have a suspicion that your problem may lie in both your computer and the age of the Video Studio version you are using. First off, after reading your post, I was going to ask if you were using SmartProxy. But then I started to wonder if VS X4 had SmartProxy included in it. I suspect it may not -- and I don't have X4 installed on any of my computers to be able to check.

If you have SmartProxy, then forgive this repetition. But it is designed to make low definition copies ("proxies") of high definition video originals. This is to make editing of demanding video formats on lower end computers smoother, and to avoid the sort of jerkiness you seem to be getting. You edit the proxies, and when satisfied with all your editing, the edits are then applied to the high definition originals.

Now your computer appears to be a rather old second generation core i3. I have one of those and it is now 9 years old. Nothing wrong with it, and indeed I still have VS X8 on it and it works quite well with all the programs I have on it. But with any high definition video, I need to use SmartProxy (which definitely comes with X8 and subsequent versions) to avoid the jerkiness that comes when playing the video in Edit mode. (I get most of my high def video these days from a GoPro and two smartphones, all of which film in full HD mp4 -- though one of the phones also does excellent 4K mp4. However, I do my editing these days on the 7th generation Core i7 computer listed under my avatar, and it is powerful enough that I don't have to use SmartProxy.)

So all I can say is that if X4 happens to have SmartProxy and you haven't enabled it in Preferences, then you should do so and use it. And if not, then you might need to consider upgrading to a version which does have it if you don't have plans to upgrade your computer.

Have you actually rendered a project with that drone footage using X4. If so, is the jerkiness also visible in the rendered video?

[Candive]

Ken,
I can vouch that X4 has Smart Proxy and I even have X2 on an old windows XP machine which also has Smart Proxy. It was one of the big selling features of VS at the time. The OP indicated that he rendered the video MPEG4 - HD which resulted in a jerky result. I suspect it is the case of the limitations of the hardware and operating system Windows 7. Windows 7 has problems with media support and modern codecs. Microsoft made improvements with Windows 8.1 and 10 so this should no longer be an issue. As for 7, its recommended it install Apple's free QuickTime 7 for Windows. Ensure it is a custom install so that you do not install the player. I realise Apple no longer supports QuickTime, but they still make it available and the codecs may resolve this issue. QuickTime codecs tend to have better support (including H.264 4K) than the Microsoft stuff that came with Windows 7.

[lata]

Hi
mac10biker does indicate rendering the project and having the same jumpy output.

X4 as mentioned is on the old side and does not support the higher rates afforded to modern video.
In addition the Project Properties can only use standard definition at 720 x 576 / 480. That in itself will display the video on the timeline with reduced quality, although rendering to HD should be better.
In addition with the Project Properties limited to standard definition the Show Messages option is not gonna work for HD files.

Rendering----The best you can do to render to Mpeg4 is :-
MPEG-4 Files
24 bits, 1920 x 1080, 30 fps
Frame-based
H.264 Main Profile Video: 20000 Kbps
48000 Hz, 16 Bit, Stereo
MPEG AAC Audio: 256 Kbps

To set these properties you use Share – Create a Video File – Custom – Mpeg4 – options.

If your files use a higher quality maybe 4K then the final output will be affected.
You do not give any indication of the properties of your video files?
Right click the clip on the timeline and choose properties, what are they?

Your best option is to upgrade to the latest version
X4 should be giving you messages to upgrade with a good discount, possibly 75%
If you do not see these go to the Orange disc top right
This opens the Corel Guide- Messages tab may show a message to upgrade.

[mac10biker]

Thanks for the replies - very helpful info

So this afternoon I decided to purchase VS2018 Ultimate, bit of a no brainer at only £21.99. I had checked my output options as advised on VSPX4 and couldn't get any higher than 24fps, 720x56 and 8000kbps.

Once VS2018 was loaded, I put in a ten second clip to render and was definitely optimistic as the output was listed as 30fps, 1920x1080 and 15000kbps, which I thought would solve the jumping issue.

Unfortunately my optimism was unfounded, as soon as it started to play I could see that it was still jumping frames. So it looks like it's my PC that is unable to render effectively, although with my limited knowledge of this subject, I thought even a low end processor would still be able to render these clips at the right rate, but it would just take longer than a high end PC, I'm obviously mistaken on that one!!

I'm now online looking to replace my PC but want to make sure I get one that is more than capable of handling this software and rendering. Can anyone advise of the minimum or target specs that I should be looking for?

Thanks in advance

[lata]

Hi

Please right click your video clip on the timeline and choose properties, what are they?
You can make an image of that panel to attach to your post
From Share - top left of the options is Same as project settings, you can change that to Same as First Clip

Rendering same as original properties is the best option, does that improve quality.?

[mac10biker]

***SOLVED***

So after spending the afternoon looking at new PC's, I came back and searched for 'Video edit footage is jumpy', and lo and behold the first video result was for DJI Spark but using iMovie.

After a bit more research I came across this info in another bulletin board;

Unlike it's big brother the Inspire, the DJI Spark creates a variable frame rate video file. The video stream is encoded using two different rates or rather frame durations: 33.359 ('fast') and 33.438 ms ('slow') and adjusts the very last duration to suit an overall frame rate of exactly 29.97 fps. After the first twenty-seven or so frames the video frames are written in groups of either nine or ten 'fast' frames plus one 'slow' frame. This is evidently done to match the 29.97 fps rate. These spark generated groups are, in total, just a few microseconds out from the duration time of ten or eleven constant duration frames at 29.97 fps.

If a Spark video is loaded into iMovie or Final Cut Pro without making any setting adjustments the editor will generate a constant video stream at the overall fps recorded in the file - 29.97 fps. Because of the missmatch in constant display versus variable recording, each of the the first ten frames in a group of eleven will be displayed too slowly and the 11th too quickly. This gives the characteristic stutter rate of about three stutters a second. Could the stutter be caused by the bit rate being insufficient to correctly display the 'slow' frame?

I then went back into VS2018 after reading this and set up a custom output file that match this frame rate of 29.97, and now the footage is smooth like the original input file

Thanks again for the responses and I am glad I didn't commit to that new £500 PC this afternoon, and hopefully this info will help someone else out in the future.

[Davidk]

Another reason for jerky results when using smart proxy is hardware acceleration selected ON. Try turning hardware acceleration OFF in the preferences, settings, performance tab - all 4 of the options - and repeat.

There's an extensive discussion of why in this thread viewtopic.php?f=1&t=64196&hilit=smart+proxy&start=15