Is H.265 codec installed as part of VS?

[Ken Berry]

I know we have talked here several times about HEVC/H.265 video and whether VS can handle it. I also know that the basic answer is that it depends on whether the computer has a card equivalent to or later than Intel Skylake. But I am wondering how many of us can actually insert, edit and produce HEVC video using either VS 2018 or X10.

The simple answer for me is: I can't do any of those things! Each time I try, I get a msg saying my hardware is not up to the job. That's rather strange in itself since I have a 7th generation Intel Core i7 CPU with Intel Iris Plus 650 graphics -- which is up towards the top of the Intel graphics scale. And on top of this, Intel itself insists that both are more than capable of handling HEVC.

I have quite a few HEVC clips in my library from various sources, and one of my cameras (Samsung Gear 360) films exclusively in HEVC. To rub salt into the wound, Cyberlink Power Director 16 and one or two of its predecessors, plus Cyberlink Action Director, have no trouble playing and editing HEVC on this same computer. And I also have a few players (VLC, Pot Player and DivX Pro player) which have no trouble playing it. I suspect that at least these players were installed with their own version of the H.265 codec. I don't know about Cyberlink.

DivX Pro comes with a HEVC plug-in. I have also installed the h.265 codec from the K-Lite codec pack. And I have also obtained it from its developers at x265.com and installed it -- at least I think I have. But in VS, when I go to Share and choose one of the HEVC outputs, I get the 'bad hardware' message, and trying to insert HEVC video into the timeline produces no image, though the audio works. Indeed, going into Share > Custom, I cannot even find a reference to DivX in the .avi options or anywhere else, though XVid is there.

So I naturally wonder exactly which version of the H.265 codec -- if any -- might have been installed as part of VS. Logic tells me that the codec wasn't part of the VS package and the coding of VS simply can't for whatever reason pick up and link to one of the several versions of the codec elsewhere on the computer. If the codec was in fact installed by VS, then again logic tends to suggest that it has some peculiarity which blinds it to the fact that my computer's hardware is capable of dealing with HEVC, when a number of other programs can see it quite easily.

Just wondering....

[asik1]

Ken, two weeks ago I received a ~5G mov 90min HEVC file from IphoneX and had to trim it to 15min.
my X9.2 didn't liked it and I don't have QT. so I converted the file in my favorite XMedia Recode.
But... the freeware Shotcut can

and can also encode to HEVC

Again this is a freeware.
I don't use the intel GPU.

[lata]

Hi Ken
I can render to h265,
All I have installed is the free Microsoft hevc codec

I do not have a separate graphics card

Early beta testing allowed me to render to hevc provided I used same same project settings
Then that failed with other betas
But since sp2 and installing th Microsoft hevc can now use h265

I am away from home and using the tablet so don't know the link ti th hevc free codec

I had thought you had that installed

As for the message telling me my hardware is not up to the job, is wrong and confusing

[RobertOZ]

I think this is the link you are after Trevor,

https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/p/hevc- ... verviewtab

[Ken Berry]

Thanks Trevor. And yes, I think you are talking about the MS HEVC Video Extension which I bought (US$0.99!!) in June and installed. It made no difference. I should have mentioned that above as Corel indicates in its System Requirements for VS 2018 that it is necessary (as well as Win 10 and the necessary hardware: https://www.videostudiopro.com/en/produ ... quirements )

I raised this with our Corel VS contacts, but still haven't received a direct indication as to whether Corel installs a separate h.265 codec, though they referred also to the MS HEVC Video Extension which tends to indicate that that is what they rely on for HEVC. But as I say, I have installed it, plus other HEVC plug-ins and programs which appear to come with their own h.265 codec. And all seem to work well on my computer with HEVC *EXCEPT* VideoStudio...

I can certainly ignore VS in this regard since as I indicated above, Cyberlink provides me with at least two programs which happily work with HEVC. Indeed, Samsung have obviously worked closely with Cyberlink in making a slightly earlier version of their Action Director program the specific program that my Samsung Gear 360 camera (which films in HEVC) needs both to stitch the two fisheye videos the camera shoots together, and render them out. Indeed, it connects directly with the Gear 360 and can download and stitch directly from the camera. Moreover, rendering in Action Director can be done in HEVC (though it takes a long time) or h.264 -- which is much quicker. But in essence this only makes me more frustrated that my VS can't even play HEVC, let alone edit or render it.

And yes, I can -- and have -- converted HEVC (including my Gear 360 footage) to h.264 (using Handbrake), and then put it into VS with no problem. But I hope you understand that that is not quite the point of this exercise when I have programs that can play, edit and render the format in its native state.

[laurentje]

.... But I am wondering how many of us can actually insert, edit and produce HEVC video using either VS 2018 or X10. ....

I have a mkv-file with HEVC-video and aac-sound inside. When I try to import this file, VSX10 says: "Unable to open file...file format mismatch".
I was hoping that VS2018 can handle this type of files, but Ken is saying this problem is also with VS 2018. I stay away from VS 2018, and this I do not understand: in the specifications I am reading: support HEVC and in supported formats: import: mkv.
This file plays without any problem in Windows 10 with:
- Movies & TV (already on system W10)
- Photos (already on system W10)
- Windows Media Player
- VLC Media Player
- MPC-HC
- Cyberlink PowerDirector 16
but not with with VideoStudio X10 Ultimate

Editing was possible in Microsoft Photos (slowmotion) and PowerDirector 16.

To the question of Ken I have to answer, related with VideoStudion X10:
-insert not possible
-edit: not possible
-produce: I even do not try this.

[lata]

Hi
Are you able to upload a H265 video sample to the cloud
One Drive , Google Drive, Drop box etc.
We can test the video using 2018 latest program
If it fails for us you should contact Corel Support and provide them with a link to your sample.

[Ken Berry]

I might just add here that I still have not been able to resolve my problem with Video Studio, and have not heard anything further from Corel.

[laurentje]

...Are you able to upload a H265 video sample to the cloud...

You find examples of mkv here:
https://rolandvl.stackstorage.com/s/t44CVCHLaSKidGQ

Any help is much appreciated.

[Ken Berry]

Thanks for supplying those samples -- they add nicely to my H265 collection. However, as expected, they bring up a File Format Mismatch message when I even try to insert them in the VS 2018 library, let alone the timeline. Yet, as usual, they play and are editable in all my other NLEs, and play on my various software video players.

[lata]

I also get the File Format Mismatch using 2018

[Pavel_Kolotilov]

Hi,

I read this thread and did some tests with VSX10. First of all, I bought that HEVC codec for 10 kr from Microsoft store and installed it.

h265 file mov files from iPhone XR - VS excepts them, but plays only audio. These are stats from MPC-HC:
Video: HVC1 3840x2160 60fps 47636kbps [V: Core Media Data Handler (hevc main, yuv420p, 3840x2160, 47636 kb/s)]
Audio: AAC 44100Hz stereo 196kbps [A: Core Media Data Handler (aac lc, 44100 Hz, stereo, 196 kb/s)])

MKV files with H265 VS does not take at all. It says "File format mismatch".

I created some MP4 files in the Power Director, and VS takes them and plays them! Though hangs sometimes... Stats:
Video: HVC1 3840x2160 60fps 50917kbps [V: Video Media Handler [eng] (hevc main, yuv420p, 3840x2160, 50917 kb/s)]
Audio: AAC 48000Hz stereo 384kbps [A: Sound Media Handler [eng] (aac lc, 48000 Hz, stereo, 384 kb/s)]
and Audio can be also DD:
Audio: Dolby AC3 48000Hz stereo 384kbps [A: Sound Media Handler [eng] (ac3, 48000 Hz, stereo, 384 kb/s)]

It looks like that VS does not like H265 neither in MKV or in MOVs. Only in MP4.