Cursor shoots forward

[CaseyW]

A project is loaded into either S17 or VS21
If I click the play button the cursor shoots about 1.5 seconds forward, stops for half a second and then moves smoothly.

If the cursor is on position, let’s say, 00.00.00.00 I press the play button, the cursor shoots to about the 00.00.01:12 position, holds for about half a second and then starts playing. This is very annoying, when editing subtitles.
This only happens on the Asus laptop. I use both programs on my desktop, there is no problem.
I tried to switch of the Graphics cards one by one, but this does not improve it.

Is thee any one who knows what caused this?

Looking forward to hear from you.
With kind regards from a cold Holland.
Casey

[CaseyW]

I have activated Hardware acceleration. This gave no improvement. Then I downloaded VS 2020 and installed it. This works perfect regards the cursor. When clicking the start button, the cursor moves as it should.
But, can you imagine< now is the sound not in key with the picture any more. Has any body an idea what the problem is? Can it be that the processor, together with 16 GB memory is too fast for Videostudio 17 and VS 21?

[Davidk]

Re the speed of the PC and VS performance
Whilst an i7 cpu and oodles (16Gb) of RAM may sound fast, VS is constantly criticised by not being able to take advantage of the faster facilities in modern processors, like multi-core units, hyper threading and so on. It executes within one cpu core. So, getting faster performance has usually been dependent on getting a PC with a faster cpu clock speed (eg, from 2.4ghz [common at one time] to 3.7ghz or more [pretty common now]).

All Intel cpu's have had a built-in graphics processor since 2011, all the software has to do is use it: and if you have an Intel PC, the associated on-board graphics usually does use it as standard, regardless of whether a video editor is running or not. So, turning VS hardware accel on or off probably produces no detectable variation in task performance.

Isolating the issue
You report a difference in performance between 2020 and the earlier version: there's some confusion between that statement and your first post, wherein your said the issue was in both versions. Clarify please: does the same issue appear with the same project file used in both versions?? (eg, a vsp created in X7, and opened in both x7 compared to opened in 2018??)

And have you tried experimenting by changing the start of the vsp so that the issue does not happen - eg, by deleting or replacing the first timeline item in the project - and did the issue go away or continue??

If you have an alternative PC accessible with VS, does it do the same thing?

[CaseyW]

Good morning and thanks for your reply. I used the in X7 produced project in VS X7 and in VS2018 on the Asus UX434 with the I7 processor. They had both the same problem. Running this on my desktop with an I7 but one from about 6 years ago: I7-4770. They work perfect on the desktop. So, as the Asus had a Geforce MX250 I returned the laptop to the seller and go an Acer Aspire 5 A515-54G-75RE also with an I7-10510U processor and an Geforce Mx250. The same problem occurs on the Acer: I push the start button: the cursors shoots 1-2,5 seconds ahead, stops and then starts playing. I switched off the Geforce MX250 in the configuration, this did not improve anything. So, I downloaded the VS 2020 and used the X7 project in VS 2020. Now the cursor behaves correct, but the sound is not synchronous any more.
I am using VS mainly for producing Dutch subtitles for old and recent cinema movies. The movies are in MPGEG2 format and have a length of up to 180 minutes, the subtitles are in .SRT format. It is very annoying if you are testing a line and push the start button the d..n cursor shoot to an unwanted position. I had a Toshiba with an I5 processor, it worked okay on that machine. But the time between pushing the start button and the action from the cursor was getting too long. Therefore I looked for a new machine. From your story it tells me that the best thing is to use a machine with no extra video card like the MX250 or MX1650. My dealer will not love me if I return the Acer again to him!

[lata]

Hi
From your comments I would suspect the actual video file, that Video Studio is having problems with the videos codec.
Was the video recorded using a standard camcorder, other type of camera, Iphone etc
I assume the video was downloaded or copied from the internet, those have also caused issues.
You do mention Mpeg2 and SRT being used.
Can you give more details regarding the video files properties.
You should also use MediaInfo to compare those details to how Video Studio reads them.
If the video was copied from the internet it is possible that it was recoded during downloading, are you able to download again using different settings.

[CaseyW]

The MPEG files are clean files. They come from the original English or American DVD's copied to the hard disc. From there they are imported in VS by using the Capture and importing Files options in VS10, VS X2, X5 or X7 versions. As I still using them every now and then. (I had to start VS10 to find the English name for the Dutch option in VS17: Capture). So, the DVD's go to HDD, and from the VOB files Videostudio makes the MPEG2 files. And these are loaded in my project and so I work my way through the film and produce the subtitle in .SRT format.

Thanks and regards for your help from a sunny Holland.
Casey W

[lata]

Hi
We would not expect to have problems with DVD discs but as most versions of video studio are experiencing the same although 2020 has the audio problem.
You mention English and American versions, these will use a different frame rate and frame size although I cannot think this would cause the problems.
As the problem only exists on the laptop are you using the same MPEG2 files, or did you import the vobs using both machines.

And yes nice and warm today with expected temperatures of 26 degrees C
A week ago and we had frost, now its time to catch a bit of that sun

[CaseyW]

Hi, Not only the frame rate differs, also the frame size. VS handles PAL and NTSC them different. The time length of a PAL project has a small difference. Teh frames are separated from the seconds by a :
And in a NTSC project the are separated by a . dot. (e.g PAL is 00:00:00,000 NTSC is 00:00:00.000 for Hrs, min, sec and frames) At least in the versions up to VS17 X7. I noticed that in VS 2018 the frames are noted different. I preferably work on my desktop but now with the sun coming out, I like to sit outside and use the laptop. The Toshiba worked okay but was replaced by the Asus with this great I7-10510U processor and the GeForce MX250. Thinking VS17 and 2018 would work properly on it. But no, So I replace it with the Acer, great machine though, I had forgotten that the configuration is the same as the Asus. So I downloaded VS2020, now the cursor works okay but the sound is horrible. It looks like I either have to switch to a laptop with a slower processor and no extra video card or have to move over to different make software. And to be precise the video files are the same on my old Desktop and on the Asus/Acer.

[lata]

Since 2019 Corel change their support for Digital Dolby, for Windows 7 we cannot use DD full stop
For windows 10 only stereo, no surround sound is available.
Any video using Surround Sound will simply play stereo

I would think your sound will be LPCM which should be no problem however have you tried converting the Mpeg2 files.
What are you intending to make, are you going to render to keep Mpeg2 or to maybe Mpeg4
If the latter try converting the files to what will be your output option, just a thought.
Mind you I know little about SRT or whether you need a specific format.

Another idea, using 2020 if you were to Share – Audio and create a wav file, it will create a file for the length of the project, although you can set the Project Range.
Then insert the wav to the timelines does that play ok
Oh-- Frame rates, from 2018 the digital clocks increased the frames to use 3 digits in line with the higher 100fps videos
Back to the sun

[CaseyW]

Hi, latest news from the sun:
The MPEG2 files derived from the VOB contain normally all Audio streams like different languages, director's commentary etc. I use only the complete file, write the subtitle, adjust it, stretch it etc. Then use the MPEG2 and .SRT file in a program called DVD Lab 2-pro. That de-muxes the MPEG2 files into Video and Audio streams. There I can decide what language to include and include my .srt file. insert the chapters and a few other things. DVD-Lab pro makes then DVD ready VOB files with subtitles of it in abut 3-5 minutes. Long time ago, I did that in VS but that took about 4 hours or so, and very often the sound was not synchronous. So, I never use VS any more for that. In my DVD then I have the sound from the original DVD whether it is DD or 5.1, stereo or mono. No problem.

I spoke to my dealer, he is willing to replace my Acer to one with less RAM and no extra video card. So, this story will continue, but I wish I could solve it with the present laptop.

And indeed, now back to the sun! So, well and keep in touch. And thanks for your input.
Casey