Project file "elongated" after updating to newest version?

[marion64]

I use Videostudio Ultimate 2020, and something strange happened to a project file I've been working on for a while when I updated to the newest version. For some reason, all of the clips had been extended to about twice their original length. This wasn't manual, and it only happened after opening the file for the first time after updating. They hadn't been slowed down, the amount of time they played for was just longer, so everything was more and more out of sync as the video went on. Is there any way to undo or fix this? Even just being able to manually stretch them all back to their original length would be helpful, but I can't seem to find a way to do that to all of them at once. I haven't seen anyone asking about this issue before.

Edit: I found out exactly what went wrong. I still don't know how to fix it, though. The resolution was set to something different than the source video, so I tried to fix it by setting it back to the resolution of the video. What I failed to check, though, was the framerate. I accidentally set it to 120 fps instead of 30. This quadrupled the length of each clip to compensate. I think that if I managed to set the video to 7.5 fps, it would effectively undo the lengthening by shortening everything by 4 times. However, this does not seem to be possible in the options. I tried setting it back to 30 fps, but that didn't do anything. Does anyone have any ideas on how to set the project to 7.5 fps, or have any alternate solutions?

[marion64]

I changed the resolution and I think I may have changed it to the wrong framerate, which may have caused the issue. Is there any way to "un-stretch" everything?

[lata]

Hi Marion
And welcome to the forums
What you describe does seem unusual as changing the frame rate of the project does not normally affect the length of the video clip.
If we have a 10 second video at 30fps it will have 300 frames, we add that to the timeline set at 120fps, the clip will still be 10 seconds in length but will need 1200 frames, duplicate frames will be added, we can check that by nudging through the timelines one at a time, press keyboard F key and watch each frame, If the frame rates match then each press will show the frames changing,
Using a 30fps clip, where the project is set to 120fps, 4 out of 5 frames will be static / duplicated
Of course playback will look ok as the clip is still 10 seconds

So what you describe is very unusual.

Give us more details of your clip, from Video Studio right click and choose properties, what are they?
If you start a new project, Insert one of your videos to the top timeline, do you see a message to match the project properties?
If yes – view details – the right hand panel should show the video properties, copy and paste to your post here

[marion64]

I've used text boxes, pngs, music files, and video files in my project, and all of them have been extended to 4 times their original length. I initially thought that the project had been slowed down, but all of the music and video files still played at the same speed, they just played for longer than they should have, and as a result were desynced with what they were supposed to play. I have managed to recreate the issue by creating a new project, putting 30fps footage along with several pictures in it, and then setting it to 120 fps from 30 fps. This also lengthened everything in the project by 4 times. One thing that may have affected it is that I have a mixture of 60 fps footage and 30 fps footage in my project, but I doubt this as the experiment only had 30 fps videos. Also, the video files properties are still the same as they were before the issue took place. Also, if it helps, the video is 24 bits, 30 frames per second, and resolution is 1920 x 1080.

[lata]

Hi
Before my last reply I did try to replicate your problem but for me the clips remained the same length.
I have again tried using the 2020 media Sample_Lake.Mp4, If you were to use the Samples from the library do you still have this problem.
Certainly this is unusual as such I am not sure what to suggest.

What type of video are you using? MTS, Mpeg, MP4 ???
Although you have provided some details, can you right click on one of your video clips and choose properties, you can take a screen shot of that panel to create a Jpeg to attach to your post.

Are you able to upload a video to a sharing site so we can download and use in our tests.
If you are able to create a short project replicating the problem, can you zip the VSP and attach to your reply here.
Maybe we can find more info using that project

Ok one thing you can try
1 / First save the project that is causing the problem, giving it a new name will create a copy
2 / Start a new project and set the Project Properties using the correct frame rate.
3 / Insert your problem VSP to the library in the same way as you would do for any video.
4 / Drag the vsp to the top timeline, that should insert all the clips used in the project
5 / Save the project giving it a new name
Does that project play correctly.

[marion64]

The video file type I'm working with is wmv. I've attached a picture of the file properties. I did try what you suggested, but it didn't change how the project played. Everything was still 4 times the length. The problem isn't how the project is playing, it's that everything has been extended. The project plays absolutely fine, the time that things play for is just incorrect. I tried to recreate the problem with the sample lake footage as you suggested, and strangely enough, the issue didn't occur. The lake footage played just fine no matter what I set the framerate to. I was going to send a vsp file with the issue in it, but I actually haven't been able to recreate it again. I'm not sure why, I did everything the same way.

[Davidk]

Several things come to mind:
1. Has time re-mapping been activated?
2. That is one large file to be editing. Suggestion: break it into smaller pieces (say, 4 of 15 minutes each) by cut n trim, edit and render each individually, then create a final project file that just contains the rendered parts, in sequence, and render it to get a final.

[marion64]

Time re-mapping has not been enabled. The clips still play at the same speed, just for longer than they should.

[lata]

Hi
Something I may have overlooked, but is this simply a confusion with the timeline zoom option
We can zoom in and out of the timeline or fit project to timeline, the options are to the right of the timeline adjacent to the digital clock
Changing those especially zoom-in will have the effect of changing the size clip on the timeline making it longer, but it is only the view not the duration of the clip that is changing
If that occurred when you change the frame rate to 100fps I can understand the confusion to think the clip itself has changed length.
Although changing the project frame rate would not change the timeline zoom.

It’s the only thoughts I have especially when you said

The clips still play at the same speed, just for longer than they should.

Does that mean they took a longer time to play, in which case the audio would be distorted.

[marion64]

I did think that at first, but the zoom is the same. The clips haven't been slowed down or sped up. The audio isn't distorted, and the video isn't either. The playback is working just fine, it's just that something messed up with the amount of time that they played along the way. The data for how long the clips should play is being read just fine, it's just that it was changed to be incorrect somewhere down the line. However, there is a desync with the parts of the video that were originally meant to play. It ends up playing later parts of the video since the clip has been extended, and audio tracks play more of the audio than they were originally meant to while still playing at the same speed.

[marion64]

I don't think this is fixable. I have a backup, so I'll work from that.