Crashing of VideoStudio X9 Pro during sharing/burning process

[Paco]

Hello,

Recently I have some problems with burning a video project to a Blu Ray disc. For as far as I know I didn't change any settings/preferences. I use an external Blu Ray disc burner (LG BP40NS20).

But approximately around 43% of the total progression of the burning process VS X9 Pro just stops. The program shuts down and I have to remove the external burner to eject the failed Blu Ray disc. I use a Sony digital camera with M2TS files (AVCHD).

I already waisted 4 Blu Ray discs this way. I thought that the problem was maybe caused by removing some scenes and started a new project. But the result was the same. I also tried to make a diskimage to see how that worked out. So that I can burn it to a disc later. The total progression stopped at approximately 51% and VS shut down again.

What are the proper settings for a project with the following properties:

File format: PAL.HDMV

Video:
Type: H.264 Video, upper field first
Framespeed: 25.000 frame/sec
Date rate: variable bit rate (Max. 16000 kbps)

Audio:
Type: Dolby Digital Audio
48000 Hz
Bit speed: 256 kbps

Preferences settings in VS X9 Pro:

Editing process
Hardware Decoder acceleration" is enabled
Hardware Encoder acceleration" is enabled in the "File Creation"
Hardware Decoder acceleration is also enabled in the File Creation. Is this right?

When I choose to burn the project to a disc I select 'Blu Ray' and check the project settings: which MPEG-settings should I select:

Blu Ray:
24 bits, 1920x1080, 25 fps
Upper field first
(HDMV PAL), 16:9
Date rate video: variable (Max. 35000 kbps)
Bit speed audio: 384 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio, 48 Khz, 2/0(L, R)

or

Blu Ray H.264
24 bits, 1920x1080, 25 fps
Upper field first
(HDMV PAL), 16:9
H.264 Video
Date rate video: variable (Max. 20000 kbps)
Bit speed audio: 384 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio, 48 Khz, 2/0(L,R) ?

Do you have any ideas what could cause this problem and what I can do about it to avoid the crashing of VS?

Kind regards, Paco

[Ken Berry]

Are you first rendering your project into a Blu-Ray compatible video file? Then when that is done and you have checked it, go to Render again to bring up the burning module in VS and insert that new video into the burning module? Then proceed to select either a disk folder or iso or even an actual disk, build your menu and proceed to 'burn'? That is the series of steps we normally recommend rather than finishing your editing of your project and moving straight to the Burn module with the project file rather than a new BD video clip of the project.

[Davidk]

One of the things that can screw up a disk burn is to try to burn it too fast - ie, feed data to it in excess of the nominal burn rate for the disk. That usually results in a disk which is choppy and jumpy, and often fails.
In the burn module when you get to step 3, which is where you set the configuration of the burner for the disk you are using, make sure that the burn rate specified matches or is less than the nominal rate of the disk. The default is max, and that exceeds the burn rate of many disks. The rate the disk is spec'd for is on the barrel and usually on the disk, and it is different for each type of disk. For example, a standard DVD-R disk is usually around 16X, a DVD-R DL (double layer) is 4x, an audio CD is rated at 1-52x, whereas a BD-R disk is about 6x.

[Paco]

Are you first rendering your project into a Blu-Ray compatible video file? Then when that is done and you have checked it, go to Render again to bring up the burning module in VS and insert that new video into the burning module? Then proceed to select either a disk folder or iso or even an actual disk, build your menu and proceed to 'burn'? That is the series of steps we normally recommend rather than finishing your editing of your project and moving straight to the Burn module with the project file rather than a new BD video clip of the project.

Hello Ken, thanks for your response. I have never done it the way you suggest. I always build my menu after editing a project and then move straight to the burn module. And it has always worked this way for me. I've been using VS X9 Pro since april 2017 and made several projects this way.

Can you please tell me how do I render my project into a Blu Ray compatible video file first? I don't see that option in VS X9 Pro to be honest. After editing I choose the Share button and select Disc > Blu Ray. Aftet that I build my menu (add chapters and so on) and then I choose 'burn'. The rendering starts and the message 'this may take a while' appears.

[Paco]

One of the things that can screw up a disk burn is to try to burn it too fast - ie, feed data to it in excess of the nominal burn rate for the disk. That usually results in a disk which is choppy and jumpy, and often fails.
In the burn module when you get to step 3, which is where you set the configuration of the burner for the disk you are using, make sure that the burn rate specified matches or is less than the nominal rate of the disk. The default is max, and that exceeds the burn rate of many disks. The rate the disk is spec'd for is on the barrel and usually on the disk, and it is different for each type of disk. For example, a standard DVD-R disk is usually around 16X, a DVD-R DL (double layer) is 4x, an audio CD is rated at 1-52x, whereas a BD-R disk is about 6x.

Hi Davidk,

Thanks for your response. The Blu Ray discs I use (BD-R) are 6x Speed and I usually don't change the burning speed. I checked after your suggestion and it was on Max, which is indeed the default. I will try to set it at 6x burning speed or maybe even 4x. I will also wait for Ken's response to my questions. I will keep you posted.

[Ken Berry]

I've taken a bit of time to find and then install X9 which is rather old now. But I finally found it. In fact it merely confirmed that the burning module of X9 is much the same as the one used in more recent versions, including the latest VS 2023.

A Blu-Ray disc can be burned from either an mpeg-2 or AVCHD H.264 video. I personally preferred the H.264 route, though it has been several years now since I have burned such a disc. I would therefore use the settings for that format that you set out above. So when you have finished editing, I would go to Share and select AVC/H.264 then the option which has these properties:
24 bits, 1920x1080, 25 fps
Upper field first
(HDMV PAL), 16:9
H.264 Video
Date rate video: variable (Max. 20000 kbps)
Bit speed audio: 384 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio, 48 Khz, 2/0(L,R)

You don't say what your original properties for your videos are, but I am assuming it has a bitrate of around 16,000 though it may be a little higher. So 18 Mbps or 20 Mbps should be fine. Once you have produced the new H.264 file, you go back to Share and this time select Blu-Ray. Insert that new file, build your menu, and move on to the final page. There I would probably select to "burn" either an iso disc image or disc folder rather than an actual BD disc. That way you won't waste another disc if something goes wrong. It will also allow you to play the iso or folder in something like VLC player to make sure everything is fine. Then you can burn the iso or folder to an actual BD disc later.

[Paco]

I've taken a bit of time to find and then install X9 which is rather old now. But I finally found it. In fact it merely confirmed that the burning module of X9 is much the same as the one used in more recent versions, including the latest VS 2023.

A Blu-Ray disc can be burned from either an mpeg-2 or AVCHD H.264 video. I personally preferred the H.264 route, though it has been several years now since I have burned such a disc. I would therefore use the settings for that format that you set out above. So when you have finished editing, I would go to Share and select AVC/H.264 then the option which has these properties:
24 bits, 1920x1080, 25 fps
Upper field first
(HDMV PAL), 16:9
H.264 Video
Date rate video: variable (Max. 20000 kbps)
Bit speed audio: 384 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio, 48 Khz, 2/0(L,R)

You don't say what your original properties for your videos are, but I am assuming it has a bitrate of around 16,000 though it may be a little higher. So 18 Mbps or 20 Mbps should be fine. Once you have produced the new H.264 file, you go back to Share and this time select Blu-Ray. Insert that new file, build your menu, and move on to the final page. There I would probably select to "burn" either an iso disc image or disc folder rather than an actual BD disc. That way you won't waste another disc if something goes wrong. It will also allow you to play the iso or folder in something like VLC player to make sure everything is fine. Then you can burn the iso or folder to an actual BD disc later.

Thanks for your effort Ken, I will try it like you suggest. But I'm afraid I already tried to 'burn' an ISO disc image. The system crashed after 52% of the total progression, detailed progression 5% during multiplexing video/audio. But that was after building the menu. So maybe the problem is in the menu that I built...?

By the way, I did mention the original properties for my videos in my original post:

'File format: PAL.HDMV

Video:
Type: H.264 Video, upper field first
Framespeed: 25.000 frame/sec
Date rate: variable bit rate (Max. 16000 kbps)

Audio:
Type: Dolby Digital Audio
48000 Hz
Bit speed: 256 kbps'

But you were right about the bitrate: 16000 kbps.

[Paco]

I've taken a bit of time to find and then install X9 which is rather old now. But I finally found it. In fact it merely confirmed that the burning module of X9 is much the same as the one used in more recent versions, including the latest VS 2023.

A Blu-Ray disc can be burned from either an mpeg-2 or AVCHD H.264 video. I personally preferred the H.264 route, though it has been several years now since I have burned such a disc. I would therefore use the settings for that format that you set out above. So when you have finished editing, I would go to Share and select AVC/H.264 then the option which has these properties:
24 bits, 1920x1080, 25 fps
Upper field first
(HDMV PAL), 16:9
H.264 Video
Date rate video: variable (Max. 20000 kbps)
Bit speed audio: 384 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio, 48 Khz, 2/0(L,R)

You don't say what your original properties for your videos are, but I am assuming it has a bitrate of around 16,000 though it may be a little higher. So 18 Mbps or 20 Mbps should be fine. Once you have produced the new H.264 file, you go back to Share and this time select Blu-Ray. Insert that new file, build your menu, and move on to the final page. There I would probably select to "burn" either an iso disc image or disc folder rather than an actual BD disc. That way you won't waste another disc if something goes wrong. It will also allow you to play the iso or folder in something like VLC player to make sure everything is fine. Then you can burn the iso or folder to an actual BD disc later.

Hi Ken, I followed your suggested steps. I chose Share and selected AVC/H.264. The rendering with variable date rate max. 20000 kbps made the project too large (> 25 GB). Too large to burn on a blu ray disc. So I ajusted the settings to max 18000 kbps. It rendered pretty quickly. I think: within 1-1,5 hours. I was already optimistic for the burning process, which I started this morning. But...... VS crashed once again. This time at 30% total progression and 12% detailed progression ('Busy with multiplexing video/audio')

I chose the above mentioned projectsettings, only max 18000 kbps instead of max 20000 kbps. I didn't burn an iso disc image but went straight to burning an actual Blu Ray disc. I set the burning speed of the external burner at 6x speed, the same as the Blu Ray discs I'm using.

What is going wrong? I don't know what to do anymore. Should I select 'Smart Proxy' by the way?

[Ken Berry]

Did you play the new H.264 video through either VS or an external player like VLC Player (freeware) to see if the whole project was there the way you wanted it? If it was OK, you could try burning it to an ISO file or BR Folder so as not to waste another disk. You could also play either the ISO or Folder in VLC to make sure it was OK. And in case something is wrong with your VS burning module, you could then try burning an actual disk using an external burner like the (freeware) ImgBurn.

As for SmartProxy, that is only used during the editing process. You make and use a lower quality copy or 'proxy' of your original video. That is used during the editing process since it will play and accept edits more easily than the higher quality originals. And then at the end of the editing, when you go to Share, all the edits are applied to the original clips and a high quality final video is produced of your project.

[Paco]

Thanks again for your response, Ken. I'll try to burn an ISO disc image again, after I watched the whole project, which is almost 3 hours. I tried making an ISO image earlier and it also crashed then.

I bought VS 9 Pro in April 2017 and the seperate plug in to burn a Blu Ray disc. I saved the codes of the download, but I can't remember if this also is the case for the separate plug in that I bought. So I'm afraid that when I delete VS from my pc and reinstall it, it doesn't include the plug in to burn a Blu Ray disc. Do you know how that works?

I found an interestic article online:

https://kb.corel.com/en/127575

Maybe the error is in the project, like you also kind of suggest: that I first have to make sure the project is ok. I'll look into it the coming days.

[Ken Berry]

Regarding the Blu-Ray plug-in, I'm afraid that if you didn't save that after you downloaded it, then you would have to buy it again if you reinstall VS X9, though you could try first convincing Corel/Alludo to give you another copy. If not, then it is less than US$10 to buy.

And if you are looking for possible errors in the project itself, then start by looking at the areas where the burning has failed e.g. at around the 43% point. Look for something strange about the video in that area: is the format different from other parts of the project? Have you applied a filter at that point which may not have worked? Is there something wrong with a transition at that point?

[Paco]

I will try your tips to find the possible errors. Regarding the Blu Ray plug-in, I don't expect much from Corel since their
customer service answered me that VS 9 is no longer supported by them.

In the last project that I tried to burn it crashed around 30%. With the burning of the ISO disc image it was around 50%. So it seems to be crashing at different parts of the project. I will look into it. Thanks so much once again, Ken.

[Paco]

Hi Ken,

I tried to burn an ISO image again, but VS crashed again. At 35% total progression and 6% detailed progression (multiplexing video/audio). For as far as I can tell the project itself is fine. I tried to burn a Blu Ray disc with an external freeware burner (CDBurnerXP) but I couldn't manage to load the video file in there.

I'm now considering the removal of VS X9 Pro and reinstall it. I understand that you first have to remove it through the program removal in Windows and after that use a clean-up tool to make sure that the complete program is deleted? But maybe it's a little less radical to set VS back to factory settings? And if so, how do I do that?

[Ken Berry]

I have never heard of CDBurnerXP before this, but looking it up, it does not seem as though it is meant to burn a Blu-Ray disc, only CDs and DVDs... Another freeware product which *can* burn Blu-Rays is ImgBurn.

There is no reset button or command for VS, but a similar effect can be obtained by closing X9and going to C:\Users\[YourName]\AppData\Roaming\Ulead Systems\Corel VideoStudio Pro (x64) and simply changing the name of the 19.0 folder there by adding something like "_OLD". AppData is of course a hidden folder so you would need to ensure you can see such folders in File Explorer. When you reopen X9, this folder will be rebuilt, and this may take a few minutes, so be patient. But when it is fully open it will be in effect a rebuilt X9.

[Paco]

Hi Ken,

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... uO2tmHjhnp

In the CDburnerXP software it says that burning a Blu Ray is possible. Just like the following text on their website. However, I couldn't get it done. So I'll try ImgBurn.

Years ago I contacted the service desk of Corel and someone from that department explained me how to uninstall VS via the Windows program removal tool and use their VS clean up tool which download link was sent to me:

"Hello Pascal,

Thank you for contacting Corel Technical Support.

I understand and I am very sorry that I did not answer your question. Yes, your settings are correct. Also, burning a blu-ray disc will take too long to successfully burn because it's a very large file. But 38 hours is too much, you can also try these steps below.

Please try these steps.
A. Remove the VideoStudio X9 version completely first:
- Go to this link and download the VideoStudio X9 CleanUp Tool:
http://forum.corel.com/EN/viewtopic.php ... bacdb9732b
- Once done, run the tool and select VSX9 to completely remove.
B. Reinstall your VideoStudio X9 using the link below.

http://www.videostudiopro.com/en/pages/download/

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any further questions.

Regards,
George
Corel Technical Support Services"

On this forum I read a topic in which you also sent someone a clean up tool.

But I'll try your renaming the 19.0 folder tip. See if this will work. Fingers crossed!