Many thanks Ray, especially for including screen shots (they say a picture is worth a thousand words, and they're not wrong!).

Sadly, when I attempt this neither Activate nor Deactivate are available to me - they are greyed out :(

I think my next step is removal and then re-install.

Cheers,

Cliff

@Clifford-Bowman

Hi Cliff.

No, you should first create a user account with New blue if you don't have one. Without that you can't register the product to activate it.

Sorry my bad, I assumed this was a re-install and not a first time use situation.

Ray.

No bad at all, if someone doesn't say something it's easy to assume. The program's been installed for a good few months and I suspect NewBlue was originally activated but has since "gone bad". I hate DRM with a fervour, in all its forms.

Uninstalling all the NewBlue stuff, deleting its folders and gutting it from my registry allowed me to do a clean download and install of just the NewBlue plugins, register with NewBlue (which does NOT appear to have happened before) and seems to be behaving differently. I'm surprised at what it's doing (the guy pictured is now smaller but very blurry and does not "fly" in any way) but I at least am no longer getting the "Red Cross". I'm rendering out a copy now to see if its behaviour is more interesting when finalised rather than in "preview" mode.

You have distinctly helped, pointing me in a direction that led me to better understand the situation and attempt a resolution before Customer Services could even get back to me. Never deminish yourself for not being the whole solution!

Cheers,

Cliff

Hi Cliff.

Thanks for understanding.

It's always a chicken and egg situation. DRM would not exist if people didn't pirate software and people wouldn't pirate software if they understood peoples jobs were at stake and they themselves felt they earned enough to justify paying for it. Different cultures also have different ideas about ownership. So DRM it is 😅.

I have tried unsuccessfully to replicate your problem having not used that particular effect myself as yet.

Thinking along the lines of mismatched image or video resolutions to see if one resolution would make a difference to another. Apparently not. I used a huge jpg (11341 x 3481 pixels) as background compared to the 4K video footage and then put the same clip in front of another 4K clip.

It may be useful if you could either show the timeline and describe the file types in use or put a couple of the items in use that are causing you problems to google drive with a link for us to download and try to see if the same happens to us. At least those of us here that have the same third party effects.

It is also useful to put your computer specs into your +SIGNATURE so we can look for possible hardware problems.

Do make sure that your operating system and all graphics drivers are up to date by visiting the relevant web sites and not rely on Windows to do all the updating for you.

Ray.

I'd probably agree with the DRM principle if it did, in fact, work. But let's not go too far down that rabbit hole :)

I've created a new video based on the one I'm trying to do for this charity. There are limits on making some of the people in the video available publicly, so I've used some handy-dandy effects from Video Pro X12 to completely destroy any attempt at looking at the people in the video. I've also added a picture of the first "Judge".

Movie Settings HDTV, 50.0 fps, FullHD 1080p (1920 x 1080) 16:9 MP4 file

I have made ANOTHER project based on using this MP4 and the original Judge1 PNG file which I have put on GoogleDrive at:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i5e2EyhIbOAy7y_1y8yntdyhRxbLuU0P/view?usp=sharing

It's about 60MB in size.

Here you can see the VERY grey swirling video with the PNG on the next track. Although the project file I have put on Google Drive does not have the Flying PiP effect applied, this picture shows it applied and misbehaving in the manner I have described - it's just blurred.

Lots of detail in my signature, hope it isn't too much. To make use of my time I expect to try "deactivating" the NewBlue effects and installing Video Pro X12 to one of my other boot drives - probably the Gaming boot drive as that's still Windows 10 and I know I have a recent enough backup. That should help me determine if it's something to do with the Windows setup on my work drive or something else.

Assuming I can find out how to de-activate the effects, of course.

Cheers,

Cliff

@Clifford-Bowman

Hi

Persoanally I try to avoid using 3rd party effects such as the NB and Boris effects when there are other ways of creating the same effect often within VPX. Picture in Picture (PIP) is one that can be done relatively easily in VPX without any plugins.

In VPX there are several PIP templates which you can use and modify to suit your needs - these are from VPX 15, 12 should have the same or similar versions.

Adjustments to the preset used are done with Size, Position and Rotation.

If you want a border around the image add an image of the colour needed on a track above the PiP image and size and position to form the border - see image below

The result is as shown below

HTH

John EB

To make use of my time I expect to try "deactivating" the NewBlue effects and installing Video Pro X12 to one of my other boot drives - probably the Gaming boot drive as that's still Windows 10 and I know I have a recent enough backup. That should help me determine if it's something to do with the Windows setup on my work drive or something else.

I decided to try installing to my Windows 11 Pro boot drive - partly because that's got very little on it as I slowly migrate tasks from Windows 10 to Windows 11.

Crikey - I'd forgotten what a complete dog's dinner the Magix Video ProX 12 installation routine is. All to no avail - I get exactly the same effect. Possibly interestingly, if I tick the box to turn animation off the image is no longer blurred.

I suspect John EB has a better route for me.

@Clifford-Bowman

Hi

Persoanally I try to avoid using 3rd party effects such as the NB and Boris effects when there are other ways of creating the same effect often within VPX. Picture in Picture (PIP) is one that can be done relatively easily in VPX without any plugins.

I suspect your approach is very much advisable - these extra effects don't seem to be worth the problems they cause. Having got the same experience on Windows 11 I'll probably give the built-in effects another try there to see if I can get what I'm looking for (what I THOUGHT would be possible would be to have the still image zoom in from the left, possibly rotating in 3D as it goes, pause in the middle and then zoom out to the right - but as I can't do better than a static PiP with the NewBlue effects so far I will probably be better off avoiding them completely. Many thanks for your advice and examples :)

@ Hi Cliff.

While I agree with @johnebaker there are also effects that can't be done with what the base program offers. Also sometimes an update or upgrade to the program will include changes that make older projects not load correctly or a supplied effect in the program will have disappeared or been replaced. Magix themselves do not guarantee backwards compatibility and in the past have also suggested any currently worked project should be finished before downloading an upgrade.

However getting back to your current problem.

I've copied and pasted from my reply I was working on as I hadn't finished the reply before John's comments.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@Clifford-Bowman

Hi Cliff.

DRM does work up to a point. Normally cracked copies can't get updates or additional patches nor can they be registered for upgrade deals. Some do not function fully or correctly. Offered third party effects are often missing. Also more increasingly now downloads of such programs have increased the risk of getting infected with something nasty. Use at your own risk so to speak. Any DRM can be cracked within months and possibly even hours now. I will leave the morality side out of it but but having worked in the film and recording industry in the past I know what such problems can create for the production companies and studios involved.

I have some bad, some baffling and need verification from other users, and some good news.

First bad. The PNG file is too small and lacking in enough detail. It to be frank has been overly compressed and because of its physical small size will not rescale well. Even on playback the decoding of the file is being smoothed wherever large block of colour have replaced texture or any kind. Within the flying Pip Effect, turn off anything that has the work Blur attached to it. That will help. Not a lot, but a little. Only a more detailed image is going to work better.

Second is the baffling and need verification from another member or two.

My copy of MMS can't play your flying pip with any animation at all. VPX on the other hand can but has problems in your project. If I delete the PNG file or introduce a new file I still can't get it to work 100%. There are bars either side that seem to hide the image as it transverses from one side to the other. If I open a new project of my own that does not happen. I even deleted your H0 and HDP files in the hope that something would correct that but it didn't. Your project for whatever reason takes an age to load and to make changes to. Opening the effects section for instance made me wonder if my computer had frozen. I have no idea why.

I need other members to download that folder and try for themselves. My copy of MMS (mine is actually MEP 2022) may be slightly corrupt or it could be the project is not 100% backwards compatible with my older copy of the program. So if you are running VPX 15 there is also the possibility that my VPX 14 is also not reading the project 100% correctly hence the need for others to try it please.

The good news (what little there is of it) is I can use that effect in VPX and MEP 2022 with no problems at all.

You computer specs don't seem to be a problem. It should work. Try with a larger image. Also check your nvidia and Intel GPU drivers are up to date

nvidia should be 546.33 Intel should be 31.0.101.2125

Ray.

@Clifford-Bowman

Hi

. . . . what I THOUGHT would be possible would be to have the still image zoom in from the left, possibly rotating in 3D as it goes, pause in the middle and then zoom out to the right  . . . .

Challenge accepted! 😂

This uses just 4 Keyframes - see image below

• 1st KF sets initial starting position and rotation
   
• 2nd KF sets position to stop flying in at, and number of rotations - any multiple of 360 depending on how many spins you want
   
• 3rd KF is the same as the 2nd - copy and pasted - this locks the 'rest period'
   
• 4th KF sets the end position and number of rotations - in this example the same as the spins in except reversed rotation as they are going back to 0.

Click on above image then download image for full size viewing.

It took me longer to create the composite image than the effect.

You do need to learn how to use Keyframing - if you are not familiar with it - see the View/Animation tutorials in this list

HTH

John EB

DRM does work up to a point. Normally cracked copies can't get updates or additional patches nor can they be registered for upgrade deals. Some do not function fully or correctly.

Sadly, also some pirated versions work BETTER than the retail product. I have been known to growl angrily at people using pirated software that is both faster and more reliable (crashes less) than the paid retail version that I'm stuck using. One product in particular - Poser version 5 - had paying users going to download and run a cracked version because it was more reliable than the retail product. this is not hearsay, I was there myself, using the flaky retail version. Much the same has been said of several games, where I suspect piracy to be rife, but there I have slightly less angst. Most DRM can be cracked within a day. AFAICS the people that suffer the most are people who - like stupid old me - pay for the product. I'm not aware of any pirated MAGIX products specifically, but I wouldn't be surprised if the installation routine was a better experience! (along, of course, with the potential for malware being included. Not everyone who gives away stuff with no charge is doing so purely from the goodness of their hearts). I have yet to hear about any program that had DRM which caused paying customers NO problem yet had not been pirated. This may be because I don't go looking, but I suspect that a lot of software gets cracked. The people behind "World Of Goo" (great game, not an AAA title though) researched DRM before releasing their game and they found that DRM did not have a beneficial effect on sales. This doesn't surprise me.

I have some bad, some baffling and need verification from other users, and some good news.

Alas, I don't have any control over the source material. Or the behavior of the people in the video, who seem to delight in occupying the space between any camera and the people who should be being filmed.

First bad. The PNG file is too small and lacking in enough detail. It to be frank has been overly compressed and because of its physical small size will not rescale well. Even on playback the decoding of the file is being smoothed wherever large block of colour have replaced texture or any kind. Within the flying Pip Effect, turn off anything that has the work Blur attached to it. That will help. Not a lot, but a little. Only a more detailed image is going to work better.

Not our problem - and in fact the quality of the image can be enhanced considerably just by dint of turning animation off - which sharpens the image incredibly.

The manager of the charity has already seen and been impressed by the quality of the judge's images based on what she know I have to work with. So poor quality isn't the problem per se - it's worse quality and unable to animate that are the problems.

Second is the baffling and need verification from another member or two.

...

Your project for whatever reason takes an age to load and to make changes to. Opening the effects section for instance made me wonder if my computer had frozen. I have no idea why.

I specialize in baffling. the 50fps won't be helping, but as I tried different variations with the source project I was frequently surprised at just how long something takes. This seems to be immeasurably worse once I try to use the NewBlue effects.

My desktop PC (specs in signature) has 3 different boot drives. The PC is called "ZX18" because I have sarcastic tendencies, and this PC was reasonably fast when purchased. I have removed NewBlue and Video ProX 12 from the Windows 10 work drive and installed & activated on the Windows 11 Pro boot drive instead. That had the same result.

My notebook - called "Omen" and newer but SLIGHTLY slower CPU than ZX18 already had Video ProX 12 installed - so all I had to do was manage the licences (DRM) to get the NewBlue effects installed. Omen also has an RTX2080 GPU, so that probably dates it fairly well.

Same result.

Here you can see the effect of applying the Flying PiP effect:

and the effect when I turn animation off:

Notice that with animation turned off the effect seems to basically work - it's janky, but the picture can be moved to somewhat different locations and is sharp enough for the charity's purposes (it's their annual Christmas talent contest). It's only when trying to move/animate it that problems occur.

Changing the X position start and end time does not animate the X position - it just moves the X position and the picture stays there for the duration - the same as with "Disable Animation" except blurry.

You computer specs don't seem to be a problem. It should work. Try with a larger image. Also check your nvidia and Intel GPU drivers are up to date

nvidia should be 546.33 Intel should be 31.0.101.2125

Ray.

I'll try and get back to this either later or over the weekend - ZX18 is tied up at the moment and I'd rather not disturb it's backup process. But Omen is indeed on GeForce 546.33 for the only video chipset that it has.

More and more I'm liking John EB's approach - avoid 3rd party effects whenever possible, no matter how much MAGIX uses them, to tout the value of their product! I'm either going to have to scale back my ambition or possibly look to another tool. It mostly depends on how much time I can throw at this project (I'm already later in providing this than any previous year despite having been recovering from major surgery just before last year's event!). Yes - NewBlue effects are proving more of a hindrance to getting this done than being disemboweled by a surgeon did! LOL.

Cheers,

Cliff

PS I have a support ticket in with NewBlue, but they do not appear to be anything like as responsive as Forum users here or even Magix's customer support :( I don't hold out much hope and I've got a lot of video to nip and tuck :)

FWIW, here's a screenshot of Flying PiP with a 1920 * 1080 FullHD image being used:

and another with animation turned off.

It seems night and day to me that there's something not right with the NewBlue Flying PiP effect :(

Cheers,

Cliff

@Clifford-Bowman

Hi

. . . . what I THOUGHT would be possible would be to have the still image zoom in from the left, possibly rotating in 3D as it goes, pause in the middle and then zoom out to the right  . . . .

Challenge accepted! 😂

HAHAHAHAaaa! That's great, I found someone like me but for video editing <wipes away a tear>

 

You do need to learn how to use Keyframing - if you are not familiar with it - see the View/Animation tutorials in this list

That looks great and while I don't think I'll be able to get back to it today, tomorrow is free of Blue Moons!

Many thanks John. While I'm not at all familiar with Video ProX, I AM very familiar with key-framing - so it looks to me like you've done all the heavy lifting. Thanks indeed :D

Now I'd better print it out!

@CubeAce, @Clifford-Bowman

Hi Ray, Cliff

. . . . the quality of the image can be enhanced considerably just by dint of turning animation off - which sharpens the image incredibly . . . .

Cliff - try converting the image to a jpg.

Ray - this sounds a bit like it could be related to the issue you were having with PNG files.

John EB

 

Second is the baffling and need verification from another member or two.

My copy of MMS can't play your flying pip with any animation at all. VPX on the other hand can but has problems in your project. If I delete the PNG file or introduce a new file I still can't get it to work 100%. There are bars either side that seem to hide the image as it transverses from one side to the other. If I open a new project of my own that does not happen. I even deleted your H0 and HDP files in the hope that something would correct that but it didn't. Your project for whatever reason takes an age to load and to make changes to. Opening the effects section for instance made me wonder if my computer had frozen. I have no idea why.

@CubeAce Hi, I've tried this 'Fly from corner' with a few mp4s & pictures big & small that are not 16:9, I get the same cut-off bars on each,

The Flying PinP is working on the event background size not the project size 😒 In the MMS 2024 'Section' it shows this but the Section can't be increased beyond the image size/aspect.

In Vegas it's a little easier to see & correct this, the Pan/Crop shows the dotted line around the 652x740 image.

If 'Match Output Aspect' is chosen the image grows to the project aspect (1315.6 x 740) filling the bars on either side with transparency, I don't think this can be done in MMS, the image would maybe have to be made 16:9 + Alpha in a pic editor first.

PS, this project + Flying PinP plays no prob in my PC but every PC is different.

@Clifford-Bowman

Hi Cliff. I did say to turn anything within the NB effect that has Bur attached to the slider control to off. That cleared up that problem more for me although not perfect. I think adding the frame doesn't help either.

The effect can easily be done in Size, Position, Rotation instead as John suggests. It just takes a little while longer.

In VPX I have no problems with the Flying Pip effect at all. MEP on the other hand may have a missing or corrupt dll file.

@johnebaker

That png problem went away with the upgraded GPU. I am now sure It is down to the amount of vram on the card as I can now induce that behaviour easily just as an experiment by maxing out the cards vram.

The only problem I have is that stupid transition that now works fine in VPX but not MEP. How or why that changed I have little idea except that I have found a recurring error report every time I open MEP.

I had similar logs on opening VPX but they have now ceased.

Going right back those logs appeared short after this one.

Whether the two are connected somehow I have no idea.

Ray.

@Former user

Hi Gid.

I tried a jpg that was cropped to 3 x 4 and it worked fine on my system. Go figure.

@Clifford-Bowman

Hi Cliff.

After your comment on piracy I looked up a chart from November this year of which countries did the most pirating of software per capita. I was both shocked and pleasantly surprised.

1. China
2. Russia
3. United States
4. India
5. Brazil
6. Vietnam
7. Ukraine
8. Iran
9. Italy
10. Taiwan

11. France
12. Turkey
13. Germany
14. Mexico
15. Indonesia
16. South Korea
17. Hong Kong
18. Australia
19. United Kingdom
20. Peru

It must be a cultural thing 🤣.

Ray.

@CubeAce I only tried png's as that's what I normally use but this is a jpg that is a random size 🤷‍♂️

As has been mentioned I wouldn't use these effects, not for movement anyway, there's very little chance it would be exactly as you need straight out of the box, some adjustment would be needed, this one however has very little adjustment, the Start & End Hold settings aren't 'visible' with keyframes, doing it manually with keyframes is just as easy.

@Clifford-Bowman

Hi Cliff

I have had a closer look at the original png file and it is showing a lot of compression artefacts, visible in the blue T-shirt, suggesting a high degree of compression has been applied at some stage in getting from the source image to the png file you have.

John EB

@Former user

Hi Gid.

You can expand the key frames visible for any effect buy clicking on the little white arrow to the left of the ticked box. The effect seems to be sharing parameters with Size. Position, Rotation. If you open SPR and expand the working area you can then shrink the image again in the Flying Pip effect. Turning off animation in the NB effect then allows you to key frame the movement. The only advantage I can see to just using SPR is adding the drop shadow and frame.

Ray.

@CubeAce 

You can expand the key frames visible for any effect buy clicking on the little white arrow to the left of the ticked box.

There are no keyframes & if keyframes are added they don't directly effect the built in PinP movement,

Turning off animation in the NB effect

So basically you're doing the movement manually..

@Former user

Hi Gid.

No. Try a little experimentation. I think the Size of SPR is interfering with the NB Flying Pip zoom function. I'm not certain but it looks to me like there could be a link. I could, and am probably wrong of course but the fun is in trying.

Sort your picture out with SPR first then add Flying Pip. Adjust the picture ratio and zoom within Flying Pip and final end point from whatever drop down menu you have chosen. Play result.

Ray.