@Gerry-Lawson

Welcome to the Magix user to user forums.

Using timeline view zoom in as far as you need to do at the place where the two clips “meet” and drag the second one until it touches (butts right up to) the first. Only if there is no gap at all between the end of the first and the beginning of the second will you get no interruption of playback.

Should you decide you would prefer the first clip to crossfade into the second simply drag the start of the second over the end of the first. The further forward you drag the second, the longer the crossfade will be.

HTH

Jeff
Forum Moderator

@Gerry-Lawson

Hi,

With Storyboard mode, there should be no gaps, so without seeing what you did in detail or without seeing your clips, I can't help you. In Timeline mode, you should have no gaps, but it is up to you to edit properly without creating gaps. Clips snap together if the magnet is turned on.

I suggest that you watch these two videos on Basic Editing in MEP to help you understand editing on the timeline:

John CB

Thank you John EB and Jeff.

I use an Acer Predator Helios 300 laptop running Windows 10 Home, Version 21H2 (OS Build 19044.1826) with Intel Core i7 9th Gen and Invidia GE Force GTX.

As far as I can determine, the two clips are .MPG and the frame rates of both are 29.97 fps. The Project frame rate also is set at 29.97 fps.

The two clips are butted together in the Timeline as close as I can drag Two to One, but I see a thin space between them. Two cannot overlap One. Playback produces a very brief (1 second or less) black visual and audio interruption as Clip One changes to Clip Two.

A screen shot of Program Settings, Display Options tab is attached as requested.

Hi, browj2. Thank you for your reply.

The Magnet is turned on but the minute gap still is there. Dragging Clip Two to the Timeline puts it automatically into Track 2. Moving it to Track 1 next to Clip One allows an overlap but I would like Clip One to cut instantly to Clip Two without the momentary interruption.

@Gerry-Lawson

Hi

What was the recording device used for the video clips?

Zoom in to the end of the first clip so you can see individual frames, position the timeline cursor at the end of the first clip, move the the second clip by 2 frames to overlap the first, with the second clip still selected press the z key - does the gap disappear?

John EB

Hi johnebaker.

The original format was VHS converted to DVD and stored on a hard drive. The hard drive crashed and I was able to retrieve the two files. I had hoped to use Movie Edit Pro Plus to combine the two files into one seamless edit, but there is that slight hiccup between them.

I was able to overlap Clip Two over Clip One by one frame by first putting Clip Two onto Track two. The interruption blink is gone, but a bit of the end of the Clip One is also gone.

The problem seems related to getting Clip Two to slightly overlap clip One. After trying several times with Clip Two back in Track 1, I somehow--accidentally--accomplished this to eliminate that blink of an interruption, but iI do not know how I did this and doubt I could do it again. And I didn't even press the Z key.

What is the technique I should use to do the overlap? Are there keys that would move the second clip to overlap the first? The mouse seems a hit-or-miss technique since the gap is so small.

@Gerry-Lawson

Hi

. . . .  VHS converted to DVD and stored on a hard drive . . .  I was able to retrieve the two files. . . . .

Can you clarify this - do you mean they were captured as MPG files direct to the computer, or converted and written to a DVD disc in a VHD/DVD recorder, and the disc then copied (ripped?) to the hard drive?

In the latter case if you still have the disc the video files a can be retrieved they will be in a VOB file format which you can copy from the disc direct to the computer. The files will be named

VTS_01_1.VOB, VTS_01_2.VOB etc

MEP will import these files without any ripping or conversion.

. . . . The interruption blink is gone, but a bit of the end of the Clip One is also gone. . . . .

How much of the end of the clip went?

Cutting off a part frame or 1 frame the end or beginning as we have specified should remove 1/30 th of a second. and should not be noticeable unless there is a scene continuity spread over the 2 files in which case there may be a slight jump.

@AAProds and I have the same ideas about the cause of the 'black flash' however with different causes.

Given the hard drive crash I agree, with Alwin's - you may have a corrupted file - I think that is what he is alluding to (?).

John EB

Thank you very much johnebarker and AAProds for your diligence, perseverance and patience with my problem. I followed the guidance offered by AAProds and this produced the most effective result.

@Gerry-Lawson

It sounds to me like you've got a mid-frame ending on clip 1. Zoom right in and go to the end of clip 1.

Now, move the Play marker 1 frame to the left, then hit U. This will trim off the end of the clip, from the Play marker position to the actual end of the clip.

There have been instances previously (and IIRC, with MPEG files) where you end up with a mid or part-frame ending, and if you try to butt the next clip against it, you'll always have a small gap until you trim the end off the first clip, in effect to make the last frame actually finish on a frame line, not in-between.

One picture is worth a thousand words (photoshopped, because it is impossible to create a part-frame).

@AAProds I would regularly get a partial end frame,

but i choose to have Crop videos in the Settings set at 1, that then removes that partial end frame

@Former user

Hi Gid.

Looking at your phone specs it says

Video8K@24fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR10+, stereo sound rec., gyro-EIS

Which if that is the case I would have thought that you should not be setting MEP or VPX projects to the PAL standard (as showing in your image above) but use NTSC. Then perhaps you would not suffer that problem.

Ray.

@Gerry-Lawson

Hi,

Other than what John EB mentioned about importing VOB files (after copying to your HD from a disk), if there is always a frame at the beginning or end of one of these clips that is giving you this problem, go to Program Settings, Video/Audio and indicate that you want to crop 1 clip at beginning or end or both.

As for making a transition, I don't understand what your problem was. If your not familiar with how to make transitions, I suggest that you watch my tutorial on this:

Sometimes the transition/jump cut from one clip to another looks too harsh. I often create a crossfade of 1 to 4 frames to soften it up.

If you create a crossfade by dragging the right object a little bit over the left object, then you can use the Edit Trimmer - shortcut N - to move the object left or right to reduce the transition to 1 or 2 frames.

Use the arrow that I have indicated in the image to move the selected clip to the right, which will decrease the transition duration that you see in the top box under Crossfade.

John CB

@Former user, @CubeAce

Hi

. . . . . I would regularly get a partial end frame . . .

Are you setting the project framerate to NTSC 29.97 or 59.94 fps?

From the figures Ray has quoted for your phone the project should be set to 30fps or 60 fps not NTSC 29.97.

Video with a whole number of frames per second will fit in any project that is set to a whole number of frames/sec, however, video with whole number of frames per second, eg 25 fps or 30 fps, will not fit a 29.97 NTSC project as you can see below. there will be a gap of 0.03 frames - approx 1/30th second

John EB

@johnebaker I sometimes tick the box Adjust when i'm adding the first piece of media but that depends if i want that media to change the size of my project, in these examples i've shared i have clicked Adjust but normally i like to keep it at 30fps,

@CubeAce That video i showed was orig created by my phone but it has been edited & exported more than once since then,

changing to NTSC makes no difference,

This below is an orig unedited clip from my phone, 4k 30fps but the resulting clips are variable 29.97fps

Crop video in Settings is at 0, NTSC is chosen/ticked, but the last frame is still not a full frame,

Changing the project to 30fps only changes the length of the partial end frame on this clip,

The options on the phone are limited, 30 doesn't mean 30, HDR10 produces a 10bit HEVC which doesn't always work well so that is Off,

despite what i wrote above & it's true that i would regularly get a partial end frame if Crop Videos wasn't set to 1 Images at end . If I have the project set to 3840 x 2160 30fps (Pal) the clips do fit correctly without a partial end frame even though MediaInfo says they're 29,97fps, but it's that one or 2 clips that for whatever reason do have a partial end frame that can mess the final export up, showing even in a crossfade as a black 'flash', So setting Crop Videos to 1 Images at end is just a safe option for me, losing just 1 frame at the end of even a good clip with no partial end frame is no problem ,

PS, I'm normally cutting the start & end of my phone clips so this doesn't bother me if it has a partial end frame. it's only a problem if i've divided my project up & then when i come to put the pieces together there's a partial end frame in one of the exported clips,

here for instance is 3840 x 2160 29.97fps phone clip on the timeline, no partial end frame

Exported at the same settings 30fps,

the exported file added back on the timeline in a new project has a partial end frame 🤷‍♂️

@Former user

Hi Gid.

Well I have to admit partial frames are a new one on me but I tend to keep a project and any export renders of files to the same frame rate throughout with the exception of slow-mo. I personally have never experienced a partial frame. My normal frame rate now is 50fps for most jobs but will also use 25fps in lower light conditions.

I would have never suspected this could happen.

Live and learn 👍🏻😁

Ray.

@CubeAce

Hi Ray

My first video camera started video clips with a P frame, not an I frame as you would expect, when imported into a project the first frame was black and, like @Former user, I had to set the import to cut off the first frame.

My current cameras, and the retired predecessor to the AX53E, all start with an I frame.

John EB

@johnebaker

Hi John.

Not that I've ever suffered that either yet 🤞 but isn't the P frame in that instance a predictive frame rather than a partial frame?

That I can understand as it would have nothing to have predicted from before unless is was the type of camera that stored what it saw looping in a buffer, ready to run when record was pressed. It would also I guess show as a whole frame?

Ray.

@CubeAce

Hi Ray

. . . . isn't the P frame in that instance a predictive frame rather than a partial frame . . . .

Yes it is, however a Predictive frame is a 'partial frame' in that it does not contain the whole image as an I frame does.

John