How to improve Movie Edit Pro: Suggestions for the developers

Galaxy wrote on 6/21/2017, 1:59 PM

Movie Edit Pro is a very useful program, but it has some deficiencies and annoyances that will prevent me from buying any new versions or upgrades. Here's a list: 

  1. On the timeline, when I copy and paste an object, the cursor jumps to another location. There is no benefit in this behavior, and it's confusing.
  2. On undo, the cursor jumps to the start of the timeline. That's very frustrating. 
  3. Undo is not available for all operations, so when I press Ctrl-Z, nothing happens. It's confusing.
  4. If I move an object on the timeline, and then undo, then Ctrl Y returns an error: "Restore is no longer possible."
  5. The Timestretch feature is hard to control with my mouse. I wish numeric input were possible.
  6. Audio object volume is hard to control. I wish numeric input were possible.
  7. Keyframe operation is inconsistent and inefficient, so I avoid using it. 
  8. Coloring objects requires too many mouse clicks, so I avoid coloring objects. 
  9. In the Title tab / Manual, I wish the text input box were expandable, so that I could see more of the text I am entering or editing.
  10. I wish I could attach markers to objects, so if there is a glitch in the audio, I could keep track of its location, and fix it later.
  11. I wish I could apply a timestretch operation to several objects at once.
  12. I would like to be able to scrub the audio.
  13. I would like to be able to play an audio track at double speed, for finding certain sections quickly.
  14. I would like to be able to paste a copied object onto a specific track.
  15. I would like movies to render faster. 

My MEP Version is 15.0.0.107.

Thanks.

Comments

johnebaker wrote on 6/21/2017, 3:04 PM

Hi

Please note that you are commenting on an older version, ie Movie Edit Pro 2016.

Have you read the installed PDF manual ?

. . . . when I copy and paste an object, the cursor jumps to another location. . . . .

Where ? Here it stays at the point where the pasted object was placed.

. . . . On undo, the cursor jumps to the start of the timeline. . . .

Do you have the Move playback marker when object is selected in the Program settings, System tab - leave this unchecked, and Spacebar stops at current playback position on the Playback tab checked - leave this checked?

. . . . .Undo is not available for all operations, so when I press Ctrl-Z, nothing happens . . .

Can you be more specific - there are many effects that have their own reset button and cannot be reset by Ctrl+Z or undo.

. . . . If I move an object on the timeline, and then undo, then Ctrl Y returns an error: "Restore is no longer possible." . .. .

Works OK here - try restarting your computer Windows button, Power, Restart.

. . . . The Timestretch feature is hard to control with my mouse. I wish numeric input were possible. . . .

It is in the Effects tab, Video Effects, Speed option there you also drag a slider or enter the speed in numerically, note if you more than 2x normal speed you have to ungroup the audio.

This is covered in the the installed PDF manual

. . . . . Audio object volume is hard to control. I wish numeric input were possible. . . . .

There are several options - right click the audio select Audio functions, Set volume for specific level changes or Effects tab, Audio effects, General, Volume to enter values numerically.

Look up 'volume' in the manual

. . . . Keyframe operation is inconsistent and inefficient, so I avoid using it. . . . .

In what way is inconsistent? Have you looked at the tutorials in the tutorial section of the forum or on Youtube about Key framing with Movie Edit Pro?

. . . . Coloring objects requires too many mouse clicks, so I avoid coloring objects. . . . .

Can you be more specific - there are several ways of changing the colour / colour balance / tint of an object ?

Many are covered in the manual

. . . . In the Title tab / Manual, I wish the text input box were expandable, so that I could see more of the text I am entering or editing.. . . .

Good one - the Title dialog is especially difficult for long running credits. I would also add a couple of panes, eg the Effects list pane, that ought to be expandable

. . . . .I wish I could attach markers to objects, so if there is a glitch in the audio, I could keep track of its location, and fix it later. . . . .

You can add markers to the timeline - position the cursor where you want one, press Ctrl+Enter and give it a name, you can also jump to markers - this is covered in the manual under Markers.

. . . . I wish I could apply a timestretch operation to several objects at once. . . . .

You can, select the objects you want with Shift+click or Ctrl+click and use the Speed control mention above

. . . . I would like to be able to scrub the audio. . . . .

You can see Scrubbing in the manual. You need to turn on scrubbing

. . . . I would like to be able to play an audio track at double speed, for finding certain sections quickly. . . .

See scrubbing in the manual.

. . . . I would like to be able to paste a copied object onto a specific track. . . . .

AFAIK no one has asked for this, however I agree it could be useful.

. . . . I would like movies to render faster. . . . .

Have you a graphics card that is capable of Hardware acceleration, and is it turned on in the program settings.

This covered in the manual and there have been many posts about it in the forum - search for Hardware Acceleration.

HTH

John EB

 

Last changed by johnebaker on 6/21/2017, 3:11 PM, changed a total of 1 times.

VPX 16, Movie Studio 2025, and earlier versions 2015 and 2016, Music Maker Premium 2024.

PC - running Windows 11 23H2 Professional on Intel i7-8700K 3.2 GHz, 16GB RAM, RTX 2060 6GB 192-bit GDDR6, 1 x 1Tb Sabrent NVME SSD (OS and programs), 2 x 4TB (Data) internal HDD + 1TB internal SSD (Work disc), + 6 ext backup HDDs.

Laptop - Lenovo Legion 5i Phantom - running Windows 11 23H2 on Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB DDR4-SDRAM, 512GB SSD, 43.9 cm screen Full HD 1920 x 1080, Intel UHD 630 iGPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6)

Sony FDR-AX53e Video camera, DJI Osmo Action 3 and Sony HDR-AS30V Sports cams.

Galaxy wrote on 6/21/2017, 7:04 PM

Hi

Please note that you are commenting on an older version, ie Movie Edit Pro 2016.

Have you read the installed PDF manual ?

. . . . when I copy and paste an object, the cursor jumps to another location. . . . .

Where ? Here it stays at the point where the pasted object was placed.

Oddly, it's working fine now. But usually, the cursor jumps. Next time it happens, I'll try to figure out what circumstances might be causing it.

 

. . . . On undo, the cursor jumps to the start of the timeline. . . .

Do you have the Move playback marker when object is selected in the Program settings, System tab - leave this unchecked, and Spacebar stops at current playback position on the Playback tab checked - leave this checked?

This too is working fine just now, so I'll keep watching to see when it happens. Yes, I have the settings you recommended.

 

. . . . .Undo is not available for all operations, so when I press Ctrl-Z, nothing happens . . .

Can you be more specific - there are many effects that have their own reset button and cannot be reset by Ctrl+Z or undo.

This is working fine now, but just 5 minutes ago, I could not undo. At the time, I was simply copying and pasting images and audio objects on the timeline. The problem is sporadic, and apparently random.

 

. . . . If I move an object on the timeline, and then undo, then Ctrl Y returns an error: "Restore is no longer possible." . .. .

Works OK here - try restarting your computer Windows button, Power, Restart.

Same as above. It's working fine now, but 5 minutes ago, I could not redo. At the time, I was simply copying and pasting images and audio objects on the timeline. The problem has existed for months, across many system reboots. I'll keep watching to see what seems to trigger the behavior.

 

. . . . The Timestretch feature is hard to control with my mouse. I wish numeric input were possible. . . .

It is in the Effects tab, Video Effects, Speed option there you also drag a slider or enter the speed in numerically, note if you more than 2x normal speed you have to ungroup the audio.

This is covered in the the installed PDF manual

The procedure you suggested works only for stretching video objects. Normally, I start with numerous audio objects, and then add jpg images etc. So to stretch the audio, what I've been doing is to right-click on each audio object, select Timestretch, and then drag the slider. Is there a numeric input for stretching audio objects?

 

. . . . . Audio object volume is hard to control. I wish numeric input were possible. . . . .

There are several options - right click the audio select Audio functions, Set volume for specific level changes or Effects tab, Audio effects, General, Volume to enter values numerically.

Look up 'volume' in the manual

Regarding your first suggestion, "Set Volume" only allows a coarse adjustment to preset levels, such as +20dB or -3dB. In contrast, I typically need to increase the volume by small amounts, such as +0.5 dB or -1.5 dB, starting from the current level.

With your second suggestion, "Effects tab, Audio effects, General, Volume", the slider starts at 100 and does not allow any increase beyond that. So it would not allow me to increase the audio by 1 db, for example.

 

. . . . Keyframe operation is inconsistent and inefficient, so I avoid using it. . . . .

In what way is inconsistent? Have you looked at the tutorials in the tutorial section of the forum or on Youtube about Key framing with Movie Edit Pro?

I was using key framing quite extensively a few months ago, but then I decided it was too inefficient etc, so I stopped using it, and now I've forgotten the particular problems I was having. When I have more time, I'll try to refresh my memory, and provide more details.

 

. . . . Coloring objects requires too many mouse clicks, so I avoid coloring objects. . . . .

Can you be more specific - there are several ways of changing the colour / colour balance / tint of an object ?

Many are covered in the manual

I find that setting an object color requires 6 clicks, as follows: Right click on the object, click on Object Properties, click Background Color, click the desired color, click OK, click OK. So if I'm editing 100 audio objects, if I listen to each one first, and then color-code it, that would require 600 clicks. For me, that's too inefficient.

If there were a color bar somewhere, I could click the object, then click the desired color on the color bar. That would be just two clicks.

 

. . . . In the Title tab / Manual, I wish the text input box were expandable, so that I could see more of the text I am entering or editing.. . . .

Good one - the Title dialog is especially difficult for long running credits. I would also add a couple of panes, eg the Effects list pane, that ought to be expandable

I'm glad you agree. I use the title dialog for entering paragraphs of text throughout my videos. I try to make each section of text perfect in MS Word before pasting it into MEP, but changes are often needed later, and then I have to scroll up and down in the text input box, which can be a bother.

 

. . . . .I wish I could attach markers to objects, so if there is a glitch in the audio, I could keep track of its location, and fix it later. . . . .

You can add markers to the timeline - position the cursor where you want one, press Ctrl+Enter and give it a name, you can also jump to markers - this is covered in the manual under Markers.

Yes, I often add markers to the timeline as you described, but I'd also like to attach some markers to objects. This is because I typically move objects around as I work, so the timeline markers quickly become irrelevant.

(Fyi, Cubase has only timeline markers, afaik, but Camtasia Studio has both object markers and timeline markers.)

 

. . . . I wish I could apply a timestretch operation to several objects at once. . . . .

You can, select the objects you want with Shift+click or Ctrl+click and use the Speed control mention above

Again, I don't think this feature applies to audio objects. Just video objects, right?

 

. . . . I would like to be able to scrub the audio. . . . .

You can see Scrubbing in the manual. You need to turn on scrubbing

Okay, I didn't see that. Thanks.

 

. . . . I would like to be able to play an audio track at double speed, for finding certain sections quickly. . . .

See scrubbing in the manual.

I don't see any explanation of how to play back audio at double speed in the manual.

 

. . . . I would like to be able to paste a copied object onto a specific track. . . . .

AFAIK no one has asked for this, however I agree it could be useful.

Yes, when I have a busy, cluttered timeline, it can be hard to find a place to paste a copied object, given that it will only paste onto the original track. If the original object is too long for the available space, it ends up overlapping other objects, which seems to remove any existing fades.

 

. . . . I would like movies to render faster. . . . .

Have you a graphics card that is capable of Hardware acceleration, and is it turned on in the program settings.

This covered in the manual and there have been many posts about it in the forum - search for Hardware Acceleration.

Yes, I have hardware acceleration switched on, and I have a recent, fast nvidia graphics card and Intel CPU. I've already reduced the advanced rendering settings to what I believe are reasonable (File / Export Movie / Video as MPEG-4 / Advanced). Nonetheless, every minute of video I process typically requires 3 minutes of rendering time. And I am mostly avoiding any fancy effects. But I guess the MEP rendering code cannot be optimized any further. Don't worry, it's not a big deal.

 

HTH

John EB

 

Thanks for your suggestions. As mentioned above, I'll report back when I can discern the circumstances in which the cursor jumps around. But I don't think I'll have much to report on the undo / redo issues, as they seem sporadic and random, yet they're common enough to be a significant annoyance. Non-essential features, such as object color, I can simply avoid using. However, I must use certain essential features, such as timestretch and object volume, so I'd really like to have an efficient numeric entry feature.

One more suggestion: After logging in to this forum, I spent at least an hour very carefully replying to your comments, and then when I clicked the Comment button to submit my reply, I get an error message. Apparently, my logged-in status cookie had expired. I would have lost my entire reply, which would have been extremely frustrating -- except that I had taken the precaution of copying my entire reply before submitting the form. However, I don't always remember to do that. So I think the forum cookies should be set to last much longer. Perhaps you could suggest the following setting to the forum operator, if you know how to contact him/her: If the forum is hosted on an Apache server using php, then I think a helpful php.ini setting would be: session.gc_maxlifetime = 65535

Last changed by Galaxy on 6/22/2017, 9:54 AM, changed a total of 6 times.

Windows 11 recent version, graphics card: EVGA RTX 3080 FTW3, Asus X299 motherboard with Intel i7-9800x Skylake processor, 64 GB RAM, USB Audio interface: RME Fireface UCX

yvon-robert wrote on 6/21/2017, 10:49 PM

Hi,

I think that the first function to add is a subtitle function like one in Corel Studio or Camtasia. With the portable devices playing video sometimes we must turn off the sound and naturally subtitle is need. A second function very help full is to play the video and the sound track at half speed to have time to type text from narration. The play speed could be 0,5 to 2,0 adjustable 0,6 0,7 0,8 up to 2,0 or a slider.

Naturally you can extend the list may be karoake for song it is up to you but subtitle is a must.

Regards,

YR    

Galaxy wrote on 6/21/2017, 11:20 PM

Hi,

I think that the first function to add is a subtitle function like one in Corel Studio or Camtasia. With the portable devices playing video sometimes we must turn off the sound and naturally subtitle is need. A second function very help full is to play the video and the sound track at half speed to have time to type text from narration. The play speed could be 0,5 to 2,0 adjustable 0,6 0,7 0,8 up to 2,0 or a slider.

Naturally you can extend the list may be karoake for song it is up to you but subtitle is a must.

Regards,

YR    

Those are good ideas too, though I might not use them very much myself.

johnebaker wrote on 6/22/2017, 5:33 PM

Hi Galaxy

. . . . Is there a numeric input for stretching audio objects? . . . .

I have not found one, the only effect that gets anywhere near this is the Effects tab, Audio effects, General, Timestretch/Resample which is still not as accurate as entering numbers and only works on one object at a time.

. . . . I don't see any explanation of how to play back audio at double speed in the manual. . . .

It is the slider control 2 as shown below - you can move forwards and backwards at variable speed up to a max of 99x normal speed if you keep dragging outside of the apparent slider limits - the only disadvantage with this control is you must keep the mouse button down.

. . . I have hardware acceleration switched on . . . I have a recent, fast nvidia graphics card . . . every minute of video I process typically requires 3 minutes of rendering time . . .

Is HWA actually being used ? You should see at the top of the export dialog progress pane either the words hardware acceleration, or Quicksync if it is being used, if you have the latest NVideia drivers then CUDA will not be used - NVidia removed support for this from their drivers.

I suspect it is not being used or there is a setup issue.

. . . . my logged-in status cookie had expired. I would have lost my entire reply, which would have been extremely frustrating -- except that I had taken the precaution of copying my entire reply before submitting the form. . . . . .

I have not come across this issue before, however Magix may have changed the cookie time to live to something shorter.

HTH

John EB

VPX 16, Movie Studio 2025, and earlier versions 2015 and 2016, Music Maker Premium 2024.

PC - running Windows 11 23H2 Professional on Intel i7-8700K 3.2 GHz, 16GB RAM, RTX 2060 6GB 192-bit GDDR6, 1 x 1Tb Sabrent NVME SSD (OS and programs), 2 x 4TB (Data) internal HDD + 1TB internal SSD (Work disc), + 6 ext backup HDDs.

Laptop - Lenovo Legion 5i Phantom - running Windows 11 23H2 on Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB DDR4-SDRAM, 512GB SSD, 43.9 cm screen Full HD 1920 x 1080, Intel UHD 630 iGPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6)

Sony FDR-AX53e Video camera, DJI Osmo Action 3 and Sony HDR-AS30V Sports cams.

browj2 wrote on 6/22/2017, 7:19 PM

Hi,

I would like to comment on more but I'm out camping. Maybe tomorrow. On the last point, I, too, keep getting logged out and losing my text if I haven't copied it to the clipboard. Most annoying!

Ok, back to cooking supper.

John C.B.

VideoPro X(16); Movie Studio 2025 Platinum; Music Maker 2025 Premium Edition; Samplitude Pro X8 Suite; see About me for more.

Desktop System - Windows 10 Pro 22H2; MB ROG STRIX B560-A Gaming WiFi; Graphics Card Zotac Gaming NVIDIA GeForce RTX-3060, PS; Power supply EVGA 750W; Intel Core i7-10700K @ 3.80GHz (UHD Graphics 630); RAM 32 GB; OS on Kingston SSD 1TB; secondary WD 2TB; others 1.5TB, 3TB, 500GB, 4TB, 5TB, 6TB, 8TB; three monitors - HP 25" main, LG 4K 27" second, HP 27" third; Casio WK-225 piano keyboard; M-Audio M-Track USB mixer.

Notebook - Microsoft Surface Pro 4, i5-6300U, 8 GB RAM, 256 SSD, W10 Pro 20H2.

YouTube Channel: @JCBrownVideos

Scenestealer wrote on 6/22/2017, 9:39 PM

Hi

The Timestretch feature is hard to control with my mouse. I wish numeric input were possible.

If you Rt.Click the audio object and select Timestretch/Resample a window will open where you can click on the Tempo radio button and drag up and down with a realtime display of the Tempo in Beats Per Minute and watch object length change, whilst the track is playing or stopped.

You can also Rt. Click > Save as an Audio Effect and then Rt. Click another audio object and Rt.Click > Load Audio Effect to apply the same Timestretch

Audio object volume is hard to control. I wish numeric input were possible.

If you left click the Audio level bar in the object a slider appears at 0.0db and you can drag this up or down with an accuracy of 0.1db. By Ctrl./Shift Clicking this and other objects you can change all in one hit.
 

To play audio objects faster than realtime you would need to turn on scrubbing, then use the playback speed controls already mentioned or just Rt.Arrrow and hold down Ctrl. or Shift for 5x or 10x speed.

Ss

System Specs: Intel 6th Gen i7 6700K 4Ghz O.C.4.6GHz, Asus Z170 Pro Gaming MoBo, 16GB DDR4 2133Mhz RAM, Samsung 850 EVO 512GB SSD system disc WD Black 4TB HDD Video Storage, Nvidia GTX1060 OC 6GB, Win10 Pro 2004, MEP2016, 2022 (V21.0.1.92) Premium and prior, VPX7, VPX12 (V18.0.1.85). Microsoft Surface Pro3 i5 4300U 1.9GHz Max 2.6Ghz, HDGraphics 4400, 4GB Ram 128GB SSD + 64GB Strontium Micro SD card, Win 10Pro 2004, MEP2015 Premium.

yvon-robert wrote on 6/22/2017, 10:20 PM

Hi,

Understand this is not common but quite new to the videomaker, check software to create SRT or SAMI file for subtitle. The reality SRT file is a standard text like a doc file but we add time to create when the text is display on the screen. To do most of the time we start to hear the narration and type but the narration is much faster than typing speed we must slow down the narration see the screen capture  

Nothing is changed in the video except we play the video at different speed to hear the narration and type the text and after we add time to create the SRT file. This is the next function because if you use a portable device and the sound is on may in metro, store, waiting room, class see the problem Or is the viewer use a different language sometime a text help to understand. Karaoke is another great  feature when we have a song in a video.

Corel has subtitle, Camtasia, Divx, Qarbon etc.

Remak in studio we have all text before to shot a video because we use teleprompter we only add time to create the SRT file.

Regards,

YR

johnebaker wrote on 6/23/2017, 3:09 AM

Hi Galaxy

Switching track slightly - have you considered using Music Maker (MMM) in conjunction with MEP either 'round tripping' the audio - see this topic.

Or

Completing the project in MMM by creating the video in MEP export is as Magix video vile (MXV), switch to MMM, import the video to track 1 in MMM, import your audio edit as required and then export from MMM, the only downside to this is MMM has limited export file formats.

HTH

John EB

VPX 16, Movie Studio 2025, and earlier versions 2015 and 2016, Music Maker Premium 2024.

PC - running Windows 11 23H2 Professional on Intel i7-8700K 3.2 GHz, 16GB RAM, RTX 2060 6GB 192-bit GDDR6, 1 x 1Tb Sabrent NVME SSD (OS and programs), 2 x 4TB (Data) internal HDD + 1TB internal SSD (Work disc), + 6 ext backup HDDs.

Laptop - Lenovo Legion 5i Phantom - running Windows 11 23H2 on Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB DDR4-SDRAM, 512GB SSD, 43.9 cm screen Full HD 1920 x 1080, Intel UHD 630 iGPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6)

Sony FDR-AX53e Video camera, DJI Osmo Action 3 and Sony HDR-AS30V Sports cams.

Galaxy wrote on 6/23/2017, 8:55 AM

Thanks for the suggestions. My comments follow:

@johnebaker

how to play back audio at double speed in the manual. . . .

It is the slider control 2

My version of MEP does not have that slider. But it's okay, I understand how to play fast now, using the keyboard. See below. Thanks.

 

I have hardware acceleration switched on . . . I have a recent, fast nvidia graphics card . . . every minute of video I process typically requires 3 minutes of rendering time . . .

Is HWA actually being used ? You should see at the top of the export dialog progress pane either the words hardware acceleration, or Quicksync if it is being used

My export settings are shown in the attached jpg file. In the MPEG-4 Export dialog box, I've selected "Calculate Video Effects on GPU". Also, when I click the Advanced button, I see that Hardware Acceleration is selected.

 

Re: Music Maker, That seems a good idea, though working in a single program tends to be more efficient. Efficiency is a high priority for me. However, I sometimes use Cubase if the audio recording is really long. I also have a recent version of Samplitude installed on my computer, but I haven't tried it out yet.

 

@Scenestealer

You can also Rt. Click > Save as an Audio Effect and then Rt. Click another audio object and Rt.Click > Load Audio Effect to apply the same Timestretch

Okay, I've tried that now and it does seem useful. Thanks.

 

If you left click the Audio level bar in the object a slider appears at 0.0db and you can drag this up or down with an accuracy of 0.1db. By Ctrl./Shift Clicking this and other objects you can change all in one hit.

Yes, this is the procedure I've been using, and I find it hard to control the slider with my mouse. It's not very efficient when applying different volume adjustments to 100 or so audio objects.

 

To play audio objects faster than realtime you would need to turn on scrubbing, then use the playback speed controls already mentioned or just Rt.Arrrow and hold down Ctrl. or Shift for 5x or 10x speed.

Okay, that seems very useful. Ctrl Right Arrow plays faster, and Shift Right Arrow plays even faster. I didn't know that. Thanks.

 

@yvon-robert

Thanks for the suggestions. I don't usually scroll text karaoke-style. Instead, I just paste in 2 or 3 sentences at a time. In my situation, that's easier to read.

 

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.

 

browj2 wrote on 6/23/2017, 11:45 AM

@Galaxy

I'm not clear on which version of MEP2016 that you have - basic or Plus? If basic, then you definitely will be missing features. And, there are features in 2017 Plus and in Magix Video Pro X that you do not have.

You should have the scrubbing slider. Do you see the jog wheel below the Preview window? If not, then click on the 3 bars at the top left to open the preview window menu and turn on the jog wheel. You should now see both the jog wheel and the scrubbing slider. If not, then it is probably because the Preview window is too small and you need to make it larger. Increase the width until you see the jog wheel and the slider.

As for volume and timestretching adjustments:

1. VPX, I don't know about MEP2017+, has Timestretch/Resample on audio objects. This opens object effects to Tempo pitch/Resample and fine adjustments can be made to the Tempo and the Pitch. Changing the tempo changes the length.

2. As for adjustments of 1db or less, no one can detect a 1db change in volume let alone a 0.5db change, so there is really no reason to make such fine adjustments. But, using the slider you can still do it or get something close. As well, you can use a volume curve on objects and another one on the track.

Comments on the list.

Your:

8. Colouring objects - you can reduce the steps by one by using the shortcut Ctrl+E on an object. This opens the properties page. Note that you can select and change more than one object at a time. However, what do all of the colours mean? You now need some way to remember them. I use a few colours to remember to come back and add certain effects that I noticed were required. Also, VPX and MEP2017 (I presume) allow you to add comments, and in VPX, scene, take and rating. So, you can indicate something in the comments field to correspond to the colour. This covers your number 10 - add a colour code and a comment on the audio file and you can visually see these later and know what is required by looking at the comment.

VPX has a project folder that contains all of the objects that have been used in the project (and not used if one wants) and it is easy to see and filter the fields, like the description. And then the object can be selected and highlighted from the list.

10. It may be that the title box has been expanded in MEP2017? See below:

One line of the title is longer than you would want to see on the screen. With the font at 30, the title wraps before getting to the end of the box. If you are putting more on one line, no one will be able to or will even want to read it; too difficult for the eye. Note that I have "Use only V area" checked so that the text will not extend to the edges of the screen.

Note that the vertical scroll bar will appear beside the title box if there are more lines that can be shown in the box. See below:

14. Agreed. I often want objects to be pasted onto a different track at the location of the playback marker. I end up inserting, moving the object to another track, and then closing up the gap.

15. Agreed. But then I would probably need a better computer.

John

 

John C.B.

VideoPro X(16); Movie Studio 2025 Platinum; Music Maker 2025 Premium Edition; Samplitude Pro X8 Suite; see About me for more.

Desktop System - Windows 10 Pro 22H2; MB ROG STRIX B560-A Gaming WiFi; Graphics Card Zotac Gaming NVIDIA GeForce RTX-3060, PS; Power supply EVGA 750W; Intel Core i7-10700K @ 3.80GHz (UHD Graphics 630); RAM 32 GB; OS on Kingston SSD 1TB; secondary WD 2TB; others 1.5TB, 3TB, 500GB, 4TB, 5TB, 6TB, 8TB; three monitors - HP 25" main, LG 4K 27" second, HP 27" third; Casio WK-225 piano keyboard; M-Audio M-Track USB mixer.

Notebook - Microsoft Surface Pro 4, i5-6300U, 8 GB RAM, 256 SSD, W10 Pro 20H2.

YouTube Channel: @JCBrownVideos

Galaxy wrote on 6/23/2017, 1:19 PM

@Galaxy

I'm not clear on which version of MEP2016 that you have - basic or Plus? If basic, then you definitely will be missing features. And, there are features in 2017 Plus and in Magix Video Pro X that you do not have.

I have the basic version of MEP 15.0.0.107.

 

You should have the scrubbing slider. Do you see the jog wheel below the Preview window? If not, then click on the 3 bars at the top left to open the preview window menu and turn on the jog wheel. You should now see both the jog wheel and the scrubbing slider. If not, then it is probably because the Preview window is too small and you need to make it larger. Increase the width until you see the jog wheel and the slider.

Okay, I see the jog wheel and slider now. That should be useful. Thanks.

 

As for volume and timestretching adjustments:

1. VPX, I don't know about MEP2017+, has Timestretch/Resample on audio objects. This opens object effects to Tempo pitch/Resample and fine adjustments can be made to the Tempo and the Pitch. Changing the tempo changes the length.

MEP is similar, but I would prefer numeric input, which would be faster than having to use the mouse, which I find hard to control.

 

2. As for adjustments of 1db or less, no one can detect a 1db change in volume let alone a 0.5db change, so there is really no reason to make such fine adjustments. But, using the slider you can still do it or get something close. As well, you can use a volume curve on objects and another one on the track.

Speaking for myself, I can hear a 0.5 db difference in volume. I agree, it's possible to make fine changes with the slider, but it requires too much fuss and patience, and I waste a lot of time trying to adjust volume levels this way. Numeric input would be much easier and faster. I think the slider is much too small. Perhaps it was designed for small monitors. Even if the slider were bigger, that would help.

 

Comments on the list.

Your:

8. Colouring objects - you can reduce the steps by one by using the shortcut Ctrl+E on an object. This opens the properties page.

True, but even with this shortcut, 5 clicks are still required, plus the shortcut.

 

Note that you can select and change more than one object at a time. However, what do all of the colours mean? You now need some way to remember them. I use a few colours to remember to come back and add certain effects that I noticed were required.

Yes, me too. I'd like to color-code audio and text objects, but the process is just too cumbersome, so I don't.

 

Also, VPX and MEP2017 (I presume) allow you to add comments, and in VPX, scene, take and rating. So, you can indicate something in the comments field to correspond to the colour. This covers your number 10 - add a colour code and a comment on the audio file and you can visually see these later and know what is required by looking at the comment.

That's a good idea, and adding comments is a somewhat more efficient process in MEP than changing the color. However, it could be even more efficient:

In MEP, adding a comment requires 5 steps: Click the object, Ctrl E, Click the comments field, type the comment, click OK.

In Cubase (an audio program), adding a comment requires 3 steps: Click the object, click the comments field (which appears above the timeline), type the comment.

 

VPX has a project folder that contains all of the objects that have been used in the project (and not used if one wants) and it is easy to see and filter the fields, like the description. And then the object can be selected and highlighted from the list.

10. It may be that the title box has been expanded in MEP2017? See below:

One line of the title is longer than you would want to see on the screen. With the font at 30, the title wraps before getting to the end of the box. If you are putting more on one line, no one will be able to or will even want to read it; too difficult for the eye. Note that I have "Use only V area" checked so that the text will not extend to the edges of the screen.

Note that the vertical scroll bar will appear beside the title box if there are more lines that can be shown in the box. See below:

Interesting. However, what I want is a way to mark one or more locations within an object. For example, if I hear 2 glitches in an audio object, I would like to mark those locations, but listen to alternate takes before deciding whether to invest any time to fix the glitches.

 

 

14. Agreed. I often want objects to be pasted onto a different track at the location of the playback marker. I end up inserting, moving the object to another track, and then closing up the gap.

Yes, I think this enhancement would be popular.

 

15. Agreed. But then I would probably need a better computer.

I have a pretty fast, recent computer, but rendering still takes time. For me, this is not a huge problem because I can just do something else while I wait. The situation where it gets really frustrating is when there's a time constraint, and I realize after rendering once that I've made a mistake and have to re-render.

In my opinion, Magix should prioritize fixing the basic usability issues, such as

  1. Ensuring consistent undo/redo functionality,
  2. Providing numeric inputs as an alternative to sliders,
  3. Reducing the number of clicks needed to color an object,
  4. Increasing the size of the text input box,
  5. Allowing markers that are attached to specific locations within an object, and
  6. Allowing objects to be pasted into a particular track.

 

John

Thanks for your suggestions.

 

 

Last changed by Galaxy on 6/24/2017, 9:26 PM, changed a total of 1 times.

Windows 11 recent version, graphics card: EVGA RTX 3080 FTW3, Asus X299 motherboard with Intel i7-9800x Skylake processor, 64 GB RAM, USB Audio interface: RME Fireface UCX

mschagen wrote on 6/25/2017, 12:30 PM

A little tip: My experience is that renders get faster when I disable the "Calculate Video Effects on GPU" option. As if you can use the GPU for either encoding or effects calculaton, but not both at the same time.😲

Galaxy wrote on 6/25/2017, 1:22 PM

you can use the GPU for either encoding or effects calculation, but not both at the same time.😲

I'm testing this now, and so far, you seem to be right. But how do you know this? Is it officially documented anywhere? Is it an immutable law of computer hardware architecture?

Thanks.

(fyi, my graphics card is the Asus Geforce GTX 1070, if that makes any difference.)

Scenestealer wrote on 6/27/2017, 9:03 PM

you can use the GPU for either encoding or effects calculation, but not both at the same time.😲

I think this should not happen because the encoding via Quicksync is done on a separate Fixed Function part of the iGPU hardware whereas the effects calculation is done using the Shaders of the GPU via GPGPU - General purpose GPU computing

I'm testing this now, and so far, you seem to be right. But how do you know this? Is it officially documented anywhere? Is it an immutable law of computer hardware architecture?

 

It is entirely dependent on the nature of effects and adjustments applied to your project and to some extent your Hardware - for instance if you had a very weak CPU it should be faster to do some calculations on the GPU.

Also - the way I understand it - not all calculations of an effect can be carried out exclusively on the GPU so there is some efficiency lost in passing data back and forward CPU to GPU.

In my case, with a high spec CPU and both the Integrated iGPU and a discreet Nvidia GPU enabled and Calculate FX on GPU selected, I see the load split across both GPU's during HW export and the processor cores at 100%. This completes export of a project with many effects, corrections and stabilisations about 10-12% faster than without the FXonGPU ticked.

If you left click the Audio level bar in the object a slider appears at 0.0db and you can drag this up or down with an accuracy of 0.1db. By Ctrl./Shift Clicking this and other objects you can change all in one hit.

Yes, this is the procedure I've been using, and I find it hard to control the slider with my mouse. It's not very efficient when applying different volume adjustments to 100 or so audio objects.

I don't quite understand this as it works smoothly here. If you are applying different volumes to all these clips are these a predetermined level?

Peter

 

System Specs: Intel 6th Gen i7 6700K 4Ghz O.C.4.6GHz, Asus Z170 Pro Gaming MoBo, 16GB DDR4 2133Mhz RAM, Samsung 850 EVO 512GB SSD system disc WD Black 4TB HDD Video Storage, Nvidia GTX1060 OC 6GB, Win10 Pro 2004, MEP2016, 2022 (V21.0.1.92) Premium and prior, VPX7, VPX12 (V18.0.1.85). Microsoft Surface Pro3 i5 4300U 1.9GHz Max 2.6Ghz, HDGraphics 4400, 4GB Ram 128GB SSD + 64GB Strontium Micro SD card, Win 10Pro 2004, MEP2015 Premium.

Galaxy wrote on 6/28/2017, 2:15 AM

I don't quite understand this as it works smoothly here. If you are applying different volumes to all these clips are these a predetermined level?

I increase or decrease the volume of each audio clip as needed, based whether the clip sounds too loud or too quiet. So, in that sense, the level is not predetermined.

I can usually estimate that the volume needs to increase by 0.5 dB or 2 dB, for example, and if I'm wrong, then I try again.

The slider scale seems to be logarithmic. This makes increasing the volume particularly awkward, because it's difficult to move the slider up beyond zero by a small amount.

My monitor is somewhat large, so perhaps the volume sliders appear smaller than how the programmers saw them when originally creating the program. My monitor resolution is 2560 x 1440. I don't think that's unusually large, but perhaps MEP was originally programmed at a time when monitors were smaller.

Thanks.

Last changed by Galaxy on 6/28/2017, 2:22 AM, changed a total of 3 times.

Windows 11 recent version, graphics card: EVGA RTX 3080 FTW3, Asus X299 motherboard with Intel i7-9800x Skylake processor, 64 GB RAM, USB Audio interface: RME Fireface UCX

emmrecs wrote on 6/28/2017, 3:33 AM

Hi.

The slider scale seems to be logarithmic. 

That's because real, physical faders you can touch are also logarithmic! Scaling on the on-screen faders is a "copy" of what the real-life faders actually show.

I've come somewhat late to this thread and I confess I haven't read all of it (!!) but your comment about the difficulty of moving a fader "a small amount" leads me to wonder if you have seen / used the small box below each fader which shows its actual level? You can double-click that box and enter any figure you wish, e.g. 0.1, and the fader will then be at "0.1dB". I've attached a screenshot below with the box outlined.

HTH

Jeff

Win 11 Pro 64 bit, Intel i7 14700, 32 GB RAM, NVidia RTX 4060 and Intel UHD770 Graphics, Audient EVO 16 audio interface, VPX, MEP, Music Maker, Vegas Pro, PhotoStory Deluxe, Photo Manager Deluxe, Xara 3D Maker 7, Samplitude Pro X7 Suite, Reaper, Adobe Audition 3, CS6 and CC, 2 x Canon HG10 cameras, 1 x Canon EOS 600D, Akaso EK7000 Pro Action Cam

Scenestealer wrote on 6/28/2017, 6:11 AM

The slider scale seems to be logarithmic.

Isn't that because our ears react in a logarithmic manner? The louder the SPL the less we are going to notice a small change. Having said that I agree that that the db scale change is probably too compressed above zero on the slider. Also the volume handle scale is not actually like the mixer sliders which are more expanded above 0db.

Jeff - the mixer numerical input will not help Galaxy because the mixer alters the whole track and he wants to adjust individual objects.

Galaxy - your monitor is quite hi res. and this is not ideal with MEP's GUI which is happier around 1920x1080 or 1200 for displaying it's controls.

 

System Specs: Intel 6th Gen i7 6700K 4Ghz O.C.4.6GHz, Asus Z170 Pro Gaming MoBo, 16GB DDR4 2133Mhz RAM, Samsung 850 EVO 512GB SSD system disc WD Black 4TB HDD Video Storage, Nvidia GTX1060 OC 6GB, Win10 Pro 2004, MEP2016, 2022 (V21.0.1.92) Premium and prior, VPX7, VPX12 (V18.0.1.85). Microsoft Surface Pro3 i5 4300U 1.9GHz Max 2.6Ghz, HDGraphics 4400, 4GB Ram 128GB SSD + 64GB Strontium Micro SD card, Win 10Pro 2004, MEP2015 Premium.

Galaxy wrote on 6/28/2017, 9:51 AM

>The slider scale seems to be logarithmic.

Isn't that because our ears react in a logarithmic manner? The louder the SPL the less we are going to notice a small change. 

I'm no expert, but I guess you're right. Every increase of 10 dB triples the sound amplitude, according to the first table on this webpage: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decibel

The same webpages states that "The human perception of the intensity of sound and light approximates the logarithm of intensity rather than a linear relationship (Weber–Fechner law), making the dB scale a useful measure".

 

Having said that I agree that that the db scale change is probably too compressed above zero on the slider. Also the volume handle scale is not actually like the mixer sliders which are more expanded above 0db.

Yes. In MEP, the volume slider on each audio object initially starts at zero, regardless of how loud the volume is. If I move the slider up about 0.5 centimeters, the sound increases by about 8 dB. If instead I move it down the same distance, the sound decreases by about 1.5 dB. Thus, a smaller mouse movement is needed to increase the sound by 0.5 dB than to decrease it by 0.5 dB.

I find it difficult to be accurate with really tiny mouse movements. So I end up spending a lot of time trying to adjust the volume of each audio object. (I've selected "Enhanced pointer precision" in my Windows mouse setup, but controlling the MEP audio object volume sliders is still difficult.)

For me, numeric input would be easier. But at least if the sliders were much larger, and less logarithmic, that would help a lot.

 

Jeff - the mixer numerical input will not help Galaxy because the mixer alters the whole track and he wants to adjust individual objects.

Galaxy - your monitor is quite hi res. and this is not ideal with MEP's GUI which is happier around 1920x1080 or 1200 for displaying it's controls.

Interesting.

Of course, ideally, the MEP gui would scale automatically to each user's screen resolution.

Anyway, one significant group of MEP users might be people who do computer graphics, and they usually prefer high resolution monitors.

Another significant group of MEP users might be gamers, who use MEP to capture their gaming, and they tend to prefer higher resolution monitors. One website states that "1080p is the most popular configuration used today, but 1440p and 4K are slowly acquiring market share". Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/1080p-vs-1440p-vs-4k-which-should-gamers-go

Hence, it would make sense for MEP to scale automatically to each user's screen resolution.

 

Last changed by Galaxy on 6/28/2017, 10:19 AM, changed a total of 1 times.

Windows 11 recent version, graphics card: EVGA RTX 3080 FTW3, Asus X299 motherboard with Intel i7-9800x Skylake processor, 64 GB RAM, USB Audio interface: RME Fireface UCX

browj2 wrote on 9/19/2017, 12:55 PM

Hi,

Just noticed something else in the mixer. You can double-click on the volume indicator box at the bottom, as Jeff pointed out, but, you can also make fine adjustments by just clicking on the box and while holding down the left mouse button, drag up and down. The indicator changes by tenths and a precise adjustment, to a tenth, can easily be made. By contrast, the slider is not as sensitive and small adjustments are hard to make.

The same thing applies to the Pan amount. Click on the number and drag up or down to make fine adjustments.

John CB

John C.B.

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johnebaker wrote on 9/19/2017, 3:11 PM

Hi

. . . . you can also make fine adjustments by just clicking on the box and while holding down the left mouse button, drag up and down . . . .

It is not just these dialog boxes, AFAIK every setting that has a slider and numeric input box is able to do this, some are finer adjustment than others depending on the function range.

John EB

 

VPX 16, Movie Studio 2025, and earlier versions 2015 and 2016, Music Maker Premium 2024.

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producer_ben wrote on 10/11/2017, 10:50 AM

I would love for it to be easier to see and adjust fx that have been added onto a clip.

At present in MEP Premium If I add fx I find it near imposible to find what effects are being used so I can adjust them

emmrecs wrote on 10/11/2017, 10:59 AM

Hi.

You can see exactly which fx have been added to a specific clip by looking at the narrow strip at the top of the video object on the timeline. You may sometimes need to zoom in quite a long way if it is a short clip and there are several effects in use.

BTW, I am not sure that the avatar that you are now using is especially appropriate for a public forum that is, therefore, open to users of any age. Would you consider changing it, please?

Jeff
Forum Moderator

Win 11 Pro 64 bit, Intel i7 14700, 32 GB RAM, NVidia RTX 4060 and Intel UHD770 Graphics, Audient EVO 16 audio interface, VPX, MEP, Music Maker, Vegas Pro, PhotoStory Deluxe, Photo Manager Deluxe, Xara 3D Maker 7, Samplitude Pro X7 Suite, Reaper, Adobe Audition 3, CS6 and CC, 2 x Canon HG10 cameras, 1 x Canon EOS 600D, Akaso EK7000 Pro Action Cam

producer_ben wrote on 10/11/2017, 11:10 AM

Hi.

You can see exactly which fx have been added to a specific clip by looking at the narrow strip at the top of the video object on the timeline. You may sometimes need to zoom in quite a long way if it is a short clip and there are several effects in use.

BTW, I am not sure that the avatar that you are now using is especially appropriate for a public forum that is, therefore, open to users of any age. Would you consider changing it, please?

Jeff
Forum Moderator


Well, that isn't exactly cinvenient for workflow efficiency. If for example you could select a clip and then have a right click drop down and be able to choose "current properties" and in that properties for their to be the whole properties of the clip, plus effects, plugins or whatever used, then be able to click that effect and choose "modify" or something, that would be far better than zooming in to rediculous sizes to see. Even still, your "method" suggested doesnt enable me to pull up the effect with its current settings to make quick alterations.

As for my avatar, if you're not sure if it is appropriate, you should probably look at a lot of other avatars. The world has progressed a lot :)

My Avatar is a muso joke. Used a lot.