Hi John,

Title window.... I don't use MEP Templates, but the titles were created with my templates in V. MX18.  However, I created a few new ones, no templates, with the same issues.

Thanks for the advice about changing size the last thing I do.  Unfortunately, that's not always possible.  Titles are done with my initial edits, because they identify the places where I took the videos.  If I don't do that right away and I didn't "speak" the location while recording, then I won't remember.

Mercalli - I'm using the same default options as you in the initial (black) window.  However, I just learned something.  In the Edit (gray) dialog box, my "Avoid Border," "Pan Shot Smoothing" and "Roll-Compensate" settings were different.  Apparently, I was experimenting with them and didn't know/just learned that they retain the last setting you used.  I set them back to your settings, and I didn't get the excessive shaking in the export.  Thank you!  Unfortunately, some of my cam movements are too much even for V. 4. 

One other difference... At some point, I had checked "Keep Camera Dynamic."  I have no idea what that means.  Do you?

Other settings - Interesting about the differences in the "inconsistent behaviour," even between yours and mine with the Brightness.  It's also interesting that in V. MX18 this behavior happened only with the Sharpness settings (that is, of the settings I use), but in V. 2016 (I never got V. 2015), the Sharpness settings are normal, as are the new HDR settings.

Thanks for the feedback!

Kami

Hi Kami

. . . . If I don't do that right away and I didn't "speak" the location while recording . . . .

I know what you mean - I have a good memory for most places, however sometimes I get them mixed up - my saviour is the GPS built into my video cameras.

Does yours have GPS ?

John EB

No GPS, but it wouldn't help.  My "locations" are different areas (mostly lawns) within the large complex where I live.   It's very easy to get them confused.   These videos are logs of sightings of migrating birds, which is why the specific location is important to me.  And I'm a YEAR behind with the editing!   I also keep written notes, but I still get confused, esp. when a Title object doesn't stay in place.  (I group them with the video, but sometimes I forget.)

Hi Kami

An alternative - which I do use just for recording audio for background effects etc - is a small digital voice recorder (dictaphone) - you do have to be careful which one you get - some are are very insensitive.

HTH

John EB

@John EB and Kami,

Anyone using Dragon Naturally Speaking? They were offering a Philips voice recorder a while back with the program. I almost bought it and now I am somewhat regretting it. I find that just recording my voice gets lost unless I immediately rename the file appropriately. Maybe getting a transciption would help, which is what Dragon would do. What do you think?

@Kami,

Glad to see that you like the HDR. It was one of the main reasons to get previous recent versions. In addition, VPX7 has instruments and additional colour adjustments not available in 2016. An alternative is Pixelan Film Touch, which complements 2016 Plus/Premium with better and finer adjustments, and I'm talking about the controls, not the presets.

I will try to find some time to try out your problem areas with the new update and report back. Overall, I had a lot of crashes during the week while using 2016. Hopefully, most of the problems have been fixed. I have been spending most of the last couple of days with VPX6, trying to get a difficult video finished that had a lot of Neat Video effects. Not much time for VPX7 or 2016.

@John EB,

Thanks for info about Mercalli. I haven't yet much experimented beyond the plugin screen. My video cameras don't have GPS, so I started taking shots with my cell phone which does, to complement the videos. But then I forget that I did so when I come to editing. At least I have maps that I (my wife) marked up, and receipts of places that we went to. Google maps/streets and photos by others have helped many times locate places where we went - only to realize that we missed the main point of interest at that location.

Hi John CB

. . . . Anyone using Dragon Naturally Speaking . . . .

Used to in its many versions.

From the practical point of view I would not recommend it just to transcribe audio mp3 to text, it can be frustrating to use, it needs time to learn your voice and you must speak consistently to achieve a good transcription accuracy and if there is background noise it accuracy can drop dramatically.

HTH

John EB

Hi Browj,

When Dragon first came out, while I was working, I saw how time consuming the "training" is.  I don't have that kind of patience.  Also, I can't see how it could possible work with video and photo editing software.

Is Pixelan Film Touch an add-in for MEP?  How does it work?  One thing MEP doesn't do - maybe video editing software can't do - is identify a limited area to sharpen.  It would be similar to the additional color control in MEP, but I've rarely been able to make that work. 

I had a no crashes during my first week or so with MEP 2016, but several in the past week, both with and without error messages.  A couple of times, it stopped responding.  The last time was bizarre.  The playback was working, but nothing else.  I had to use Task Manager to shut it down.  When I launched it again, I didn't get the message box to report the error. 

Kami

Hi Kami

. . . . One thing MEP doesn't do - maybe video editing software can't do - is identify a limited area to sharpen . . . .

You can actually do this to many of the effects as follows:

1. Select the object to be sharpened and sharpen it
    
2. With the sharpened object still selected - click the down arrow shown below
    
3. Select Load effects mask
    
4. Browse the masks folders for a suitable mask shape and apply it.

You can resize the mask and change the area affected by changing the direction arrow at the start of the mask and attach it to a moving object if using video.

Here is an example of its use for blurring a section of an object - it is easier to see the result.

For more information look up Effects mask in the installed PDF manual.HTH

John EB

Hi Kami

A good use of John EB's method is to correct the fall off in focus or light towards the edges of some lenses especially wide angle adapters. Using a graduated circle mask to sharpen or lighten the outer parts of the lens field.

Another trick along a similar line, if you have sufficient contrast difference between objects is to duplicate the clip three times vertically stacked, apply the alpha effect to the middle clip after sharpening the top clip and softening the bottom clip, and then play around with the contrast on the alpha clip (up to 100%) to make more or less objects in the frame sharper or blurier depending on their brightness. The Alpha clip creates a travelling Black and White mask that will always be true to the action in the video.

On the Mercalli jiggling - I suspect that that may be related to distortion in the frame upsetting Mercalli's analysis and is the reason they have included all those presets for different action camera / lens types in V4. I know my wide angle adapter upsets my Video cameras stabiliser producing that anoying giggling which Mercalli V2 seemed to do a bad job of removing.

HTH

Peter

Hi

@ Peter and Kami

Do your cameras have optical or digital image stabilisation?

If optical - is there a setting for how 'aggressive' the stabilisation is, or a setting to indicate that a wide angle or tele converter are fitted?

My Sony XR520EV has both.

HTH

John EB

When Dragon first came out, while I was working, I saw how time consuming the "training" is.  I don't have that kind of patience.  Also, I can't see how it could possible work with video and photo editing software.

Is Pixelan Film Touch an add-in for MEP?  How does it work?  One thing MEP doesn't do - maybe video editing software can't do - is identify a limited area to sharpen.  It would be similar to the additional color control in MEP, but I've rarely been able to make that work. 

I had a no crashes during my first week or so with MEP 2016, but several in the past week, both with and without error messages. 

Hi Kami,

Pixelan has a suite of plugins for MEP. They work great. See my tutorials about using Smartblur Pro. SmartSharpen Pro does exactly the same thing, except sharpens instead of blurs, and the amount of control is excellent. One of the big advantages is the smoothness that can be applied around the masks, something that is not easy using the normal tools; you would have to created a graduated mask normally. The tool allows you to use an alpha mask (one of the builtin masks) and a colour based mask, the combination of which gives you a lot of control over what exactly you want to blur or sharpen.

Filmtouch Pro 2 has many features including some masking. You can start by selecting one of the presets and then playing around with the controls. Here are a couple of screen shots showing the controls.

Or for better resolution, one, two.

You can download, install and try out the plugins. A large X will be across the screen wherever an effect is applied, that will be removed if you purchase the plugin.

I too did not have many crashing problems at first, then a lot last week with a more recent patch. I haven't had time to test out the last one.

@John EB and Kami,

Thanks for the feedback about Dragon.

Hi John E.B.

My Panasonic HDC-SD900 does have a setting for Hybrid mode which includes a degree of digital stabilisation in addition to the optical stabiliser. Why do you ask? No setting for with or without W/A but I will experiment a bit with the different settings when the W/A is attached.

I see the manual suggests turning all Stabi. off when using a tripod, so it may help to do this when I use extreme wide angle also. I know with the big Broadcast lenses I service that the optical stabiliser gets confused if there is no residual movement to stabilise.

Peter

Hi Peter

. . . . Why do you ask? . . . .

There are times when using a W/A adapter that I have to turn down the optical stabilistion from aggressive to normal.  In these situations if I do not do this you can see a slight jitter as the aggressive stabilisation setting over reacts to any unwanted movement.

My camera is heavy - 800g - with the W/A adapter attached and 600g without, this is OK for normal shooting, but for a shot lasting more then about 5 - 10 minutes I normally switch to a monopod to avoid getting the shakes from hand holding as my arm gets tired.

John EB

Hi John EB,

Thanks for this information.  I've never used masks even with photo editing!  I have one question.  You mention applying the mask to an *object."   Do you mean a single frame, or a full scene with said object?  And if that object moves, be it a shaky cam or a moving subject?

Kami

Hi Kami

. . . . One thing MEP doesn't do - maybe video editing software can't do - is identify a limited area to sharpen . . . .

You can actually do this to many of the effects as follows:

John EB

Hi John CB,

I looked at the links, thanks for posting them.  I'm not sure how SmartSharpen Pro is better than the Sharpen tools within MEP?  Can it do anything with a subject, like a bird on a tree branch, in which the tree is in focus and the moving bird is totally out of focus? 

Also, as I mentioned in my reply to John EB, I've been keeping a great distance from "masks."  I used it once with picture editing software (I forgot the name, but it's not bitmaps) when I was working, but someone was telling me what to do.

I'll check out your tutorial.

Kami

Hi Kami,

Pixelan has a suite of plugins for MEP. They work great. See my tutorials about using Smartblur Pro. SmartSharpen Pro does exactly the same thing, except sharpens instead of blurs, and the amount of control is excellent. One of the big advantages is the smoothness that can be applied around the masks, something that is not easy using the normal tools; you would have to created a graduated mask normally. The tool allows you to use an alpha mask (one of the builtin masks) and a colour based mask, the combination of which gives you a lot of control over what exactly you want to blur or sharpen.

Filmtouch Pro 2 has many features including some masking. You can start by selecting one of the presets and then playing around with the controls. Here are a couple of screen shots showing the controls.

Hi Kami,

It's mostly in the amount of control over the area to be sharpened (or blurred). I did find that the amount of sharpening in Pixelan was slightly greater, not necessarily better, than what is in MEP. However, if your imgage is blurry to start with, like the bird, there is not much that I have found that can help. If the bird was in focus then you could have slightly blurred the background and sharpened the bird. Sharpen, sharpens details, it doesn't unfocus what is bad. I think that this is a fantasy of TV shows like CSI. Again, Pixelan allows for greater control over the area, colour, hue, or luminance to be sharpened. The effect can be combined with other effects.

I find that masks are very important. Take a look at the different ways to use them and you will see what we mean. Most special effects use masks in some way or another. A very basic case is to analyze title captions. Magix uses an animation overtop of a mask to create the effects on the caption.

You should take a look at my SpiceMaster tutorials to see other ways to use masks. SpiceMaster has thousands, or should I say, unlimited variations.

Edit: MEP is supposed to have an excellent feature - right click, create graphic overlay/animation that uses Xara. The animation hasn't worked since version 9 or X9 of Xara. You can create, when it works, an overlay or animation, mask or graphic, that animates over time, meaning that you can modify graphics or masks dynamically as the video progresses. This is explained in the manual, page 165. So, when it works, you could have a mask of a moving and changing and object, like a bird, over time. I just wish that Magix would fix this in Xara X11. It seems that Magix is deaf to my complaints and those of others concerning this fabulous feature(when it works). Maybe more complaints would help.

@John EB et al,

We are now in Charlevoix. We went from rain and no snow to deep snow after 5 hours of driving. Beautiful! I'll have to redo my Christmas video tomorrow. Best of the season to all!

Hi John CB,

Thanks for the recap, much appreciated.  Could you give me the direct link to your tutorial(s).

Unfortunately, Magix is deaf to my ideas too.  I wonder who they listen to for the fixes they make.

Kami

Hi Kami,

My tutorials are all under the Tutorials tab of this forum. Do you have access to the tutorials?

Yes.  There are so many there, I was hoping for a link to the specific ones you've mentioned.

Hi Kami,

My tutorials are all under the Tutorials tab of this forum. Do you have access to the tutorials?

Hi Kami

There is an easy way to see John CB's tutorials - click on his image left to go to his profile and select the Tutorials tab.

HTH

John EB