Logo removal plug-ins - does MEP 2016 support .VDFs?

nmw01223 wrote on 5/22/2016, 12:01 PM

I've used MEP for a long time, on XP, then W7 and now W10, moving from MEP 14 through to MEP 2016 in stages.

I've used VirtualDub's logoaway VDF a lot for removal of screen logos. Very effective.

Now suddenly - won't work. The VDF shows up in the plug-ins folder but on trying to load it, it says "the plug-in DLL could not be found, of the file is not a valid plug-in DLL".

Had a look and found the most recent one is 2004. Ah, I thought, too old. Looked around and found MSU_logo_removal.vdf (3.0B, 2011),  put that in the plug-in folder and tried again - same result.

I also notice that MEP 2016 is a true 64 bit app, whereas MEP 2014 (the last I had) was 32 bit.

Now I'm beginning to wonder what is going on. I up graded to MEP 2016 around Christmas and I'm pretty sure I must have used logoaway with it since then, but from W7 to W10 quite recently, and I don't think I've tried to use logoaway since that change. So, I'm not sure what has gone wrong. My questions are:

  • Does MEP 2016 still support VDFs?
  • Under Windows 10?
  • Should it support these two?
  • If it's 32 bit DLL / 64 bit app problem, is there any sort of layer than will allow them to load?
  • If not is there anything else around that does the same job that it does support?

Comments

johnebaker wrote on 5/22/2016, 12:52 PM

Hi

. . . . Does MEP 2016 still support VDFs . . . .

MEP 2016 does support external filters VDF's, however they must be 64 bit.

Logoaway and the majority of of the Virtual Dub Filters are 32 bit and obsolete.  Virtual Dub has not been updated since 2013 and may be considered obsolete.

AFAIK there are no 64 bit filters available for removing logo's. 

. . . . If it's 32 bit DLL / 64 bit app problem, is there any sort of layer than will allow them to load? . . . .

There are a couple of bridging programs available, however they are designed for use with VST's not VDF's.

. . . . If not is there anything else around that does the same job that it does support? . . . .

AFAIK there is nothing available in 64 bit that comes anywhere near what LogoAway does.

A work around, if you did not uninstall MEP 2014, or tell MEP 2016 installer to replace the older version, is to use MEP 2014 to remove the logo and export the video as a MXV file and then use MEP 2016 to edit the project.

Or if you just want to blur it then you can adapt this method

HTH

John EB

Last changed by johnebaker on 5/22/2016, 12:57 PM, changed a total of 2 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.

nmw01223 wrote on 5/22/2016, 1:15 PM

A work around, if you did not uninstall MEP 2014, or tell MEP 2016 installer to replace the older version, is to use MEP 2014 to remove the logo and export the video as a MXV file and then use MEP 2016 to edit the project.

 

Thanks for your quick answer. I had already considered the MEP 2014 solution, and actually I'm doing it right now, so I suspect that is the workround. Pity though. Logoaway was pretty neat.

I'll have a look into blurring, but suspect it's not what I want.

I wonder how difficult it is to write a .VDF. I've written plenty of (32 bit) VST DLLs.

johnebaker wrote on 5/22/2016, 2:14 PM

Hi

. . . . I wonder how difficult it is to write a .VDF. . . .

I have looked into this as I have a few VD filters that I used with MEP.

The route I was going down was to look for the source code, which is available for many VDF filters, and then use Visual Studio and the VirtualDub SDK to change and re-compile to 64 bit.

The main hurdles were finding the source code for the filters I had, which proved impossible for some of them, followed by getting the SDK to work with VS 2015 - this it did not do properly. 

In the end the degree of effort required outweighed the amount of use I would get from the filters, when there is either a work around or something newer and better eg NeatVideo's Noise Reducer.

HTH

John EB

Last changed by johnebaker on 5/22/2016, 2:15 PM, changed a total of 2 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.

nmw01223 wrote on 5/22/2016, 2:47 PM

The main hurdles were finding the source code for the filters I had, which proved impossible for some of them, followed by getting the SDK to work with VS 2015 - this it did not do properly.

 

I suspect you are right. I have VS2010 so I guess I could try to see if the sample in the SDK imports, builds and works, which it probably initially will not.

terrypin wrote on 5/22/2016, 4:40 PM

That's disappointing, as I use Logoaway quite frequently with MEP 2014 (and earlier versions). I'm presently specifying my much postponed upgrade from 32 bit XP to a new high end Win 10 PC. I'd anticipated also upgrading to MEP 2016, but this (and other issues) make me hesitate. If I stay with 2014, will it work with 64 bit Win 10? If so, what sort of performance hit will I take?

Last changed by terrypin on 5/22/2016, 4:40 PM, changed a total of 1 times.

Terry, East Grinstead, UK. PC: i7 6700K, 4.0 GHz, 32GB with Win 10 pro. Used many earlier versions of MEPP, currently mainly MEPP 2016 & 2017 (Using scores of macro scripts to add functionality, tailored to these versions.)

Scenestealer wrote on 5/22/2016, 6:31 PM

Hi Terry

2014 should work slightly better, not worse, as mentioned in my reply to you post about a GTX760 for your new rig:-

Good to see you are going to make the leap.....I do not think you will regret it apart from lightening your wallet somewhat!

MEP 64 bit versions work much better and even MEP2014 with it's 64bit "optimization of RAM usage " is a lot more fluid. Of course some of this is the software and RAM availability and some is the upgraded hardware.

 

Actually I am not too shure about the "64bit" before the quote from Magix's advertising back at the release of 2014.......it may have just been suggesting that it somehow makes use of the additional RAM typically installed on 64bit computers. But the rest of my comment is valid although I have not done much with 2014 since installing 2016.

2014 will install in the 32bit programs folder of Windows on your new x64 machine. One thing I am not sure about is whether the additional 32bit plugins and effects programs will work though...

What "other Issues" are you referring to with 2016?  

Cheers

Peter

Last changed by Scenestealer on 5/22/2016, 6:31 PM, changed a total of 1 times.

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.

terrypin wrote on 5/23/2016, 2:41 AM

Hi Peter,

Thanks, I'd forgotten about that earlier helpful reply!

Haven't been too methodical in recording the various posts about MEP 2016 issues, but here are a few:

Jeff's graphics problem
http://www.magix.info/us/magix-video-maker-2016-synce-problems.knowledge.1165151.html

Truncated clips
http://www.magix.info/uk/movie-clips-are-truncated-when-transferred-to-the-timeline.knowledge.1158954.html?sort=newest&limit=50

Render times
http://www.magix.info/uk/magix-movie-edit-pro-2016-plus-slow-render-times.knowledge.1163829.html

Titles problem
http://www.magix.info/uk/mep2016-titles-rendering.knowledge.1149358.html

More important, what's the consensus now on 2016 versus earlier versions?

 

 

 

 

 

Last changed by terrypin on 5/23/2016, 2:43 AM, changed a total of 2 times.

Terry, East Grinstead, UK. PC: i7 6700K, 4.0 GHz, 32GB with Win 10 pro. Used many earlier versions of MEPP, currently mainly MEPP 2016 & 2017 (Using scores of macro scripts to add functionality, tailored to these versions.)

nmw01223 wrote on 5/27/2016, 4:14 AM

More important, what's the consensus now on 2016 versus earlier versions?

I moved from XP to W7 (64 bit), same machine, with MEP 2014, and whilst it all worked (performance was rather better actually, especially at the start of rendering for display), it crashed quite a lot. However I used it quite successfully for 6 months plus, just making sure to save projects regularly. I never worked out what caused the crashes.

Once I went to MEP 2016 the crashes stopped, it all works fine. I still have MEP 2014 installed.

I have now migrated the same machine to W10. MEP 2016 works fine, and MEP 2014 works just as it did on W7 - OK, but crashes.

However, I cannot run 32 bit VDFs on MEP 2016 on W10 at all now - which is odd, because I'm pretty sure I did manage that when it (2016) was running on W7 just after Christmas - though I cannot prove it. Whilst 2016 is 64 bit and the VDFs are really 32 bit DLLs, it would still be quite possible for a 64 bit app to load them - if they had explicitly written a layer of code to support that.

So, I have downloaded the VirtualDub SDK, and using VS2010 I have successfully built the sample video filter, and it loads OK into 2014. Not, of course, into 2016 for exactly the same reason as logoaway.

So, my plan is:

  1. Try to convert the sample filter to a 64 bit DLL, then if that works and loads into 2016
  2. Try to build a rudimentary logo filter as a 64 bit DLL (I don't have the logoaway source code)

Whether any of this will work easily or not I have no idea, and I probably won't push it if it doesn't, but we'll see.   An alternative is to use the VirtualDub application (32 bit), which can load the 32 bit filters, then deal with the logos that way first, but it's definitely not ideal and I have a feeling the input file would need to be changed to MP4 first.

nmw01223 wrote on 5/27/2016, 4:40 AM
  1. Try to convert the sample filter to a 64 bit DLL, then if that works and loads into 2016
  2. Try to build a rudimentary logo filter as a 64 bit DLL (I don't have the logoaway source code)

 

Well, so far stage 1 was easy. At first sight, it builds OK and it appears to load OK into MEP 2016. Not much testing yet though apart from a quick 'preview'.

nmw01223 wrote on 5/29/2016, 1:22 AM
  1. Try to convert the sample filter to a 64 bit DLL, then if that works and loads into 2016
  2. Try to build a rudimentary logo filter as a 64 bit DLL (I don't have the logoaway source code)

I've now built a rather crude 64 bit "de-logo'er" which seems to load OK to MEP 2016. Happy to provide a copy to anyone who might want to try it - with no guarantees whatsoever.

terrypin wrote on 7/23/2016, 3:45 PM
  1. Try to convert the sample filter to a 64 bit DLL, then if that works and loads into 2016
  2. Try to build a rudimentary logo filter as a 64 bit DLL (I don't have the logoaway source code)

I've now built a rather crude 64 bit "de-logo'er" which seems to load OK to MEP 2016. Happy to provide a copy to anyone who might want to try it - with no guarantees whatsoever.

Hi (Nate, Norman, Ned, Nigel....none of the above?)

Due to this site's stubborn resistance against the accepted standard of allowing threads to be sorted by most recent posts first, I've only just seen this news of your success and your kind offer. (Via my recent post on the same subject, namely getting logoawy working on MEP 2016.) Well done!

Yes please, I'd like to try it. PM?

Last changed by terrypin on 7/23/2016, 3:45 PM, changed a total of 1 times.

Terry, East Grinstead, UK. PC: i7 6700K, 4.0 GHz, 32GB with Win 10 pro. Used many earlier versions of MEPP, currently mainly MEPP 2016 & 2017 (Using scores of macro scripts to add functionality, tailored to these versions.)