video de-sync and jittering

Tankhank wrote on 12/8/2020, 11:50 PM

I'm having a really strange problem that came after updating the software. It's hard to describe, but I'll do my best to run through what happens.

I start by opening Magix Movie Edit Pro Premium 2021 (side note, I run a Windows 10 64-bit system), and starting a new project with the following Movie settings:

HDTV
60.00 fps

HDV2 1080i (1440x1080) 16:9

(Note: I've always used these settings, but the issue only began after updating)

I then drag and drop my 2 hour raw footage file into the Magix timeline.

(Again, I've worked with large files like this in the past and had no hicks)

Here's were the problem happens. I start editing it, cutting out footage I don't want, and a couple minutes in everything goes bonkers. It starts jittering the video, the audio gets completely de-synced from the video, it seems like it's trying to layer the original video raw video over the edited version and swapping between the two making it impossible to continue editing.

I have a fairly beefy system and have never had any problems running programs, large games, editing large videos, or anything of the like. But all the sudden, Magix just doesn't work. Any suggestions? I've been pretty tempted to just switch to a new platform entirely. I tried editing a video using free software (filmora9) to see if this problem was only limited to Magix, and sure enough it seems like it is. So unless this problem can be resolved, I'll probably be asking for a refund and start paying for something else.

Comments

CubeAce wrote on 12/9/2020, 1:09 AM

@Tankhank

Hi Hank.

Judging by your screen resolution and length of video footage you are trying to edit gaming footage taken from a screen recorder which on its default settings is probably producing files with variable frame rates.that Movie Edit Pro can't handle.

There are two ways to avoid this problem with editing within MEP.

Convert the footage using the free program 'Handbrake' to constant frame rate or go to your screen grabber program and make sure it is set to record at a constant frame rate.

Ray.

johnebaker wrote on 12/9/2020, 5:13 AM

@Tankhank

Hi and welcome to the forum.

. . . . I have a fairly beefy system . . . .

What is your computer specification - see this topic for details for what is required?

A Mediainfo analysis of the source video will confirm if the issue is with Variable frame rate which many video editors do not handle properly.

Using the Tree view of MediaInfo in the Video section of the analysis if you see - Frame rate mode : Variable

that may be the cause of the issue as @CubeAce suspects.

If you see the value Constant, post the complete MediaInfo analysis result from the Tree view.

John EB
Forum Moderator

CubeAce wrote on 12/9/2020, 5:53 AM

@Tankhank @johnebaker

After doing a bit more research on this problem as it is getting more and more common I can find another possible answer as to why the increase in the rates of complaints.

Variable frame rate footage can be used in most video editing programs as long as there are no sudden large variations in the frame rate second to second of play. This variation can only be quite small though of a few frames difference to neighbouring frames.

A screen recorder can faithfully capture the game play frame for frame.

Video editors are producing constant frame rate output and will need a higher medium bit rate set by making the maximum and average bit rates available higher to cope with the extra frames that are put into place for missing frames but may still produce errors when having to bin additional frames when the frame rate rises above the project frame rate. That is when the audio is probably thrown out of sync.

Now, if you have gone from a standard monitor to a gaming monitor the refresh rate is going to double or more meaning the screen capture program is going to capture more variation in frame rates compared to older recordings exacerbating the problem.

So it could be MEP is playing up or has changed with the change over to the Infusion Engine, or for whatever reason an upgrade in the computer has allowed a larger frame rate variance to be recorded in the files from the screen capture program.

Either way if the variable frame rate recording get to too high a number of frames above the project export settings I'm sure that is where the audio sync problems occur.

Ray.

johnebaker wrote on 12/9/2020, 6:20 AM

@Tankhank

In addition to @CubeAce comment see my comment here - fourth paragraph.

John EB

Tankhank wrote on 12/13/2020, 1:58 PM

By converting the video from Variable to Constant frame rate, the de-sync and jittering have been reduced a bit. However, there is still severe audio de-sync.

CubeAce wrote on 12/13/2020, 2:29 PM

@Tankhank

Hi Hank.

I was afraid that may be the result of converting such a long file.

So I'm assuming you now have a file where the soundtrack is somewhat longer than the visual.

If I'm correct on that assumption then.

That would happen when frames get binned as the frame rate of the VFR file exceeds that of the set constant frame rate. The visual side of the file would become much shorter than the audio side of the file. I would imagine it starts to drift noticeably before you get 30 seconds in.

We may have to think about this another way.

If you have managed to get your screen recorder to now record at a constant frame rate it may be possible to play the original file in VLC media player or similar that can produce an accurate playback and then re-record the file using Constant Frame Rate.

That should then produce a file you can work with in an editor. Personally I would stick to normal video frame rates of no more than 60fps.

Ray.