Variable frame rate (VFR) video has been and still remains a problem for Vegas users. Although current versions do a lot better job of importing VFR footage, Vegas still prefers constant frame rate (CFR) video and there is always the possibility of duplicated frames. A recent thread with Samsung Note 9 footage illustrates the problem https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/double-frames-when-decoding-uhd-hevc-59-940-fps--115107/ Two takeaways from this thread. First, there should be an easier way to test for duplicate frames rather than simply "eyeballing" it. And second, there should be a better way to convert VFR to CFR without having to transcode which can result in either extremely large file sizes or a loss of quality.

To address the first concern, I created an app called Duplicate Frames Finder (DFF). It uses some of the same code found in another tool, Render Quality Metrics (RQM), that I wrote last year https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/tool-for-measuring-render-quality--114398/

Like RQM, it requires the user to render an image sequence of BMP's for the test footage. The app then compares frame 1 with frame 2, frame 2 with frame 3, etc.

In the latest version of Happy Otter Scripts 1.0.2.55 https://tools4vegas.com/home/, there is now an option in the ImportAssist tool to convert VFR footage to CFR without transcoding. Only the internal timecode is adjusted--the audio and video remain unchanged. A demo of the both the DFF app and the conversion from VFR to CFR can be found here.

https://tools4vegas.com/variable-frame-rate-demo/

To date, I have verified that it works on Samsung Note 9 hevc, Samsung NX1 hevc, and iPhone avc. If you're interested in using the DFF app, you can download it in the Tools Library on the HOS website. There are also a few other freeware tools that are now available. If you want to test VFR to CFR conversion, you'll have to download the HOS package which will remain in beta through 15 May.

Comments are welcome.