Mercalli 2.0.96 vs. SAL

vtxrocketeer wrote on 1/21/2012, 11:15 AM

Vegas Build 520/521. Cineform avi's on the timeline. Under the previous Mercalli 2.0 plugin service update (the purchased version), the Mercalli plugin worked great. I just updated to 2.0.96, restabilized, and am getting truly crummy stabilization. "Glidecam" turned into jitter city. It is a MAJOR difference.

I also updated the SAL version, did NOT install the K-Lite codec pack, stabilized to excellent effect using the same settings as the plugin. However, Mercalli SAL won't save to anything except WMV formats, even though I can see my Cineform (and other avi) codecs from a dropdown list.

What gives? I'm stuck between poor plugin performance and inability to export from the SAL version.

Anyone else seen this? My previous attempts to contact proDad make me wish I hadn't, so I've turned here for help.

-Steve

Comments

amendegw wrote on 1/21/2012, 11:30 AM

Steve, I followed your exact same procedure, except I'm at 2.0.95 Plugin (I made the upgrade on Jan 7, 2012. The ProDAD site seems to indicate that 2.0.96 fixes do not apply to Sony Vegas (now I'm scared to update to that version).

In any case, Plugin Stabililization works great so long as I make sure my Project Settings == Source Footage == Render Settings.

Also, I can see an improvement in the 2.1 version of SAL as the earlier version would hang at 21% render (30 minutes later it would resume - strange??), and I would see glitches in the output (even WMV). Now, it seems to work fine.

I do have ffdshow & Haali Splitter installed (but not K-Lite).

...Jerry

vtxrocketeer wrote on 1/21/2012, 11:53 AM

Jerry, thanks. I'm stuck. I can't go back to 2.0.95 because proDad's installer application just grabs the latest version from proDad. I have absolutely no control over that. I do note that during the install process, I can select Vegas as one among other NLE's.

In my case, I do have Project Settings = Source Footage (FWIW 23.976 progressive, 1920x1080). I'm not even to render, but rendered footage from Vegas (I just tested this) looks identical to Vegas timeline preview: jittery.

In the SAL, can you render to any avi codec? In my case, ffdshow is not applicable; I want a Cineform intermediate.

-Steve

amendegw wrote on 1/21/2012, 12:35 PM

Okay, I just tested my Mercalli v2.1 SAL and it rendered fine to the free GoPro-CineForm Codec v7.5.5

Source was 1920x1080 60p.

...Jerry

btw: Steve, check your email.

vtxrocketeer wrote on 1/21/2012, 3:27 PM

Jerry, thank you for your help, but my system must be broken. The SAL, even when I (un)installed it, still won't let me render to anything other than WMV. For the life of me, I can't figure out why. The splash screen warns that I have outdated K-lite installed (that's new! I never did this), and that I need an Intel SDK.

The .95 plugin also doesn't work any differently in Build 521 than the current .96 service update.

I installed the GoPro-CF studio (free), confirmed that I have the 7.5.5 codec, but I can't even see that in Mercalli. Presumably I would after clicking on "setup," but that is greyed out.

This is incredibly frustrating after day of troubleshooting toward the end of a large project. I can only guess that somewhere I munged settings.

Time for system wipe and rebuild, I think...

Steve

amendegw wrote on 1/21/2012, 4:17 PM

Steve,

If you'd like me to do some stabilization for you, I'd be happy to help. I can set you up with a temporary FTP account (or maybe you have a dropbox account).

...Jerry

PeterDuke wrote on 1/21/2012, 5:10 PM

"I have outdated K-lite installed (that's new! I never did this)"

You did when you installed SAL.

vtxrocketeer wrote on 1/21/2012, 6:20 PM

@PeterDuke: After I posted, I suspected that installation of SAL was the source of K-lite. You confirmed it. Oh well.

@Jerry: many thanks for the offer. Today, I slapped on my dunce hat, I went back to kindergarten and discovered something that I *think* was the culprit of my stabilization woes. During the audio sweetening portion of my project, I must have turned OFF quantize to frames BUT left ripple ON. Yep. Most of my events were NOT centered on frames.

I'm going through now and making sure that all event heads and ends, cuts, dissolves, etc. are on frame. During this process, I've re-stabilized events using the .95 plugin. Guess what?! It's working as intended. Jump for joy.

My preliminary guess is that having all events shifted by a fraction of a frame screwed up Mercalli. When I get to my real problem footage (that really needs stabilization), I'll be able to confirm for sure.

Still keeping on the hat, going to first grade now...

Steve

vtxrocketeer wrote on 1/22/2012, 1:42 PM

My final words, for the benefit of anyone following this, is that I had no more problems stabilizing events once I ensured that event frames were locked to project frames. It was tedious work, but I got it sorted out and my project is very nicely stabilized as I had intended.

-Steve

amendegw wrote on 1/22/2012, 1:44 PM

I always love a happy ending!

...Jerry