VideoReDo alternatives ?

[Marayong]

You mean this thing?

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/415875-Smart-Media-Cutter

WOFTAM.

That appears to be it. I've not tried it myself, just passing on the details. I notice both you and Bridgy have posted to that videohelp page, so no news to either of you. VRD still works for my needs, so I've not looked at any alternatives.

[Bridgy]

Unfortunately, none of this applies to the Pro version. Sorry Bridgy.

No need to be sorry for us poor Pro users, not your fault that Dan Rosen used a more complex Licensing/Activation system for us Pro users, i mean we paid a lot more for our Pro license and we will be the ones who will lose our License or Activation should the family of Dan Rosen choose not to continue maintaining the Pro Activation server.

For those looking for a VRD replacement, the VRD reddit forum also has a thread on a product inspired by VRD called Smart Media Cutter. It's shareware with a crippled free version: https://smartmediacutter.com. I've not tried it myself, so no idea how good it is. Or not.

Haha, SmartMediaCutter was inspired by VRD ???

that is a joke, i won't say any more, and it is not Free, you download a trial that leaves a watermark in the export file, it happened to me when i tried this crap several times, and i certainly would never pay US$33 for an upgrade, LosslessCut shits all over it for free.

[Marayong]

The internet is alas full of crapware. Good to have advance notice abut this choice example before I wasted time on it. So definitely not a recommended alternative for VDR.

[Bridgy]

The internet is alas full of crapware. Good to have advance notice abut this choice example before I wasted time on it. So definitely not a recommended alternative for VDR.

Nope, don't know why this software was inspired by VRD ???

[Marayong]

The internet is alas full of crapware. Good to have advance notice abut this choice example before I wasted time on it. So definitely not a recommended alternative for VDR.

Nope, don't know why this software was inspired by VRD ???

If you squint a bit, the GUI looks vaguely similar and of course it claims to do similar functions. But that's likely more a matter of function than actuality. Most likely inspired in this case means the author read about VRD and thought they could create something that could replace it. Sometimes such hopes are successful, other times not. I say read about since the author admits to have never actually used VRD. Nuff said.

Anyways, the good news from the the reddit forum is that the automatic activation server is back up & running for the non-pro version.

[Bridgy]

If you squint a bit, the GUI looks vaguely similar and of course it claims to do similar functions. But that's likely more a matter of function than actuality. Most likely inspired in this case means the author read about VRD and thought they could create something that could replace it. Sometimes such hopes are successful, other times not. I say read about since the author admits to have never actually used VRD. Nuff said.

Say what, i think these 2 tools bare no resemblance to each other in any way, and they definitely work in a completely different way.

VRD = developed by a skilled team, amazing product.
SMC = developed by an amateur who needs to learn how to develope his product properly.



[Attachment 84163 - Click to enlarge]


[Attachment 84162 - Click to enlarge]

I still can't work out where the cutting tool is and how you set your cut points.

[Seeker47]

The internet is alas full of crapware. Good to have advance notice abut this choice example before I wasted time on it. So definitely not a recommended alternative for VDR.

Don't know if this counts among your crapware, but just a couple months go by before I hear of yet another video editor, such as this one
https://sharewareonsale.com/s/free-avs-video-remaker-100-discount
a sister program to another video editor (more directly named) that they put out.
If any of these offered any serious rivalry to VRD, I expect we'd know of it by now.

[Marayong]

AVS video editor has actually been around for ages, pre 2010 at least. I had a play with it back in 2009. For the market it is written for, it does the job - and that market is the computer novice with little or no experience in video editing and just wants to do very basic stuff. It's GUI is simple, very simple, one could say babylike, but that's intentional given who it is aimed at.

PROs: If you want a simple video editor that the average computer user can use using just two brain cells (and one of those reading a book), then this is for you. And it does a good job at that. Unlike VRD it comes with a lot of fancy effects (and you can download more effects modules from the dev's website). By this I mean the effects that plague the world thanks to zoom & covid lockdowns - dubbing in different backgrounds, putting funny hats on people, turning people into animals and all that sort of stuff. Me, I'd say "Why, Oh Deity Why?!' but some seem to like that sort of thing. Don't ask me why ... Even my 9yo grand daughter has long since grown out of that!

CONs: They only offer yearly licences, not lifetime ones. It doesn't do frame cutting (but then that's rarer than hens teeth). And if you fiddle with the settings and try to do anything with it beyond the baby stage, a lot of users report stability issues. Oh, and customer support is very iffy.

But if you want a very basic video editor and like the idea of putting optical absurdities in your videos AND you've never used a video editor before, this one could be a decent pick. Of course, this thread is about alternatives for VRD and is presumably aimed at people who have used VRD and none of them (us) would be interested in AVS video editor since everyone here is presumably well beyond the baby stage of video editing.

BTW, I don't think sharewaresale actually has anything to do with AVS video editor ... they are just selling free and./or limited licences for various products. At most AVS are paying them to advertise one of their products.

On a side note, I trawled through my software archive to see when I played with AVS and in the process found that I've been using VRD since at least v.2.

[Bridgy]

Haha, good old AVS software, my god that brings back some very sad/bad memories for me, pre VRD days i refer to, and if it is still around no doubt it has never changed much.

I have a License for Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate (10.2.12) that was given to me by a good friend of mine in Sydney after i helped him get into the video editing arena several years ago

I eventually got him a license for VRD Pro when he started recording 4k videos with his new panasonic camera, but he ended up going back to his AiseeSoft editing tool because it gave him some added features that VRD did not offer.

He also used the Microsoft Movie Maker program to create Video Slideshows with.

[Seeker47]

We are awash in video editors, of various stripes ! I must have at least a dozen of 'em, spread across several rigs. (I think the Nero and Cyberlink suites even include one.) Maybe I should post a list of them ? Not sure about the Aiseesoft one, but you know that some of these editors are essentially replicated under different names, with some companies in turn owning several "sub-brands." And several of these -- although they may be widely promoted online -- are not even listed among the Tools section software here on VH . . . as if they were unknown. Or at least unknown to VH. (So you are always left wondering if something having merit could have fallen through the cracks ? Probably not, but not impossible either.)

Some video converters also have built-in editing sections.

[Marayong]

There are a *LOT* of so-called video editors out there. The problem there is that video editor is an exceedingly vague term that covers a very wide range of functions - basically any piece of software that can make a change to a video can be called a video editor. A program that can convert from one video format to another can and has been called a video editor. At the other end, a program that does frame by frame cutting and more is also (obviously) a video editor. I have a very old program (consists of a single executable file) that rotates mov files. No other file types, just movs. It's simple, cheap (free) and does the job .. and I got it years ago because one of the 'kids' used to have a phone that recorded videos as movs and they were always sideways. It nonetheless changes a video, so it too is a video editor. Technically.

For the sake of clarity (and sanity), what this thread was originally meant for was to come up with a list of "frame cutting video editors". And that list is evidently a very short one. VRD, losslesscut ... and presumably a bunch of very high end commercial video editors used in the tv & movie industry .. the sort that retail for $10,000s for a licence or more.

So Seeker, if you wish to publish a list here of video editors, please do .. but I very much recommend that you limit it to a list of software that does frame cutting (or a similar analogue). Or pick your own criteria for reducing the list of the 10,000s+ of different 'video editors' to something more easily digestible.

[Bridgy]

I would call at least 95% of all video applications, regardless of what they can do or specialize in, are just utter rubbish, and i have tried literally dozens of them, and it is usually those that you have to pay for being the crappiest of them all, and many of them could qualify as being designed by a child, then again that would be an insult to most kids.

Let's not forget that i am not talking about the more up scale, expensive, professional video editing applications that are available out there, those are tools for people doing higher end editing, although i have worked with DaVinci Resolve in the past, but only on files recorded in more advanced formats with high end video/cinema type cameras (BlackMagic for example)

This would be my choice for my next video and photo camera.

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/au/products/blackmagiccinemacamera

[Seeker47]

I haven't used it enough to say much one way or the other, but no one seems to have commented on https://www.videohelp.com/software/SolveigMM-AVI-Trimmer
which has a payware "Business Edition", and which purports to be a serious editor, lossless, with no re-encoding . . . but perhaps not to your desired frame. Has anyone delved into this one more, and have any judgement on that ?

[Marayong]

I very briefly looked into this over 20 years ago. At the time it only edited AVI's and then (and now) my hardware recorded as ts. The software still does not support ts.

The developer's website also describes it as "free to download". To me that's a big red flag. Pretty much all software is free to download ... some of that software is free to use, some you get a trial period of using it crippled, others you can't do diddly squat until you pay for it, but its still free to download. So what limitations does the free version of this software have? Since it doesn't support ts files, it is moot for me.

My hardware today is of course not the same as it was 20 years ago .. tho' it is the same brand (Hauppauge), which has stuck with ts recordings.

[Bridgy]

I actually used that tool many years ago, beforei started drifting between Standard Def and HD recording, it was great back then, so i am downloading the current version right now to see what has changed as far as the supported file formats go, and the features of course.

Will report back.

EDIT: oh oh, no way Jose, WTF ???? not another App asking users to log in or sign up, this sends a red flag to me straight away, and it took quite a while to install too, and it is not Free, i got a trial version, it will not import any of my 4k/60p, 1080/60p AVC and HEVC video files, not even a 720x576 SD video file, which i recorded in 2004, and now is an AVC file in an MP4 container.


[Attachment 84214 - Click to enlarge]

Supported file formats

AVI Trimmer+ supports the following media file formats:

AVI file format
any video content (DivX, DV, MJPEG, XVID, MPEG-4, etc.)
any audio content (MPEG-1/2 Layer 1/2/3, Dolby AC3, PCM, OGG, WMA, etc.)
AVI DV type1 and type2
any file size (more than 2 GB)
OpenDML AVI extension

WMV file format
any Windows Media video content (WM Video 7/9, MPEG-4 v 1/3, etc.)
any Windows Media audio content (WM audio 2/9, etc.)
non-indexed or damaged WMV files

ASF file format
any video content (DivX, MJPEG, XVID, MPEG-4, WM Video 7/9, etc.)
any audio content (MPEG-1/2 Layer 1/2/3, Dolby AC3, PCM, OGG, WMA, etc.)
non-indexed or damaged ASF files

MPEG Audio Format files (*.mp1, *.mp2, *.mp3, *.mpa)
MPEG-1 Layer I, II, III
MPEG-2 Layer I, II, III

MOV file format files (*.mov)

MP4 file format files (*.mp4)

MKV file format files (*.mkv)

WEBM file format files (*.webm)

FLV file format files (*.flv)

Additional formats that are supported in the paid product Video Splitter:

AVCHD file format files (*.m2ts, *.mts)

MPEG-1 Video Format files (*.mpg, *.mpeg, *.m1v, *.mpv)

MPEG-2 Video Format files (*.mpg, *.mpeg, *.mpv, *.m2v, *.vob)

[Marayong]

Two things I'd be particularly interested in .. does it support ts and what limitations are there in the use of the free version.

[Bridgy]

Hi again, i am such a Dill, i installed SolveigMM which installs AVI Trimmer, and a Video Splitter, but only opened the AVI Splitter, no wonder it won't import my files.

Ok so i opened Video Splitter and it imported a 4k/60p HEVC file.


[Attachment 84215 - Click to enlarge]

Haha, imported a 30 second 4k/60p HEVC file that was 41Mbps bitrate (154MB) but i did not trim it, i just wanted to test the Smart Render feature first, i exported to MP4, and it ended up 61Mbps bitrate (226MB) so it was recoded, my CPU was running at 25% and it took 2 minutes to export.

EDIT: dam thing crashed on me when trying to cut frames out, and the timeline and preview screen lag just like VRD does with these 4k/60p HEVC files.

More Crapware, sticking to LosslessCut, at least it works, and it is free.

[Marayong]

So free to download, whereupon you get crippled trialware software. Apart from the dodgy claim it's "free" and "freeware" splashed across the dev website (which clearly only applies to the AVI version and who uses AVI these days?!) .. then again, that's pretty common these days (the fake 'Free" claim).

And no ts support. That's a killer for me. Yes, ts is a weird video format, but most video players will play it, even if most people haven't heard of it. VRD of course happily reads ts files. Even my 15yo tv will play ts files!

BTW, how does it behave with HD videos, as distinct from 4K? Does it crash with them as well when you do a frame cut?

[Bridgy]

TS (Transport Stream) is not a wierd format, it's just a wrapper or commonly known as a Container for h-264 or MPEG-2 video files, these can also be MTS container as well, and i dare say that all digital media players and TV's will play them.

Years ago my Panasonic HD video cameras recorded AVCHD format, wrapped in the MTS container, after editing i always exported them to the MP4 container because back in those days TS/M2TS/MTS was not very well supported.

When i moved to 4k video recording my Sony cameras recorded in XAVC-S format.

Personally if you are still working with TS/MTS these days then i definitely would convert them into the MP4 or MKV container using VRD and that will solve your editing problem if you are having any, the files will not be recoded, just re-wrapped in MP4, but you could retain your original files in their native container just for archiving, use the MP4 version for playback on TV or other devices that don't support TS/M2TS/MTS container.

MKV is supposed be be a better container than MP4.

SolveigMM Video Splitter is fine with 1080p video files, but just like Smart Media Cutter, the cutting tool is hopeless, neither functions anywhere near the same way as VRD and LosslessCut.

Oh, forgot to mention, SolveigMM Video Splitter has a decent looking user interface, shame about how poor it is to work with.

[Seeker47]

Well, I guess it was worth a shot to test. (Again, I've never used any higher-demand HD, that 4K format. How common using that format is these days I couldn't say either.)

[Bridgy]

I get the feeling from a lot of what i read in this forum, there are a lot of people still working with much older video formats, i see some still working with Standard Def and DVD, which astonishes me given that in my world everyone has a fairly decent TV that will play digital video files, and i don't know anyone who has a DVD or Bluray player, and only my parents still has an old recorder to record tv shows, when they have a tv that can record onto a USB connected device.

Maybe not many people in here are dealing with 4k/60p AVC or HEVC video recordings like i use.

[Bodø Glimt]

If it ain't broke why fix it? I use programs that do what I want them to do. For what it's worth I still have have a VHS player, along with a DVD and Bluray player.

[imkira3]

I get the feeling from a lot of what i read in this forum, there are a lot of people still working with much older video formats, i see some still working with Standard Def and DVD, which astonishes me given that in my world everyone has a fairly decent TV that will play digital video files, and i don't know anyone who has a DVD or Bluray player, and only my parents still has an old recorder to record tv shows, when they have a tv that can record onto a USB connected device.

Maybe not many people in here are dealing with 4k/60p AVC or HEVC video recordings like i use.

Personally I'm concerned about CPU usage. I like to watch TV on my main PC in Daum Potplayer, but I set the process affinity visa-vide Process Explorer so it only uses 2 cores or so. By using the 2-pass h264 method I can avoid bitrate spikes and create files that will use a reasonably steady amount of CPU. In other words, once I work out how much CPU I need to give Potplayer, I can dedicate the rest to other tasks. For example, I have been doing a lot of backing up of files/archiving and ffmpeg conversions, both operations where the more CPU I can give it the better.

If anyone is interested in my method, here is my code. Currently -threads is set to 0 (unlimited) for both passes, but by assigning a number there you can control how many cores are used. You can also set process priority, just change /high to whatever you want. Normally 2-pass encoding produces temporary files too, but I sent all that to the RAM. This command will process every file of a given format (currently set to matroska) in the current directory and put the converted files in a folder called "C".

for %f IN (*.mkv) DO start /b /high /wait ffmpeg -i "%f" -filter:v fps=23.976 -threads 0 -an -c:v libx264 -preset veryfast -tune film -b:v 1200k -maxrate 1500k -bufsize 2000k -x264-params "pass=1:stats=\\.\stats.log" -f null NUL && ffmpeg -i "%f" -filter:v fps=23.976 -threads 0 -c:v libx264 -preset veryfast -tune film -b:v 1200k -maxrate 1500k -bufsize 2000k -x264-params "pass=2:stats=\\.\stats.log" -c:a aac "C\%~nf.mkv"

Oh and btw, has anyone inquired about making the code for VideoREDO open-source? All things considered it might be the easiest thing for the family, and frankly it would be good to have at least one decent freeware out there that can showcase how quick and effective smart rendering is at preserving video quality, it might bring more attention to the "proper" way to redo a video, and hell, redoing the program itself might be a viable solution for us pro users, lol.

Also, I read about something called Tipard Smart Renderer I think, not a freeware but it came with a trial. Anyone try it?

[Marayong]

Lots of posts to catch up on since I went to bed!

Yes, I know ts is a wrapper. I record using a video capture card which outputs as mp4 in a ts envelope. Hauppauge cards have apparently always outputted video as ts, although the contents have changed. My first Hauppauge card back in the stone age recorded mpeg-1 in a ts envelope, my current card records mp4 in the ts envelope. It's a few years old now but I daresay their current card records 4K again in a ts envelope. But I wasn't going to get into that irrelevant detail.

VRD happily opens up the ts files, recognising the actual format inside the ts container. Many other video frame editors don't have the ability to open up ts containers to see what's inside. TVs, video players etc pretty much all do, but only a few editors. That was the reason I originally chose VRD since it supported ts containers whilst none of the others I tried did.

I don't keep the ts files. After creating the file, I open it in VRD, edit etc and then save it as mp4 or mkv (usually the former since mkv is less widely supported despite having better compression).

Re Video Splitter .. this is mature software .. that is, it's over 20 years old, so one would expect to get a decent GUI but at the same time any failings are there because the developers have decided not to support those features .. as distinct from a brand new program where the devs are still working out what features to include. If it has poor cutting, that's because the devs don't consider it's a feature worth anything more than a token and lame ability - and it's not going to appear in a future update. If we are going to hope for something in the future with a decent cutter, then we'll have to pin our hopes on crapware like SmartMediaCutter that's still really in alpha testing and hope it (or another) will improve in the future to something approaching the ability of VRD. Mature products that currently don't have decent cutters are unlikely to add that feature in the future.

I work with HD. Apart from the fact my hardware & software is designed for HD and not 4K, as I've mentioned before I have eyesight issues and anything better than HD is wasted on me (even SD to HD can be iffy at times), so personally I have no need to shell out to upgrade hardware & software to get 4K quality. And for the record, I've got a blueray player set up with the main tv, tho' it's not plugged in and I still have a collection of DVDs/bluerays, either collectors editions or things I've not (yet) digitised. I've even got a VCR sitting somewhere in a box gathering dust. Last time I used it was back in the 2010s to digitise a VCR tape for an elderly relative. I could have taken it to a video conversion shop, but since I had the hardware ...

Imkira - Potplayer has an incredibly small footprint. I've been using it for donkey's years. It worked fine without any system issues on a 15yo 4core machine running win7. On my new rig even with Boinc running in the background, I very rarely get above 10%.

As for the VRD code .. the family has been asked about releasing or selling the code but they have been uninterested. Maybe one day they may be open to offers to buy the rights, but I can't see it being released as open source when they could easily sell it.

[Bridgy]

Oh and btw, has anyone inquired about making the code for VideoREDO open-source? All things considered it might be the easiest thing for the family, and frankly it would be good to have at least one decent freeware out there that can showcase how quick and effective smart rendering is at preserving video quality, it might bring more attention to the "proper" way to redo a video, and hell, redoing the program itself might be a viable solution for us pro users, lol.

The family of Dan Rosen will never give the code away, and if they did, Dan Haddix (VRD developer) should be the one to take it, given that he worked for Dan Rosen on VRD for 15 years as the code writer or whatever it was he did.

If they did release it into the wild, is there any chance that it might be destroyed by others, and end up very different to what it is right now.

Also, I read about something called Tipard Smart Renderer I think, not a freeware but it came with a trial. Anyone try it?

https://www.tipard.com/

I am trying out the free trial now (good thing i am retired now) this is the Ultimate version that currently costs US$70 and as far as the User Interface goes, i kind of like it so far, but might try and see if i can change the GUI Theme to dark, i hate white and pale colors for Software GUI's, and i love that the GUI is not cluttered like other editing tools are.

First test i imported a 30 second duration 4k/60p HEVC file (40Mbps) without cutting it, and set it to Smart Match and it exported my file at 70Mbps and it recoded the file which took almost 3 minutes, so it might be a case that this is not a Smart Renderer or have Intelligent Recoding that VRD has, but that we might just need to Create a custom Profile and set a manual Bitrate identical to the Source file instead, even if it has to recode it.

I am going to need to work on this one for several hours to sort it out, and do some edits (cutting) as well and try the various export options, which it has plenty to choose from.

I am kind of getting this feeling that this App looks of feels a bit familiar to me in the way that it works, i am thinking of AiseeSoft Video Converter Ultimate, which i have a license for, given to me by a good friend of mine (he uses it a lot)


[Attachment 84235 - Click to enlarge]


[Attachment 84236 - Click to enlarge]


[Attachment 84237 - Click to enlarge]

I will post up my report on this Tipard Ultimate Trial in my other Thread relating to VRD Alternatives.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/416487-Alternatives-for-VideoReDo-TV-Suite-with-Test-Results

EDIT EDIT: Ok i just imported the same test file and cut the start and end off, and i selected the HEVC MP4 Profile, then i selected the "Same As Source" profile (see 3rd Image above) and it ran the export in 3 seconds, with identical attributes to the Source file, BUT there is no real timeline showing the video frames below the preview screen like there is with VRD and LosslessCut, you need to watch the preview pane and select your cut points, but it does have options to move to next Frame, or move 1 second ahead, but the dam cutting tool is very strange in the way it works, similar to that SmartMediaCutter tool.

Going to take a while to sort this out, but when you cut parts out there is an option to add a Fade in and out segment between the cut segments for those who like those.

More Testing to come, but good to see that it does do Smart Rendering, how accurate the Cutting tool is on precise frames well i am not sure yet.

Also, the 4k/60p HEVC file plays ok in the preview player, but it is a bit laggy selecting cut points, but not too bad, and better than VRD on this one.

[hydra3333]

For the sake of clarity (and sanity), what this thread was originally meant for was to come up with a list of "frame cutting video editors". And that list is evidently a very short one. VRD, losslesscut ... and presumably a bunch of very high end commercial video editors used in the tv & movie industry .. the sort that retail for $10,000s for a licence or more.

So Seeker, if you wish to publish a list here of video editors, please do .. but I very much recommend that you limit it to a list of software that does frame cutting (or a similar analogue). Or pick your own criteria for reducing the list of the 10,000s+ of different 'video editors' to something more easily digestible.

Let's please not forget VRD's QuickStreamFix (QSF) on the list of requirements, which is an essential function for intelligently fixing OTA TV capture mpeg2/mpeg4 .TS file glitches and is essential (at least to me) to ensure watchable results ... and which runs from the commandline and in task scheduler to do "bulk" file fixes. No other cheap/free product that I've looked at can do that properly as well as VRD even if it says it does (eyeing you TSDOCTOR).

Cheers

[Bridgy]

Let's please not forget VRD's QuickStreamFix (QSF) on the list of requirements, which is an essential function for intelligently fixing OTA TV capture mpeg2/mpeg4 .TS file glitches and is essential (at least to me) to ensure watchable results ... and which runs from the commandline and in task scheduler to do "bulk" file fixes. No other cheap/free product that I've looked at can do that properly as well as VRD even if it says it does (eyeing you TSDOCTOR).

Hi, ok the Tipard Ultimate software does not do QuickStream Fix, however they do have a a tool called "Tipard FixMP4" which may or may not do what you need, and because VRD was originally designed for TV Broadcast purposes, maybe that is why Dan Rosen created QuickStream Fix, and nobody else has been able to duplicate it, or duplicate it properly.

I don't do anything related to TV broadcast, and i don't record TV shows, so i would not even know what QuickStream Fix actually does, nor know how it all works, so you might have to test this one out yourself.

https://www.tipard.com/fixmp4-video-repair/

[imkira3]

Oh and btw, has anyone inquired about making the code for VideoREDO open-source? All things considered it might be the easiest thing for the family, and frankly it would be good to have at least one decent freeware out there that can showcase how quick and effective smart rendering is at preserving video quality, it might bring more attention to the "proper" way to redo a video, and hell, redoing the program itself might be a viable solution for us pro users, lol.

The family of Dan Rosen will never give the code away, and if they did, Dan Haddix (VRD developer) should be the one to take it, given that he worked for Dan Rosen on VRD for 15 years as the code writer or whatever it was he did.

If they did release it into the wild, is there any chance that it might be destroyed by others, and end up very different to what it is right now.

Also, I read about something called Tipard Smart Renderer I think, not a freeware but it came with a trial. Anyone try it?

https://www.tipard.com/

I am trying out the free trial now (good thing i am retired now) this is the Ultimate version that currently costs US$70 and as far as the User Interface goes, i kind of like it so far, but might try and see if i can change the GUI Theme to dark, i hate white and pale colors for Software GUI's, and i love that the GUI is not cluttered like other editing tools are.

First test i imported a 30 second duration 4k/60p HEVC file (40Mbps) without cutting it, and set it to Smart Match and it exported my file at 70Mbps and it recoded the file which took almost 3 minutes, so it might be a case that this is not a Smart Renderer or have Intelligent Recoding that VRD has, but that we might just need to Create a custom Profile and set a manual Bitrate identical to the Source file instead, even if it has to recode it.

I am going to need to work on this one for several hours to sort it out, and do some edits (cutting) as well and try the various export options, which it has plenty to choose from.

I am kind of getting this feeling that this App looks of feels a bit familiar to me in the way that it works, i am thinking of AiseeSoft Video Converter Ultimate, which i have a license for, given to me by a good friend of mine (he uses it a lot)


[Attachment 84235 - Click to enlarge]


[Attachment 84236 - Click to enlarge]


[Attachment 84237 - Click to enlarge]

I will post up my report on this Tipard Ultimate Trial in my other Thread relating to VRD Alternatives.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/416487-Alternatives-for-VideoReDo-TV-Suite-with-Test-Results

EDIT EDIT: Ok i just imported the same test file and cut the start and end off, and i selected the HEVC MP4 Profile, then i selected the "Same As Source" profile (see 3rd Image above) and it ran the export in 3 seconds, with identical attributes to the Source file, BUT there is no real timeline showing the video frames below the preview screen like there is with VRD and LosslessCut, you need to watch the preview pane and select your cut points, but it does have options to move to next Frame, or move 1 second ahead, but the dam cutting tool is very strange in the way it works, similar to that SmartMediaCutter tool.

Going to take a while to sort this out, but when you cut parts out there is an option to add a Fade in and out segment between the cut segments for those who like those.

More Testing to come, but good to see that it does do Smart Rendering, how accurate the Cutting tool is on precise frames well i am not sure yet.

Also, the 4k/60p HEVC file plays ok in the preview player, but it is a bit laggy selecting cut points, but not too bad, and better than VRD on this one.

Seems I was mistaken, I did try Tipard at some point but the one I was trying to remember the name of was actually TMPGenc Smart Renderer. I found the name in my history. I haven't tried it yet, but I did look up pictures of the GUI and it looks impressive, in fact it reminds me a lot of VideoREDO, and it does have the same frame/timeline amalgam. Still, it's good to know Tipard supports smart rendering too, guess I'll chalk that up to a lucky accident, thanks for checking it out man.

[Marayong]

Imkira3 - Bridgy has already reviewed TMPGenc Smart Renderer and found it has some serious defects, viz missing capabilities. Scroll back a ways ... it might have been the first alternative he looked at so could be on the previous page of this forum.

You'd also have to buy several tmpgenc applications to duplicate what VRD does. They also don't do lossless cutting.

[Bridgy]

Imkira3 - Bridgy has already reviewed TMPGenc Smart Renderer and found it has some serious defects, viz missing capabilities. Scroll back a ways ... it might have been the first alternative he looked at so could be on the previous page of this forum.

You'd also have to buy several tmpgenc applications to duplicate what VRD does. They also don't do lossless cutting.

I wouldn't say that TMPGEnc Smart Renderer 6 has serious defects, it just doesn't do things the same way that VRD does them, and the so called Smart Render feature seems rather strange in the way that it works, and unlike VRD, it does not export to other formats or resolutions etc, for that you need to buy the TMPGEnc Video Mastering Works 7, or, in my case, i would just use Handbrake, as long as you understand how video Bitrates work in relation to exporting a source file to another format.

You can find all my testing of various Tools in my own VRD Alternatives Thread here in the following link, everyone is welcome to post in this Thread as it may be of help to me, and other members as well.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/416487-Alternatives-for-VideoReDo-TV-Suite-with-Test-Results

These are the 2 posts dedicated to TMPHEnc Smart Renderer 6.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/416487-Alternatives-for-VideoReDo-TV-Suite-with-Te...ts#post2756641

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/416487-Alternatives-for-VideoReDo-TV-Suite-with-Te...ts#post2756710

I like to point out that Baldrick has now posted a reply regarding the use of Tipard Video Converter Ultimate in my Thread, to which i will do some research on in the next day or so.

Personally i had never heard of Tipard Software before, but it seems like they also develop other kinds of software too.

If it ain't broke why fix it? I use programs that do what I want them to do. For what it's worth I still have have a VHS player, along with a DVD and Bluray player.

Yep and that is fine by me, and VRD does everything that i need it to do for my own personal video editing needs, EXCEPT that Dan Rosen never finished the full support for 4K and more so, 4k HEVC video files, so i need to record in 4k/60p AVC (h.264) or use an alternative such as LosslessCut to trim out my files and Smart Render them back to their original format.