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Author Topic: Video playback in Lightroom  (Read 3138 times)

armand

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Video playback in Lightroom
« on: March 19, 2019, 04:36:46 pm »

I'm not sure if it belongs here or computers section but here it goes.
For a long time whenever I try to play videos in LR it stutters, falls behind (sound ahead of image). Videos play fine in other applications, be it HD or 4K. I'm getting fed up with finally.

My monitor is 1920x1200 only. Processor i7-4790 @ 3.6 GHz (an older 4 core), video Geforce 750 Ti, 32 GB ram.
I have enabled to use the graphics processor vs not to use and I also tried to limit the video size cache to 8GB vs no limit.

Any ideas? Thank you


PS. both mov and mp4. For whatever reason I have a 4K mov by Fuji X-T2 in landscape format which plays well (the only one) but others in portrait format from the same source don't.

rdonson

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Re: Video playback in Lightroom
« Reply #1 on: March 19, 2019, 09:29:05 pm »

The video card might be getting a bit long in the tooth but should work if its a 2GB VRAM card.

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/help/video-lightroom.html
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Ron

armand

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Re: Video playback in Lightroom
« Reply #2 on: March 20, 2019, 02:27:45 pm »

I suspect it might want a better video card but the other applications don't have this issue.

fdisilvestro

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Re: Video playback in Lightroom
« Reply #3 on: March 21, 2019, 03:19:30 am »

The most likely cause of those issues is insufficient hardware (for Adobe applications). Lightroom is not particularly good for videos and the functionality has not been updated in a long time. For instance, it still does not support H.265 on Windows. Additionally, I doubt that LR actually uses the GPU for videos.

There are many factors that influence the video performance during playback, so it is not surprising that you can play the videos on other software, especially if those programs do not allow editing. For example, your videos from the X-T2 in landscape format might be working because they play as it is (rendered video), but vertical videos have to be rendered on the fly to show properly (a hardware intensive operation).

Wayne Fox

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Re: Video playback in Lightroom
« Reply #4 on: March 21, 2019, 09:16:12 pm »

I suspect it might want a better video card but the other applications don't have this issue.
LR is having to render everything in real time, not just play a movie.

the challenge is crossfades.  Even a good cpu and good GPU (if LR is actually using it, never have checked)  will struggle  if you have 1 to 1.5 sec crossfades set. You can’t time it to the music because it plays each slide for the allotted time, but it’s taking longer to render the crossfade  than the allotted time, so the music will end before it gets to the last slide. the more pictures in the show, the worse this gets.  I just tried it and if you eliminate the crossfades it seems to finish at the right time. 

As long as you render it out to a movie it will play fine.

I think some programs, especially video programs, build and cache transitions as you build them so the playback is better, and often they are showing the rendered version as a lower quality preview.  I’m surprised Adobe hasn’t addressed this sooner.  They’ve added some features, but perhaps the intent of the slideshow module in their mind is like all other video software applications, you build it, then render it out to be played as a movie. Too bad, because the convenience of just clicking a couple of buttons and instant slideshow is really helpful in some situations.

I gave up on LR slideshows as soon as I discovered Fotomagico.  it’s pretty sweet.
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Alan Klein

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Re: Video playback in Lightroom
« Reply #5 on: March 21, 2019, 10:02:27 pm »

I use Lightroom to edit stills.  But I use Adobe Premiere Elements to make video shows combining stills and video clips.  I also use Premiere to adjust the video clips (ie contrast, lighting, saturation, etc). 

My LR will playback video clips.  I import them along with the stills from my camera.  But I don;t do anything with the video clips in LR and I don;t understand why anyone would use LR with video.  Could someone explain?

Wayne Fox

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Re: Video playback in Lightroom
« Reply #6 on: March 23, 2019, 01:45:44 am »

But I don;t do anything with the video clips in LR and I don;t understand why anyone would use LR with video.  Could someone explain?
I didn’t read anything into this thread about using LR for video, more about using Lightroom to show a simple “slideshow”, which I guess sort of implies it isn’t video, even though that’s the underlying tech to create them.

I think Adobe added video support because they envisioned a program to compete with things like iPhoto, and to be able to handle photos much like a current smart phone which are both video and still photos.  I haven’t tried the new LR CC (not classic) but I get the feeling that’s the target market.

I use FCPx or Screenflow to create videos, but a quick and simple slideshow export from LR works pretty good when you pull it into one of those programs.  It’s a little more challenging to create a simple slide show in a video program until you get the hang of it, it’s certainly not a click three buttons kind of thing.  When I do a slideshow I usually want it to be more flexible, allowing me to transition exactly when I want based on the music, and vary the lengths of slides and transitions to fit into the mood of the soundtrack, etc. And often text is important.  you can output a LR slideshow video and then easily add text over it in program like Premier, FCP, or something like ScreenFlow.

I think the slideshow module really is intended as an output module, not a standalone slide show presentation tool.  I think Adobe assumes you will create a slideshow with the intent of purposing it out for a specific circumstance (youtube, dvd, Powerpoint or Keynote presentation, etc.)
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john beardsworth

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Re: Video playback in Lightroom
« Reply #7 on: March 23, 2019, 04:14:46 am »

Wayne, I think the OP is talking about playing video and didn't mention slideshows.

As far as I know, Adobe added video support because the typical Lightroom users' cameras added the ability to capture video, and as a minimum would expect the program to safeguard those assets by importing and managing them. Beyond that, they added a few things that they thought were interesting, such as the ability to export and the adjustment workaround. At that point they rested on their laurels.... So you can't save metadata back to the originals, read from metadata (if you used Adobe's Bridge to add metadata), and the adjustment workaround is still the only way to tweak video.

I get some choppy video playback with various types of video. It's very dependent on the computer, because LR doesn't have its own video playback code and relies on the OS. Video software like Premiere is usually a better choice for playback.
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armand

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Re: Video playback in Lightroom
« Reply #8 on: March 23, 2019, 03:47:05 pm »

I was talking only about playback videos. When I import photos and videos from a trip I keep them in the same place and I don't see why LR cannot do some simple video playback, as all the other programs from the same computer can do just fine.

I was planning for some time to replace the video card though, for various reasons including stability in this system, so I have a RTX 2060 coming. I'll update you if that fixes anything.
« Last Edit: March 23, 2019, 04:03:31 pm by armand »
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Wayne Fox

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Re: Video playback in Lightroom
« Reply #9 on: March 24, 2019, 12:39:42 am »

Wayne, I think the OP is talking about playing video and didn't mention slideshows.

so I’m embarrassed.  I sort of assumed he was trying to show a slideshow video, because I myself haven’t ever found a reason to use LR for anything related to videos.

Maybe the DAM portion so you can catalog and find them easily, and then open them in a video program/editor?

And I guess I am surprised LR can’t play them back.  pretty straight forward stuff nowadays to just play a video.  Doesn’t take super hardware to pull it off. I now understand the OP’s frustrations.  not sure why LR can’t do it if other software has no problem.
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ButchM

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Re: Video playback in Lightroom
« Reply #10 on: March 25, 2019, 10:34:52 am »

On two different occasions I had issues with Lightroom refusing to play video files. In both instances it was just after Apple had released updates to the system video codecs that are invoked by Lightroom via Quicktime. The fix that worked for me on both instances was to re-install Lightroom. Then Lr seemed to play the files just fine. I wrote it off as Lr unable to find the new system codecs because it was unaware they existed.

Could just be coincidence ... could be just dumb luck ... but it worked for me.
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Dave Rosser

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Re: Video playback in Lightroom
« Reply #11 on: March 25, 2019, 12:24:09 pm »

On two different occasions I had issues with Lightroom refusing to play video files. In both instances it was just after Apple had released updates to the system video codecs that are invoked by Lightroom via Quicktime. The fix that worked for me on both instances was to re-install Lightroom. Then Lr seemed to play the files just fine. I wrote it off as Lr unable to find the new system codecs because it was unaware they existed.

Could just be coincidence ... could be just dumb luck ... but it worked for me.
I think, from the system description, the OP is running Windows in which case Quicktime has not been supported for a couple of years and is unlikely to be the cause of his problems.
Of course I could be wrong and he has some sort of mac machine...

Dave
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fdisilvestro

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Re: Video playback in Lightroom
« Reply #12 on: March 25, 2019, 02:47:18 pm »

When you compare all the improvements that Adobe has included in Premiere Pro over the years, you see that the video functionality in LR has been abandoned. They should either improve it or get rid of it completely

john beardsworth

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Re: Video playback in Lightroom
« Reply #13 on: March 25, 2019, 02:56:06 pm »

They should certainly not get rid of it.
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rdonson

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Re: Video playback in Lightroom
« Reply #14 on: March 25, 2019, 05:31:22 pm »

They should certainly not get rid of it.

I agree!!!
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Ron

ButchM

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Re: Video playback in Lightroom
« Reply #15 on: March 26, 2019, 09:42:15 am »

I think, from the system description, the OP is running Windows in which case Quicktime has not been supported for a couple of years and is unlikely to be the cause of his problems.
Of course I could be wrong and he has some sort of mac machine...

Dave

Regardless of the platform used ... it could be caused by a conflict or confused call from the Lightroom application to the host system OS underlying video codec resources. Either way, sharing my experience shouldn't cause any underlying harm for the OP.
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armand

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Re: Video playback in Lightroom
« Reply #16 on: March 27, 2019, 08:09:17 pm »

As an update, after I got the RTX 2060 it is slightly better but still bad. I has to be some codec issue or similar, I can't believe LR cannot do such a basic thing. I only want to playback, no editing whatsoever.

Alan Klein

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Re: Video playback in Lightroom
« Reply #17 on: March 28, 2019, 08:57:56 am »

Have you tried playing these videos using another playback app?

armand

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Re: Video playback in Lightroom
« Reply #18 on: April 01, 2019, 09:36:26 am »

Have you tried playing these videos using another playback app?

Yes, they work fine with the Windows native one and any other app that I tried.
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