1 Topic by ben_elgert

  • ben_elgert
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1) It would be advantageous to have the current playback framerate indicated beside the speed control on the playback windows. 

2) Currently when the capture framerate is increased compared to the video framerate using Configure Video Settings..., the speed slider is rescaled to show the ratio of video framerate to capture framerate at the 1X, 100% midpoint.  It would be more intuitive if the speed slider kept the same scaling of 0 to 200% and simply adjusted the slider position to show the ratio of video framerate to capture framerate.  As an example, if your video framerate is set to 30 fps and your capture framerate is set to 60 fps, the playback window speed slider is currently re-scaled from 0 to 100% with the slider located at the midpoint 50% (where 1X or 100% normally would be located).  I would rather have the scale remain at 0 to 200% and have the slider position located at 50%.  This will ensure that playback speed is consistently represented by the ratio or playback framerate to capture framerate on a slider scale of 0 to 200%.  Playback speed should be represented relative to the capture framerate (true time).

3)  It would also be helpful to allow the user finer control of playback speeds on the playback windows.  Perhaps by offering a text input box beside the slider that would allow the user to input an exact value from 0.000 to 200.000%.  This would give users finer control of playback speeds to manually synchronize videos when comparing movements in two different videos.

2 Reply by joan

  • joan
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Thanks for the feedback!

1) The original framerate of the video is indicated in the infobar above the video, maybe the playback framerate could be shown here too. It would be similar to what happens in the capture screen.

2) I think I understand what you mean. The issue is that 200% of real time may become several hundreds or thousands of frames per second to replay. It may not be sustainable or displayable by the monitor. This has become less true in recent years, maybe the max should be revisited. 

The other aspect of rescaling the range of playback speeds is that it lets you select slow motion more easily. If you have a 10x ratio for example which is one of the most common (30 to 300), the natural speed of the video would be too close to the left to be slowed down further with the mouse. Another approach to this would be to have the slider logarithmic instead of linear, as is already the case for the delay slider in the capture screen.

3) I agree. At the moment the way to do that is with the keyboard UP/DOWN arrows (jumps 25%), SHIFT+UP/DOWN (jumps 10%) and CTRL+UP/DOWN (jumps 1%).

3 Reply by ben_elgert

  • ben_elgert
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Thanks Joan:

1)  I think it would be best to show the current playback framerate adjacent to the speed slider control (possibly on the right hand side of the speed slider) as this is what the user is ultimately adjusting with the speed control.  It gives the user real time feedback as to the changes in playback framerate in addition to the already displayed ratio of playback framerate to capture framerate (in percent).

2)  I think a possible improvement to the speed slider control would be to double it's physical length on the playback windows thereby doubling the mouse resolution for finer speed increments.  The current playback windows have room to double the slider control length and display the current playback framerate to the right of the slider control.  The problem with re-scaling the speed slider is that it becomes difficult to play a slow motion video at full capture speed.  For your 10X example, the re-scaled speed range becomes 0 to 20% which is very limiting if you want to speed up the slow motion video.  I do understand how re-scaling allows finer control of further slowing down this slow motion video.  The current work around for the re-scaling is to change the default video framerate using Configure Video Timing... under the Video menu to the same value as the capture framerate and this will give you a speed range of 0 to 200% on your playback window.

3)  I think the easiest and most flexible solution is to add a text box that would set the slider to an exact user input value rather than coming up with a finer increment scheme.  The new text box could be located on the left hand side of the slider where the speed % value is currently displayed.  It would become dual purpose in that it would allow the user to input an exact speed % and display the speed % selected by the user on the slider control or allowed by the program during the playing of the video.  I would obviously keep all of your current increment shortcuts.