WL El 12.0.50 still crashes (Audiomontage with mp4 Clip)

Hi,

during playback an Audiomontage with just a single mp4 Clip, WaveLab crashes after 1 or 2 minutes. This happens only when Thumbnails of the mp4 clip are enabeld .

I have already reported this bug (including Error log) here:

I would appreciate it very much if the bug could be fixed.

Thank you a lot, Chris

Combined Community Codec Pack - Download

Can you see if installing this helps?

As I am completely unfamiliar with this codec pack, I would rather not install it on my PC as I cannot assess its effects.

I use my PC intensively for video editing with DaVinci Resolve. Thumbnails are also used on the clips there. I have never encountered a problem with a codec used in DaVinci. Everything works perfectly.

Combined Community Codec Pack - Wikipedia

I’m sorry, but I don’t understand why I need a special codec packet to use WL, which has not been maintained for almost 10 years?

Is there an official statement from Steinberg that only certain codecs (H.264) may be used for the operation of WaveLab and that those delivered with Windows 10 are not compatible?

I have no experience using this with WL but I remember using this to play video on Ableton when nothing else worked.

This info was not related to WaveLab . WaveLab does not use external codecs for the video reading. This being said, I ignore why you get the problem. Try to convert the video to another format and see if that changes something.

For the official statement of what video formats are supported in Steinberg products including full technical details and recommendations see: https://helpcenter.steinberg.de/hc/en-us/articles/115000808250-Video-support-in-Steinberg-products

If you wish to convert your video to another format try: https://www.shutterencoder.com/ It’s free.

If I remember correctly, the default H264 format in Shutter Encoder should be compatible with Wavelab.

Windows 10 is also 10 years old. I was on Windows 10 using Ableton, and I used this codec when nothing seemed to work. This was about installing a codec to Windows and not to Ableton or Wavelab. Anyway, as PG suggest, you can also covert your video and try.

Thumbnail preview in WaveLab anabled!

Fujifilm X-S20 Clip: H.264 4:2:0 LongGop @100Mbit in mp4 Container > WL crashes

Fujifilm X-S20 Clip: H.264 4:2:0 LongGop @100Mbit in mov Container > WL crashes

Sony ZV-1 Clip: H.264 @50Mbit in mp4 container > WL crashes

DaVinci rendered Clip: H.264 @16Mbit in mov container > WL crashes

if I load any of these videos in Cubase 13, Cubase has no problems to playback the clips

if I load any of these videos in DaVinci Resolve, DaVinci has no problems to playback the clips

As long as I disable the Thumbnail preview in WaveLab, WaveLab plays back the Clips without any problems!

If you could share one of the videos that causes the WaveLab problem, that would be nice. Thanks.

I have found a few more correlations and can now crash WL specifically. You can use any video clip and it has nothing to do with the codec used! I think the bug is GUI based…

  1. load any video clip into the timeline of an Audio-Montage (the preview thumbnails must be anabled).
  2. select the timeline transport view > ‘Waveform follows’ !
  3. use the ‘Horizontal Zoom’ so that the clip extends far beyond the visible area of the timeline.
  4. then playback the clip.
  5. from the moment the cursor reaches the center of the timeline and the thumbnails start moving to the left, WaveLab will soon crash.

WaveLab also crashes without starting the clip. This happens when I manually move the transport slider back and forth quickly and the thumbnails then have to follow the slider movement.

I have recreated the same Zenario in Cubase, but Cubase does not crash for me!

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@Chris_Bln Cannot confirm here with that step by step (Windows 11) and this regardless of thumbnail view.

In the past I’ve seen Wavelab instability when a video was imported into the montage. However, it seems more stable with the latest versions of WL12.

This might mean that the other programs are a little more tolerant of different video formats. Do those videos comply with https://helpcenter.steinberg.de/hc/en-us/articles/115000808250-Video-support-in-Steinberg-products ? Please share one of the videos so others can test.

VidPlayVST.com - Home

Here you can see how WL crashes for me. At 2:02 WL freezes first and then crashes at 2:18. Sometimes WL crashes after 10 seconds, sometimes it takes a few minutes.

The testclip is here:

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I am on Windows 11 Home, and I have been looping this clip for a while now. It is still playing.

Try using this option, and not “Scroll View”, that puts your computer on stress:

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FYI using the test clip with View Follows Cursor selected I cannot make Wavelab crash.

I could make Wavelab freeze / crash when using Scroll View. So the recommendation would seem to be: avoid using Scroll View for videos. Personally I always use View Follows Cursor anyway so have never previously encountered this type of crash.

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At lower horizontal zoom this works with the setting (View Follows Cursor) without WL crashing. However, if I then increase the horizontal zoom step by step with a looped clip, I notice that the CPU and GPU load increases significantly (I can see this in the process explorer of Sysinternals). With a zoom factor of X 1:3, WL crashes again. The CPU load is then approx. 10-12%.

By the way, thank you all for your nice support :slight_smile:

The problem for me is that no matter which of the three PlayBack viewing modes I use, WL crashes sometimes even with a fast horizontal slider movement. Whenever a thumbnail is moved too fast there is a high risk of crashing. It took me quite some time to find out that it is the thumbnails that crash WL for me.

For example, if I’m working on a montage and I’m deeply immersed in my work and then have to slide from the beginning of the montage to the end, it happens… and Baang.
The only effective workaround for me is to deactivate the thumbnails. But I’m still hoping for a solution from PG :wink:

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