Edit for black or fade to black

[loninappleton]

Wekk with the new program install and following as best I can on verbal instructions
I got a "can't go to next keyframe" error.

so that was that.

  I've never uploaded video before to any 'cloud sites' and such so I've have to make an account etc.  I'll see what I can do with that and make a short clip.

All this happens in like 2 minutes at the end of a theatre play (first part) where an
interval is announced.

The intertitle comes on, that's where I cut the clip of the whole production to make a part one and part two.

  Today  I attempted to start just before the intertitle begins and just after for the
black section.  Nothing happens. 

[eumagga0x2a]

Wekk with the new program install and following as best I can on verbal instructions
I got a "can't go to next keyframe" error.

This is normal and expected if you are already at the last keyframe close to the very end of a video and keep trying to go to the next keyframe (which simply doesn't exist then). There is a dedicated navigation button and keyboard shortcut to seek to the last frame of a video.

This is NOT normal und not expected when this happens at the start of a video. If it happens, something is very wrong with the video (like presentation timestamps or frame flags marking keyframes missing) or a video really doesn't have any keyframes apart from the first one, which is possible depending on encoder settings used to generate the video.

To allow to tell which of the both scenarios applies, please start Avidemux, load the video, reproduce the problem, then close Avidemux (do not restart it yet, else the log gets overwritten!), compress and attach admlog.txt from %localappdata%\avidemux\

I've never uploaded video before to any 'cloud sites' and such so I've have to make an account etc.

Not in case of WeTransfer, not even an email address needs to be sacrificed. This is why it comes first in the list of recommended services.

Today  I attempted to start just before the intertitle begins and just after for the black section.  Nothing happens.

I can't follow you, please reproduce this "nothing happens" and provide Avidemux log then. It will tell, what kind of "nothing" it is.

[loninappleton]

I'll see if I can avoid typos today.

  I started on a workaround to avoid the last keyframe problem.  I just snipped
a small bit off the end. 

  Then I started to do hit and miss with Fade In/out to get the intertitle "covered".
I'm still at it where I can see the fade happening but doesn't start soon enough.
So by brute force I redo it backing up a second or two each time, save a view the result.

  This brings me to a new question on Preview:  Preview plays but slider
and go to arrows are not working and greyed out.  So the only that happens
is it plays from the beginning of file.  Is there something I have to install to be able to preview just whats needed?  The A/B system I saw but may be using in the
wrong order or something. 

  In sum I continue to look for that sweet spot and call it a day on this.

thanks for your patience

[eumagga0x2a]

I started on a workaround to avoid the last keyframe problem.  I just snipped
a small bit off the end.

Why that? If you get the error message that it is impossible to advance to the next keyframe, it is either due to a real problem with the video (in this case it is necessary to assess this problem) or due to misuse of keyframe-based seek while you need the "go to the end" seek.

Then I started to do hit and miss with Fade In/out to get the intertitle "covered".

There is usually no need in any sort of hit and miss approach. Navigate* to the picture where the filter should start, copy the PTS to clipboard (Ctrl+Shift+C), paste it into a text editor window for reference, navigate to the picture where the filter should end, repeat the PTS thing and add the "fade to black" filter with start and end values as above. After that add "black" filter with start time equal the end time of "fade to black" and the end time equal the total duration of the video.

Absolutely no need to actually process the intermediate results, this is a huge waste of time and a moderate waste of electricity for no benefit.

This brings me to a new question on Preview:  Preview plays but slider and go to arrows are not working and greyed out.

While playback is active, seek in filter preview is disabled. They are mutually exclusive. If you can't navigate dragging the slider, either the video is not seekable due to absense of keyframes (in other words: the video is severely broken) or there is a bug in Avidemux with the same result for this video.

To start assessing the situation, I need to see the admlog.txt from loading the video and trying to seek. If the log points to a bug in Avidemux, I will need the problematic video to develop a fix.

edit:

To be clear: if the video is not seekable, literally nothing in Avidemux will work.

*) In the main window.

[loninappleton]

I didn't want to leave anybody hanging on this.
With all my twiddling I have come full circle on it and have an edit I'm happy with.
I just snipped before the intertitle and faded out the audio instead.

Initially I thought it was more like a 'jump cut' at the end and not allowing for
a proper end of scene.  But in the redoing I have enough of a scene resolution to
black that is pleasing.

I've learned a lot though and thanks for your patience.  Rather than making a clip for
something I've completed I'll just wait for the next time such a thing is needed.   I may do one just to practice tomorrow and find that 'cloud' place wherever it is.   Your time is valuable for others.  I'll keep an eye on the forum as I can and the need arises.