Hi All,

I'm new to kdenlive and maybe did miss how to do that simple thing as described below. I've done some research on the subject but till the moment didn't find what I'm looking for.

I need to replace source clip in the project from clip A to clip B (different format).

Why do I need to do that?

1. Simply, original clips are DV interlaced format whilst I'm targeting progressive video output. For that reason I'm running through deinterlace process using AviSynth (yes, I know it's not linux, but this gives me the best results).

2. Also the other reason why such function might be needed is that all the simple edits such as cuts might be done using low resolution, downscaled copy of raw material.

3. To save time by having possibility to cut and prepare project in kdenlive whilst source materials are being worked on by other people or at least on other hosts.

Final render should be done using full quality sources hence just before rendering, source clips would be pointed to the other files.

I assume here, that length of the clip A and B are the same, in case if not some trimming might be required, ie. at the end of the clip or in case if A is shorter then B, black frames might be assumed.

I did take a look on the XML project source and the operation might come to as simple as replacing resource path in the XML file plus maybe something in case if trimming would be needed, but not necessarily.


Maybe there are some ways to do that which are still to be discovered by me, however as far as I know this might be easily done under Premiere, just by right click on the clip and selecting "Replace Footage".

It's not to duplicate Premiere, but it's a useful functionality at least for me as I can work on edit whilst deinterlace process is being done on the other machine and I'm not dependent on having that finished.

Thanks for your attention and time.

I've had some luck with just replacing files and then reopening Kdenlive.

In my case I converted some 1080HD files to mpeg2 files but with the exact same name (videofile01.MTS etc.). Then after editing just close the project, 'secretly' replace the videofiles and reopen the project.

Then check the project/render settings and render. I haven't tested this workaround method very thoroughly though but maybe it works for you.

I take it when you say "glitchy as hell" as meaning, trying to work with your original clips in the timeline. The two posts above yours are pre-Proxy Clip days. If you use "Proxy Clips", Kdenlive creates a low resolution copy of your clip and uses that in the timeline for easy editing. When you render, it uses your original clips.

http://userbase.kde.org/Kdenlive/Manual/Projects_and_Files/Clips#Proxy_clips

So you edited with the half resolution that didn't actually match the originl 720P in duration, or that kdenlive / Melt may have handled the decoding not so well with your transcode, although you weren't aware of that at the time?

Have you tried using that mencoder line and not down rezzing? Then testing them to see if they're one frame off to match the half rez? Then job's done? Not use the original 720P at all?

I have noticed that when I "JKL scrub", there is an (one frame?) jerk at
the beginning. For example, if I press "L", the image first jumps a liitle
back in time, and then plays normally. The same with "J", just mirrored.
(This happens with DV clips, haven't tried other formats.)

Could this be the simptom of the same problem with the first/last frames?

Although the five or six static tail end and the two leading static frames has been fixed, I still get two matching frames at the end of my .MTS clips. Yes, I also get the jumps as you describe when scrubbing.

I also noticed a little while back, that if you toggled off and on the Proxy clip, the video thumbnail in the timeline moved slightly. This made me wonder, is what I am seeing exactly what I'm getting? blackwidower is not using Proxies, so is this still a small MLT problem within Kdenlive.