VidPlay VideoValidator: diagnose video playback problems

99.9% of videos will play absolutely fine in the VidPlayVST DAW plug-in. However, occasionally we come across videos which have encoding issues that affect playback, random seek and synchronisation.

VideoValidator is an FFmpeg utility app which scans a video for encoding errors. It reports issues such as invalid frame time stamps and sequence errors. It provides advice on how the video format might affect seek and sync in VidPlayVST.

VideoValidator is available for Windows, macOS and Linux

Free Download

Example output for video with invalid decode time stamps (dts):

VALIDATION STATISTICS:
file name: C:\Users\Public\Videos\Sample Videos\pig.mkv
format: Matroska / WebM mkv,mk3d,mka,mks
video codec: H.264 / AVC / MPEG-4 AVC / MPEG-4 part 10
frame size, pixels: 1280 x 720
pixel format: yuv420p           3         12
video has rotation metadata? NO
frame rate, frames per second: 29.970
frame count: 960
video length, seconds: 32.068
final key frame, seconds: unknown
average key frame interval, seconds: unknown
video has audio? YES
audio codec: Vorbis
audio sample rate, samples per second: 48000
audio frame count: 1581
audio final frame, seconds: 32.063

VALIDATION TYPE 12, PROBLEM:
description: Found frame with Invalid Decode Time Stamp (dts)
frame dts, seconds: not valid
frame pts, seconds: 0.033
advice: VidPlayVST uses frame dts to achieve accurate seek when playhead is moved.
symptoms: Incorrect synchronisation when seeking.
note: Every frame should have valid dts. Errors can be caused by attempting to edit together video clips without re-encoding the whole finished result.
suggested action: Re-encode whole video.

VALIDATION TYPE 12, PROBLEM:
description: Found frame with Invalid Decode Time Stamp (dts)
frame dts, seconds: not valid
frame pts, seconds: 0.070
advice: VidPlayVST uses frame dts to achieve accurate seek when playhead is moved.
symptoms: Incorrect synchronisation when seeking.
note: Every frame should have valid dts. Errors can be caused by attempting to edit together video clips without re-encoding the whole finished result.
suggested action: Re-encode whole video.

VALIDATION TYPE 5, PROBLEM:
description: No Key Frames Found
advice: VidPlayVST uses key frames to do rapid seek when transport playhead is moved.
symptoms: Long delays achieving synchronisation when playhead is moved around DAW project.
note: Key frames are also known as 'I-frames' or 'intra-frames'.
suggested action: Re-encode video with key frame interval of 1 second.

Example output for video which has only 1 key frame (I-frame, intra-frame)

VALIDATION STATISTICS:
file name: C:\Users\Public\Videos\Sample Videos\Tractor_500kbps_x265.mp4
format: QuickTime / MOV mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2
video codec: HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding)
frame size, pixels: 1920 x 1080
pixel format: yuv420p           3         12
video has rotation metadata? NO
frame rate, frames per second: 25.000
frame count: 250
video length, seconds: 10.000
final key frame, seconds: 0.000
average key frame interval, seconds: 10.000
video has audio? NO

VALIDATION TYPE 6, PROBLEM:
description: Found Only 1 Key Frame
advice: VidPlayVST uses key frames to do rapid seek when transport playhead is moved.
symptoms: Long delays achieving synchronisation when playhead is moved around DAW project.
note: Key frames are also known as 'I-frames' or 'intra-frames'.
suggested action: Re-encode video with key frame interval of 1 second.

VALIDATION TYPE 3, ADVISORY:
description: Average Key Frame Interval greater than 5 seconds
advice: VidPlayVST uses key frames to do rapid seek when transport playhead is moved.
symptoms: Short delays achieving synchronisation when playhead is moved around DAW project.
note: Key frames are also known as 'I-frames' or 'intra-frames'.
suggested action: Re-encode video with key frame interval of 1 second.

Repair using VidRenderVST

Where a video plays successfully from start to finish, but has random seek/synchronisation problems, it will probably be possible to repair it using VidRenderVST. Follow the VidRender procedure and the plug-in will produce for you a new version of the video with key frames spaced correctly to do rapid seek and sync.