Video AI 7.1.3 - loses main preview when repeatedly switching between multiple sources

Video AI Bugs and Issues
1

This week I upgraded from Video AI 3.5.4 to 7.1.0 on my Apple Silicon MacBook Pro (16gb ram) running Sequoia.

On several occasions, I have found that the large preview image frame and the frame strip below become unresponsive after exporting a project. I can see an image, but I can’t change it by clicking on the strip or by adding another source. If I add another source, I can see the new preview timeline strip at the bottom of the app, but clicking on it doesn’t update the main preview frame.

I then upgraded to 7.1.3 but that also has the same issue. I didn’t upgrade to 7.1.5 as I was under the understanding there are no bug fixes and it’s just about getting you onto Topaz Video, which I am not ready to do right now.

I tried restarting my MacBook, but that didn’t help either. Basically, the only way to fix it is to restart Video AI and start again.

Any ideas what is causing this?

2

Hi everyone, just an update. I removed both versions of Video AI (3.5.4 and 7.1.3) from my MacBook Pro and other related directories, restarted my machine and then reinstalled 7.1.3.

The issue still occours with the Preview window being stuck on an image. The only way to get use of the preview window again is by restarting the app. Very frustrating.

3

I have now analysed the application logs from two separate 7.1.3 sessions, and there appear to be some significant clues.

The logs repeatedly report:

TPreviewInfoOverlay.qml:65: TypeError: Cannot read property 'video' of null

There are also repeated:

could not set state for main video

and QML errors involving TimelineScrubBarView, DualPlayerPane and binding loops.

In one log, Video AI also reports hundreds of:

OpenGL texture creation failed -6683

However, I have another 7.1.3 log where the preview fails in essentially the same way without any of the OpenGL -6683 errors.

The second log is particularly interesting because Video AI appears to successfully load the source and generate the timeline thumbnails, but the main preview continues reporting that the video object is null. At one point the log shows the existing preview/video objects being removed, followed by:

could not set state for main video

and then repeated:

Cannot read property 'video' of null

This seems to suggest that the underlying preview/video object is being lost or becoming detached from the preview UI, while the timeline itself continues to function and generate thumbnails. The visible last frame simply remains on screen.

I originally experienced this on Video AI 7.1.0 and subsequently upgraded to 7.1.3, but the problem remains.

I’d be interested to know whether this is a known multi-source/preview-state bug in the 7.x versions, particularly on Apple Silicon, and whether there is a workaround.

4

Update: I can now reproduce the preview freeze without exporting

I have been able to reproduce the preview/timeline problem again, and this time no export or preview generation was involved.

I opened a project containing three different video sources and was switching back and forth between them in the preview to compare their image quality.

After switching between the three sources several times, the main preview suddenly froze on the last displayed frame.

At that point:

  • The last preview image remains visible.
  • I can no longer scrub through the preview timeline/frame strip.
  • Clicking on different frames does nothing.
  • Selecting another source does not update the main preview.
  • The other source and its timeline/frame strip appear correctly, but the main preview remains stuck on the previous image.
  • Restarting Video AI completely resolves the problem.

This appears to be reproducible simply by repeatedly switching between multiple sources in the same project.

This is particularly interesting in light of the application logs I previously posted. The logs repeatedly contain:

TPreviewInfoOverlay.qml:65: TypeError: Cannot read property 'video' of null

as well as:

could not set state for main video

and errors involving DualPlayerPane and TimelineScrubBarView.

In one log, Video AI also removes/recreates video objects while the preview UI continues trying to reference them. The timeline thumbnails can be generated successfully and the files report as successfully loaded, but the main preview still reports that its video object is null.

I initially suspected this might be related to exporting, but this latest reproduction shows that exporting is not required to trigger the problem.

My current suspicion is therefore that there is a multi-source preview/state-management bug in Video AI 7.1.3, where repeatedly switching between sources eventually causes the main preview to lose its active video reference.

System:

  • MacBook Pro
  • Apple M1 Pro
  • 16 GB RAM
  • macOS Sequoia
  • Topaz Video AI 7.1.3

If anyone else using 7.x on Mac has experienced the same behaviour when repeatedly switching between multiple sources, I’d be interested to know.