Convert to edit-friendly keeps on going and going and

I saved a project about a week ago, but I accidentally deleted one of its components: the converted “edit-friendly” file that was created by Shotcut at the beginning of the project. So I closed the project and went to the original file that was converted for the project, and had Shotcut convert it again. I did not change any settings, just used the defaults, as always. I noticed that the converted percentage in the Jobs window kept going past 100%. The first time, I closed the program at 134% and tried again. That next time, it was at 235% and still closing when I quit (the produced files could not be played and I deleted them). In between, I downloaded and installed the latest version of Shotcut, in case there was a known bug that had been fixed; that made no difference. Then I rebooted my PC and tried again, killing the app at 272% (2.24 GB file size). The conversion worked the first time I tried it, over a week ago, and I have not changed the source file since the video was shot, so what could be causing this conversion problem?

Update: I just opened and tried to convert another .mp4 file: it is encountering almost the same problem. I stopped the conversion at upwards of 200%. The difference: when I closed Shotcut and tried playing that converted file in Windows Media Player, it played.

Obviously the way those files are written are confusing the progress-tracking in the tool. Don’t pay attention to the actual percentage value when it goes over 100 and wait for it to finish. Don’t interrupt it and try again unless it’s been going for hours. Yes it is a known problem with no fix.

You’re right: I let it keep going and periodically tried playing the Converted file that Shotcut was still processing. At the 6:27 mark, it became viable and playable in Media Player. I can only guess that the first time I ran it last week, I just kept on editing the project without paying any attention to what was going on with the processing.

I’m curious: can you explain why I’m able to edit the video while Shotcut is still in the process of converting it?

This is by design. Shotcut will use the original (unconverted file) until the conversion job completes. When the job completes, the original file is swapped for the converted file in the project.

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