Troubleshooting
Lion note
In Lion the user library folder is invisible. Since it contains application files like preferences file and application support files, you may need to make it visible.
You can open the library with option-Go in the Finder, or type shift-cmd-G and enter /users/username/library. You can make it permanently visible with the Terminal command "chflags nohidden Library" (without the quotes).
/system and /library can still be accessed from Devices (in the Finder side bar)/startup disk
The QuickTime MPEG2 playback component is needed for opening mpeg files, but it cannot be installed. Copy it from an older system.
In case of MPEG4 export the sound is missing.
Startup problems
In case of startup problems it often helps to delete the plist in home/library/preferences and/or the "Unfinished projects.plist" file in home/library/application support/jes/deinterlacer/.
Most problems are caused by failed projects that the application tries to resume. Use the Resume Projects dialog to cancel one or all of the unfinished projects. Alternatively you can delete individual projects from the plist using Property List Editor which is part of the XCode Tools installation (use Pacifist to extract it from the package on the installer DVDs).
Sometimes the log gets corrupt. Try deleting it in home/library/logs.
Also look for messages in the Console about third party QuickTime export components not loading correctly. Try starting with an empty home/library/QuickTime folder.
If nothing helps try starting up with the debug plist that can be downloaded from my site. Put it in the home/library/preferences folder, empty the JES Debug Logs folder, start the application, zip the files in the JES Debug Logs folder and mail them to me.
Import
To import .m2v files (MPEG2 video program stream) you need the QuickTime MPEG Playback component (even on Mountain Lion, copy it over from Snow Leopard). It can play MP2 sound, but no AC3.
For other MPEG2 types of file you may need the freeware MPEG Streamclip and convert to m2v+AIFF or m2v+MP2.
AVCHD can be converted to h264 with CLipWrap (prefrerred) or to Photo-JPEG with Voltaic HD.
Note that .mts files may contain either MPEG2 or AVCHD.
In case of iMovie project files it helps sometimes to check the "Force QuickTime Import" preference in the General Preferences.
Export
If an export won't start, hangs or crashes you may need to force quit one or more JES Movie Export Servers using the Activity Monitor.
QuickTime provides no MPEG2 export.
Some 3rd party exporters are not supported by this application.
Memory
If you do many projects simultaneously the app may run out of memory. Search the Console messages for "malloc".
In this case you need to reduce the number of projects in the general preferences pane (on my Mac Pro doing 4 projects at the same time is fairly stable).
Spotlight
Spotlight indexing can slow-down the saving of a large movie. To prevent indexing, go to System Preferences/Spotlight/Privacy and add the folder you save movies to to the set of "private" folders and disks.
Multiprocessing
Sometimes a project on a multicore machine isn't as fast as you may expect. Use the Activity Monitor to check how much CPU is used.
Disk I/O may be the limiting factor, especially if you read or write over a network. For top I/O speed read from one local disk and write to another.
Some Deinterlacer features aren't multiprocessing yet. The following are MP: deinterlace, modify color, scale (part of standards conversion), compress.
If you are a power user you can use Shark to find the slowest part of the pipeline. If you find a bottleneck report it to me.
Copy-protected media
Protected video cannot be converted.
Protected audio can only be copied, not exported or recompressed (even if you authenticate).
If you export to a QuickTime Movie file you can copy the sound manually afterwards, using QT Player Pro.
If you want sound to play during the conversion you need to authenticate (if your computer hasn't been authenticated yet).
Debug messages
In the preferences you can switch on logging to files. One file per thread is created.
Verbosity level 0 results in limited logging.
Verbosity level 1 logs on a per frame basis.
Verbosity level 2 logs on a per video line basis .
Verbosity level 3 logs on a per pixel basis (don't try this at home).
Normally you would use level 0 or 1, zip the files in the JES Debug Logs folder and mail them to me.
A special debug plist can be used to diagnose startup problems (see this topic on this page).
If you run many projects simultaneously you may get "error -42: too many files open" messages. This is harmless except that some debug messages will be missing in the log files.
Log
If scrolling misbehaves try making a text selection.