Solved Help! The beginning of my video looks like a compressed jpg. Can not find the answer anywhere.

The video above is an unlisted video that I just uploaded to show what is going wrong. I have scoured the web but found nothing on this. The video starts with a horribly compressed looking image, and then clears up completely all the way until 2:20ish where the clip changes in.

I have matched the video settings, checked the raw video file, tried Dynamic RAM prerender, among other things. Please help me so I don't need to lose many hours of work time.

Hi thatdenverguyYT

Which exact program and version are you using ?

Most errors like I can see in your video, are caused by Graphics Card Driver problems/incompatibility.
Go to Options/Preferences/Video/GPU Acceleration and set to OFF.

If you are rendering to Mainconcept AVC/AAC, also set the Encode Mode = CPU only
This is the safest option to use for rendering video.

Regards
Derek

Sorry, I forgot to include. I am using Sony Movie Studio Platinum 13.0

Okay, checked both of those again and still having the same issue, and still only at the beginning of the video and about the 2:20 mark again.

Can you upload a screen shot of your timeline and show the beginning part of project/timeline, so we can see all the different tracks/layers.
Also explain to us all the different pieces of media in each track at the very beginning - what type of videos, pictures etc...

Also do an experiment and remove the text event - then render just first 1 minute.
Does removing Text event stop pixelation ?

Did you use any Alpha Channel type video in the beginning ?

Someone asked my the almost identical question on Facebook and this is the answer I gave them.

I don't know what would cause this problem, however I recommend you turn off GPU Acceleration.
Go to Options/Preferences/Video/GPU Acceleration - set to OFF.
Graphics Drivers sometimes can cause encoding problems.

I also recommend to set Encode Mode = CPU only, if you're rendering to Mainconcept AVC/AAC.
Make sure to set Profile = High (highest quality setting)
Turn on De-blocking filter
Increase Bit Rates

Obviously set the Frame Rate to same setting your videos are using now.

Great ideas - tried of all them and still no go. I even did a fresh install on my video card drivers. Same thing as last time with the new settings, crystal clear for almost the entire video except for the beginning and near the end. It doesn't look like there is even a minor improvement yet.

Please show screen shot of your timeline.
You must have something you have added that is causing this.
Did you add any Video FX in this section? If so which ones?

I add some basic transitions between some clips and initially it was causing hiccups, but have had nothing at the beginning and it is still having the issue.

imgur.com/a/NQmjy

Let me know if that link doesn't work. Thank you for your help, this is so frustrating

Thanks for supplying the screen shot

Because the pixelation is occurring in that first video segment and then stops in next section, it would indicate that the video clip itself is causing the problem.

Can you re-record that first part ?

Which program/screen capture device are you using to capture your videos ?
Most screen capture apps/devices have different format options you can select from.
Try a different format. H.264 .mp4 is normally the safest option.
.avi formats can often cause problems in Sony programs.

Thanks again, Doctor Zen. I am using OBS to record .mp4 format videos. The encoder I selected is NVEHC H.264 so that resources will be drawn from my video card as well. I am using 1440p downscaled to 1080p in OBS at 60 FPS. Did I tell you the strangest thing? All of the clips you see in the video were recorded all at once in a large file. The clip at the beginning wasn't distorted at all during rendering until I moved it to the beginning. Whatever is happening is happening strong at the beginning.