Am I expecting too much?

PeterH wrote on 1/15/2021, 3:07 AM

I recently upgraded to Vegas 18 and have been happy with the stability etc. I have been running a Ge Force GTX 780TI graphics card (which is below the minimum spec) but Vegas has been ok.

The preview was not wonderful but it was something that I accepted due to the limitations of my graphics card. I’ve now upgraded the graphics card to an ASUS Ge Force 1080 TI and I have to say that preview is not much better.

It plays back HD video smoothly from the timeline but any effects (crossfade etc) and it jerks and stutters. I really expected better from what I’ve read about Vegas 18.

Am I expecting too much? I’d like to hear some other opinions from users who have the same card as me. Are there any settings in Vegas that will make a difference?

I am running the latest studio graphics driver and Vegas is version 373.

My pc specs are: Intel Core i7 – 6700K CPU, 16 GB Ram, MOTU 16A audio interface, Ge Force 1080 TI (11gb Memory).

Comments

RogerS wrote on 1/15/2021, 3:16 AM

What's the footage? Does it use GPU decoding?

For crossfades or other difficult transitions I'd reduce preview quality to preview/full or/auto. Failing that, highlight it and shift+b to use dynamic ram preview to load it into memory.

If the footage is HEVC or 4K60, etc. for smooth editing I'd make proxy files (right-click on the media).

FWIW, I just dropped to 4K24p Sony XAVC S clips to the timeline in a 4K24p project. I overlaid them for a cross fade and at best/full was at full frame rate. I've got a 4GB GTX 1050.

PeterH wrote on 1/15/2021, 5:24 AM

The footage is standard HD .m2ts files from Sony cameras.

j-v wrote on 1/15/2021, 5:28 AM

@PeterH
Can you give a screenshot of what you see at opening Help/Check for Driver Updates ?

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PeterH wrote on 1/15/2021, 5:47 AM

I dont need to even give a screen shot. It lists my graphics card but has "not found" for all the other headings. The driver update just doesn't work.

RogerS wrote on 1/15/2021, 5:55 AM

I don't have Sony m2ts. I tried two 720p Panasonic m2ts files and got smooth playback at 30fps with two clips overlapping each other. If your processor is the 4GHZ desktop one it is faster than mine.

These files don't use the GPU for decoding, so there's no benefit there. You'll see a bigger boost if you use AVC/H.264 media.

If you've changed Vegas settings or want to clear it out you can try resetting it to defaults (control-shift on startup and clear the cache).

RogerS wrote on 1/15/2021, 5:58 AM

With the i7-6700K you should have two GPUs. One is the Intel 530 and the other your NVIDIA. Are both listed there?

I dont need to even give a screen shot. It lists my graphics card but has "not found" for all the other headings. The driver update just doesn't work.

If Intel is missing, enable it in bios. Then update its drivers with the Intel Driver & Support Assistant. Update NVIDIA directly on the website to 460.89 if you haven't already.

If Vegas isn't finding and using the GPUs, maybe resetting it will help. Under options/preferences/video you see both cards? Do you see them in File I/O as well?

PeterH wrote on 1/15/2021, 6:14 AM

I don't have Sony m2ts. I tried two 720p Panasonic m2ts files and got smooth playback at 30fps with two clips overlapping each other. If your processor is the 4GHZ desktop one it is faster than mine.

These files don't use the GPU for decoding, so there's no benefit there. You'll see a bigger boost if you use AVC/H.264 media.

If you've changed Vegas settings or want to clear it out you can try resetting it to defaults (control-shift on startup and clear the cache).

Hi Roger,

Ok, you've given me some things to try. Thanks so much for the help. Unfortunately my cameras shoot in the m2ts format and I have no way of changing that.

With the i7-6700K you should have two GPUs. One is the Intel 530 and the other your NVIDIA. Are both listed there?

I dont need to even give a screen shot. It lists my graphics card but has "not found" for all the other headings. The driver update just doesn't work.

If Intel is missing, enable it in bios. Then update its drivers with the Intel Driver & Support Assistant. Update NVIDIA directly on the website to 460.89 if you haven't already.

If Vegas isn't finding and using the GPUs, maybe resetting it will help. Under options/preferences/video you see both cards? Do you see them in File I/O as well?

I disabled the Intel graphics driver in the bios as I don't use it at all. I'm not understanding why I would need to enable it but I'll give it a try.

I'll try a reset.

Thanks.

RogerS wrote on 1/15/2021, 6:36 AM

In Vegas 17/18 the program is capable of splitting the load across the GPUs. The Intel one gets tasked with decoding by default, as it has higher compatibility, and the NVIDIA takes care of timeline and Fx. Unless you run into stability or other issues I'd keep it enabled.

If you have a Sony mts file you could share (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.), I'd be willing to test its performance on this system.

Anyway, you'll see the GPU help you more if you use AVC or HEVC media, use NVENC for rendering or use GPU-accelerated Fx. You can see what it's doing by looking at performance in Task Manager as you use Vegas.

PeterH wrote on 1/15/2021, 6:41 AM

If I cannot improve things I'd like to take you up on your offer.

I've just done what you said including the reset but the driver updates still looks like this (attached)

andyrpsmith wrote on 1/15/2021, 6:42 AM

I would also be happy to test the mts files and I have a 1080ti which is working fine with V18 and Sony XAVXS 4K files giving good timeline performance (full frame rate) at Best quarter setting (no proxy files). Also I have the same issue with the driver update - the screen shot you have is same as mine.

Last changed by andyrpsmith on 1/15/2021, 6:46 AM, changed a total of 2 times.

(Intel 3rd gen i5@4.1GHz, 32GB RAM, SSD, 1080Ti GPU, Windows 10) Not now used with Vegas.

13th gen i913900K - water cooled, 96GB RAM, 4TB M2 drive, 4TB games SSD, 2TB video SSD, GPU RTX 4080 Super, Windows 11 pro

PeterH wrote on 1/15/2021, 6:58 AM

Ok, I've just performed another test. Since doing the reset, the playback is better. Now I can play HD files (with colour curves added to the clips) and a pan/crop on each clip.

It plays back smoothly with the best/full setting and a crossfade is also smooth.

Thanks for the advice guys! I seem to be getting somewhere now. I just wish that the driver updates option would work.

Cheers!

RogerS wrote on 1/15/2021, 7:04 AM

Hi Peter, so glad it's working better for you : )

The automatic driver updates seem to be improving and covering more cards with each update. Hopefully it will work as it's a convenient way to check.

PeterH wrote on 1/15/2021, 7:36 AM

Hi Peter, so glad it's working better for you : )

The automatic driver updates seem to be improving and covering more cards with each update. Hopefully it will work as it's a convenient way to check.

Thanks for the help Roger. Yes, I'm looking forward to the next update.

VEGASPascal wrote on 1/15/2021, 10:14 AM

Ok, I've just performed another test. Since doing the reset, the playback is better. Now I can play HD files (with colour curves added to the clips) and a pan/crop on each clip.

It plays back smoothly with the best/full setting and a crossfade is also smooth.

Thanks for the advice guys! I seem to be getting somewhere now. I just wish that the driver updates option would work.

Cheers!


@PeterH I do not why but I would always reset and clean up the system (or renew Windows) after upgrading the GPU. The drivers are not very easy to clean up from your system and VEGAS saves the system behaviour. The VEGAS hardware auto-detection is maybe still using the old GPU configuration (for encoding and decoding video files). The GPU (I am using the same) is fast enough to run more than full speed.

VEGASDerek wrote on 1/15/2021, 11:02 AM

A majority of our GPU file support is focused on HEVC and AVC formats. We are looking into updating other formats including the ones mentioned here, but that is still work that in not complete.

PeterH wrote on 1/15/2021, 11:31 AM

A majority of our GPU file support is focused on HEVC and AVC formats. We are looking into updating other formats including the ones mentioned here, but that is still work that in not complete.

Well at least there is something to look forward to.

eikira wrote on 1/16/2021, 5:44 PM
Ok, you've given me some things to try. Thanks so much for the help. Unfortunately my cameras shoot in the m2ts format and I have no way of changing that.

Why dont you repack the files into a different container with FFMPEG?
If you have no clue how to use that i will give you here a very small guide, how you can even intigrate ffmpeg into Windows so it can be used in every folder.

1. Download FFMPEG https://www.gyan.dev/ffmpeg/builds/ffmpeg-release-full.7z
From https://www.gyan.dev/ffmpeg/builds/

2. Unzip the .exe files, from the subfolder bin, all in one folder. I would recommend simply to C:\FFMPEG (you have 3 exe ffmpeg.exe, ffplay.exe, ffprobe.exe)

3.

  • Right-click ‘This PC’ icon and select ‘Properties’.
  • Now in this window select ‘Advanced System Settings’ from the left part.
  • Hit the last button saying ‘Environment Variables’ to open our destined window.
  • In the Box down 'System variables' Select 'Path', click on Edit, and just add the above created FFMPEG path to the folder (as my suggestion was C:\FFMPEG)

4. Click Ok, Ok and and now Windows is always able to address the ffmpeg.exe anytime.

5. Go to the folder where your m2ts file is. Press and Hold the Shift key and on the empty space in the folder click right mouse button.

6. Depending on which build of Windows you are using there will now be an option to open PowerShell or Command Input Window. But most likely if you updated your Windows correctly you should have only the PowerShell. Select it.

7. In there you just can type ffmpeg -i FILENAME.EXTENSION -c copy FILENAME.mov
Here an explanation what is happening.

ffmpeg is enough for windows now. because you defined that it always has to search for .exe stuff in the path variables.

-i defines ffmpeg has to use the following input.

FILENAME.EXTENSION is that inputfile in your case it should most likely be something like that 00001.m2ts

-c is the command to convert. you could -c:v for only the video section and -c:a for audio converting

copy that means it just has to copy the codecs of audio and video from your input, in that case because it was not defined seperately as -c:v and -c:a, without reencoding and keeping the content 1:1. (you could say -c:v copy and -c:a aac, which would result in the video should remain the original but the audio has to reencode in AAC)

FILENAME.mov that defines just simply the output, and becuse it has only to copy it will run through and just changes headerdata to intigrate the data into the container itself. You could also try VideoRewrap.mp4. It depends on what is in the container of the inputfile. I learned that mov is very stable and in most cases codecs which are in the m2ts container easely are handled by the mov container (only if the audio is AC3 i would recommend mp4 as container).

So to recap the command it could look like this

ffmpeg -i 00003.m2ts -c copy 2021.01.16_Cam1.mov

Depending on how big the original file is only your harddrive/ssd speed is here the limiting factor for the repack/rewrapping. And Vegas is even after 10 years or so not really able to handle m2ts container really good.

 

so now anytime you need to repack a certain file with the copy command you can do this in every folder of your windows computer without an hazzle and remaining the quality 1:1 because of no reconverting. after that you can learn more ffmpeg commands, because that tool is extremely powerfull, it only fails on good deinterlacing but in everything else it has become the encodertool standard of so many applikations without the knowledge of the user, but now you have integrated it in your system. and from time to time you just can check if there is an update and just overwrite it in the FFMPEG folder and you are up to date (to check which version you have you just can open anytime the PowerShelll and type ffmpeg and hit enter)