BUG: Fast User Switching in XP crashes rendering.

DuncanS wrote on 10/6/2003, 4:51 PM

Can anyone verify this behaviour on their machine? The problem I'm experiencing is that Fast User Switching in XP crashes a "Render As" - which is a bit of a pain if my wife want to use the machine whilst a render is taking place...

Start a render (to MPEG, but AVI does the same) and then use Windows XP's Fast User Switching (Windows Key+L) to log in simultaneously as another user. Of course, what should happen is that Vegas and other programs should carry on in the background while the other user is logged in. But when you switch back to the user/desktop with Vegas there is an error dialog:
"An error occurred while creating the media file xyz.mpg
An unexpected error has occurred"

The error mainly seems to happen if you select to render only the loop region.

Comments

kentwolf wrote on 10/6/2003, 11:03 PM

I have noticed that when rendering to compiling MPG in DVD-A, the system will run extremely slow, but you can eventially get the job done.

Rendering to AVI from the Vegas timeline will positively lock up the system. It's just too much...and I have a well endowed system.

Rendering to MPG from the Vegas timeline has had the same effect as my DVD-A comments above.

Rendering via the stand alone MC 1.4 MPG encoder still has the same, slow performance, as one would expect.

Vegas timeline to AVI is a no-no. Definite lock-up.

I would not necessarily consider this a bug. It may just be the price of doing business. Rendering is extremely CPU intensive.

BillyBoy wrote on 10/6/2003, 11:10 PM

I not only render to AVI from the timeline all the time, I do it while running a half a dozen other applications. Ain't a bug. Sounds more like a hardware conflict, perhaps low memory.

DuncanS wrote on 10/7/2003, 4:21 AM

No, no no! -- I am saying if you use Window XP's Log off > Switch user to log into the machine simultaneously as another user -- the Render stops with an error.

I have a 2.8GHz Pentium 4 with 1GB of memory - horsepower is not an issue.

cyanide149 wrote on 10/7/2003, 5:02 AM

BillyBoy may still be right....you''ll have to duplicate the problem on another machine before you can definitely call it a "bug"...

DuncanS wrote on 10/7/2003, 6:24 AM

Which is exactly why I prefaced my post with "Can anyone verify this behaviour on their machine?"

sdmoore wrote on 10/7/2003, 7:02 AM

Hi Duncan,

Had a quick look on the Knowledge base and found this. Might be worth checking that Terminal Services is enabled

Cheers,

Scott

DuncanS wrote on 10/7/2003, 8:23 AM

Thanks sdmoore, I've been all through the knowledgebase before I first posted. Yes, Terminal Servces is enabled/started. In fact Fast User Switching would not work if Terminal Services were not enabled.

Can anyone verify that they can do a Fast User Switch to another user and back again whilst a Render is in progress (say, an MPEG-2 one)? Come on it won't take long to try it out ;-)

DOGoodman wrote on 10/7/2003, 8:39 AM

Kentwolf,

I'm using an elderly PIII 667 and have no problems rendering to AVI from the timeline. There must be something else amiss.

donp wrote on 10/7/2003, 8:40 AM

Is this the same as the regular "Switch User" button in XP Pro. I have had trouble with that and told my wife never to use it as it will more often than not crash my PC. Its an XP bug and not a Vegas one.

DuncanS wrote on 10/7/2003, 9:21 AM

Don, thanks for the reply, but I fail to see that it's an XP bug if every other application I know works just fine using Fast User Switching. In fact working correctly with Fast User Switching is something applications have to cope with if they are going to be "XP certified."

DuncanS wrote on 10/7/2003, 9:28 AM

DOGoodman,
Thanks for your reply. This thread is not about problems with rendering per se, but about rendering failing if you do a "Fast User Switch" under XP. Are you using XP? Can you switch to another *user* (Log Off > Switch User) whilst a render is in progress - and switch back to see the render happily continuing?

It's useful so that my wife can do stuff with the PC whilst a render is in progress (I can set Vegas to low priority using Task Manager so it doesn't interfere with her work too much).

Can anyone just simply try this out (start render, go to Log Off > Switch User...) and tell me if it works or not

newbe wrote on 10/7/2003, 11:40 AM

BillyBoy, I have been wondering about 'Render to AVI', why would you want to do that? What is it good for?
Thanks a lot. Hope this does't come over as a stupid question.

DuncanS wrote on 10/7/2003, 12:20 PM

Follow up -- I'm narrowing this down: if you render to a format without Audio (e.g. the MPEG-2 DVD Architect Video Stream) there's no problem - so it definitely seems to be that the audio causes the Render As to "bomb out" when the Fast User Switch occurs...

In fact if you just render to a WAV or something this causes the error when the User Switch occurs: so the video is definitely not the problem...

sdmoore wrote on 10/7/2003, 1:21 PM

Hi Duncan,

I can confirm the bug you've found. It does indeed appear to affect renderings with Audio streams. Tested on Vegas 4.0d + WinXP Pro SP1

Cheers,

Scott

donp wrote on 10/7/2003, 1:39 PM

As I shy away from the "Switch User" thing, I have never tried it when rendering in Vegas 4d. I have had it crash many times with nothing running and my wife just switching to her account. it may not crash one way but it has going the other. For me it's log out and log in only.

chrisgrand wrote on 10/7/2003, 1:55 PM

Confirmed here too. When my wife needs to check her email and user-switches, boom. Error. No render when I return to my user.

HP 2.66G 512MB Vegas 4.0D WinXP sp1.

BillyBoy wrote on 10/7/2003, 2:54 PM

For Newbie...

Why render to AVI?

If you're going to do extensive work on the file especailly outside of Vegas, you'll generally get better results. Did you know that Vegas didn't always support MPEG (version one or orignal two, I forget) Anyhow...

One reason to render to AVI using the DV Template is so you can 'print to tape' which just means return your project in an edited version to a DV tape in your digital camera. While still a large file is it much smaller than uncompressed AVI files which can get huge.

DuncanS wrote on 10/7/2003, 3:38 PM

sdmoore/chrisgrand, thanks for the confirmations. Hopefully the Sony people can add this to their bug list.

Like I said earlier, it only affect renders that include audio so when I'm rendering the MPEG video stream, which is the most time-consuming part - the wife is OK to check her email etc -- when I'm rendering the AC3 audio I'll put a Post-It note on the screen! :-)

SonyTSW wrote on 10/7/2003, 9:36 PM

Thanks for the heads up on this problem. We will add it to our list.

newbe wrote on 10/8/2003, 8:43 AM

Thanks BillyBoy for your reply, I must admit it's still very confusing to me. (Please give me credit for my limited knowlege of the English language). What is the difference between 'Print to tape' and 'Render to AVI' and THEN 'print to tape?
I hope this makes sense to you,
I also hope you're feeling better.
Eric.

DuncanS wrote on 10/8/2003, 1:13 PM

Thanks SonicTSW!