Crash when importing video (SONY DCR SR68)

Videojohn wrote on 11/21/2010, 12:34 AM
Hi all,
I just bought VMS 10 Platinum edition and I'm experiencing problem with importing video.
I shot video with a camcoder SONY DCR SR-68 (it as an internal hard drive of 80GB and creates MPEG files).
I first import the video files from the camera to the internal hard disk of the computer. Then from the computer hard disk I import the files into Vegas. But at some point, Vegas always gives me message of error, such as:

1) Error importing one or several files.
2) You're running low on memory on your system, Please close any other applications etc. (But I have NO other application opened!!!)
3) Or it opens an error message box from Vegas asking of I want to send the error report to SONY)

The specs of my computer are:

Windows XP
2 GB RAM
Dual core 2.5 GH
I just intalled a graphic card GForce 7300 (512MB) thinking that the 128 MB graphic included was the problem, BUT nothing!! Vegas keeps crashing and I can't work with it!

Anyone has had the same issues? How can I solve this problem.
Any help appreciated.
Thank you,
VideoJohn

Comments

Kimberly wrote on 11/21/2010, 8:20 AM
Hello VJohn:

I have a camera that shoots HDV, so I can't give you specific details on your import, but here are a couple of ideas:

If your camera records on a hard drive, I'm guessing your have AVCHD files. Can you hook-up your camera sans VMS and do an "Explore Disk" through Windows (or whatever Mac calls it), locate the files and drag them over into a file? Then you can add them to your project by using the VMS's Explorer. That may not be the best long term solution, but it may get you started until someone who knows AVCHD can give you a proper answer for your import.

When you import, if there are settings about stopping the import on 1) loss of focus, or 2) dropped frames, make sure those are unchecked. We have this on the HDV capture side and it can kill your capture if there are dropped frames or the computer goes to sleep during the capture.

Hopefully this will give you a few ideas. There are many AVCHD users on this Forum so you should get a more specific answer from them.

Regards,

Kimberly
TOG62 wrote on 11/21/2010, 12:27 PM
Can you hook-up your camera sans VMS and do an "Explore Disk" through Windows (or whatever Mac calls it), locate the files and drag them over into a file?

I think the last word of the above should be 'folder'.

In fact, once the file is located, it can be dragged directly into the Project Media Window.
Markk655 wrote on 11/21/2010, 12:38 PM
Camcorder is SD, mpeg-2 files. Assuming you don't have any strange 3rd party FX, your computer should be able to handle this format without issue.

There may be an issue with the Vegas installation. Perhaps uninstall and then re-install the software. If that doesn't work, suggest to check the knowledge base which describes how to do a clean install.


FocusOnVegas wrote on 11/22/2010, 12:04 PM
Hello John,

Could be the same issue that I had / I have : the result of importing many mpg files is a low memory error. With other file formats like MTS / M2TS I don't have this issue.

If it is possible to import a couple of mpg files without an error but not a lot of mpg files, then it can be the same error (bug).

I tested a lot.
Till now I only found "workarounds" for importing a lot of mpg source files.

See also my post : "low memory error importing MPG media".

Kimberly wrote on 11/22/2010, 8:00 PM
Hey VJohn:

OOPS yes, I meant folder in my earlier post . . . not enough coffee consumed when I wrote earlier today.

Okay, only 2mb of RAM? Will your computer take more? If yes, buy some pronto. RAM is cheap these days. My Dell holds just 4mb and it performs well enough. If you can add more, you may find it will benefit areas outside your video.

Good luck!

Kim
Videojohn wrote on 11/23/2010, 11:38 PM
Hi VegasDick,

Thanks for the feedback. It is exactly what I'm experiencing. VMS crashes when it imports too many MPEG files. Of course as Markk655 said the camcoder I'm using (SONY DCR SR68) is SD, mpeg-2 files. ANd Vegas MS should be able to read it with no problems (as it is indicated in the specs of the program...).

HOWEVER it actually crashes after a certain amount of MPEG are imported (around 150 files).

As you said VegasDick, it must be a BUG from VMS! But I checked your post "low memory error importing MPG media" but did not really understood what workaround did you find to be able to import many MPEG files!! Can you make it a bit more simple?

Is there any other user facing the same problem, and who found a solution?
Thanks for your help,

VideoJohn



Videojohn wrote on 11/24/2010, 7:32 AM
Hi there!, Any experience or solution to share with this issue?
Thanks
VJ
TOG62 wrote on 11/24/2010, 9:07 AM
There are various utilities that can join mpegs without re-encoding them. I have not needed to use them, but I know Video ReDo works well. There are free programs, such as http://www.doeasier.org/joiner/. Others may be able to recommend one.
FocusOnVegas wrote on 11/25/2010, 12:14 PM
Hi, VideoJohn,

I experienced the same problem with SD mpg (mpeg2) files.
It were low resolution MPEG2 copies of HD video files.

The workaround is in fact to convert to another file format.
To avoid reencoding with quality loss and a long time to wait, you only have to change the "package" of the video and audio (file).

I had success with the free tool TSMuxer (GUI) :
http://www.smlabs.net/tsmuxer_en.html
Open from the program your mpg file and (re) multiplex audio and video to the TS format. With the command line version of the program you can batch convert a lot of files.

To test of this workaround is a solution for you too I advice :
- convert some mpg files to TS files with TSMuxer (GUI)
- copy the TS files with different names till you have 150 TS (or more) files. If you are lazy the free program IrfanView can support you with making the files (option batch rename / convert)
- import the TS files in MovieStudio (select the right project template too)
- if there are no errors, edit the video !

Let me now if this works for you too.

VegasDick