DV clips render black in 8.1

Former user wrote on 10/1/2009, 6:13 AM
I usually use 8.0c, but I thought since I'm running on a nice, new 64bit computer I'd jump back in and give my rarely used copy of 8.1 a try.

The reason I didn't start using 8.1 in a production environment from day one is that I'm still editing standard DV content and 8.1 can't display more than a dozen or so clips in the media bin (using thumbnails) before it crashes. I reported it months ago to Sony and they confirmed it and added it to their list of bugs -- end of story. As we know, they moved on to 9.x and haven't looked back. So, I assume 8.1 is now considered an unsupported version...

Anyway...

I did find that I can still edit using it by turning by using list or detail view in the media bins. And it's performance is better than 8.0c. So, yesterday was the first time I've really given it a shot on a production project. But all is still not well, I discovered that if I try to "render as..." any DV clips on the timeline render as black. All other elements show up, like titles, graphics, photos, etc. Just the DV clips aren't rendered. I can open the project back up in 8.0c and it renders just fine.

Given that the thumbnail issue in the media bin using 8.1 is limited to DV clips causing a crash, and DV clips render as black from the timeline, would it be a safe assumption that 8.1 doesn't handle DV very well -- if at all? Someone had mentioned a while back that replacing the Sony 64bit codec with a 3rd party codec might work. Is this advisable? Do I risk wrecking my 8.0c (reasonably stable) installation?

Anyone have a copy of 8.1 that they might be willing to drop a couple of DV clips on a timeline and render them out? If so, could you use the MPEG2 - NTSC DVD template? You'll find that you don't even need to complete the render, the DV clips show up as black in the preview window during the render.

Thanks much.

Jim

Comments

johnmeyer wrote on 10/1/2009, 9:00 AM
discovered that if I try to "render as..." any DV clips on the timeline render as black. Yes, it is a showstopper bug. No workaround. I spent a lot of time isolating the problem and then sending to Sony, via snail-mail, a DVD with all the files needed to re-create the problem. The development team had always been good about responding but I found, unfortunately, that this had become a thing of the past.

I was so disgusted that I quit the forum, posting this message on the way out:

8.1 creates MPEG-2 w/ blank spots

You should read it because I think you will find it mirrors your current situation.

I didn't post for months, but lurked and would send PM to people who weren't getting answers to things I could help with.

Then, 9.0 was announced and the initial reviews by what in retrospect were probably shills or fanboys made it sound like Sony had totally gotten their act together and we were perhaps back on the path to the good old days. I was encouraged, but suspicious of the tone of the messages, so I didn't buy, but I did started posting again, although only when I could really help someone.

Fast forward to the current moment where it has become clear that 9.x still has too many problems for at least some people to get serious work done. Like your problem (and my problem) with 8.1, it appears some people don't experience any issues. Whether this is a hardware issue, software issue, or simply a function of having a narrow workflow that doesn't exercise Vegas enough to expose its flaws, I don't know.

So my reason in posting is to encourage you to forget about 8.1. I had to swallow the fact that I had spent a LOT of money (probably the better part of $1,000 extra money of my own dough) to produce a dual boot system with super-fast drives and other things I wouldn't have purchased if I was only going to use 7.0d and 8.0c. My recommendation is to use those two Vegas versions. I use 7.0d for all my editing (transcoding AVCHD to Cineform using 8.0c). I then do MPEG-2 rendering in 8.0c because I find it a little faster than 7.0d. I often render each project in three segments simultaneously, since 8.0c MPEG-2 renders only use about 25% of my eight cores. If I use 3-4 Vegas 8.0c MPEG-2 renders at once, I get close to 100% utilization. I then do a quick join in Womble, which only takes a few minutes.

Hope that helps!
Former user wrote on 10/1/2009, 10:22 AM
Yikes! Although, it's as I suspected.

Well, I would guess that there will be no future development and/or patches to any version of Vegas before 9.0, so 8.1 "is what it is."

8.0c works fairly well running as a 32bit app on my Vista system, so while not ideal, it's workable. And I do like the newer features 8 offers over my previous version of 5.

But, I will hold off on any more upgrades for a while ;-)

Thanks again for the detailed, informative response.

Jim