HD video from Flip plays choppy in Vegas Movie Stu

marclark1 wrote on 3/6/2010, 8:40 PM
Using Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 8.0, I try to use a video file that was recorded by a Flip Ultra HD camera. However when I play video clips from this camera in VMSP, it plays very choppy. The audio is fine, but the video is NOT smooth. I have no problem playing this video in Windows Media Player.

These files are MP4.
Video: 1280x720x32 30.000 fps progressive
Audio: 44,100 Hz Stereo

My machine has the following specs:
Window XP SP3
3GHz CPU
2 Gb RAM
1 TB HD

I feel I have MORE than adequate computing power to play these clips properly in VMSP. Why are these clips so choppy and jerky? What can be done to fix this?

Comments

MSmart wrote on 3/6/2010, 11:05 PM
What are the Preview settings, Best>Full? If so then you're not going to get 30fps in the preview window. Lower it to Good>Auto. At the bottom of the preview window, it shows you the playback fps. Anything lower than 30 (29.97) fps and you won't get smooth playback. It's because VMS doesn't utilize the GPU for playback so fps suffers.
Eugenia wrote on 3/6/2010, 11:33 PM
>3GHz CPU

You tell us not if this is a Pentium4 or a CoreDuo technology. If it's a P4-class CPU, you have to chance of getting real time performance of 720p h.264 inside Vegas (you can with a media player that uses a codec like the well-optimized CoreAVC, but not via Vegas). But even with a CoreDuo tech CPU, you'll still have problems and more slowness than you would expect.

I suggest you read the "optimize the preview" part here, for tips to get a speedier previewing: http://eugenia.gnomefiles.org/2008/12/19/sony-vegas-hints-and-tips/

If this doesn't work either, then you should purchase Cineform (I think I'm starting to sound like a broken record). Not only it will bring you speed, but stability also (Vegas is a bit of a disaster with MP4/MOV h.264 via the Quicktime/MainConcept decoders). Only problem is, Cineform costs $100. The free alternative is AVID DNxHD, but it's slower to both encode and decode: http://eugenia.gnomefiles.org/2009/07/22/exporting-to-an-intermediate-codec/
BCKayaker wrote on 3/7/2010, 8:40 AM
My system.....

Intel Core i7-920,
Windows 7 Ultimate,
12 gb RAM,
Video: Nvidia GeForce GTX 260

I work with GoPro HD Hero files which are H.264 compression, .mp4 files. Playback (Best | Auto) is choppy for me too. I use Cineform NeoScene to convert to .avi. I'm happy with it. It fixes the choppy playback problem, and the bigger problem -- SVMS not recognizing any of my .mp4 files that are > ~2gb.
Eugenia wrote on 3/7/2010, 6:04 PM
>(Best | Auto)

There is no reason to have preview at Best/Auto. Preview/auto is perfect for 99% of the times. You're wasting CPU cycles there. Of course, do set your exporting quality and project properties to "best", but previewing doesn't have to be "best".
marclark1 wrote on 3/13/2010, 8:03 PM
My preview settings are actually "Preview>Auto". That seems even LESS demanding than "Good>Auto". Anyway the symptoms don't change when I set it to either "Good>Auto" or "Best>Auto" or "Draft>Auto".

The project/preview settings are:
Project: 1024x720x32, 30.000p
Preview: 320x180x32, 30.000p

I have a dual core Pentium 4, 3GHz processor. My GPU Specifics are:

Nvidia GeForce 6600 GT, 128MB

Is that a limiting factor?
Eugenia wrote on 3/14/2010, 9:47 AM
Yes, a Pentium 4 CPU is only good for HDV, when it comes to the various HD formats. I have the same CPU, so I know from experience. Any other kind HD won't pan well in that old CPU.

Also, your project should be 1280x720, not 1024x720. And double check to see if the original footage's frame rate is 30.000 or 29.97 fps. If it's 29.97, then your project properties should reflect that instead. Each time you change the footage's properties to something else in your project properties, you lose a bit of speed, because the editor will have to convert in real time while previewing. So, as I said, follow my tutorial I linked for you regarding optimizing preview. If this doesn't help, then you need either:
1. a Proxy workflow, tutorial on my blog, free,
2. Cineform NeoSCENE utility, costs $100, or
3. A faster PC.