Rendering is a complex process of first rendering the image by taking the raw video and applying all edits and effects to it. It isn't just streaming the video from one spot to another, you have having to apply all changes made to that video along the way at the maximum possible quality. This alone can be enough to cripple the strongest processors, so the GPU (video card), which is capable of running tasks that can be scaled easily across many processors very efficiently, far more so than a CPU, is used to help speed along the process of rendering the image.

The GPU is so good at this, because it is actually made up of thousands of little micro-processors. It isn't uncommon to see 2000-3000 or more of these "compute cores" in a GPU. A CPU, on the other hand, is going to be far more powerful at tasks that cannot be easily spread out across multiple cores. It may only have between 4-32 cores.

The second part of the process is encoding the file. Uncompressed video is way to big to store on most hard drives and especially too big to deliver online, so we have to compress it. This compression is another extremely processor intensive task and will bog down even the fastest chips, so again the GPU is able to (for some formats, namely Magix AVC/Intel HEVC) take over here, since it is more efficient at coding video. Some will say it doesn't do it as well, but the difference isn't enough to worry about. No average user will ever notice it, that's for sure. I'll take encoding the video 3-4x faster vs. a quality difference you need a magnifying glass to spot any day.

GPU acceleration works on most timeline activities and for accelerating the rendering aspect (first step I mentioned), but when it comes to encoding (step 2), AVC and HEVC are currently the only formats that support it.

Any modern media production workstation should have a beefy GPU inside of it.If you have more than one, you can assign one to help with the render load while the other one does the encoding.

Most the articles I have read regarding improving the rendering speed when using the 'Render as' feature, mention making configuration changes to the GNU graphics acceleration.

I don’t think GNU has anything to do with it. Vegas runs on Windows.

I still don't get it. My machine should be sufficient to smoothly run Vegas:

Operating System   Platform: Windows 10.0 (64-bit)
Processor
  Class: AMD Ryzen 7 1700 Eight-Core Processor
  Identifier: AuthenticAMD
  Number of processors: 16
  MMX available: Yes
 Memory   Physical memory: 32,700.8 MB
Video: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (8GB onboard memory)

Yet it still has jerky preview (even with preview set at draft | Quarter) and render as takes forever.

What more is required?

You have not mentioned in original post that you have preview issue. Also, you have not provided any information about files you editing and your project properties.

You may want to start with reading FAQ and providing additional information if you still have the issue.

I still don't get it.

@david-orr Correct!

My machine should be sufficient to smoothly run Vegas:

@david-orr Correct again, dependant on what Media you’re using in conjunction with your Project Settings

Yet it still has jerky preview (even with preview set at draft | Quarter) and render as takes forever.

What more is required?

@david-orr Well, to assist you we need to hear:

1] Your MediaInfo

2] Your Project Settings

3] Your Render Template

The playback is bad regardless on my machines. Specs don't matter. I have tried on multiple machines.

The playback on my 7th Gen i7 laptop (gaming specced) is not much better than on my old A10-5745M laptop for 1080p, and worse than 4K on my Late 2013 iMac running Resolve or HitFilm Express playing the same files (No optimized media or proxies). Way worse hardware than my new i7 in both cases. I tried Premiere for a couple of weeks, and it was butter didn't like the subscription (so refunded), but may have to bite that bullet. On the older laptop, packages like VideoStudio, Boris Title Studio, NewBlueFX Titled Pro 5, etc. have none of these issues, despite the laughably inferior hardware.

No. Those aren't exaggerations.

I think the issue is the playback engine. It just isn't that good, and even using Preview you often cannot get real-time playback in Vegas, while other NLEs achieve this at full quality.

When rendering, Vegas gets very bad utilization on both of my Windows machines, even the older AMD. I barely see over 50% CPU utilization (it spikes here and there) while other packages basically use all of the CPU and render 3-5x faster - while apparently uses more of the GPU.I

However, when playing back, the situation completely reversed. Vegas is using all he CPU while Resolve, etc. Barely go above 25-35%.

Sorry, but I have to chime in.

It seems the "internet of knowledge" is again trying to take storm, with shall we say, "Exaggerated" claims and I'll refrain from other colorful adjectives/words.

I just built an AMD 1950X on MSI Gaming Pro Carbon AC, 32GB (2400 Mhz) Crucial RAM, OS is Win 10 Pro x64 (1803 recent build), Gigabyte GTX 1080, OS and Vegas Pro 15 Suite/VMS 15 Plat on an Intel 800 GB 750 SSD, with the source media supplied via Samsung 960 EVO 1 TB PCIe drive. I also run DR 15 Public Beta 5, and Hitfilm Express (Ver. 8). Just built a computer with my nephew this past week, capturing on a Canon 80D 1080p30 (All-I mov), and also my GoPro Hero 5+ Black in 4K30. Guess what, all that horsey-power of my machine, and the first time I put any LUT on that Canon footage (no transcoding as I verified it was using the so4compound.dll), didn't matter which program I was using, it "SLOWED DOWN". Period. Put just one of the clips from the GoPro on the timeline, not transcoding via the GoPro Studio to the Cineform avi, and it may play the preview, but any correction in any of the programs, oh boy! Now, put a second clip from the GoPro on the Resolve timeline alone, then try to "scrub" back and forth...

What everyone seems to want is this magical "automatically on" phenomenon, and the instant gratification of stuff. Me, I look at it this way: I'm not having to dodge missles while underway, and hoping that our Missile/Gunner's Mate guys are doing their job! And as far as I can recall, still have not seen a Fire Truck respond to a 911 call for a fire when you are out on the middle of the Big Blue Pond.

The big problem I am seeing within this Forum climate is all the "Drive-by" complaining, constant mis-information from a lot of people, chiming in on a forum topic just to make some "comment", and have to endure this knowing that there is a fantastic group of "VOLUNTEER NOT PAID" helpful patrons of the product passing along great information, and past Tips, that are still applicable to today (Thanks Grazie, VKMast, Nick Hope, EricLNZ - think that's right?, jetdv, SET, Steve Rhoden - Creative Cow anyone?, and others I am sorry I don't remember). Not to forget that at least from the forums I go to, this is one of the few where you actually have responses back from people like Gary, MagixDerek, Mathias (Hitfilm forums is another). The only time I've seen the owners/deverlopers/programmers respond on Adobe's forum, is months later, and then let's just say, the comments are usually more derogatory.

Heck, this forum got so "ugly" by this type of crap, then one of the members, Cornico, pulled his posts and from what he said, was going to stay on the (I think) German/Dutch side of the house, because someone got "Butt-Hurt" from his posts after he kept trying to get information, and they reported him. Trust me, not sure I would have left in such a civilized manner. But this type of temperament is a real pain, progressively getting worse, and really making wanting to do anything concerning this "hobby for me", not enjoyable and frustrating.

My rant is done. All have a great Navy Day!

I think the issue is the playback engine. It just isn't that good, and even using Preview you often cannot get real-time playback in Vegas, while other NLEs achieve this at full quality.

When rendering, Vegas gets very bad utilization on both of my Windows machines, even the older AMD. I barely see over 50% CPU utilization (it spikes here and there) while other packages basically use all of the CPU and render 3-5x faster - while apparently uses more of the GPU.I

However, when playing back, the situation completely reversed. Vegas is using all he CPU while Resolve, etc. Barely go above 25-35%.

I have a much lower spec computer than you & can get full quality 4k60fps playback when not using gpu intensive filters. I have tried disabling GPU for playback & it's still pretty good, but I don't believe I get full fps playback. Enough to be useable though.

You did not mention your GPU useage when rendering. I was thinking maybe your 50% cpu utalisation was due to waiting for gpu, and you have problem with gpu. That could explain your poor playback of timeline

First off, I want to thank everyone for spending the time on my issue. I realize it must get quite tedious answering the same question over and over again.

Not sure if this is a useful clue, but I have noticed that when preview gets jerky it is skipping frames. Also, it pretty consistently happens when moving from one video segment to another, even if both segments are from the same source media.

My 'render as' speed is averaging about eight minutes per one minute of footage.

As requested, for this project please find requested information:

Project Settings

Render Template:

MediaInfo:
 

General
Complete name                            : H:\Shows\Junichi\Remain\20180607 - Final Show\Final Show 1st Half.MOV
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : QuickTime
Codec ID                                 : qt   2011.07 (qt  /pana)
File size                                : 21.2 GiB
Duration                                 : 20 min 58 s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 145 Mb/s
Encoded date                             : UTC 2018-06-09 14:12:36
Tagged date                              : UTC 2018-06-09 14:12:36
com.panasonic.Semi-Pro.metadata.xml      : <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no" ?> / <ClipMain xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns="urn:schemas-Professional-Plug-in:Semi-Pro:ClipMetadata:v1.0"> /   <ClipContent> /     <GlobalClipID>060A2B340101010501010D431300000020D35B92788205C600804582196C1521</GlobalClipID> /     <Duration>62928</Duration> /     <EditUnit>1/50</EditUnit> /     <EssenceList> /       <Video> /         <Codec BitRate="150">H264_420_LongGOP</Codec> /         <ActiveLine>2160</ActiveLine> /         <ActivePixel>4096</ActivePixel> /         <BitDepth>8</BitDepth> /         <FrameRate>50p</FrameRate> /         <TimecodeType>NonDrop</TimecodeType> /         <StartTimecode>17:39:34:15</StartTimecode> /         <StartBinaryGroup>00000000</StartBinaryGroup> /       </Video> /       <Audio> /         <Channel>2</Channel> /         <SamplingRate>48000</SamplingRate> /         <BitsPerSample>24</BitsPerSample> /       </Audio> /     </EssenceList> /     <ClipMetadata> /       <UserClipName>A018C004_180609_L70G</UserClipName> /       <Access> /         <CreationDate>2018-06-09T19:12:36+05:00</CreationDate> /       </Access> /       <Device> /         <Manufacturer>Panasonic</Manufacturer> /         <SerialNo.>L7TAA0014</SerialNo.> /         <ModelName>AU-EVA1</ModelName> /       </Device> /       <Shoot> /         <StartDate>2018-06-09T19:12:36+05:00</StartDate> /       </Shoot> /     </ClipMetadata> /   </ClipContent> /   <UserArea> /     <AcquisitionMetadata xmlns="urn:schemas-Professional-Plug-in:P2:CameraMetadata:v1.2"> /       <CameraUnitMetadata> /         <ISOSensitivity>8000</ISOSensitivity> /         <WhiteBalanceColorTemperature>4300K</WhiteBalanceColorTemperature> /         <Gamma> /           <CaptureGamma>V-504580L1</CaptureGamma> /         </Gamma> /         <Gamut> /           <CaptureGamut>BT.709</CaptureGamut> /         </Gamut> /       </CameraUnitMetadata> /     </AcquisitionMetadata> /   </UserArea> / </ClipMain>

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L5.2
Format settings                          : CABAC / 2 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, RefFrames               : 2 frames
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 20 min 58 s
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 143 Mb/s
Maximum bit rate                         : 158 Mb/s
Width                                    : 4 096 pixels
Height                                   : 2 160 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 1.896
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 50.000 FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.322
Stream size                              : 20.9 GiB (98%)
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : UTC 2018-06-09 14:12:36
Tagged date                              : UTC 2018-06-09 14:12:36
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : PCM
Format settings                          : Big / Signed
Codec ID                                 : lpcm
Duration                                 : 20 min 58 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 2 304 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Bit depth                                : 24 bits
Stream size                              : 346 MiB (2%)
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : UTC 2018-06-09 14:12:36
Tagged date                              : UTC 2018-06-09 14:12:36

Other
ID                                       : 3
Type                                     : Time code
Format                                   : QuickTime TC
Duration                                 : 20 min 58 s
Time code of first frame                 : 17:39:34:15
Time code, striped                       : Yes
Title                                    : A018
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : UTC 2018-06-09 14:12:36
Tagged date                              : UTC 2018-06-09 14:12:36
Bit rate mode                            : CBR

Where are you mediainfo properties for your rendered file?

Downsampling anything from 4k to 1080p takes a l-o-n-g time. Now double that time for the legacy 32 bit Quicktime decoder (in V15??) Therin lies your whole problem and a solution, I suspect.

Using the AMD AVC with AMD RX480 8 gig (and i7700/4200 plus 32 gig fast memory & SSD) Down sampling to 1080 flies. Better than 1:1. Source files Panasonc 4K UHD 30 FPS. Just did a small 25 second piece today, rendered in 18 secs (color correrction, fades and Crop/pan. What make you say down sampling takes so long?

I think Vegas 15 decodes MOV files using its own dll now, not quicktime (there is a reference from Nick Hope about this - I don't have time to look it up right now).

I would suggest turning off smart adaptive deinterlacing in your properties (no deinterlacing necessary), set resample off, and uncheck the "adjust media..." box. May help.

The 50fps frame rate is going to slow things down, but generally I can downsample 24p 4k footage to HD in close to real time (depends on fx, transitions, etc.) using an 8 tyear old CPU and mediocre graphics card.

What is the camera?

PS Just noticed you have odd resolution settings in your project template. Try 1920 x 1080 please.

No, Vegas should be using it's own decoder, but his mediainfo properties indicate otherwise.

That is why my response was phrased the way you read it.

But then, David didn't post his Vegas file properties (nor any render file properties) ,so I guess we'll never know...

https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/faq-how-to-post-mediainfo-and-vegas-pro-file-properties--104561/

General
Complete name                            : H:\Shows\Junichi\Remain\20180607 - Final Show\Final Show 1st Half.MOV
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : QuickTime
Codec ID                                 : qt   2011.07 (qt  /pana)

Where are you mediainfo properties for your rendered file?

Downsampling anything from 4k to 1080p takes a l-o-n-g time. Now double that time for the legacy 32 bit Quicktime decoder (in V15??) Therin lies your whole problem and a solution, I suspect.

Scaling/descaling is one of the things GPU's excel at. That doesn't explain 8min's for each 1min of video using Magix AVC Nvenc hardware encode. OP are you using any other filters?

Sorry, but I have to chime in.

It seems the "internet of knowledge" is again trying to take storm, with shall we say, "Exaggerated" claims and I'll refrain from other colorful adjectives/words.

I just built an AMD 1950X on MSI Gaming Pro Carbon AC, 32GB (2400 Mhz) Crucial RAM, OS is Win 10 Pro x64 (1803 recent build), Gigabyte GTX 1080, OS and Vegas Pro 15 Suite/VMS 15 Plat on an Intel 800 GB 750 SSD, with the source media supplied via Samsung 960 EVO 1 TB PCIe drive. I also run DR 15 Public Beta 5, and Hitfilm Express (Ver. 8). Just built a computer with my nephew this past week, capturing on a Canon 80D 1080p30 (All-I mov), and also my GoPro Hero 5+ Black in 4K30. Guess what, all that horsey-power of my machine, and the first time I put any LUT on that Canon footage (no transcoding as I verified it was using the so4compound.dll), didn't matter which program I was using, it "SLOWED DOWN". Period. Put just one of the clips from the GoPro on the timeline, not transcoding via the GoPro Studio to the Cineform avi, and it may play the preview, but any correction in any of the programs, oh boy! Now, put a second clip from the GoPro on the Resolve timeline alone, then try to "scrub" back and forth...

What everyone seems to want is this magical "automatically on" phenomenon, and the instant gratification of stuff. Me, I look at it this way: I'm not having to dodge missles while underway, and hoping that our Missile/Gunner's Mate guys are doing their job! And as far as I can recall, still have not seen a Fire Truck respond to a 911 call for a fire when you are out on the middle of the Big Blue Pond.

The big problem I am seeing within this Forum climate is all the "Drive-by" complaining, constant mis-information from a lot of people, chiming in on a forum topic just to make some "comment", and have to endure this knowing that there is a fantastic group of "VOLUNTEER NOT PAID" helpful patrons of the product passing along great information, and past Tips, that are still applicable to today (Thanks Grazie, VKMast, Nick Hope, EricLNZ - think that's right?, jetdv, SET, Steve Rhoden - Creative Cow anyone?, and others I am sorry I don't remember). Not to forget that at least from the forums I go to, this is one of the few where you actually have responses back from people like Gary, MagixDerek, Mathias (Hitfilm forums is another). The only time I've seen the owners/deverlopers/programmers respond on Adobe's forum, is months later, and then let's just say, the comments are usually more derogatory.

Heck, this forum got so "ugly" by this type of crap, then one of the members, Cornico, pulled his posts and from what he said, was going to stay on the (I think) German/Dutch side of the house, because someone got "Butt-Hurt" from his posts after he kept trying to get information, and they reported him. Trust me, not sure I would have left in such a civilized manner. But this type of temperament is a real pain, progressively getting worse, and really making wanting to do anything concerning this "hobby for me", not enjoyable and frustrating.

My rant is done. All have a great Navy Day!

I don't know exactly what caused you all the problems with your Canon 80D ALL I Footage and your 1950X. Since I see you are are using 1950X and Canon ALL I footage. So am going to share my awesome erperience here and a video to prove what I said is absolutely correct. My 1950X edite my 5D mrk III ALL I codec , cutting it like 480P on the timeline. My 1950X cutting my GH5 4K 60P all smooth even with LUT filter. If you don't m,ind to spend a few minutes on the video and see it for your self.n Oh yeah. Its render the heavily FXs applied multi layer video Sony vegas project benchmark finish in 14s. That is fast enough for me.

https://vimeo.com/273154780

Unfortunately the Vegas implementation of using CUDA cores to improve playback performance is disappointing to say the least. It's been well documented on the old Creative Cow forum. I went from an NVIDIA 570 to NVIDIA 1060 card and it made NO DIFFERENCE to my preview performance. Other editors such as Premiere or Resolve do not suffer from this issue, or as acutely so as in Vegas.

Your rendering speed would be improved if you are working on native SATA 6 Gb/s SSD's or ideally PCIe NVMe storage

Where are you mediainfo properties for your rendered file?

Downsampling anything from 4k to 1080p takes a l-o-n-g time. Now double that time for the legacy 32 bit Quicktime decoder (in V15??) Therin lies your whole problem and a solution, I suspect.

Here is the media file for the rendered file. It took almost 4 hours to render.

General
Complete name                            : H:\Shows\Junichi\Remain\20180607 - Final Show\20180609 - Final Show 1st Half.mp4
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID                                 : mp42 (isom/mp42)
File size                                : 5.69 GiB
Duration                                 : 20 min 16 s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 40.2 Mb/s
Encoded date                             : UTC 2018-06-14 07:56:01
Tagged date                              : UTC 2018-06-14 07:56:01

Video
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L5.2
Format settings                          : CABAC / 3 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, RefFrames               : 3 frames
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 20 min 16 s
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 40.0 Mb/s
Maximum bit rate                         : 80.0 Mb/s
Width                                    : 3 840 pixels
Height                                   : 2 160 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 50.000 FPS
Standard                                 : PAL
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.096
Stream size                              : 5.66 GiB (100%)
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : UTC 2018-06-14 07:56:02
Tagged date                              : UTC 2018-06-14 07:56:02
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709

Audio
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AAC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile                           : LC
Codec ID                                 : mp4a-40-2
Duration                                 : 20 min 16 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 192 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 27.5 MiB (0%)
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : UTC 2018-06-14 07:56:01

Unfortunately the Vegas implementation of using CUDA cores to improve playback performance is disappointing to say the least. It's been well documented on the old Creative Cow forum. I went from an NVIDIA 570 to NVIDIA 1060 card and it made NO DIFFERENCE to my preview performance. Other editors such as Premiere or Resolve do not suffer from this issue, or as acutely so as in Vegas.

 

The same goes with rendering. Even cheap but cheerful software like Cyberlink PowerDirector is much faster at rendering than Vegas both in hardware & software render modes. The GPU use is similar to Resolve. Can't comment on premiere, not used it since last upgrade to hardware encoding.

@david-orr

Looks like you have changed things. Are you now rendering UHD footage to UHD output? Project settings? Did you change any of the elements I suggested earlier?

Depending on the amount of effects, etc. 4 hours for a 20 minute timeline of 50fps UHD is slow, but not completely unreasonable.