Thanks for the suggestions. I got Movie Studio around the same time as W10, but I think I installed it after. I'll try the MSP13 thing...

OK I've installed and tried MSP13, and it's the same problem. :(

Anything else I can check or change?

You're using the 64-bit version of MSP, correct?

I've seen were OpenCL is required which your card seems to support. Check to see that OpenCL is enabled and working on your GPU.

Thanks for the suggestion. Yes using 64-bit.

I found someone else with the same problem here: http://www.overclock.net/t/1162426/solved-how-can-i-enable-opencl

Like for him, the GPU-Z tool didn't show OpenCL being enabled. I followed his instructions and now the GPU acceleration option is available. It might possibly be enough just to uninstall the driver and re-install it, but the "Driver Sweeper" tool from Guru3D is quick to download and use.

Not finding GPU acceleration very effective. Rendering the example project in MSP13 went from 48s to 44s. Rendering another video I was making in MSP12 went from 4:48 to 4:49, so increased by a second. Here is a screenshot from MSI Afterburner showing GPU and CPU usage for the two renders: http://i.imgur.com/KYH97yB.png I notice that the GPU never goes above 31% usage. Perhaps it's CPU-limited, since CPU usage is near maximum in both cases.

If you have a fast cpu, there will be no benefit from gpu assist.

+1

What cpu do you have?

What render template are you using?

There are many cpu/gpu render test topics in the Pro forum. They'll give you an idea of what to expect.

Q9550 CPU. Not sure if that counts as fast or slow compared to my GPU. Using Sony AVC/MVC 1280x720-30p template, and hitting Customize to set Encode Mode to use the GPU.

Will check out the pro forum... thanks.

Cubbers - your system is long in tooth with CPU speed and memory spec. The GPU only has DDR3 VRAM and 384 stream processors. To enable GPU you will need to get up at least an HD5770 (ebay) or an R9-270x. Vegas GPU spec for VP11 was an HD5770 with 800 Stream Processors, the R9-270x has around 1280. That with the latest driver should get your GPU timeline processing working. I believe that GPU rendering is disabled in Vegas MS, and saved for VP Pro.

I am not even sure the Q9550 supports the cpu instruction set for OpenCL 1.1 support, you could try Luxmark v2 or 3 and see if that application will see both your CPU and GPU as opencl render devices.

Vegas actually uses 2 OpenCL devices, one on the CPU, and the other on GPU if available. Vegas has filters built into the software that filter out OpenCL devices that do not meet requirements, and so will not show any devices in the preferences list that do not meet standards. With no supported devices, you will have straight up CPU editing which is slow. If your CPU supports Opencl 1.1 vegas uses opencl to accelerate timeline effects, even without a GPU to assist. Adding a supported GPU adds to this acceleration. People that profess GPU does nothing, could be in error or may not have figured out a stable GPU configuration of their own.

Converting all your .MP4 source material to XDCAM-EX format can make your editing more fluid, improve stability, and in some cases speed of rendering.

An off the shelf i7-4790k system with 16GB for RAM would improve your experience, even if you add no GPU.

Someone else can correct me on Vegas MS GPU rendering if I am wrong.

Actually this one is 512 shaders + GDDR5 memory :) http://www.hardwareluxx.com/index.php/reviews/hardware/vgacards/29726-test-sapphire-radeon-r7-250-ultimate-.html

But yes, it's not the most modern GPU or CPU. I can't really justify more expensive versions since I don't play 3D games. The GPU is fanless (= silent) which was quite important to me, but many of the new cards like the GTX 960 are semi-passive (i.e. only spin up under load), so I might upgrade at some point. To get a better CPU I'd have to get a whole new motherboard. Funnily enough I only just got this Q9550 (for cheap on eBay) - before I had an E7400. Ancient, but actually not that much slower, and fairly similar performance in single-threaded apps.

I tried Luxmark 3.0 and got scores of - GPU: 1893, CPU: 494, and GPU+CPU: 2108. So it seems both support OpenCL, and the GPU is about 4x more powerful. It doesn't make sense to me that Movie Studio would ignore this GPU because it's too low spec. If GPU rendering were disabled in MS I wouldn't expect it to be selectable in the menus.

I get what you are saying. Vegas does filter OpenCL devices it deems not capable.

Luxmark is only verifying that opencl is functional on the system. Most Vegas class machines are in the luxmark >5000 range.

I am sure some one else on the forum can confirm that their system with a higher level card will show as an option.

Stick with AMD if you want to avoid the litany of "why does my GPU not work right..." problems people post endlessly with Vegas.

GPU in Vegas is not about 1 cards gaming frame rates over another, its about computational abilities and how fast those computations can completed and thrown to screen. Preferably much faster than required, so as to keep the frame rate from dropping. Anandtech reviews all current cards and offers Vegas benchmarks under the Compute section of the review.

Good luck.