Program gets stuck during timeline playback

AnubisProductions wrote on 1/10/2011, 4:17 PM
I have the Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10.0 version on Windows 7 PC (32-bit). Due to the fact that Vegas seemed not to be able to handle AVCHD files as promised, I converted all my files into MPEG-2 before importing them into the program. My timeline's length is less than 3 minutes, and I only used a few dissolves, no other effects or transitions what so ever, just cuts.

The playback from the timeline gets stuck every few seconds and puts the program in "not responding" mode. I need to constantly force close it from the Task Manager. This still happens if have no other applications running.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I am desperate for help, I find myself constantly looking for "fixes" in online forums to try to make this program work since the day I bought it.... I found tips for exporting and rendering, but no reference to what to do when just regular playback crashes or gets stuck.

Please help!

Thank you

Comments

Steve Grisetti wrote on 1/10/2011, 6:22 PM
It could be that you converted your AVCHD to a non-standard MPEG. What program did you use to convert it and which settings did you use? Is it a hi-def MPEG?

There are two reasons your timeline will not play at full frame rate:
1) Your computer isn't powerful enough to edit hi-def video. In most cases, you'll need a quad core or i7 processor to edit AVCHD smoothly and pretty close to that to edit hi-def of any kind.
2) Your video needs to be rendered. This happens if you've added a lot of effects to your video -- but it can also happen is your project settings don't match the footage you're putting into it.

If you were able to convert your AVCHD into an HDV-compatible MPEG, then your clip should work fine in a project set up for HDV.

Otherwise, you'll need to pre-render your clip by selecting one of the options under the Tools menu.

Pre-rendering takes footage that either has effects added to it or is incompatible with your project settings and credits temporarily "finished" video that the program can swap in for it.
Eugenia wrote on 1/10/2011, 9:21 PM
Please update your system specs information here: http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowProfile.asp?UserID=58782&MessageID=745544 so we can understand the power of your PC.
AnubisProductions wrote on 1/11/2011, 11:17 AM
Thank you for answering me so soon Eugina!
I have updated my system information in my account.

I use a program called ProCoder to convert my files. I have a HD video camera - Panasonic HDC-TM700 that produces 1920x1080i 29.970 fps NTCS video files with surround sound. I don't import the media from the camera directly into Vegas, I save it to my computer using the program that came with the camera called HD write AE 2.1

At ProCoder I use the following settings to convert:
File: MPEG-2
Codac: Main Concept
Audio: 48,000 Hz, stereo
Video: 720x480x32, 29.970 fps
Streams: 2

Please let me know if i'm doing something wrong. Another issue I have is when I export the sequence from Vegas to YouTube for example, the video is not full frame. It shows as a box in the middle of the 16:9 frame. (I need my files to be displayed and edited on a 16:9 scale).

I assume I may be converting the files wrong or the files don't match the project properties like you said. I use the "match settings to media" button, but perhaps the converted files are wrong to begin with?

I would appreciate any advice you can give me about the correct settings for converting the files generated from my camera to video files Vegas can work smoothly with while keeping the HD look vivid.

Eventually the sequences i'm editing shall be displayed on the web but also on several Sony 42" flat screen LCD HDTV. If you could tell me what are the best exporting options for screening on these size TVs I would appreciate it very much.

Thanks again for your help

Liz
AnubisProductions wrote on 1/13/2011, 3:34 PM
Dear Eugenia,

I really need your help, I haven't managed to find a solution on my own and the program keeps crashing. At this stage I cannot import any media and I cannot export any media also, only sound tracks. I have managed to export the music track I have once I isolated that track from the video, but when I try to export the video it says my system is low on memory. When I try to import media the program immediately goes to "not responding" mode. what am I doing wrong?

This all started happening after I followed the instruction for the 2GB cap fix., because I couldn't export my sequence although it is less than 3 minutes long and only has a few dissolves on it. Did I do something wrong? Is there a way to undo it if necessary?

Please, if you could dedicate the time to give me tips on how to fix my program I would really appreciate it, I am at a point where I basically cannot use the program at all.

Thank you for your assistance
Liz