render time....help!

LadyVows wrote on 6/10/2004, 10:33 AM
I've just upgraded to Vegas 5. I have no idea why the render time is sooooo long! An hour long project used to take about 5 to 7 hours to render. This one, using Vegas 5, took about 30 hours to render. I had approximately 2 minutes worth of 3D stuff....that's it....so I know that had nothing to do with it.

Somebody....please help. I can not afford to have my edit station down for that many hours for just a 1 hour project.

Comments

smhontz wrote on 6/10/2004, 10:36 AM
If you have any tracks in 3D Source Alpha mode instead of 2d, it will make your render times much longer.
Movick wrote on 6/10/2004, 11:20 AM
From my experience, rendering video files of length is simply a painstakingly long process. If you are working on a more or less “out of the box” pc, i.e. single processor, P4, you will in essence be held hostage by your machine’s slow rendering capability. Depending on what type of file you’re rendering, it is simply par for the course to experience ridiculously long render times. I rendered a 40 minute .avi not long ago, which contained no major FX or 3D of any sort, and (if I recall correctly) took over 30 hours to render! From what I’ve gleaned using run of the mill pc’s - .avi files take approx. one hour of render time for each minute of video (somewhere in that range, depending on the number of layers, FX, etc.), MPEG files take less time, but are still quite lengthy.
If I may suggest, there are a couple of paths to explore. First, if you are looking to earn at least part of your living at your edit station, you should at some point invest in a serious machine specifically for editing. Ideally, you’ll want a dual processor system, with a multiple hard drive array, and as much ram as the machine can handle. This system will perform its best when a Matrox (http://matrox.com/) card is installed. From what I’ve experienced and heard, your render times are exponentially faster with a Matrox. Additionally, you can edit on an external monitor in “real-time” having multiple audio/video layers. This capability alone is more than worth the investment. Huge cash outlay notwithstanding, you could also do what I’ve just done; I purchased a 2nd machine, which will be dedicated to editing. I picked up a fairly expensive machine, (you needn’t) which I will upgrade and couple with a Matrox card when funds provide.
Depending on your budget, you can grab a “plain Jane” machine, and use it solely for rendering. This way, your main pc isn’t tied up for days at a time. You can network the machines together, or simply toggle between machines with an external hard drive, not unlike what I’m doing. I gotta tell you, it’s such a pleasure to have a 2nd machine rendering while my main machine is free and clear.

Good Luck,

Movick