Rendering a large file to burn a DVD

Rookie wrote on 3/8/2005, 6:56 AM

I have a somewhat large project file (about 2 hrs of video) in Vegas Movie Studio that I'm trying to burn onto a DVD. As the first step, Movie Studio renders the file and produces a .mpg file. But the rendering process stops at about 80% complete and freezes. I checked the .mpg file size and it is about 4 gigabytes. I think I read somewhere that 4 gigabytes is some sort of maximum file size for Windows XP. Is there some way I can get around that, or am I stuck with videos under 2 hrs?

Comments

Steve Grisetti wrote on 3/8/2005, 7:57 AM

4 gig is the maximum size of a file that a FAT-32 formatted drive can handle, Rook. If you got your computer with XP already on it, you likely have an NTSF formatted drive, which has no file size problems. And, if you still have FAT-32 leftover from when you upgraded to XP, XP will easily change it for you.

But most likely that' s not the issue at all. More likely, you've just maxed out your system! 2 hours of video means some 50 gig of files, plus the space you need for temp files (at least that large) and scratch disk space -- most of which needs to be contiguous (that means it won't fit if your drive is fragmented). Even if your end product is only a few gigs, your system needs huge amounts of wiggle room!

I'd recommend testing the whole process out with a 5 minute project, just to make sure it all works. Then, if it does, I'd recommend "burning" your DVD files to a folder on your hard drive rather than directly to a disk. Most DVDs can barely squeeze in an hour's worth of home video, and this process will show you how much actual space your epic feature is taking up.

Rookie wrote on 3/8/2005, 8:53 AM

Thanks for the helpful reply. I have a 160 gig hard drive with 142 gig of free space. It doesn't seem likely that I'm running out of space. I just tried to save file to the hard disk and the computer broke it up into 4 gig file segments. It sounds like I have a FAT 32 problem. I'm not sure how to correct that.
Thanks again.

Steve Grisetti wrote on 3/8/2005, 9:02 AM

It's easy to convert -- and there's virtually no risk of data loss.

Just go to the Command Prompt and execute the command:

convert C: /fs:ntfs

I think you can also do this at the RUN command.

I'd definitely recommend doing it. There are many advantages, including resolving the file size issue.

Steve Grisetti wrote on 3/8/2005, 9:05 AM

Oops. No. Can't do it from the RUN command.

Go to Start | All Programs | Accessories | Command Prompt and then type in the command.

The only possible disadvantage is that, once you convert, you can't go back to FAT32 -- not that you'd want to.