Rendering is a crap shoot

charles-mcguyer wrote on 9/22/2010, 4:57 PM
Rendering a 3 1/2 to 4 minute music video with SVMS 10 HD Platinum is agony for me. Rendering, for me, turns into an all day affair. No exageration! When I start rendering I either go to bed or go somewhere because I know it will be hours. And I may have to render 8 or 9 times to get it right because after waiting for an hour and a half it may stop because of memory errors. SVMS is great software for editing but what good is it if it can't render worth a crap. When I press 'Render As....' I know it's a crap shoot. Will it or won't it?

Rendering my music video at 1920 x 1080 produced a 25 GB file. That's right, 25 GB (and it was unusable). I waited for hours. Rendering a file at about 70 MB produces a crappy file (or it doesn't play well on youtube). I want the highest quality I can get and under 1 GB. Smaller if possible. I am so sick of rendering I can't stand it. I am constantly experimenting (and compromising) to get a file that is suitable to use.

Can't SVMS tell me, before I start, how big the file will be and how long it will take? And is the paging file OK? I hate rendering for 1 1/2 hours to be told this. Is there a chart somewhere to tell me what's best for youtube. I thought I loved SVMS until all the rendering issues. It totally ruins SVMS.

I finally got an 804 MB file 720 x 480.

Oh and my computer is fine. 6GB of memory. Intel i7 - 930 2.8 GHz. Windows 7 64 bit. I also play with the paging file all the time as well. I have it upped to 50GB paging size now. My camera is a Sony HDR CX 100. And it is set for hi-def. Thanks for any information that will solve the rendering issues. And I hope I don't have to go through 1400 steps to accomplish it. Sorry to be so negative but I am completely frustrated.

Comments

musicvid10 wrote on 9/22/2010, 6:10 PM
"That's right, 25 GB (and it was unusable)."
OK, so you rendered to the default template, which is uncompressed AVI, and as its name suggests, produces huge unplayable files that are good as little else except intermediates.

Follow the tutorials that came with your program and the excellent advice to be found on these forums, render to a compressed codec and resolution that is appropriate to your output needs, and report back with your results.

Here is a little tutorial I wrote that should help you get started:
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=12&MessageID=660127

"Is there a chart somewhere to tell me what's best for youtube."
How about the youtube templates, as a starting point?

"I am so sick of rendering I can't stand it. I am constantly experimenting (and compromising) to get a file that is suitable to use."
That's the way you're going to learn, but if you will share your intended use, some experienced users would be happy to suggest some starting points for you. Is it youtube you are shooting for now? HD or SD?

"I also play with the paging file all the time as well."
Why?

As far as file size, the math couldn't be simpler:

Bitrate(Mbs) x Time(sec) / 8 = File Size(MB)
Chienworks wrote on 9/22/2010, 6:42 PM
pssssst ... Bitrate(Mbs) x Time(sec) / 8 = File Size(MB) ... :)

Have to add in the audio too, so if the video bitrate is 2Mbps and the audio is 224Kbps then the combined bitrate is about 2.219Mbps.
musicvid10 wrote on 9/22/2010, 8:01 PM
Yup, what you said. Long day.
"Typical" 4Mbs youtube render, add about 5% for the audio.
;?)
charles-mcguyer wrote on 9/23/2010, 1:49 AM
Thanks for the reply, musicvid. I noticed that you said in the tutorial that you would need to reformat to get rid of all the codecs (I had installed ffdshow codec package in order to get some external video clips to work). Well, I reformatted while trying to render my last music video (before ever reading your tutorial). That didn't really help because the video I finally used was the 2nd or 3rd render that I did before I reformatted (720x480).

But I reinstalled the ffdshow codecs after the reformat (had to to get the render to work at all). But I'm through with this music video and am wondering if I need to reformat again in order to get rid of the ffdshow codec package? You mentioned that a reformat is the only way to get a clean machine and really get rid of external codecs. Is this the case with ffdshow?
musicvid10 wrote on 9/23/2010, 6:30 AM
A system restore to a known good point before the codec pack installation and reinstalling Vegas should work in most instances. In my case it did not; my machine was completely hosed and a reformat was necessary. Your mileage may vary.

What files did you think you needed ffdshow in order to open? 99% of the time you can just install the specific vfw codec you need without installing dozens you don't need. Although some recommend it, ffdshow is an absolute nightmare for others.

You don't need external codecs to render for youtube. One of the AVC codecs on Vegas is the recommended choice. You have youtube templates on your machine. Eugenia also wrote an article that gives some starting recommendations.
musicvid10 wrote on 9/23/2010, 6:43 AM
Let's start from scratch. You seem to be putting the cart ahead of the horse.

1) What is the source video? What camera was used? Be specific, use MediaInfo to tell us all the details.
2) What are the Project Properties? Do you know how to match the Project to Media Properties? It is a very specific procedure.
3) What is the intended use for your finished video? Web, DVD, Youtube? High definition or Standard definition?
4) What are your Render Properties that are giving you so much trouble? Be specific. What format, what codecs, what template, what customs settings?
5) Have you been through the interactive tutorials that come with your program?

That's where we need to start.