Thanks for your response. I've tried both. My Computer's HDD only has 32GB free, but my external HDD (USB 3.0) has over 600GB free.

It renders fine for short videos, but anything around 10mins and longer and it causes a problem.

Is your external drive formatted to NTFS (and not FAT32, as they come from the factory)? FAT32 drives have a file size limit that often makes it impossible to save larger video files.

Have both actually. One is FAT32 and one NTFS. Should be fine with either though as the estimated file size for the videos I've been trying today have been just over 3GB.

Often though, depending on your source footage, the program needs much larger, contiguous spaces to write scratch and media cache files. A FAT32 drive or a fragmented C drive with under 20-30 gigs of free space could certainly choke the transcoding process.

That's interesting. I'll try emptying some of my C:/ drive and see what happens. I was informed by an IT guy at my wife's work that newer computers running Windows 7 don't have the same fragmenting problems as older computers running older Microsoft OS's. Is this not true?

Well I've cleared a large portion of my hard drive, checked for fragmentation and it still crashes. I've even tried an 8 minute video today and that crashes. I've tried it on 1440, 1980, m2ts, and mp4 and still the same issue. I'm going to try deleting the software and reinstalling that and see if that helps. If not I'll transfer my files to my desktop running Vista and try that. Failing that I've got a MacBook arriving on Monday and I'll edit on Final Cut and kick sony to the curb.

What about your CPU temp? Cooling can be a big problem in rendering. Try down loading CPUthermometer (free) and google your cpu to find what the operating temp should be.

Rendering ACHD placing a lot of stress on a computer (from the vido card to storage). Your system seens a little under powered.

I had similar problems as this and my 4 core CPU even with an after market cooler was having problems. Switched to a 6 core and lots of RAM (well 16 Gig's) and no problems.

On the right machine Sony software is really good, I had lots of problems finding an NLE that was consistant in output. I sure wouldn't want to render a large video on any laptop due to time and temperature issues.

Hmmm.....I am shooting from the hip here.

Does the crash occur at the exact same point each time?

Is is possible the file is corrupted for some reason?

Have you tried the same process on a totally different computer?

What about trying a different (demo) movie program (or even some less than stellar free program) with same file?

Sorry I'm little help but I can certainly relate to your frustration so at least I can bump you further.

EDIT: I'm running MovieStudio 9.0b, WinXPSP3 with 1.5 gig of ram on a 32bit system and have no problems rendering other the the sloooowwwwnnnesss compared to my new 4gig memory Dell laptop.

Carry on luminaries....

Thanks for the replies. I'll look at the CPU temp. As I said I'm also going to try a fresh install of the software to see if that cures it, if not will try it on my old desktop running vista. I can't remember the exact spec off the top of my head but do know it's a quad core.

In answer to the other question, no its not the same point where it crashes as Ive tried different projects and they all crash.

Tried reinstalling the software, that's not cured it. Will try my desktop during the week

snerkler,
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