Thank you, I'll give nested videos a go but if I put all my 'prerenders' in as nested videos it would make one very large horrendously slow video render everytime, might be something to try for the final product though, thank you. Sorry didn't follow what you said about in your last line.

I meant this: https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/a-video-will-not-render-and-freezes-each-time-at-18--124635/#ca775806

Err? I thought his comment was start a new thread with details; which is what I'm doing??

Err? I thought his comment was start a new thread with details; which is what I'm doing??

No you did not.
Follow de link (in blue) in that message .
Blue in a message or comment is at this site always a link to something.

OK I see what you are saying but I think you are missing the point of my problem. My initial questions wasn't 'why isn't this specific file rendering'?. This issue isn't unique to one file but all my files. On any number of different *.veg files it does exactly the same things and with a range of render formats (that come with SV). I didn't have this problem at all on the same files in SV17 but stared happening the moment I got the V18 upgrade. It will however render the veg files ok if I close SV and open again, so long as I don't do any edits. So, in my eyes, the veg files are OK (render ok in SV17 and will render in SV18 after SV closed and reloaded) and thus not the problem, but something about the SV18 upgrade that has changed. I was asking if anyone else was experiencing the same and was there any solution if so. I see it more as a general settings problem rather than anything specific to the veg file. I can't see how all the file info will be of use, as when it locks I generally have to close it with task manager, so if I reload again it's a veg file that will render ok, wouldn't appear to be an issue. It just seems to fail after I have been doing some edits in the veg file, and that applies to any of my files and files that were fine in SV17.

Hey, you said you have the "same problem." You do not.

However, that statement implies you are asking for peer support, and now it appears you do not.

If you just want to tell your story and rationalize, do so in the Off Topic forum. I don't find it particularly interesting.

This is a support area; kindly respect your peers' volunteer time, thanks.

https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/faq-how-to-post-mediainfo-and-vegas-pro-file-properties--104561/

OK , if thats your wish. I can only say now that Vpro 18 is much better with respect to settings in the preferences.
I can only now give you the advice to do a full reset of the program following this advice exactly: https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/faq-how-can-i-reset-vegas-pro-to-default-settings--104646/
After that don't change any setting in the Options/Preferences/Video or --/File I/O.

musicvid - I really appreciate people's help and kindly giving their free time up, it's a really great thing, but I'm feeling this is a very aggressive response. I have asked clear questions, 4 of them, about rendering, which to me seem very reasonabale questions and not 'telling a story' in the slightest. The render issue I have explained in detail and asked if anyone has experienced the same and/or had a solution, which to me seems like a general settings solution rather than specific files as happening to all files, various render formats but didn't happen in V17 on same files. How is that not a question? That's asking for a level of support isn't it? I was just getting that issue out of the way but if someone wants to look in deep detail after that then it is very kind of them and I'll get all that data but didn't want to waste anyone's time if there was a more general setting solution. If you have some anger at me for some unknown reason then whatever, just don't answer my post, but to say I shouldn't be posting that list of questions on there just seems weird to me.

OK , if thats your wish. I can only say now that Vpro 18 is much better with respect to settings in the preferences.
I can only now give you the advice to do a full reset of the program following this advice exactly: https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/faq-how-can-i-reset-vegas-pro-to-default-settings--104646/
After that don't change any setting in the Options/Preferences/Video or --/File I/O.

Thank you, I might give that a go if no alternative options. Thanks for your time answering.

Hi Stephen, I have a few thoughts after reading your questions.

One is that I don't see generalized rendering problems with VP 18 but some people are having particular issues with certain types of footage, especially from phones. Others have issues after following various videos about improving the performance of Vegas, hence the recommendation to put the program back to defaults (which doesn't affect your projects in any way). Others have Fx that for some reason aren't playing nicely in Vegas. Is there something at the 2% mark in your timeline that could be causing an issue? An Fx installed in 17 but not in 18? A final one is dynamic ram preview which causes a variety of rendering errors- never increase past the default of 200 and if you have issues, try zeroing it out which may solve stuck renders.

XDCAM should be okay for intermediates. Personally I've used Magix Intermediate (basically ProRes) and now switched to a paid alternative, the visually lossless MagicYUV (a steal at $14). I recommend this last one for file size, quality and speed.

Unless you are working with high-bit files, skip 32 bit mode. With new projects in VP 18, just use the default 8-bit (full range) as it normalizes your files to full range and then renders most formats to limited range automatically (no more applying levels Fx upon output or using the SEMW preview. If you have legacy VP 17 projects you want to compare in both, then 8-bit video mode still works.

The output regardless should be 8-bit for YouTube. Try the Magix AVC preset and stick to CPU only renders for maximum quality (NVENC or QSV are faster but technically inferior).

Hey Roger, thank you very much, that is really useful info to try out and thanks for the info about codecs, a lot of that was new to me. The 2% mark thing is weird. I don't think it's anything specifically in a *.veg file as it does this on all files but then will render ok when I go out of SV and back in again (so long as I don't edit) which kinda says the veg file is OK. It's like it needs to clear RAM or something, although I have plenty of RAM, so I'll try your zeroing dynamic ram suggestion! (it was at the 200 default). I had tried a CPU only option but was still getting the locking up. Again, thanks for your help and time

That you can only render sometimes is strange.

I would highly suggest resetting the program (control/shift upon startup) as it clears the cache as well I believe. Worth a try.

Dynamic ram preview has nothing to do with the amount of system ram. System specs and performance have little relation to stability.

I would highly suggest resetting the program (control/shift upon startup) as it clears the cache as well I believe. Worth a try.

Suggested earlier as well.

I would highly suggest resetting the program (control/shift upon startup) as it clears the cache as well I believe. Worth a try.

Suggested earlier as well.

Yes, trying to reinforce that suggestion as "I might give that a go if no alternative options." was the initial response.

Hey Roger, thank you very much, that is really useful info to try out and thanks for the info about codecs, a lot of that was new to me.
 

@Stephen-Shelton - So good to see you over here from the COW, SS! You will find many, many Professionals hereabouts, giving the assistance for Free. Don’t be scared to reveal your present skills levels, I don’t. Another Skill I had to learn, over here, was to politely persist with my line of questioning and support that with Graphics too - and yes you’ve done that 👏!

As I said, good to see you here.

G

1) Are there any known issues about rendering with V18 compared to V17 or anyone suffered the same and found a solution?...

Not that I know of. To help you further, you really would have to provide more of the info requested in that post. Some of the stuff referred to in part C has been under intensive development between VP17 and VP18 so is highly relevant to troubleshooting cases like yours.

2) Some of my videos are quite complex with zooms etc and I tend to make what I call ‘sub renders’ which I import into a master file to create the finished render. 2-3 years ago I was well advised XDCAM EX was the best ‘lossless’ format to do this with, given additional formats since magix took over is this still the case?

Not really. MAGIX Intermediate (i.e. unofficial ProRes) would probably be better. It's still slightly lossy. XDCAM EX is not lossless either. For a truly lossless intermediate, I like MagicYUV and it's popular on the forum but not free.

3) On the rendering issues, I have read over posts about ‘pixel format’ and tbh still not entirely got my head sorted with it. 32 bit is obviously better (on own screen) but not necessarily so, could be worse (banding/contrast issues), when posted to youtube, which will be my key target, as it will be converted to 8 bit when upload there, so generally advice is don’t bother with 32 bit unless for special applications. Have I understood that correctly?

Yes.

4) And following on from that, if doing ‘lossless’ sub renders, would I be best using to 32 bit pixel format for those sub mixes (full or video levels) and then setting up the project properties in final master output file, they are imported into, as a 8 bit (video levels) – or is 8 bit full better – if my target host is youtube? I ask as I feel there is a level of degradation in my submixes done in 8 bit but worry if there will be other issues if I use 32 bit with them

Probably best stick with 8-bit, but again, it highly depends on your source footage, which I don't think you've told us anything about. It's crucial to troubleshooting your case. This is one of the reasons why that information is requested in advance, to save us asking you for it piecemeal.

Here's are some general troubleshooting tips for rendering: https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/faq-how-can-i-stop-vegas-pro-hanging-or-crashing-during-rendering--104786/

Thank you everyone for time answering & ideas. Nick - I hadn't seen that link 'hanging during rendering check list' before (had searched for something like that before I posted but missed it). I've just scanned over it and some stuff I had tried but some new things to try out and so I'll go through that list. That's a great help. And thanks for going through my question list; MagicYUV seems useful to acquire and I was unaware of those better options to XDCAM. I think I was going to be slightly more reassured if others had been having the same problem, so a software glitch & there would be an update patch at some point, but if no one else is getting the same then maybe it's something to do with my install or set up - which was part reason for this post to try and narrow it down a bit before I thought posting all the details, but I guess you guys are quick at scanning over them and seeing potential issues. I run lots of other big demanding software (I do CAD based engineering design loading massive 3D surveys and also do music recording) and everything else is running really well and no faults. I'll go through that useful check list and if after that still having the same issue I'll post more detail information. If something works then I'll post on here for other to see. Many thanks everyone.

@Stephen-Shelton - And you know what, the more you post here, concerning this and other issues you might/will have, you’d be assisting others.

What I’ve learnt from your last post was that you were seeking “others” in the same boat and from there to try and work out what to do. Yes, that’s ONE approach, but here, with your complex issues, we needed to deconstruct your Workflow. Now, once you’ve got all this under yer belt, you can move forward, and you’d be in turn helping others 😀!

@Stephen-Shelton Not clear what kind of footage is in your projects. I've noticed that v18 doesn't set the video level range correctly on my zcam 4k 10-bit footage when I start a new project in v18. It picks 8 bit full range. v17 doesn't have that and sets it to 8-bit video levels. To get the same looking output from v18 I had to set it manually to 8-bit legacy. If you start the project in v17 and then open it in v18, that's also what you'll get. The actual footage I shot was 4K 10-bit Limited Range. Only reason I mention all this is because when I edited the project in v18 and did not change its 8-bit full range default, renders started crashing my system once I added allot of color correction secondary FX instances. It rendered fine with 4 or 5 of them plus the color grading FX. But up at around 10 more fx or so, renders crashed. Nasty ones requiring a reboot. Manually set the v18 project to 8-bit legacy and no crash. (Had to adjust contrast too.) Ended up going with 32-bit video levels and no crash... I think the render looked nicer but render time jumped from 11 minutes to 28 minutes. I'll have to try this out again next time with my camera set to shoot full range and see what happens.

Note, you can use a full range video file on either a full or limited range project. Right click and see properties to see what Vegas thinks the clip is (full, limited, or unknown). That's the part that's critical to be correct when working in 8-bit full range. Vegas sets this based on metadata.

You can also use 10-bit footage on an 8-bit project and 8-bit footage in a 32 bit project. To get the full benefit of high bit footage you need to be in 32-bit mode from my understanding.

Thank you guys. Howard - That seems a really good angle to try out, brilliant, thanks, because I have played around with the bit rates to experiment, so that might be key to the crashes I'm getting. Something to work on anyway.

RogerS - Thank you, that is very useful info! Just to clarify, and hope I'm not sounding too stupid, but is the 32 in the attibutes in footage that is say 3840x2160x32 the bit rate? If not how do i find out the bit rate? But is this different to the vegas pixel format in properties? Should they be aligned together bit rate and pixel format? I'm a little confused by pixel format tbh.