Updating a nested file hangs Vegas

cold ones wrote on 1/10/2012, 1:17 PM
Vegas 11 (build 511) consistently hangs if a nested file within it has been updated.

I often use nested files as Project Media, and in the past I've encountered this problem occasionally, but in Vegas 11 I get it every time. I group footage into a file and save it (File 1), then create a new file (File 2) and bring in File 1 as a nested file. Often I see a change that I want to apply to the nested footage, so I close File 2, open File 1, then change and save it with the same filename. In the past, when I would re-open File 2, Vegas would see that File 1 had changed and render out File 1 as an sfap0 file. But now, Vegas just hangs forever. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that a sfap0 file by that name already exists and (perhaps) can't overwrite it. I can work around it by renaming File 1 and pointing File 2 at the new file, but if you share nested files across multiple projects it's easy to get fatal hangs all the time.

Has anyone experienced this?

<edit>
A bit more information: I think the problem occurs when Vegas notices that the sfap0 file is older than the nested veg file. That triggers Vegas to replace the sfap0 file by rendering the nested veg file. This rendering always gives a sfap0 file that has the correct filename but remains 0 bytes in size, almost as if Vegas is unable to write over the existing sfap0 file. If, however, you start a new timeline and bring the nested file into it (as project media), the sfap0 file is created correctly. Then you can re-open the original file and it will accept the nested file and its corresponding sfap0 file.

It's only on previously created files which contain nested files (that need new sfap0 files) that the hang occurs.

Comments

cold ones wrote on 1/19/2012, 11:50 AM
Problem persists (Build 521), but I may have stumbled onto a clue.

Some of my nested files rendered properly, others not. The difference: the nested files that failed were originally created in Vegas 10 (although all had been updated in Vegas 11).

As near as I can determine, any nested file that was created in Vegas 10 (perhaps earlier, I'm unsure) will be unable to re-render the spaf0 file in Vegas 11. I created the multicam nested files last summer in Vegas 10 and even though they've been subsequently saved in Vegas 11 it seems as if some glitch occurs in this process. (In other respects, they seem to work OK in Vegas 11). Any nested file created in Vegas 11 works properly, so I've been copying and pasting my files into new Vegas 11 veg files. These work properly. Unfortunately, I have 50 of these (plus track effects, regions, etc which must be individually copied to the new file), so it's a hassle, but at least I have a workaround.

My insight to this problem came with yet another glitch: when opening a file in Vegas 11 that was created in Vegas 9, all its Sony Push transitions (plus others, I'm sure) displayed backwards or in reverse. For instance, a push left transition went right. Oddly, the transitions in the Vegas 9 file worked okay in Vegas 10, and if you created a new file in Vegas 10 with this transition, it displayed properly in Vegas 11. But any clip that had the transition originating in Vegas 9 would fail in Vegas 11, even if I altered the Push to a dissolve, removed it completely, and re-applied the Push transition.

Sorry to hijack this thread, but when you get a moment check the Sony Timecode effect: apply it to a clip and then place another clip on the track below it. The black around the timecode numbers keys through to the track below.

At any rate, it would be extremely desirable if Vegas files could be updated through various versions without these glitches. I've notified SCS: here's hoping for a cure!
berniel99 wrote on 11/13/2012, 5:10 PM
I have just installed Vegas 12 and the exact same problem still occurs. Just as described, a sfap0 file with zero length is created and the program hangs. It makes it difficult to work with this in a production environment.

<edit>

I tried the workaround in the original post and it did not work first time. So I tried the following steps.

1. Remove all the ".sfk" files first.
2. Open the nested project. Save as Version 12.
2. Create a new project.
3. Import the newly saved nested veg file which was referred to in the original project. This then creates the ".sfap0" file correctly.
4. Open the original project. It then correctly re-creates the .sfk files and does not stall when it tries to open the nested project.

Hope this helps others experiencing this problem.
cold ones wrote on 11/14/2012, 12:49 PM
berniel99, thanks for the update!

I've just spent a few unenjoyable hours with this same problem in v12, and your method is a good workaround.

Today I had a master veg from v11 file that called up multiple nested veg files. Beforehand, I went to each nested file, opened it & re-saved it in v12. When I opened the master veg in v12, one by one I pointed it to the new nested files, and each created the sfap0 file: until I hit the longest one (about 30 mins of HD video). Vegas hung each & every time, creating the 0 sized sfap0 file. (I was able to use your method to create the sfap0 file, but only by creating a new, empty veg file).

I hesitate to say anything definitive about v12 (even though I run it on two very similar systems I see lots of differences). But my (shaky) theory is that the amount of data in a nested file is a contributing factor to this dilemma.
berniel99 wrote on 12/1/2012, 12:12 AM
My latest update on this issue.

On my latest project, after working on the master project, I did a QA test on the client DVD and decided that I needed to make a minor tweak in the nested project and just re-render.

I found that not only did my workaround no longer work, but also that when I restored all of the files associated with the unmodified nested project from a recent backup, including the sfap0 file, Vegas insisted on wanted to re-create it and failed.

Now I am wondering what I am going to tell my client.

Technically, the sfap0 file should be around 621 MB, when it works. Vegas now just creates a new zero length file and stalls at 8% CPU forever. Perhaps my project (30 minutes of 1920 x 1080 footage) is just too much for Vegas nesting.