Vegas 22 SO4Compound related issues [unable to import .mov format]

Sadlylate wrote on 3/29/2025, 12:12 AM

Hi Everyone,

After years of troubleshooting Vegas, I'm reaching out for some help with persistent issues. I'm experiencing significant slowdowns within the Vegas timeline and interface using Vegas 21 Build 187. Rendering and Preview are generally fine!

I'm seeking advice on transitioning from Vegas 21 (Build 187), which I've found generally stable, to the latest Vegas 22 (Build 243). While I'd like to take advantage of the improvements in the latest version, I'm encountering significant issues with ProRes footage and compound handling.

My projects primarily involve OBS recordings with a split-screen format (webcam/desktop content), as detailed below. I also utilize a range of plugins, mainly the latest versions of Boris FX and Maxon Universe, which I understand can impact stability.

My main concern is frequent crashing. I've found that Vegas 22's mxcompound handles my footage better than previous versions. However, frequent crashes occur when mxcompound and SO4Compound interact on the timeline, particularly when working with .mov (ProRes 4444) files with alpha channels.

Disabling SO4Compound prevents importing or dragging and dropping any .mov or Apple-related video files.

So I'm left with the following;

Vegas 21 Symptoms:

Timeline and interface slowdowns.

Vegas 22 Symptoms

Frequent, silent crashes (no error messages).

Crashes often occur when working with .mov (ProRes 4444) files with alpha channels.

Troubleshooting Steps Taken:

Toggled legacy AVC decoding on/off.

Attempted to disable SO4Compound by deleting/renaming it.

Attempted to enable/disable the Quicktime plugin (does not seem to do anything)

Attempted to Reinstall Quicktime 7 to the recommended Quicktime version

Attempted to use Shutter Encoder to convert my Prores footage to ANY other Alpha channel supported container

Attempted to use the working SO4Compound variant from 21 187 to 22 243 (that was a long shot to be fair)

Attempted to Uninstall K-Lite Codecs

Hopefully someone will know something I have yet to try, Thank you for taking your time to read all this!

System & Footage Information (OBS Recordings):

(if anyone has better setting recommendations for my OBS recordings feel free to let me know!)

Processor    13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-13980HX   2.20 GHz
Installed RAM    64,0 GB (63,6 GB usable)
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU
Edition    Windows 11 Home
Version    24H2
Installed on    ‎08/‎03/‎2025
OS build    26100.3624
Experience    Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.66.0




General
Complete name                        : D:\Renderfolder\March\28\2025-03-13 13-29-29.mp4
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : Base Media
Codec ID                                 : isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size                                : 5.73 GiB
Duration                                 : 40 min 12 s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 20.4 Mb/s
Frame rate                               : 60.000 FPS
Writing application                      : Lavf60.3.100

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L5.1
Format settings                          : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames        : 4 frames
Format settings, GOP                     : M=2, N=60
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 40 min 12 s
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 20.0 Mb/s
Width                                    : 3 840 pixels
Height                                   : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 3.556
Frame rate mode                          : Variable
Frame rate                               : 60.000 FPS
Minimum frame rate                       : 58.824 FPS
Maximum frame rate                       : 62.500 FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.080
Stream size                              : 5.61 GiB (98%)
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709
mdhd_Duration                            : 2412383
Codec configuration box                  : avcC

Audio #1
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AAC LC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                                 : mp4a-40-2
Duration                                 : 40 min 12 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 235 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 44.1 kHz
Frame rate                               : 43.066 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 67.5 MiB (1%)
Title                                    : Track1
Default                                  : Yes
Alternate group                          : 1

Audio #2
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : AAC LC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                                 : mp4a-40-2
Duration                                 : 40 min 12 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 2 087 b/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 44.1 kHz
Frame rate                               : 43.066 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 615 KiB (0%)
Title                                    : Track2
Default                                  : No
Alternate group                          : 1

Audio #3
ID                                       : 4
Format                                   : AAC LC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                                 : mp4a-40-2
Duration                                 : 40 min 12 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 123 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 44.1 kHz
Frame rate                               : 43.066 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 35.3 MiB (1%)
Title                                    : Track3
Default                                  : No
Alternate group                          : 1

Audio #4
ID                                       : 5
Format                                   : AAC LC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                                 : mp4a-40-2
Duration                                 : 40 min 12 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 2 087 b/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 44.1 kHz
Frame rate                               : 43.066 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 615 KiB (0%)
Title                                    : Track4
Default                                  : No
Alternate group                          : 1

Comments

john_dennis wrote on 3/29/2025, 12:32 AM

These are my OBS settings.

Complete name                            : E:\OBS Captures\2025-03-28 22-24-49.mov
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : QuickTime
Codec ID                                 : qt   0000.02 (qt  )
File size                                : 326 MiB
Duration                                 : 11 s 627 ms
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 235 Mb/s
Frame rate                               : 29.970 FPS
Writing application                      : Lavf61.1.100

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : ProRes
Format version                           : Version 0
Format profile                           : 422
Codec ID                                 : apcn
Duration                                 : 11 s 512 ms
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 234 Mb/s
Width                                    : 2 560 pixels
Height                                   : 1 440 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:2
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 2.119
Stream size                              : 321 MiB (99%)
Writing library                          : fmpg
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709

Audio #1
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : PCM
Format settings                          : Big / Signed
Codec ID                                 : twos
Duration                                 : 11 s 627 ms
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 1 536 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Stream size                              : 2.13 MiB (1%)
Default                                  : Yes
Alternate group                          : 1

Audio #2
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : PCM
Format settings                          : Big / Signed
Codec ID                                 : twos
Duration                                 : 11 s 627 ms
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 1 536 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Stream size                              : 2.13 MiB (1%)
Default                                  : No
Alternate group                          : 1

I don't have to deal with variable frame rate video and lossy audio like you do.

If I capture my monitor at full screen (2560x1440) I usually have to resize for the forum though not for youtube and personal use. It cuts easily.

Sadlylate wrote on 3/29/2025, 4:10 PM

These are my OBS settings.
.....
I don't have to deal with variable frame rate video and lossy audio like you do.
If I capture my monitor at full screen (2560x1440) I usually have to resize for the forum though not for youtube and personal use. It cuts easily.

Thank you, John!

I'm going to experiment with our recording settings next week!

Hopefully I can buff out this .mov issue I'm having at the same time.. Considering re-installing Windows completely

john_dennis wrote on 3/29/2025, 5:32 PM

@Sadlylate said: "Considering re-installing Windows completely"

When you install Windows, use this site to create a script to do an unattended installation.

https://schneegans.de/windows/unattend-generator/

That will minimize the tedium of answering "twenty questions" during the Windows installation and also allow you to not install apps that you don't use or want on an editing workstation.

Use a system imaging program to save standalone images of your system at various stages of development.

Macrium Reflect AOMEI Backupper

It's probably a good idea to take a snapshot of your current system before you start.

Good luck!

Sadlylate wrote on 3/31/2025, 11:00 PM

Unfortunately reinstalling my windows didn't solve my problems.. I guess I'll hold off for now on upgrading to Vegas 22 or any of the Vegas 21 versions past 187 😔

Thank you @john_dennis for looking at my issue with me.

Hopefully someone in the future figures it out for me

RogerS wrote on 3/31/2025, 11:38 PM

Do better OBS settings help? Either MKV or fragmented MP4 remuxed to regular AVC/MP4 and with keyframe interval set to 1 (your framerate)?

I'm surprised ProRes would be causing the crashes as it doesn't even use the GPU to decode, and am wondering if it is the OBS footage or as you say the combination causing problems.

Sadlylate wrote on 4/1/2025, 2:12 AM

Do better OBS settings help? Either MKV or fragmented MP4 remuxed to regular AVC/MP4 and with keyframe interval set to 1 (your framerate)?

I'm surprised ProRes would be causing the crashes as it doesn't even use the GPU to decode, and am wondering if it is the OBS footage or as you say the combination causing problems.

Hi Roger!

Thanks for looking at my issue.. So my crashing problem is purely on Vegas 21 187 its not that bad but gets worse the larger the project gets.

My main issue is that i can't seem to use Vegas 22 OR any of the Vegas Builds past 21 187. I have tried using different recording methods but they all lead to the same issues as mentioned

What i find strange is that I apparently need So4compound in order to read out prores or .mov files? I thought those would natively be supported regardless of what dll vegas decides to use.. But the moment i delete or rename SO4Compound to increase stability and get superior performance with Mx variant, I lose access to using any type of .mov extentions.

I have clearly been digging a bit too deep but it is leaving me puzzled.. Surely I can't be the only one !

What audio format does Vegas prefer? If not the default AAC on OBS

Thanks in advance!

RogerS wrote on 4/1/2025, 2:19 AM

You should never delete dlls that VEGAS uses. so4compound is a native decoder built into VEGAS and works with the Apple ProRes decoding. While mxcompound is newer, looking at 22 ProRes doesn't seem to have been migrated to that yet.

To enable So4compound with build 300 of 21 and newer you check "enable legacy AVC" or "experimental HEVC" in preferences/ file io. In older builds. it does something different- either the very old compoundplug or mxhevc or something like that.

VEGAS is fine with AAC in mp4 containers. PCM in MOV as John is using is good, too.

RogerS wrote on 4/1/2025, 2:29 AM

Also for "silent crashes" you can go to internal preferences (hold down shift and go to options and it will appear), type in "hang" and then change hang detection from FALSE to TRUE. This was enabled automatically in a few build but some found it annoying. Then when it hangs you can choose to end the process and generate an error report. Send it and also let us know what's in problem details as it may have a clue as to what crashed.

Gid wrote on 4/1/2025, 3:06 AM

I have clearly been digging a bit too deep but it is leaving me puzzled..

@Sadlylate Hi, perhaps a reset would be good for you. Since VP21 (300) VP has been very stable & I use alsorts of media types.

I never turn on the Legacy AVC option, I have a few older .mov that show as Format - 'Animation' (MediaInfo - .mov, mpeg-4, Quicktime, RLE) in their properties which use the qt7plug but all my prores .mov use the so4compound. I can easily use all media mp4, hevc/avc, .mov prores/animation etc. with the settings in this pic.