The difference may be that the laptop can decode the file using your Intel GPU and the desktop can't? Take a look at the Windows performance monitor while playing back the file on both and see what GPU decoding activity looks like.

Otherwise you're doing everything right (Studio drivers, no excessive amounts of dynamic ram preview, resetting Vegas).

@Liberty610 Although you say you didn’t create any proxies, vp can be set to automatically create them.

Compare the contents of the source files folders on both laptop and PC.

Compare the tabs for Video, Editing, I/O etc between the two machines, make sure most of your settings are similar. Obviously it will show a difference in gpu's.

Compare the two Project properties, ideally, use the same project file, which i’m sure you are already doing.

Right click the preview screen on both machines, make sure they are identical. Especially check that “Adjust size and Quality for optimal playback is checked”

Have a look at the two machines Options/Preferences /General tab.

Doesn't Vegas show you a green bar at the bottom when it's creating proxy files? Because this didn't occur with these drine files. Also, it was mine understanding that proxy files are only played when you have the play back quality at to draft or preview? I'm attempting to play these on best/full quality. The laptop plays them fine, but at times the desktop lags.

I've noticed when the desktop lags, I will you use hardware monitor to watch activity on my gpu. So if I press play, when it lags, the gpu shows picky 5% to 7% of use. I'll press space bar to stop it, then again to start it, and most the time it plays fine when I do this. Then the gpu usage spikes to 50%+.

The file I/O settings are exactly the same. I'm using the same project files, and the same video files on both systems. Both systems where upgraded from Vegas 17 to Vegas 18 last week, so I used the ctrl shift cache reset on both systems without changing anything except changing the dynamic to 0.

@Liberty610 Also, it was mine understanding that proxy files are only played when you have the play back quality at to draft or preview?

If you do this ... “Adjust size and Quality for optimal playback is checked” ... then the quality of playback is automatically varied to maintain a good playback rate. I usually combine it with best/full. Because it’s relatively transparent to the user, having it checked, in use on one system, and not on the other could lead to a misconception of real playback rates.

I assume that when vp moves up and down the quality scale as it attempts to maintain good playback, using this method, that it automatically switches between proxies and originals.

Wrong assumption. Actually, this item checked doesn’t require proxies to be already created. So it is important to confirm if its set at the same setting on both your machines, otherwise that could explain the difference in behaviour.

@Liberty610 Ok, it just struck me that maybe you don’t know how to access this item? If thats the case, you can see its status and modify it accordingly by right clicking on the preview screen.

The difference may be that the laptop can decode the file using your Intel GPU and the desktop can't? Take a look at the Windows performance monitor while playing back the file on both and see what GPU decoding activity looks like.

I'm not sure if this is causing the difference or not. I'm on the laptop right now, and using Hardware Monitor app to monitor usage, when I press play on the laptop, it shows the RTX usage jump to 40%.

Whatever the default settings in Vegas are when you reset the cache, both systems have those settings because I didn't touch anything but changing the dynamic ram to 0.

Other then the laptop having the RTX 2070 and the desktop having the 2080ti, the only other difference I can see is, in the preferences/File IO section, the laptop has 'Auto (Intel QSV)' in the 'Hardware Decoder To Use:' section, where the desktop has the AMD cpu, so this isn't an option. I'm not at the desktop right now, but if memory serves correctly, 'NVIDIA NVDEC' option is the default 'auto'.

If you do this ... “Adjust size and Quality for optimal playback is checked” ... then the quality of playback is automatically varied to maintain a good playback rate. I usually combine it with best/full.

Vegas 18 defaults does not have "Adjust Size abs Quality for Optimal Playback" turned on. So this option is off on both machines, where the laptop has no stuttering or lag issues any time I'm writing on the project, but the desktop does until I start/stop a couple times, then it starts to play fine.

With the desktop, I can never jump ahead from one clip to another without having to hit play/stop a couple of times to get it to play smoothly. The laptop seems to have no issues no matter what I do.

There are no proxy files in the source folder on either machine. For some reason, the desktop seems to not utilize the Nvidia gpu right away, so it lags. As I stated earlier, I noticed that the gpu usage stays around 7% when the desktop is lagging on playback. Hit play/stop a time or two seems to wake up the GPU because the playback is smooth and then the GPU usage jumps to 50%+.

Other then the laptop having the RTX 2070 and the desktop having the 2080ti, the only other difference I can see is, in the preferences/File IO section, the laptop has 'Auto (Intel QSV)' in the 'Hardware Decoder To Use:' section, where the desktop has the AMD cpu, so this isn't an option. I'm not at the desktop right now, but if memory serves correctly, 'NVIDIA NVDEC' option is the default 'auto'.

Yes, that is precisely the difference I am talking about. NVDEC works with fewer formats than Intel in Vegas. I didn't have much luck with my laptop NVIDIA for decoding (unstable) and that lag sounds annoying. The lag and spike to 50% is the decoding kicking in? (where exactly is the GPU usage? Click on the GPU and you can see the different components. The overall % figure is less useful).

Other then the laptop having the RTX 2070 and the desktop having the 2080ti, the only other difference I can see is, in the preferences/File IO section, the laptop has 'Auto (Intel QSV)' in the 'Hardware Decoder To Use:' section, where the desktop has the AMD cpu, so this isn't an option. I'm not at the desktop right now, but if memory serves correctly, 'NVIDIA NVDEC' option is the default 'auto'.

Yes, that is precisely the difference I am talking about. NVDEC works with fewer formats than Intel in Vegas. I didn't have much luck with my laptop NVIDIA for decoding (unstable) and that lag sounds annoying. The lag and spike to 50% is the decoding kicking in? (where exactly is the GPU usage? Click on the GPU and you can see the different components. The overall % figure is less useful).

Yea, when the GPU jumps to 50% + the lag stops, so it appears that is when the decoding kicks in. But again, I have to stop/start playback once or twice before it kicks in and starts playing smoothly.
 

This doesn't happen with all my projects. I have been working on a 1080p multi-cam shoot where I have 3 1080p files playing at once so I can switch between angles, and neither the desktop or the laptop has any issues. And the lag on the desktop only occurs on some some 4K files but not all of them.

So I am going to chalk this one up to the fact that the laptop has an Intel CPU that works better with Vegas? Is there anything else I can try to prevent this lagging on the desktop other then proxy files?

@Liberty610 

“Is there anything else I can try to prevent this lagging on the desktop other then proxy files?”

”Adjust Size abs Quality for Optimal Playback" turned on. So this option is off on both machines”

Well, turn it on.

Other then the laptop having the RTX 2070 and the desktop having the 2080ti, the only other difference I can see is, in the preferences/File IO section, the laptop has 'Auto (Intel QSV)' in the 'Hardware Decoder To Use:' section, where the desktop has the AMD cpu, so this isn't an option. I'm not at the desktop right now, but if memory serves correctly, 'NVIDIA NVDEC' option is the default 'auto'.

Yes, that is precisely the difference I am talking about. NVDEC works with fewer formats than Intel in Vegas. I didn't have much luck with my laptop NVIDIA for decoding (unstable) and that lag sounds annoying. The lag and spike to 50% is the decoding kicking in? (where exactly is the GPU usage? Click on the GPU and you can see the different components. The overall % figure is less useful).

That sounds right. The desktop should default to Nvidia for decoding if that's all you have there. It's sub-optimal compared to decoding on a different gpu rather than the same one you're using for everything else. But it shouldn't be that bad with a 2080ti. That's a fairly powerful gpu. Are you using the Nvidia Studio drivers? If not try that. Regarding proxy files, if you don't have them and want them, you can trigger their generation manually by right clicking on the clip in the Project Media tab and selecting Create Video Proxy... the hevc clips generally need them for smooth editing if your video board's decoding isn't all that great.

Well, turn it on.

I already tried it. The lag not only still happens, it makes it worse with it on.
 

Are you using the Nvidia Studio drivers?

Yes. Latest version.

Regarding proxy files, if you don't have them and want them, you can trigger their generation manually by right clicking on the clip in the Project Media tab and selecting Create Video Proxy... the hevc clips generally need them for smooth editing if your video board's decoding isn't all that great.

The auto generate of proxy files only happens if the files are ABOVE 4k. I know how to generate them manually, I actually manually generated a proxy on one of the clips, and it didn't help all that much. I see a SLIGHT improvement on preview quality, but there is still some lag going on. Even if it stops stuttering horribly, it still seems to stumble and cut a few fps out. Like, the pans with a drone or super slow/smooth, and I can see it skipping a few frames still.

I was just trying to figure out why my much more high spec desktop was being out-performed by my laptop. The lag situation on the desktop is the same no matter what my preview window quality is set to. It can be on "Preview/Full" or "Best/Full". The lag is there until I stop/start playback a time or two, then it goes away.

Anytime I make a jump in the time line from one clip to another, or use my scroll wheel on the mouse to zoom in/out on the time line, the lag comes back. A Stop/Start playback needs pressed a couple of times before it'll play properly. And this is without ANY effects added in.

I think I will screen cap my time line and upload a youtube link tomorrow to show you all what exactly it is doing.

@Liberty610 

“Well, turn it on.

I already tried it. The lag not only still happens, it makes it worse with it on.”

That does surprise me, for sure it is disappointing.

Its possible that the Cpu's are involved with some of the Hevc decoding, and although the Amd has a high core count, the lower core count of the Intel cpu, but higher speed per core may be helping the laptop perform better?

Can you supply a sample clip to test, say via a Dropbox or equivalent download link?