Video events randomly stop playing properly

AlanG wrote on 12/2/2011, 3:27 PM

I'm relatively new to Vegas Studio Platinum, and am working on my 2nd large (45-60 min) video. The first project went very well, but I'm having a problem with random video events within the 2nd project. Video events that worked fine initially will suddenly stop playing properly as the project nears completion. I think the system basically loses track of the trimming locations for random clips. Reversing the clip will typically bring it "back to life", but the portion of the clip in the event is no longer correct. The problem frequently occurs when I've saved and recalled the project. I've gone back to previous versions multiple times to rebuild the last portion of the project, but the problem always appears. The project contains a mix of clips obtained from a DV camera and digital photographs. Most of the clips have been trimmed using the trimmer, and there are also some sub-clips and reversed clips. Some of the trimmer settings were "saved", but not all.

My system has 8GB of RAM and an NVidia FX3700 graphics card, so resources shouldn't be a limitation unless we are encountering a 32bit limit.

Do I need to save every trimmer setting prior to exiting the program? Is there some way to force the system to recover my trimmer values? I can build the entire project again from the original clips if needed, but would like to know where I've been going wrong. I'll be attempting to review the tutorial DVD this weekend for possible mistakes, but would really appreciate your input as the project needs to be completed in the near future.

The program has otherwise been working very well, and several of my co-workers have been very impressed by the software. Hopefully we can resolve the problem to help eliminate concerns over possible "bugs" in the program.

Comments

MSmart wrote on 12/2/2011, 8:27 PM

I've never used the trimmer so can't help you directly with that. However, a few questions...

What version of VMS?

You mention co-workers, are you using this at work? If so, where are the files stored, local drive or network share?

Can you split the project in two? Maybe the number of events (clips/photos) is causing an issue?

Do you have VideoFX applied on any of the clips?

And lastly, what pixel size are the photos? Older versions of VMS don't play well with large photos.

AlanG wrote on 12/3/2011, 11:04 AM

I'm using Vegas Studio HD Platinum version 11.0, build 256 running on Win7 64 bit. The files are located on a local hard drive, and should be readily accessible. I can split the project in two if necessary, but would definitely prefer to work with the full file if possible.
The use of VideoFX is fairly limited, but the primary video track (with the problem events) has a shadow effect to create on overlay on a larger background image video track. Some of the clips have been cropped to create a zoom effect for otherwise stationary photos. The digital picture resolution varies. Most were taken with an older 2 megapixel camera, but there are a few 8 megapixel images as well.
The project includes a transparent text track with captions, a video overlay track with a few short events, the main video track, a background video track, a narration track, and a (muted) recording background noise track. The basic layout is very similar to my other project that seems to work very reliably.
"Reversing" a problem video event brings it "back to life", but the end points are rarely correct (even if I reverse again to get the correct sequence). Opening the problem event in the trimmer usually provides only a very short static image, probably only a few frames long. Opening the parent media in the trimmer brings up the original clip, and I can re-create the event. Replacing the problem events with the new events provides an entire video that apparently works, but random events will fail again the next time I open the project. I've been "saving" the markers and regions in the trimmer, and also enabled autosave, but it still seems to be losing track of the correct endpoints and direction for video events. The somewhat random nature of the problem is difficult to debug, but it seems many of the affected events were created from sub-clips and/or reversed.