Video Pauses when playback via firewire drive

CraigF wrote on 4/8/2003, 10:55 AM
I know this topic has been brought up in the past, but I am posting a new topic to find out if there has been any fixes.

I have an ADS Pyro Drive kit with an IBM 80GB 7200 RPM drive. When I drop a video from this drive on the timeline, it will play for 10-30 seconds, then I get a long pause, then it will start up again. The cycle repeats.

Based on other posts, I have muted the audio track and the video clip plays fine (I let it play for a couple minutes--no pauses).

I know a workaround is to copy the AVI to the hard drive, but this isn't a viable option for me since my internal drive is only 40GB.

More system specific info:
Motherboard: ECS K7S5A (SIS chipset)
CPU: AMD Althon XP 1900+
512MB PC2100 RAM
40GB 5400RPM "OS" Drive
80GB 7200RPM "video drive" in an ADS Pyro Firewire case
Using onboard sound/network
SIIG Firewire card (VIA Chipset)
Windows XP Pro SP1
Static Pagefile on C: (1280MB)
Vegas 4.0
DVDA 1.0

I really hope we can figure out the problem with the playback delays.

Thanks!

Craig

Comments

stormstereo wrote on 4/8/2003, 6:06 PM
I'm having (had) the same problem with my external FireWire drive (LaCie 120 GB DV Ed.). Sometimes I got an error message (but not always) that stated "unable to mix audio". The only thing that eliminated the problem was the following workaround:

Right click the audio on the timeline. Choose "Apply Non-real-Time Event FX...". The plug-in window opens. Double-click any plug-in, for example Graphic EQ and click OK. Now the EQ window opens. Bypass the effect by unchecking the box in the upper left corner and click OK. The Save dialogue opens. Save with the suggested name, or any other, to the same drive. It does not have to be a different drive. Done. Apply this workaround to all audio clips on the timeline. No need to copy the whole AVI.

Hope it helps.
Best/Tommy
CraigF wrote on 4/9/2003, 12:07 PM
That worked for the quick test I did last night, but I don't really like this work-around. What does this mean? Is it showing that firewire isn't fast enough to play a DV media file that has audio and video? Does it mean that Vegas isn't handling the playback correctly?

I can play media files in Windows Media player without a problem, so I'm guessing that it is a Vegas issue and not a limit of the firewire technology. I could be wrong. :)

Craig
Former user wrote on 4/9/2003, 12:11 PM
I would say it is probably a conflict with the external drive and your soundcard. Check your IRQ list to see what is sharing with what.

Dave T2
stormstereo wrote on 4/11/2003, 11:37 AM
It is a Vegas issue since other software have no problems playing back the avi. In a reply I got from SoFo they claimed to have adressed the problem in Vegas 4 as long as the firewire drive had the Oxford 911, but I'm still experiencing problems. I will in the near future format my C: drive due to other problems and if the problem is still there after reinstalling my system I'm going to write them again and "demand" a solution. A workaround is NOT a solution.

My setup (for comparison regarding the problem):
Dell Inspiron 8200 LapTop
40 GB internal HDD
768 MB RAM
120 GB external LaCie d2 DV edition firewire drive
Vegas 4.0b + DVDA 1.0b

Best/Tommy