Windows 98 4GB file limit, how to handle?

Aussie wrote on 2/14/2001, 3:08 AM
Hi, I have one days experience but managed to complete a
half hour project (with text, FX transitions and an audio
envelope :-) ready to render. I tried it and got an error
when the file size got to 3.99gb.

How do you handle projects larger than 4gb when rendering,
and when printing to tape or VCD? I am busting to finish
this project!

Thanks in anticipation!

Comments

ronaldf wrote on 2/14/2001, 7:34 PM
Welcome to inexpensive video editing.

There are a couple of options depending on what you are
using for a capture card.

1.If you have an OHCI card you can use Premiere 6.0 and use
it instead of VideoFactory... $$$$$$$! Premiere allows you
to output to tape from the timeline.

2.If your Card is StudioDV you can break your project into
the smaller files and place them into StudioDV for output
to Tape. As long as you do not edit in StudioDV, the files
will output without any rendering and thus avoiding a lot
of StudioDV problems.

3.Make smaller files and record them to tape in the old
linear fashion .... good luck!

4.Wait until Sonicfoundry decides to update VideoFactory to
output to tape from the timeline instead of rendering to
an .avi file and using the capture program to output to
tape.

5.Switch to Win2k and bypass the file limit size.

6.Switch to a NLE system that bypasses the file limit size
and will output from the timeline.

Aussie wrote on 2/14/2001, 8:26 PM
Thanks for the reply Ronald!

I read a review in a magazine and they raved about Video
Factory. I wanted to try PC editing so I bought it. So far
I am impressed by the power of the s/w, but now I am very
disappointed I have to use a 'work-around' to make the
thing work as it should. Fair enough if they tell you this
beforehand, but they say Win 98 compatible, so I took them
at their word. They should have said 'Win 98 compat. as
long as your projects are very short'.

I'm stuck with it now so will have to spend more time and
energy doing a work around.

I have a vanilla firewire card. Can I complete a project
in VF and then break iy into smaller ones? Will it be easy
to link them together for printing to tape? How do I know
the file size of the project and where to cut it up?

Is the easiest option to set up my PC to boot from Win 2000
just for VF and leave everything else as is in Win 98 (dual
boot or whatever it's called)? I'm not a PC wiz.

Thanks again for your reply!
ronaldf wrote on 2/15/2001, 1:02 AM
Actually I like VF very much. It has a lot of power for a
low end editor. I too was upset when I found out it didn't
output from the timeline. Even the better editing software
is somewhat touchy with the OHCI compliant cards. They put
a lot of strain on the processor. One of the first things
that I learn when I jumped into DV and non-linear editing
was you have to have the computer optimized to the max. I
started with Studio 400 and had no luck with it at all. I
moved to StudioDV and built a computer strictly for
editing. I did make a couple of videos of my kid's weddings
that turned out quite nice. StudioDV had a few bugs and had
to be babied along to get a good master tape. But it did
render and output to tape with no file size limitations
with win98se. I got VF to try to overcome StudioDVs
problems and to get more power. But if is a pain to edit in
VF, break the project into small files, import them into
StudioDV for output to tape. I finally broke down and got
Canopus' DVRaptor. It came with Adobe Premiere 5.1c and
Canopus provided 6.0 upgrade for $20. So for $420 I got a
full featured NLE system. Extreme overkill for just editing
family home movies but well worth it to get away from the
aggervation and wasted time of the cheaper systems.

If you already have Win2000 then a duel boot system may be
the way to go if win2000 will recognize your card and other
componts. VF has a lot of power for the price. If you have
to buy win2000 then I would suggest going the route that I
did. Check out www.videoguys.com for optimizing your system
and other editing tips. Also check out Canopus' site -
www.justedit.com. There is a link to their forum.

Good luck!
Aussie wrote on 2/15/2001, 4:25 AM
Thanks again for the info Ronald.

I'll wait a bit longer to see if Sonic Foundry support will
reply to my email support request and/or this post. I would
like to know what they have to say about this.

I have Win 2000, but if I use it I will not have easy
access to all the stuff I have, and will put into, Win 98
FAT32 (still pics, music, web images etc.) I guess I could
confine myself to using just the video I shoot. Also I
spend enough time and energy running one operating system,
and don't fancy dealing with two together.
SonyEPM wrote on 2/15/2001, 9:08 AM
Unfortunately, in VideoFactory 1.0 there is no workaround
for the OS file system limit, so the VideoFactory-only
longform option is Win2k. We'll be addressing this issue in
the next major revision.

If you aren't going back to DV you can use one of the
streaming formats. The higher bitrate Windows Media Video
renders look great when played back from CD.
Aussie wrote on 2/15/2001, 7:05 PM
Thank you Sonic for your reply. PC CDs are no help when
the target audience want to watch TVs with VCRs and miniDV
cams. And I got a DV cam for the quality and lossless
editing capability.

You say the file limit will be addressed in the next
revision, but you omitted to say when the next major
revision is likely to be? If it's weeks or a month or
three I would not go down the dual boot Win 2k path just
for VF. If it's six months away I might.
SonyEPM wrote on 2/15/2001, 9:55 PM
sorry, we don't promise release dates. You'd best look into
other options rather than wait for the upgrade.
ScottMenzies wrote on 7/12/2001, 2:09 AM
I'm not even getting 3.99 on an AVI render. It dies at 1.99GB. Any ideas why that's happening? I'd sure rather be dealing in 3.99 chunks than 1.99...

Thanks a bunch...
DaveP wrote on 7/12/2001, 12:19 PM
You would want to make sure that you have specified to make an openDML .avi files. This will allow you to have .avi files in excess of 2 gig. You can find here render as>custom>video tab.
SonyEPM wrote on 7/12/2001, 1:28 PM
Slight clarification: Only Win 2k running NTFS-formatted drives will handle unlimited size avi files.
FrankM wrote on 7/12/2001, 1:59 PM
I've found that I can get 17 1/2 minutes of digital video (AVI) before I run into the 4 GIG limit. So somewhere near that point I put in a fade to black and render. The next 17 1/2 minute section opens with a fade up from black. And so forth.

When I print to tape to make a VHS copy, I just print the sections sequentially. When viewed from the VHS tape, the sections play one after the other with no interruptions.