Working off external Hard Drive. Slowing me down?

i c e wrote on 1/10/2009, 8:04 PM

Hello again everyone,
It seems that there ae some very knowledgable people on this forum so I'll throw out another one.
I am trying to figure out why I am running so slow when using HD or MPEG-2 files.
I am wondering if I am having trouble becasue I am storing and working with all the original file on an external hard drive via fire wire iEEE1394 to optimize hard drive space on my computer.

Do you think this could be my problem?

Thank you all again very much,

ice

Comments

Eugenia wrote on 1/10/2009, 8:16 PM

As I said on the other thread, check the tips here:
http://eugenia.gnomefiles.org/2008/12/19/sony-vegas-hints-and-tips/
Yes, using external drives can affect performance, especially if you hit that bug on vegas where it marks the media "offline".

What camera do you use btw? I need to know the exact format you see.

i c e wrote on 1/10/2009, 8:30 PM

Wow! that was fast. Thank you so much.
I use a Sony HDR-CX12 recording on Memory stick duo's in Full HD quality. I record in HD even though I don't use the Hd because I know that the market is switching to HD and when it finishes I don't want all my archives to be out of date.
I am 20 years old and working on a DVD for my family to give out in South America on our next mission trip in six weeks. I will say it is nothing like what you would expect. I will be using high energy music and a lot of effects and detailed editing.

Hey, your site is really cool. there's a ton of really good stuff there. I was just watching one of the Digital Juice Videos, Mega cool.

Peace,

ice

Eugenia wrote on 1/10/2009, 8:41 PM

Thanks. So, this is an AVCHD camera. AVCHD is mpeg4 and extremely slow to edit, much slower than HDV mpeg2 footage. You need to follow the suggestions on the link I gave you, try to use internal storage, have at least 2 GB of RAM on your PC, and that PC must be very powerful and new. If yo can't adhere to that, you need to create proxy files to edit in real time, as I link from the article on my blog.

i c e wrote on 1/10/2009, 9:07 PM

Okay, Well that partly explains my troubles I didn't know that I was dealing with MPEG4. Stupid me.
I have a core duo prosesor with 4 gb of ram so I thought I could handle it, but becuse of the slow speed I must not.
I have been reading your blog and trying to set everything right in My vegas.
I was told by Sony that I should convert my AVCHD files to MPEG2 ( like I was saying earlier) and set the rendering in Vegas to .avi. Do you think this is right?
THanks again,

ice

Eugenia wrote on 1/10/2009, 9:13 PM

No, it's not. After you follow the suggestions in the article, you should be able to have faster playback. I have a quadcore PC at 2.4 Ghz and it's previewing AVCHD footage real time from the internal drive. If you still are not satisfied, create proxy files.

i c e wrote on 1/10/2009, 9:25 PM

Honestly Eugenia, The whole proxy thing just seems over my head. I am afraid that I will screw something up and in the end not be able to get it all out right, you know?
If I could just ask a few more Q's then I'll be done (for now)
1.I will try to use what you say on the blog about Ciniform. Isn't that going to take like a huge amount of time?
2. How do I know what Frame Rate to use? 29? 59?
3. How do I know if I am using 24p. (what does it even mean.)

I greatly appreciate your patience. I know you time is valuable. You are really helping me out!

Thanx again,

ice

Eugenia wrote on 1/11/2009, 4:51 AM

1. No, not that much, but it's necessary if you don't like the speed of your current preview window.
2. 29.97
3. You are not. Your camera doesn't do 24p.