Yet another theory on (certain types of) crashes

Leee wrote on 3/18/2012, 1:59 PM

Ever since I installed Vegas Pro 11, I've made several changes on my system to try and alleviate some of the crashes. Along with updating Vegas Pro with the latest patches, I've purchased a new graphics card (and as mentioned in a previous thread) made sure I deleted any reference or driver for the old graphics card. (I switched from a Radeon 5650 to a NVIDIA GeForce GTX-580 (by EVGA). And finally I updated NewBlueFX to the latest 3.0 version (GPU-accelerated) and have installed BCC8 over BCC7.

So, on to my theory... I have been doing a sort of "stress test" with Vegas where I would take a short video clip, apply one BCC8 effect, play around with various controls and sliders, delete that effect, load another effect and start all over. Usually I'm able to add and delete at least a dozen various effects (I haven't tried NewBlueFX on this little test yet) before Vegas stalls with "Program Not Responding", which is different from other various (more fatal) crashes I've gotten since installing Vegas 11. At least now I am able to close the stalled Vegas window without forcing it closed by going into the Task Manager, or having Vegas blip off my screen without any warning at all.

This all seems to me that perhaps this type of crash is related to a buildup of unwanted memory (or lack/leak of memory) - I'm running with 8GB of ram. I am NOT a computer GURU (although certain family members and friends would disagree) and I don't fully understand about how MEMORY LEAKS work. But could this be the case? It just seems that loading plugins, after a certain period of time (every time I've done this test) ultimately Vegas will stop responding. But before it reaches that point, I'm able to tweak and adjust to my heart's content any plugin I throw on to the clip.

Has this been discussed before? Do you think I might be on to something here? Have I been spending too much time on this? Have I lost all sense of reality?!?!?!

Comments

Spectralis wrote on 3/18/2012, 2:24 PM

The problems you describe fit exactly what I'm experiencing. The main problem with VP11 is that it hangs when adjusting FX parameters rather than crashing and generating a crash report (but it still does crash more than v10.) When it hangs I have to close it using the task manager.

This problem seems to affect so many of us that it can't just be down to particular system configurations so perhaps memory overflow is a problem. Whatever is causing this is making it happen suddenly, without warning and unpredictably but that doesn't mean it's not the result of a build up of one particular error. I'm not a software programmer so this is speculation but when I've had a problem like this with other software repeatedly crashing or hanging it's usually with the software and not my system.

Zeitgeist wrote on 3/18/2012, 2:26 PM

I too experience the hang. Sometimes I get a few more click in before I noticed the minimized crash report on my toolbar. Bizarre behavior to say the least on the behalf of vegas 11.

Leee wrote on 3/18/2012, 4:57 PM

I stated in my original post that I have not tried any of the NewBlueFX plugins after I swapped video cards. I own and have upgraded Video Essentials 1 through 5 to the new 3.0 GPU accelerated versions, which worked about as well as the BCC plugins...they worked for awhile then ultimately stalled Vegas. Today I upgraded NewBlue Motion Effects, Light Effects and Paint Blends to the 3.0 versions and the results were far worse! Every time I applied one of those plugins to a video clip, the moment I tried to move an adjustment slider, or even just press "Activate", Vegas would stop responding. So I just basically wasted $60 on the upgrades!

This occurs in both Vegas Pro 10e and 11. I submitted a trouble ticket to NewBlueFX. At this point I'm willing to get any help or suggestions I can.

Chris B wrote on 3/18/2012, 5:28 PM

Regarding memory leaks - there's defiantly something wrong with the memory management when using GPU acceleration (so there may well be without). I have replicated (and reported to SCS) an issue whereby when my graphics card runs out of memory the video tracks start to become "mixed up" with one track randomly rendering the image from another. Reducing the same example project's output resolution slightly so the memory used "fits" on the card and the project renders without issue. Turning off GPU acceleration also resolved this. I wonder if these black frames that people experience are a similar symptom.

I used this small gadget
http://blog.orbmu2k.de/sidebar-gadgets/gpu-observer-sidebar-gadget#more-203
to monitor the memory use of the card.

Laurence wrote on 3/18/2012, 8:33 PM

I've got 16gb, so the memory leak would have to be pretty bad.

Spectralis wrote on 3/18/2012, 9:02 PM

I've got 16GB too and I can't imagine VP 11 chews through all that either. VP 10 introduced GPU support I think and it's been extended in v11. People report instability from v10 so GPU support , even when it's switched off, might be at the root of these problems. The other possibility is OFX implementation in Vegas? Could this have introduced plugin problems in v10? Were there any other significant new developments since v10 apart from GPU, OFX and 3D?