Smart Proxy in VS10 plus

maxfrost01 · Post by **maxfrost01** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 4:24 pm

Got excited about the concept of Smart Proxy as it sounds like the solution to slow editing of HDV which I've experienced in VS9. So I downloaded the 30-day trial today.
Two problems:
1. Where can I get instructions on how to use Smart Proxy?
2. When I create a proxy it has no sound (the soundline is flat) whereas the original HD clip works fine. What am I doing wrong? (Could it be that simply need to get my hands on some instructions?

tyamada · Post by **tyamada** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 4:53 pm

If your compter is a 3.0GHZ or above you don't need to use smart proxy.
What smart proxy does is makes a down converted version of your HDV file, I found when I used smart proxy it took longer to make the new mpg file than to edit my HD file without it.

maxfrost01 · Post by **maxfrost01** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 5:10 pm

I've got a Pentium 4 chip but still find working with HDV is very slow.
Did you find it took a long time to create proxy files? I converted a six minute clip from HDV to proxy and it must have taken around 30 minutes.
Are you saying it also takes forever to create the final HD video?
And have you had any problems with sound?
Appreciate your help with this.............

tyamada · Post by **tyamada** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 5:20 pm

You didn't say what speed your processor is. It takes approximately 1:20 minutes to produce a .m2t fiile from a 20 minute HD video. I didn't have any problems with sound when I use a proxy file, don't know what your problem is. HD video files are very large compared to Standard video and there fore takes more time to render. If you are creating a video to export back to the camera than the rendering time will be long. If you are just producing a video file to watch on your computer than smart render will take less time, thats if you don't include anything fancy.

maxfrost01 · Post by **maxfrost01** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 5:33 pm

P4 processor 530 with HT technology (3.00GHz, 800fsb, 1MB cache) - if that means anything to you!

Post by **Ken Berry** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:12 pm

I preface this by saying I know nothing about HDV cameras. However, re your audio problem, I assume that Dolby may be the audio format on the camera. If so, then for licence fee reasons, the trial version of VS10 does not have the capacity to handle Dolby. You might, however, get some luck with the free AC-3 filter at http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=372 Earlier versions would at least allow you to import Dolby, but not re-encode in that format. In other words, you would need to re-encode out to another audio format such as the rock-standard LPCM. However, I see the filter has been extensively revised recently, so now might even allow re-encoding to Dolby.

tyamada · Post by **tyamada** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:39 pm

Ken:

The audio format on the HC1 is not AC3 it is standard stereo. Thats why I don't have a clue why his audio doesn't work.

maxfrost01:

Your processor has enough horsepower to edit HD video without using smart proxy, as I said before using smart proxy just adds to the the editing time.

jchunter · Post by **jchunter** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:30 pm

Max,
I agree with Terry that your computer is fast enough to directly capture, edit and smart-render high definition video. Intermediate codecs can't make the video any better than the original encoded quality but they can complicate the process. See high definition tutorial at http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewtopic.php?t=13872

maxfrost01 · Post by **maxfrost01** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 3:01 pm

Tyamada/Ken/JC - many thanks for your help and advice.
I'll stay with editing in HDV and avoid the Smart Proxy though a) it seems awfully slow compared to standard DV editing and b) this is a pretty sad indictment of VS10 Plus which claims you can "edit HD content as easily as standard definition".
I guess we have to wait for smarter software and faster computers.....

jchunter · Post by **jchunter** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 4:42 pm

Max,
I have been quite pleased with the performance of version 10+ when editing high def video. Playback of this edited video is almost as smooth as standard definition video on my system - which is about the same speed as yours. I usually do not use qlobally acting filters (e.g., to correct color balance, etc. ) and typically just cut out bad video, insert transitions, music, etc. Is is possible that some other problem exists in your computer, such as fragmented disk space, hyperthreading disabled, DMA not enabled, etc. ?

maxfrost01 · Post by **maxfrost01** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 5:12 pm

JC - good points.
There is no problem with disk fragmentation.
But hyperthreading and DMA??? If I knew what they were I could tell you if they were disabled/enabled!

Can you point me in the right direction to check the settings?

jchunter · Post by **jchunter** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 12:50 am

Max,
My machine arrived with hyperthreading turned off...

You turn it on in the system BIOS (holding F7 or F5 when you boot up, as I remember...). DMA is enabled in Control Panel/System/Hardware/Device Manager on each hard drive separately - in Properties/Policies, check "Optimize for Performance and uncheck "Enable Write Caching" (safer).

maxfrost01 · Post by **maxfrost01** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 5:47 am

Hi, JC
Hyperthreading is ON.
Optimize for Performance is checked.
Optimize for Quick Removal (which appears on the same Policies screen) is not checked and the description suggests that checking it would disable write caching BUT the Policies screen is greyed out making it impossible to change either setting.
Any suggestions?
Really do appreciate your help on this............

jchunter · Post by **jchunter** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 3:27 pm

Max,
Well, that leaves the swap file settings (recommended: 2x real memory) and your video card - is the driver up to date? Other possibilities include disabling most, if not all, processes that start up automatically when you boot up (I have 32 disabled). Run msconfig.exe to disable these. Run virus checkers and remove all adware and cookies from the machine. Good luck!