Thumbs on Multi-Trim Screen Slow to render!

harmonyhearts · Post by **harmonyhearts** » Sun Aug 20, 2006 3:57 pm

I've been playing with DVD Moviefactory 5.0 for a couple months now. And have been having various different issues with this and that. I've fixed most of my problems by reading the forum here and the docs that came with the program. Had to replace my hard drive to get rid of most of my problems relating to software crashes (Most likely caused by windows XP or virus's). BUT! Just a couple weeks ago I started running into another problem in the Multi-Trim screen. It takes 15 seconds to render the thumbnails for frames so you can see where your at in the clip. It was working just fine 2 weeks ago after I spent a ton of time reinstalling everything and basically starting from scratch.

I followed some instructions I found about making a Video Editor Hardware profile and a new user to eliminate any congested ram and CPU usage. But It didn't change anything. The only thing I can think of that changed from when it worked and started with the long renders was a windows security update that it did automatically. What can I check to see whats causing the problems?

maddrummer3301 · Post by **maddrummer3301** » Sun Aug 20, 2006 6:41 pm

harmonyhearts · Post by **harmonyhearts** » Sun Aug 20, 2006 7:10 pm

Ooops! I forgot to mention that I did a clean install according to the information posted in the Knowledgebase. And these are Mpeg2 files that I've edited before with no apparent ploblem. I also tried turning on the Create index file like you said and MovieFactory just locked up and I had to reboot the computer. After testing it again with my Video Editing Hardware profile and Video Editing user that I created specifically for this it still locked up while editing a different video that worked just fine 2 weeks ago. It still takes about 15 seconds to render the thumbs so I can see where I'm at. I'm mainly trying to cut out commercials and its taking too much time to find the fade to black areas so I can mark my ins and outs. Thanks! Any other ideas?

snoops · Post by **snoops** » Sun Aug 20, 2006 10:05 pm

You replaced a hard drive and reinstalled from scratch. Maybe you overlooked some vital setting related to the disk or its controller. Make sure the drive itself is performing correctly.

Since it worked before (same MF5 with the same exact clips), something is different. Go through all the software you installed or changed after it worked. Maybe some additional burner software, codec packs, etc.
I don't suspect the security update because a problem related to that I guess would probably be more severe. Even though it might be confusing at first, I'd recommend the free Process Explorer from www.sysinternals.com to see what is really running (better, with more info and details than Task Manager).

maddrummer3301 · Post by **maddrummer3301** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 2:17 am

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 2:58 am

harmonyhearts wrote:Ooops! I forgot to mention that I did a clean install according to the information posted in the Knowledgebase. And these are Mpeg2 files that I've edited before with no apparent ploblem. I also tried turning on the Create index file like you said and MovieFactory just locked up and I had to reboot the computer. After testing it again with my Video Editing Hardware profile and Video Editing user that I created specifically for this it still locked up while editing a different video that worked just fine 2 weeks ago. It still takes about 15 seconds to render the thumbs so I can see where I'm at. I'm mainly trying to cut out commercials and its taking too much time to find the fade to black areas so I can mark my ins and outs. Thanks! Any other ideas?

I would also run chkdsk to ensure you're hard drive isn't developing some faults.

harmonyhearts · Post by **harmonyhearts** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 3:40 am

I'll do a checkdisk and see if it comes up with anything. I redigitized some footage from my Tivo recorder to get some fresh footage to work with. Same deal, it takes about 15 seconds to render out each thumb for each frame.
I also tried to trim one of the clips and export it and reload it to see if I would have maybe a corrupt file that might have been caused by defragging the hard drive or something. Again, no change.

I supose if I reformat my hard drive and reinstall everything it will probably start working magically. That sure is an awfull lot of work to do. I guess I'm trying to figure out why its doing this because I'm sure it will start doing it again in a couple weeks. Dough!
Thanks for your help. Any other ideas?

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 4:00 am

You could try creating a dual boot system. You're 300 GB hard drive is large enough for you to set aside a separate partition for an alternative operating system.

You install your XP system again in the other partition which will create a boot up menu. When you restart your computer you then choose which operating system to boot from.

Keep the second copy of XP as a minimum system with nothing installed other than your video editing requirements. No internet etc. It's a bit like the VideoEditing Profile.

The beauty here is, when you have a problem such as this one, you can reboot your computer and start the other copy of XP and then you are able to see if the problem exists when run from the other copy.

It helps confirm/disprove a faulty video file. It's also a good emergency access option should your XP installation refuse to boot up.

maddrummer3301 · Post by **maddrummer3301** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 5:07 am

harmonyhearts · Post by **harmonyhearts** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 9:23 am

I'll flatten it tonight when I get home and reinstall everything again. I guess I could easily set aside about 10 gigs and make a separate partition. The digitizer I'm using is a ADS Tech DVD Express. It seems to work pretty good. I don't have any trouble playing back my videos that it creates. I'll post properties on the clip when I get home from work. It took about 30 seconds before the screen came up. I'll type it in and post it here, as this is a different machine that I have hooked to the web. See ya tonight!

Thanks

harmonyhearts · Post by **harmonyhearts** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 8:00 pm

Here's the properties of my file I'm trying to play with. Just one of many I've tried recently. These files worked just fine a couple weeks ago.

File Name - 211 Circular Kitchen-Table.mpg
File format NTSC DVD
File size 1,011,136 KB
Duration 1917.784 seconds

Video type MPEG-2 Video, Upper Field First
Total frames 57,476 frames
Attributes 24 bit, 720 x 480, 4:3
Frame rate 29.970 frames/sec
Data rate Variable bit rate (Max. 3999 kbps)

Audio Type Mpeg Audio Layer 2 files
Total samples 92,053,654 Samples
Attributes 48000 Hz 16 Bit, Stereo
Layer 2
Bit rate 224 kbps

Is there anything here that I should be concerned about?

Thanks

harmonyhearts · Post by **harmonyhearts** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 3:38 am

Okay! After I reformated my system partition and reinstalled Windows XP, Norton System Works, Spyware Doctor, DirectX 9.0 and MovieFactory 5.0 it works just fine now using the same files I had before. I have my data files and project files located on a secondary hard drive (250 Gig). Now I'll install some other things I need and try to see what was causing the trouble. Windows hasn't updated itself with all the security updates yet so I'll be it was in there somewhere that caused it to quit working. The Thumbs in the Multi-Trim screen now only take a fraction of a second to render. Now I can easily edit my ins and outs like it should be.

Whew! I hope it lasts a little longer this time. I just might have to keep my editing computer unplugged from the internet untill I'll done with this project as it took my about 6 hours to install everything and scan and remove the Trojans that naturally find thier way through my DSL connection. Dam I hate the w32.welchia.worm. Thats the 3rd time I've reinstalled in 3 months and everytime I get hit by that #####!

When I figure out what program or install causes MF5.0 to quit working I'l post it here.

Thanks

maddrummer3301 · Post by **maddrummer3301** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 4:27 am

snoops · Post by **snoops** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 9:24 pm

Thomas,

the Trojans that naturally find thier way through my DSL connection.

Not "naturally", if you protect your system. Some extra time and effort is needed, instead of letting Windows Update do the work.

1. Very simple. Don't use online Windows Update to bring your virgin system to the patch levels needed to protect against old well-known worms etc. You get hit before updated because of all the infected systems out there. How? Don't just install the updates but download them and keep them on an external drive. When you do a clean install, install the critical updates locally and get the newer things online later!

2. Your DSL router should have firewall funtionality with stateful packet inspection. Any *incoming* traffic you don't ask for is rejected. If not, get a new DSL router.

3. The icing on the cake.
Install a firewall on your system that prevents unwanted *outgoing* traffic including all the Microsoft networking stuff. The old free Kerio personal firewall is great for this.
It takes some time to create and refine all the rules to allow only what you want and block the rest, especially for things like Windows Update. But every time a new candidate tries to go into the internet, you get a popup and can decide to let it create a rule to allow or deny.

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 11:58 pm

I just read your settings and noticed your using a variable bit rate.
You will find constant bit rate better. Use variable bit rate when you are getting close to the margin when fitting it all onto a DVD disc and need to reduce its size slightly.

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