Project has suddenly started 'sticking'

terry dennis · Post by **terry dennis** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 5:02 pm

My Aussie project that I have been working on for several weeks has suddenly started 'sticking' today.
When I come to 'Play' or 'Save' project' ........ there may be other functions as well ........ nothing happens for 50secs ! I can move along the time-line quite freely, though.

The project is 1.1MB , 1hr 45mins duration. I am disconnected from Broadband , Bullguard Internet Security is disconnected , VS is set to High Priority in Task Manager , both C&E drives have been de-fragged and the discs have been 'cleaned'. As per my previous posts of 28 August 2008 , DirectX has been updated (something which resolved my previous frequent crashes !)

That's about all I can tell you , except that all my system details are covered in my profile.
Oh! I've even tried a system restore to 6 September 2008 to no avail !

Anyone any suggestions ?? .............. the system is unworkable at the moment !

Terry Dennis

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 5:09 pm

And do you have effects applied, such as transitions, titles, filters, overlays, etc? If so, I'm afraid it could be the nature of the beast. You have a fairly long project, and the more effects you have the longer it takes to preview your project.

Remember, if you have it set for Instant Playback it is putting all that together on the fly.

Trevor Andrew · Post by **Trevor Andrew** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 5:24 pm

Hi

I agree with Jeff¡¦s comments.
If you were to change the playback to ¡¥High Quality¡¦
VS will render the project to your preview folder creating temporary files.

It will then playback the project from these files.

The time to create the files, render the files may be quite long.

Additional editing will require rendering before playback, but will be quicker to create than the original.

Other than that,
You may be best to split your project into smaller sections, rendering the finished sections to individual mpegs. One project for each activity or day out for instance.

terry dennis · Post by **terry dennis** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 5:31 pm

Jeff

Thanks for that ! Yes! I have titles , music and transitions but why should it SUDDENLY change from instant replay to that taking 50 seconds ? Should there not be a gradual deterioration ?

Apart from that , I will take your comments on board and progress along the lines that you have suggested.

Thanks again

Terry Dennis

terry dennis · Post by **terry dennis** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 5:55 pm

Sorry , guys , but I now cannot agree with you ! I just deleted 25 minutes of the video and saved it as a different filename. I deleted the project and then re-loaded it ............... and the effect is the same.
I completed a wedding video a week or so ago lasting 1hr 27 mins and I never had a problem with that.

Any more thoughts ??

Terry Dennis

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 7:59 pm

Could be that you have a corrupt clip, though I would think it would crash alltogether. What type of clips are you working with - audio and video?

You say this happened suddenly. Anything change in your pc? New hardware, software, MS updates? Try a System Restore to a time when everything was working ok.

terry dennis · Post by **terry dennis** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:02 pm

Jeff

I already stated in my opening post that I had done a system restore !

Yes ! I am working with video and audio clips and the project is essentially the same as it was on Saturday except that I have added a few transitional music clips ; this morning it was OK , this afternoon it wasn't !!

Mmmmm ! Must be something somewhere !!

Terry Dennis

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:12 pm

I know you are working with audio and video clips. What kinds? What are their properties?

And why did you choose Sept. 6 as your restore point? All was working well before that?

DVDDoug · Post by **DVDDoug** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 12:16 am

I suspect Black Lab is on the right track... All of my "weird" problems have had something to do with the particular audio/video files, but I usually couldn't figure-out exactly what the problem was... Some files work and others cause trouble... They all play-back fine on Windows Media Player.

It could be some slight corruption in your audio/video file(s). Or, given all of the different formats, and all the variations of every format, maybe Video Studio isn't 100% compatible with whatever format you are using.

People who work with highly-compressed formats seem to have the most trouble (MOV, MPEG-4, DivX, etc.). (I would consider your ~1GB, ~2hour file "highly-compressed".) AVI/DV (13Gb per hour from a MiniDV camera) is usually trouble-free. (Not all "AVI" files are DV... An AVI file can use any compression scheme.) And for separate audio files, uncompressed WAV files are the most trouble-free.

P.S.
Here's something that might work - Load your file(s) into Video Studio and save it/them as AVI/DV before any editing (via the Share tab/options). If that works you should be able to edit the AVI/DV files, and then save in whatever format you desire.

Trevor Andrew · Post by **Trevor Andrew** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 9:44 am

Hi Terry

If the culprit is a corrupt file, then by splitting the project into smaller sections you should be able to identify the problem area.
If each section shows the same problem, then I would assume the project to be ok. And the problem being elsewhere??????????????

And by the way ---- What do you mean by ¡¥transitional music clips¡¦

edited post

Hi Terry

This is a what if¡K.and me thinking aloud
Relating to one of your previous posts,

You attach a smart sound clip using the Willow option. The clip has to be over 32 seconds.
Its in the timeline and playing ok.

Now what affect does it have if you reduce the length below 32 seconds??????????????

I do not have VS 11 and cannot check.

Clevo · Post by **Clevo** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 12:38 pm

I'm going to go on a limb and predict that the half gig of ram is where you are getting the delays from... you have enough to run windows and background processes but rendering a preview on the fly for viewing is bound to cause some delays and the sticking... check your swap drive and give it as much room as possible in the short term.

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 2:11 pm

Come to think of it, Trevor may be on to something. I don't use SmartSound anymore, but I recall having a delay problem when I used some of them. Try removing the SmartSound track and see what happens.

terry dennis · Post by **terry dennis** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:18 pm

Pardon my delay in responding to everyone but I have been doing some checking which I started last night

The problem appears to be within the SmartSound auto-music facility. I almost gave the answer to my own question when I said in one of my earlier posts that ¡§ the project is essentially the same as it was on Saturday except that I have added a few transitional music clips ; this morning it was OK , this afternoon it wasn't !! ¡§ It really was like that ¡V no problems with the project ¡K SmartSound auto-music clips introduced ¡K. delayed response to actions to the project (waiting for up to 3 minutes on occasions) !

In particular , there appears to be a problem with the ¡§Synergy¡¨ music which is contained within the ¡§Full Spectrum¡¨ library , particularly if the music clip is 1min and above.

On a general observation , most , if not all , SmartSound auto music clips when introduced to the timeline will create an INITIAL 10-20sec delay in an action to the project like starting to play. After that , the delay is usually a very acceptable 1 or 2 secs.
In the case of ¡¥Synergy ¡V Vestige¡¦ , when I introduce this to the time-line I get an initial delay to an action like playing the project , of 90 to 270seconds. After that , there is a delay of between 15 to 20 seconds for every action to the project.

I have tried taking out this music clip and I get response to any action immediately or within 1 or 2 seconds. Put another music clip in of another title within SmartSound with the same duration and the effect is the same ¡V rapid response to any action. Change that back to ¡¥Synergy¡¦ and I get problems !!

I hope that Ron P. in particular picks up this thread as he seemed to indicate in one of his previous posts on a similar topic that he had the ear of the SmartSound Techie people. Can they make any comments ?

Many thanks for all your inputs ; I hope that some more feedback on this ¡§problem¡¨ is forthcoming !

On a separate note , Clevo said in his post
"check your swap drive and give it as much room as possible in the short term " What do you mean by "swap drive" and how do I give it as much room as possible ?

Terry Dennis

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:24 pm

You might want to check out the SmartSound website. I know they used to post patches for various editors, VS included. If this problem is not covered you may want to drop them an email.

terry dennis · Post by **terry dennis** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:34 pm

Thanks for that response , Jeff !

That is something I will look at if nothing else transpires.

Terry Dennis