Photo Import in Video Studio Pro X3

[rlparadise]

Long time Corel Videostudio User, first post. Does anyone have any tips on how to increase the speed of photo imports? With the speed of my processor, I can't understand why it takes 10-15 seconds to import a single photo. Some of the photos are quite large and at a very high resolution but it still is a bit of a head scratcher.

In any modern photo editor, it takes the software about 10-15 seconds to import hundreds of photos and generate a thumbnail tile for preview. Why does Videostudio need to take that long for one picture?

Thoughts?

[Ken Berry]

I'm afraid you will need to give us more information about the properties of the photos you are trying to import and exactly what steps you take to import them.

Your computer is obviously far faster and more powerful than my Quad 6600, yet for me the import of of photos -- even large ones -- is next to instantaneous...

[rlparadise]

A few more details on my configuration:

6GB Tri-Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 6 DIMMs

The hard drive/sandbox (data only, no OS) where I work on all video projects is:
640GB RAID 0 (2 x 320GB SATA 3Gb/s 7200 RPM HDDs)

I copy both photos and video into a folder structure on the drive to work on my projects. The photos range in size from a few hundred KB to a couple of MB. They are primarily family pictures (in this case) as I am creating a video/photo montage to capture a snapshot of a year in my niece's life.

Obviously, I thought a RAID 0 configuration would yield a slight increase in performance. Since this just my sandbox area (and then I save off the finished project to both a DVD and external hard drive), I accept the risk that the RAID configuration is more susceptible to failure.

Here is my workflow:

Using Library Manager, I make a photo AND video library for every video chapter in my project. So, for example, I have a folder titled "Video - Chapter 1" and "Photo - Chapter 1". Then, I select that folder from the dropdown and click the button to "add files to the library". On my hard drive, I've already partioned off the photos and video into similar directories. I navigate to the directory for the photos, do a Ctrl+A and click OK to add all those photos.

Corel Videostudio Pro X3 proceeds to bring up a status bar and will import each photo. The size of the photos (which do vary) don't seem to matter too much. Each picture takes around 10-15 seconds to import and then it moves on to the next one.

Looking at Task Manager, it does not appear that Videostudio is utilizing any significant CPU or memory resources. The screen flashes and I do occasionally see that Videostudio is in a "Not Responding" state in Task manager. However, if you are patient, the software never fails to import all the photos.

Ken, thanks again for your quick response. With Videostudio Pro X2 on my prior machine (P4/3GHZ w/ 1 GB RAM), photo import was slightly faster so it stunned me to see how long things are taking. However, since you aren't seeing the issue, it leads me to believe that this is more likely an issue in the realms of the BIOS, OS or RAID drivers. Like I said, the strange thing is that I will import the photos (on the same hard drive) into a photo editor (usually Picasa) and it takes 10-15 seconds to import, generate thumbnails and do all sorts of things for all the photos across all the chapters. So, why one piece of software doesn't interface nicely with this hard drive but another does is beyond me...any other thoughts?

Thanks

[nosnoop]

Corel Videostudio Pro X3 proceeds to bring up a status bar and will import each photo. The size of the photos (which do vary) don't seem to matter too much. Each picture takes around 10-15 seconds to import and then it moves on to the next one.

This is definitely not normal. It should be very fast.
Just a thought, have you tried adding photos from a USB drive?

[rlparadise]

I have not tried adding any from a USB drive.

I do have several external hard drives for archival and backup that I connect/disconnect periodically. However, the primary external hard drive I currently connect to is eSATA.

I was thinking about doing it anyway and it appears you are suggesting this too. I will add the same set of photos from different drives and see if it yields better results. More details to come...

[Ken Berry]

I don't tend to use the Ctrl + A method since it is very rare that the order of the files as inserted in the timeline match the order I want to slideshow to have. So I am afraid I use an individual drag and drop from the library to the timeline. Have your tried that? If so, it is quicker? (I realise that this method could be quite tedious if -- as some people do -- they include literally hundreds of photos in a single slideshow. My own tend to be limited to [well] under 100 per show, based on my assessment of what most audiences -- even loving family -- can bear!!)

[rlparadise]

To clarify, it's not at the moment I am taking the files from the library to the timeline where I am experiencing this issue. It's when I am importing the photos via the "add files to library" that I experience this problem. I use Ctrl+A from the Windows Explorer "Browse To File" interface when I am in the directory with all the pictures for the applicable chapter. The order isn't an issue because I can do a "sort by name" in Visual Studio Pro X3 and the photos are in the order I desire.

Once the photos are in the library, I drag and drop to the timeline with no issue.

I tend to use about 30-40 pictures (3 second duration) per chapter. There are typically 5-6 "chapters' per movie. However, in the past, my workflow was typically that I imported 60-100 pictures per chapter and then decided as I was editing which ones were a best fit. This many photos takes anywhere from 15-30 minutes to compelte (I can render the entire chapter to AVCHD in less than that time). Even if I do a better job of filtering it will still take 10-15 minutes.

It's a bizarre issue. Like I said, I'll post results of importing from different hard drives tonight.

[Accolades]

Just did a quick test with my system using X3

Imported 109 Photos totalling 287mb from seperate internal drive took 55sec (1.98sec/Photo)

Moving from imported area to timeline was immediate.

HUSTON - You have a problem!!

[Ken Berry]

... FWIW, I just tested my system and imported 21 photos totalling 19 MB using Ctrl+A into a new Library window, and it took exactly ten seconds. And I did a second bunch of 87 photos totalling 66 MB and it took 40 seconds...

[rlparadise]

Thanks to everyone for all their help. I tried a couple of things.

Loaded photos from multiple different drives: SATA, eSATA and USB.....no luck.

Tried rebooting the computer and then loaded photos from the same set of locations....no luck.

I am not kidding: 4 photos, 5.12MB took anywhere from 2-3 minutes. So, I started trying other things and finally found my culprit.

Disabled Norton Internet Security 2010 Antivirus Autoprotect and tried the same steps. It took 4 seconds to load the 4 photos. Subsequent attempts on a larger set of files yielded similar performance.

I apologize for wasting everyone's time. I should have thought to disable anti-virus first.

For those that have Norton Internet Security...beware! I have found no other workaround to the issue yet while working with Version 17.6.0.32. I am not sure if this was caused by a recent update to the Norton product but it was obvious on my machine.

[Ken Berry]

Interesting. I have Nortons 360 version 4, and obviously that does not interfere...

[mitchell65]

For those that have Norton Internet Security...beware! I have found no other workaround to the issue yet while working with Version 17.6.0.32. I am not sure if this was caused by a recent update to the Norton product but it was obvious on my machine.

As a long time user of Symantec products I would suggest you contact Norton on this issue. I have found their support service excellent over the years with very knowledgeble support staff. Worth a try!

[saradan1]

For those of you with a similiar issues, I've experienced the same thing with my computer. This forum helped my situation and Corel ran really nice on loading photos/videos after turning off Norton Security.