Pause before playback

[Phil_Rose]

Hi all. I am currently using the trial version of the software and it seems really great but there is one thing that is making me not want to buy it. When I hit the play button there is a three second pause before playback begins. This may seem like a small issue but I'm sure you understand that when one is hitting the play button over and over again to try and get one part just right it adds up to a lot of frustration. Is this unexpected behavior or do you have any hints or tips on speeding up this action? Do you also see this behavior? Otherwise it seems a very powerful program.
Thanks for any help!

[Ken Berry]

I am not sure there is all that much you can do about it -- though perhaps we should first clarify when exactly this happens. I suspect it is while you are editing and want to see the effects your edits are having. And you have the Project button directly below the preview screen ticked. Is that correct? If so, if you think about it, Project mode in effect is doing a quick behind the scenes conversion of your project to its final format, including transitions, filters, audio etc. This is a highly complex process and in fact it is something of a miracle that the program can do it so quickly. But it can rarely happen instantaneously, and the more complicated the project is in terms of the format of the video, and the number and type of edits, the longer it will take for the program to throw it all together and play. Your computer resources will also play a big part in this.

Clip mode (instead of Project) will play an individual clip instantly, but without showing the effect of the edits.

[canuck]

I get a several second delay in the clip mode when I play a simply mpg file - obviously there are no transition, etc involved. The same delay also occurs in the project mode.

I tried the same video clip in two other video editors (Roxio Creator NXT 2 and Sony Vegas) and playback is almost instantaneous.

[RobertOZ]

I'm with Ken on this one, using MP4/h.264 clips if Project mode is selected, there is a slight delay, but if Clip mode is selected, playback is instantaneous.

Robert

[canuck]

I definitely have a delay in the clip mode which may of course be due to my lower end machine.

But I have no delay with other software on the same clip