VideoStudio Ultimate x10 preview window lag

[chefkibby]

I am extremely frustrated with this program. I feel like I've tried everything.

I used to have VideoStudio on my wife's i3 laptop and experienced a lot of lagging and locking up, so I decided to upgrade to a new one -- I'm now running it on a Dell Inspiron 7577 gaming laptop with:

• 7th Gen i7 Quad-Core

• 16G RAM

• nVidia GeForce 1060 with 6G RAM

• Windows 10 on a SSD

I figured that would be enough to improve the performance. However, it has actually been WORSE. The big issue: lagging playback. Whether from the media library or the timeline, whenever I hit the PLAY button, it takes a moment for the playback to begin; when it does, the position indicator starts moving, then the video begins to play, and then the sound begins, eventually catching up to the video. I can't get the video to actually play from the position where I have it on the timeline, let alone having the video and audio in sync.

I have tried all sorts of combinations with regards to the acceleration, SmartRender, etc. I'm not convinced the program is even using the graphics card, since it won't let me select it in my nVidia settings. I have gone through and updated my drivers. I have gone all the way back to completely uninstalling and reinstalling the program with updates and patches and still no change.

Any ideas?

[chefkibby]

Just for reference, I'm trying out Vegas Pro 14.0, and I'm having none of the preview or playback issues that I experience with VideoStudio. I prefer the functionality of VS, but if I can't get the program to work I won't have a choice but to use another program.

[aljimenez]

I agree that that new laptop should do well. However, it depends on the video format and what else that laptop is doing in the background that you may not know about.

Some videos are very challenging for pc's to handle smoothly, especially during editing and after adding filters, transitions, titles, music, etc. VS has a feature called Proxy files that creates lower resolution temporary videos to allow smooth editing and that is one thing you can try.

List the properties of the videos you are using, in particular resolution, bitrates and frames per second. Try to determine if your laptop is busy doing something unnecessary in the background. Do the videos play smoothly in Windows Media Player?

[TripSmith]

I'm having the same problems.... And I also just upgraded my computer for hopes of better performance with Video Studio X9....

My Laptop is a brand new Dell gaming laptop: Intel Quad-Core i7-7700HQ, 128GB SSD + 1 TB HDD, 16GB DDR4 Memory, NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB Graphics, Windows 10

The files I am working with are from a GoPro and a Nikon DSLR.
Nikon is at 1080 @ 30 FPS
GoPro is at 1080 @ 24 FPS

Surely the different FPS isn't causing the issue?
Also, Corel has been crashing on me while editing like it did on my old laptop (which is why I spent the money on a nice one)

It's slightly depressing. You would think with a good computer and a good editing program it should handle it with ease.

Everything plays perfectly with Windows Media Player

[Davidk]

Your description sounds like the sort of playback issues I've had with HD clips.
Several things about this . .
1. As VS versions have evolved, the addition of more features/complexity mean that a clip which ran Ok on an early version can now seem 'slow' or lagging, jerky playback on the later versions, esp from X10 onwards. For example, on X9 I ran an HD/mp4 clip and it played normally. But on X10, same PC, the same clip had to be run using smart proxy to avoid the lagging playback syndrome.
2. Which brings me to smart proxy. it's a means of using proxy files (in lieu of the actual HD clips) for editing performance: since HD files are typically 4x the size of mpg files, and that extra size has to be 'played', it's not unusual for the play back to lag or look slow. A proxy file - reduced resolution just for edit performance fixes that, and during render any items applied to the proxy file are applied to the actual clip(s). Details in the user guide. Enable smart proxy in the settings/preferences/performance tab of VS.

In your expose of issues, you did not mention what sort of clips you were using: ordinary mpg or equivalent, or HD/mp4/m2t et al. Would you clarify the properties of the clips you are having trouble with - rt clk the clip, select properties from the list, screenshot the panel that is presented and attach the image to a follow-on post.

[aljimenez]

If you are playing the GoPro clip in Project mode and the project properties are set to 30 fps, that will require work to Play; even more work if you have added filters to the clip. I agree that your laptop is good. I recommend you set project properties to 24fps, and to use proxy files. What are the bitrates of your video clips?

[Charlie Wilkes]

Try turning off graphics acceleration, if it's on. For whatever reason, VS does not seem to do well with nVidia cards. Why I don't know but it's not a good situation.

I have a 6-y-o laptop with HD 4000 gfx and a desktop with a Radeon 470. With anything up to 1080/60p, the laptop is tolerable and the desktop is smooth.

[RobertOZ]

So whats different about my setup, a 6 month old Dell Inspiron 7567, specs as below, I film exclusively at 1280x720 60fps H264 MP4, do not use Smart Proxy, the only lag is less than a second when first clicking on Clip or Project, then everything plays in sync, so I do not have any issues in that respect.
Whilst VS is supposed to be optimized for Nvidia, the sad fact is exactly the opposite, VS will only use the onboard Intel graphics (HD 630)

[TripSmith]

Thank you for the input gentlemen. I will put some of these ideas to work and see if they help my issues.

Much appreciated!

[chefkibby]

I'm working with your standard FHD 1080/30fps files.
I've tried going with or without Smart Proxy and every combination of accelerations on/off and I still get the issue.

[Charlie Wilkes]

I suppose your display driver is set at the BIOS level so you're using the nVidia driver with or without acceleration, and it doesn't work well.

nVidia has about 70 percent of discrete graphics cards so this seems like an issue Corel should move to the top of their list. Meanwhile you may want to move to a different NLE.

[TripSmith]

Just tried it again with enabling smart proxy and I still have the same issue.

Here are my clip properties.

I really hope there is a solution to this as videos are my side hustle that is becoming a full time gig in the future and with my work load increasing I'm afraid this isn't something I can live with....

[RobertOZ]

Downloaded some sample MPEG-4 video
H.264, 24bit 1920x1080 16:9
Frame rate 25 fps
Audio MPEG AAC

Imported into VS 2018, video plays perfectly, without stutter or lag
Smart Proxy NOT enabled

So as our computer specs are nearly identical, what's different

[TripSmith]

I really appreciate you doing that....

I have no idea other than I am using X9....

I just tried that video type again with proxy off and it's still doing the same thing: lagging the video and audio for the first 2-3 seconds when starting and stopping the clip/project.

[RobertOZ]

Have just opened VSX9 on the desktop, nearly 8 years old, specs as profile on right
The sample 1920x1080 MPEG4 plays perfectly without stutter or lag and again Smart Proxy NOT enabled.

Have no idea then, of why you are having these issues