VS 2021 continuously crashing when editing

[bnigrell]

Dear all

Good evening

I was an happy user of VS2018 and recently upgraded to VS2021 ultimate.
And I am not happy any more.
What happens is that the program is continuously crashing when editing the project : I can edit some clips and suddenly when I select another clip the interface frezees and after a while the program completely collapses.
I happened probably 15 times in the last hour, making the program unsable.

Has anyone encountered a similar issue and found a solution ?

Thanks everybody

[zaphodikus]

1. I used to have loads of crashes under 2019 and started to ensure that all clips I bring into the timeline are pre-sized to the same as project size first if possible. I tend to fiddle with ffmpeg first to get this done. VS seems to handle changes in aspect ratio of clips rather randomly, so be sure to resize to something that is the same aspect ratio as your project's aspect ratio is my only good guess so far.
2. change autosave to 1 minute, no idea why the default value is so high - yes have had this kind of freeze a few times in the last week, unlike with VS2019, it's hard to tell what triggers the hangs.

Pretty sure members can give more tips.

[Chaz175]

Hello, Yes I have been getting continuous crashes with VS 2021. I have been advised to make smaller projects ( clips) Guess what, it seems to work. I get carried away with large projects then crashing begins. Just a thought..

[Davidk]

It seems I'm a killjoy here. For me, 2021 ultimate has been more stable than most other versions I've used. the sp2 version - 24.1.0.299 has been the release item since last June. I've been using it to edit holiday projects (1920x1080, 16:9, PAL) with a mixture of video clips, jpg images, block colours, voiceover and music over the last year, with project files that I try to keep between 15-20 minutes duration. In that time, 2021 has been the only VS version installed on win10, current update. The video clips in use are all mp4 and for the projects mentioned come from the same camera, a Panasonic HC_V770M.
Some filters seem to have a history of irregular operation, and the ones I use generally are pan& zoom, brightness and contrast. Transitions similarly, and the one I normally use is crossover.
In my usage, have not had program crashes while editing . . .

The only real issue I've had with 20201 is that will not hold a custom layout setting, randomly resetting to the default when started. The custom layout has been saved and restoring the UI to the saved layout is easy enough, but it should not happen. Irritating, but not earth shattering.

[Thundersticks]

Same here, have tried several "fixes" from a few YouTube vids with little success. Have been pretty much unhappy with this program since X10, two laptops and three studio PC's. Latest is trying to do a multicam edit with 5 angles of a Christmas concert I shot for a cousin of mine who runs a school. I can barely get clips loaded into library and crash. If I do get them loaded into library then when I hit the multicam button the clips are there, but disappear when I click to drag onto a camera line, then crash. Usually need to do a full reboot to actually get the program to restart properly too. What an Ultimate pain in the butt this software has been. It obviously has more to do with the software combination I am using and not so much to do with the hardware. It has been on FIVE different PC's and they ALL crash and they all have random issues. Some were factory, some were self made. Some are studio with no internet, some were my personal daily driver laptop. All are top tier specs, not sure what to do other than switch to another brand. I just hate the monthly subscription model everyone has gone to though!

If anyone has a link or two to an article or video that has helped them stabilize their systems operation of this darn program can you drop them in this thread for the rest of us suffering with this crashing issue?

[lata]

Thundersticks
I have to agree that Video Studio took a backwards step after X10, saying that I do not have many crashes with 2021 working well for me, especially after the last service pack to version 24.1.0.299
I use HD 1920 x 1080, some MTS, DV.avi and others MP4 all bog standard.
I do not use 4K so cannot comment there, but tests using 4K has not caused any problem.

I do not understand the comment regarding MCE, are you saying MCE crashes whilst trying to use.
Did you set camera angles when in MCE before returning to the timelines, if not then the VSP will be empty.
You may be best to start a new topic for MCE issues.

It may be the type of video that is causing issues especially if using a variable frame rate generally recorded using IPhones. General recommendations to convert to a more editable format.
Right click one of your clips for properties, what are they?
Are all your video files using the same properties or are they a mix of types, frame rates etc.

[excalibur1814]

Basically, with ALL of the past few releases (2018, 2019 etc) it's part of the process to save after nearly every single change. It's an application that I love to use, but don't trust it one little bit. This is across multiple machines with different specs. Some like to defend CVS, but it is simply what it is... a buggy application that gets new tweaks (not necessarily fixes) every single year.

[flea77]

I had a similar problem where my VS X10 was crashing so much as to make it unusable. I went so far as to upgrade to 2021 to try and fix it, that didn't fix anything. I did some more digging and found that my specific problem was putting MP3s on the timeline. I was importing WAVs into Audacity, editing them, then exporting them as MP3s. If I used the original WAVs on the VS timeline I did not have the crashing. I then tried the same workflow except exporting from Audacity as a WAV instead of MP3 and using that edited WAV on the VS timeline and the crashing went away. Go figure.

[Ken Berry]

I suspect, but cannot confirm, that Audacity may use the LAME codec for its mp3. In any case, that is the reason I only produce standard .wav audio when using Audacity. Successive editions of Video Studio have had problems with LAME mp3 in the past, and this might just be a new version of it. In any case, while .wave files might be larger than mp3 clips, the lack of problems with them, the difference in size between the two formats has never been an important factor for me.