Problems getting started.

notanotherforum · Post by **notanotherforum** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 5:18 pm

Hello

For some reason, unable to download the manual from the Ulead site- so a bit stuck.

I have VideoStudio 8SE DVD that came bundled with my TV tuner. I have a few Windows Media Player files (Version 10) captured from the TV in MPEG2 which I would like to do some very simple edits on- just crop out unwanted clips.

I have gone into the Video Studio editor but do not understand what to do next.

When in the Capture screen, have been able to locate the exact WMP file by clicking on the appropriate icon at the top right, under where it says 'VideoStudio 8'. Once the file thumbnail is present, I have then dragged it either to the timelines at the bottom or else the large main window in the centre. This automatically takes me to the Edit screen. Have then tried pressing F3 and F4 to try and cut out bits- but to no avail.

All I want to do is very basic cuts of unwanted segments of a scene.

If anyone coiuld help, I'd be greatful.

Thanks

notanotherforum · Post by **notanotherforum** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 10:10 pm

The Ulead website is now allowing me to download the manual (it must have been down before)- so should hopefully find the answers.

Post by **Ron P.** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 11:32 pm

I hope the manual does help some, but don't expect too much from it.

First trying to edit MPEG2 is not a good idea, DV-AVI is the recommended format to edit video.

If you already have the captured video, they can be imported into Video Studio in either the Library (click on the folder icon to the top right of the video library) or the Timeline/Storyboard (click on the folder icon located to the bottom left of the Timeline/Storyboard. Navigate to your video file to import.

notanotherforum · Post by **notanotherforum** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 12:06 am

Thanks for getting back.

Well, I've managed to do my first edits, which were basic cuts.

However, when I was working on the third and largest clip, my computer crashed so bad that I had to restart the computer. I noticed that this third clip was 1.25 GB compared to the smaller previous two files of about 80 MB each. The smaller clips did not crash. All three clips were WMPlayer files sitting on my hard disk, originally captured in MPEG 2 from a TV program.

Why did you recommend that I stay clear of editing MPEG? I Thought this program was meant to support it. Do you think it crashed because it was MPEG? Or might it have been a different reason?

Thanks

Post by **Ken Berry** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 12:41 am

The warning against editing mpeg-2 clips is for guidance only, and should not be regarded as a hard and fast rule. There are a lot of capture devices out there, in any case, which can only capture mpegs and, like yours, come bundled with Video Studio. I capture all my VHS analogue stuff via my TV card and, though it can capture in DV/AVI, I use mpeg as the capture format since the quality, even in DV, is not going to be so much better that it makes it worth while 'wasting' all the space on the very much larger DV files.

Be aware, though, that both capturing and editing mpegs can be more resource intensive than an initial capture and editing in DV format. So if your computer is not a particularly powerful one, then the tendency for it to crash is raised.

Which brings me to the next question: your computer crash. Did you actually get a warning message or any other indication that the computer was no longer responding? Or did it just give you a blue screen of death and re-boot? I ask because when I capture any format using my TV card, it takes absolutely ages for any program to recognise the captured clip. This includes not only Video Studio but also Windows Explorer. Example -- just the other day I had a 25 minute mpeg-2 captured at 6000 kbps and it took VS9 nearly 4 minutes to insert it in the timeline. VS gave no warning messages -- it just sat there and appeared to not be responding, though Task Manager indicated it was still running OK. Then all of a sudden the clip appeared in the timeline and after that, it was quick and easy to edit. I am really not sure why this happens only with my TV card (Winfast DV2000) captures when captures direct with VS or other editing programs quickly recognise and allow me to play with their captures. But since the end quality of my TV card captures is good, it is something I have learned to live with.

notanotherforum · Post by **notanotherforum** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 1:29 am

Thanks

Well, my tv tuner is a Leadtek Leadtek TV2000 XP Expert. As well as capturing in all flavours of MPEG, it also captures in uncompressed AVI and Windows Media video amongst others. I chose MPEG2 as it strikes a good balance between quality and size.

Regarding the crash, I assume my PC is powerful enough (see below).
Basically, it just froze along with all other programs- I couldn't even CTRL-ALT-DEL- Just had to restart. When it crashed, I had already dragged the clip to the Storyboard (very easy to do), selected it, and then was dragging the jog bar to a place in the clip (for splitting) when it crashed. This didn't happen on the 2 previous clips which were a bit smaller in size (under 1 GB).

I don't know if size had anything to do with it. Will try again tomorrow (with no ohter programs open).

David.

notanotherforum · Post by **notanotherforum** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 6:23 pm

It happened again.. crashed the 1.26 GB WM player file (originally captured in MPEG2).

As mentioned above, I had already dragged the clip to the Storyboard (very easy to do), selected it, and then was dragging the jog bar to a place in the clip (for splitting) when it crashed. This didn't happen on the 2 previous clips which were a bit smaller in size (under 1 GB).

So does it only work on MPEG clips that are, say, under 1GB?

Lee Bailey · Post by **Lee Bailey** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 8:06 pm

Check the settins of your XP system's disk cache. With 1.5GB of RAM, you should have it set to at least 3GB. I set mine to minimum and max size of 4GB even though I have only 1GB of RAM. Doing it that way keeps the system from having to expand the size of the cache during program operations.

notanotherforum · Post by **notanotherforum** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 8:39 pm

Thank you.

Yes, I had indeed forgot to increase the paging file size to twice the amount. Have now set them both to 4GB. (EDIT: Now 5GB)

Also, have now disabled the Write behind caching.

Back to work then.