• VEGAS Pro

  Vegas pro low memory error Problem solved (in my case)

  Posted by Ken Maxwell on January 14, 2012 at 8:25 am

  I apologize for the length of this post but I wanted to provide as much info as possible.

  I’m new to the forum and somewhat to Vegas Pro but I have been reading posts here for a few months to try and learn hopefully what not to do. I decided to post the following information in hopes it might help others with the same issue.

  Problem:
  I’ve been trying to render a Christmas lightshow video for three weeks but keep getting that dreaded “low memory” error which has probably been beat to death here. I tried all different properties settings as suggested, video rendering settings, preview settings, but nothing seemed to work until I ran across something I’ve not seen mentioned and I’d like to put out there for comments and info for others. But fist some info on my system and video rendering.

  My System:
  Dell Dimension E510 Desktop
  Pentium 4 3 GHz processor
  4 Gig (3.5) RAM
  Video Card?? I’m guessing onboard
  Hard Drive = 144 Gig 40 Gig free
  WD 2TB external storage drive for rendered videos 1.8 TB free

  Video I’m rendering:
  Around 30 minutes of video segments 12ea 2 -3 minute Sony .MTS videos shot in 1080i HD with a Sony HDR-XR160 camcorder. Each video segment has a simple text title (song name) added at the beginning in Vegas Pro. There is also a 10 second pre-rendered Vegas video file (.veg) opening video. All audio has been replaced with wav files of the songs accompanying the videos.

  Vegas pro 10 Settings:
  Project Properties:
  Video HDV 1080-60i (1440×1080, 29.970 fps)
  Pixel format 8 Bit
  Rendering Quality Best
  Motion Blur Gaussian
  Deinterlace Blend Fields
  Adjust Source media NOT CHECKED
  Audio 44,100 Hz 16 Bit Best

  Video Preview Auto
  Dynamic RAM SET to SERO
  Max Rendering Threads 1

  Rendering Settings:
  Type Windows Media video V11
  Template 8 mbps 1080 30p video

  Custom says:
  Audio: 192 Kbps, 48,000 Hz, 16 Bit, Stereo, WMA
  Video: 29.970 fps, 1440×1080 Progressive, WMV, 8.4 Mbps
  Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1.333
  Mode CBR

  Format Windows Media audio 9.2
  Override compression Buffer CHECKED 3
  Video smoothness 90
  Bit Rate Internet/Lan checked

  OK, with all that noted here is what I found out.
  As noted I tried NUMEROUS times and ways to render the video. Sometimes it would render for several minutes others only a couple. Later during the renderings I monitored my CPU and PF usage. (FWIW) the CPU ran about 85-90%, PF hovered around 1.2Gig but it still faulted. To me this wasn’t overloading the system. (But then I’m no computer guru). Besides I’d rendered a large 1.8 gig file weeks before with no issues.

  I eventually decided to render each video separately then planned to combine them on a DVD. But the low memory issue was still ticking me off. Feeling certain it wasn’t memory related I decided to open multiple sessions of Vegas pro and I try rendering three of the individual videos simultaneously and see what happens. They all started rendering just fine. Processor was at 99-100% and the PF usage was now at around 3 gig.

  About 50% into their renderings I decided to throw a wrench into the works. I opened the “complete Christmas video file” and started rendering it with the others. In just a minute I got the “Low memory error” but the other three kept rendering .Hummm. If it’s a “low memory” issue why didn’t they all fault out??

  While sitting there mentally going over all the things I’d done and thinking “What the heck” :-), I remembered watching the video preview box during some of the failed renderings and recalled a lot of times it would render up to the end of the first video then throw out the low memory error. So I decided to delete the first (10 second) video. I then started rendering the remaining combined video files (30 min) along with the other three single file videos that were still rendering and watched and waited for the “Low Memory Error’ that never came. The 30 minute video project rendered for 45 minutes along with the other three videos before I terminated the render. The processor was at 100% and the PF was pushing over 4 gig the entire time but they were all rendering just fine. Would they all 4 have rendered to the end??? I think they would have. The first three did. After they finished I rendered the big file. 7 hours later it completed.

  So with this info at hand I tried rendering just the 10 second video segment I had deleted. It would not render, after a minute I got a” low memory error”. Why I do not know but I do know it is a third generation .veg file I created.

  Meaning:
  I had a .veg file with some 3D effects (spinning text, lighting bolts, blur and such) in it I wanted to use. Being green at creating these I changed the text wording, deleted everything in the video/audio tracks except what I needed, added some new audio and then rendered it as a WMV file. I then opened it up in Windows Media Player played it to verify audio sync then saved it again in Vegas as a .veg file after seeing what it looked like there. I then imported it into the main video project along with the 12 MTS video files. Added the text titles to all the songs and from here the project went south until I figured out there was a bad file causing the low memory error.

  So Question… Would the multiple rendering be causing the problem? The suspect video plays fine. To me a video is a video once complied and rendered (or saved in this case). I compared the video properties with the MTS videos and the only thing I saw different was the alpha channel on the .veg video was set to premultiplied. I changed it but the render still failed. I’ve since learned how to create the 3d effects, built the opening file from scratch, saved it and rendered the entire project (1.9 Gig) with no problems.

  I don’t see why Vegas would thro a low memory error due to an apparent bad file. A “File rendering error” would be in order here IMO. I don’t know, it’s beyond my knowledge as to why. Could some project settings be off and cause the fault?? Input appreciated.

  If someone has the skill level and would like to take the file and look at it at the assembly it’s only about 84kkb in size. It can be emailed.

  Anyway, what I found may be common and previously discussed but if not, for those having issues with the low memory error you might want to note where the rendering fails and check/delete the file at that point and see if it helps.

  PS
  FWIW While typing this post I have been rendering the same file again as a WMV file. The video preview buffer is set to 1000 (forgot to change it) and rendering is at 1 ,all with no problems. (So Far)

  Ken

  Stephen Mann replied 14 years, 7 months ago 2 Members · 1 Reply
• 1 Reply

• 

  Stephen Mann

  January 15, 2012 at 3:19 pm

  Though I’ve sworn off helping people fix their computers, this comment needs an answer.

  Low Memory or Out of Memory does not mean “Not enough RAM”, though adding RAM can sometimes fix a “Low Memory” waning. A “Low Memory” warning usually means that you have exceeded your commit limit. You need either a bigger page file, more physical memory, or both.

  It has nothing to do with the program running. It’s a problem in your windows configuration.

  Steve Mann
  MannMade Digital Video
  http://www.mmdv.com

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