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Choppy playback/scrubbing in the editing window
Hey guys, really need some help.
I just bought a laptop with Windows 8 installed. I put my Premiere Pro CS5 on it and the first problem was that it wouldn’t play my MOV files at all, from my Canon 5D.
So I converted all the clips to MPEG, put them on the software…and the playback is so painfully choppy, editing is damn near impossible. Scrubbing goes normal for about 2 seconds and then I have to wait a solid 20 seconds for the computer to realize what’s going on.
The annoying thing is that playback is fine when I’m editing movie clips, including downloaded blu-rays that are 4 gigs in size. But my small, converted MPEG’s are horrible.
Here’s my specs — I know that I have a significant amount of RAM, and this shouldn’t be a problem, but it is and I really need some help or advice. I also checked my memory and only 30 percent is being used while editing.
Processor: AMD A10-5750M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics 2.50 Ghz
Ram: 12.0 GB (11.2 useable)
System type: 64-bit Operating System, x64-based processor -
3 Replies
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We were NEVER able to achieve smooth playback of AVCHD files with CS5 – always resorting to converting to Cineform for our editing files.
That being said, playback issues are usually related to drive access speed, which is why it is recommended to have your media files on a fast RAID. What are your media drive’s specs, and are the media files on a separate drive from the OS and applications?
Asus P6X58D Premium * Core i7 950 * 24GB RAM * nVidia Quadro 4000 * Windows 7 Premium 64bit * System Drive – WD Caviar Black 500GB * 2nd Drive(Pagefile, Previews) – WD Velociraptor 10K drive 600GB * Media Drive – 2TB RAID0 (4 – WD Caviar Black 500GB drive) * Matrox MX02 Mini * Adobe CC
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“98% of all computer issues can be solved by simply pressing ‘F1’.”
Steve Brame
creative illusions Productions -
You’ll want to convert that footage to an edit friendly format, especially if using CS5. An edit friendly codec is something like DNxHD, MXF, etc. Since you’re using CS5 it probably can’t play some file types natively (like MOV’s from a 5D). That was the first year Adobe introduced the Mercury Playback Engine, which is now the backbone of everything they build.
So you’re 2 options are:
(1) Convert Canon 5D footage to a more edit friendly codec (creating larger file sizes and possibly needing faster hard drives for smooth playback)
(2) Upgrade your software to Adobe CC for the latest benefits. From CS6 forward editing h.264 MOV’s from a Canon 5D wasn’t as big a problem (CS5.5 could kinda sorta do it, but not smooth). Just keep in mind that MPEG formats are intended as delivery codecs. So that’s DVD spec, Blu-Ray spec, h.264 spec, etc. Manufactures have adapted the codec to be a shooting format (see any DSLR or GoPro), and NLE’s have tried to allow editors to use the format, but it’s a very complex codec to decode on the fly smoothly.Additionally, CS5 worked better with Nvidia graphics cards. AMD wasn’t supported well back then. Adobe has made great stride with AMD support in the last 2 years, but it still isn’t as robust as a Nvidia GPU.
Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
@CutColorPost -
Hey guys, thanks for replying.
Steve, I’m not sure what my media drive spec’s are, or even how to find them on my computer…I do know that all of my media files are on the same drive as the OS and applications.
Ryan….the big thing I’m getting out of your post is that maybe I should consider upgrading to CS6. The weird thing is that I use the exact same CS5 program at my work computer, and it isn’t choppy at all with editing MOV or MPEG files from my Canon — and even stranger, the RAM is about half of what my new laptop is now.
Could it be that this dreaded Windows 8 just plain sucks with editing? My work computer is Windows 7, with the same CS5…although maybe I should just suck it up and upgrade to CS6. Have you guys heard of anyone having problems editing high quality footage on Windows 8, or should that really not make any difference either way?
Thanks for your time and help guys, really appreciate it.
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