Memory issues, render issues, Neoscene issues.

[Stephen Mann]

It seems that you’re doing everything right, but first, my stock essay on memory:

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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.

One of the biggest sources of confusion over memory usage is the whole concept of virtual memory compared to physical memory. Windows organizes memory, physical and virtual, into pages. Each page is a fixed size (typically 4 KB). To make things more confusing, there’s also a page file (sometimes referred to as a paging file and dynamic RAM). Many Windows users still think of this as a swap file, a bit of disk storage that is only called into play when you absolutely run out of physical RAM. In versions of Windows starting with Vista, that is no longer the case. The most important thing to realize is that physical memory and the page file added together equal the commit limit, which is the total amount of virtual memory that all processes can reserve and commit.

All Windows since XP (and Unix/Linux for that matter) always wants to have page space. Always. Programs like to and are allowed to pre-allocate as much memory as they want. Even if they are never ever going to actually use it. Sometimes those programs properly deallocate memory, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes, programs leave parts of themselves in allocated memory just in case you are going to run that program again. If you have no page file and a program wants to commit some for itself, your PC will crash.

Paging file configuration is in the System properties, which you can get to by typing “sysdm.cpl” into the Run dialog, clicking on the Advanced tab, clicking on the Performance Options button, clicking on the Advanced tab (this is really advanced), and then clicking on the Change button. I would suggest a value of 1.5X the currently allocated value. Windows supports up to 16 paging files, where each must be on a separate volume, so if you have more than one internal disk drive you could also try enabling a Paging File on your second hard-disk.
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From your description, I would first suspect driver software, particularly the ATI video card driver. I have the ATI FirePro V3700 (FireGL) and the default driver that comes with Windows had problems when I installed Win 7. I recommend running Driver Detective from https://www.drivershq.com/ (Actually a good plan is to run Driver Detective periodically. I doesn’t do anything to your installed drivers unless you tell it to.)

Next, you haven’t installed any driver packs, have you? Driver packs tend to do bad things to the better drivers that Windows or Vegas install.

Hope this helps.

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

[Charles Meadows]

Thanks for the input Steve (MannMade in South Africa?). Will definitely follow your advice on the memory allocation. I have NOT added any codec packs. I did just add a usb 3 control card with the NEC chip set and driver, don’t know if that could cause a conflict? Should I think about updating my Bios?

[Stephen Mann]

I’ve never done a BIOS update. If your hardware worked with Vista, then it should be OK for windows 7.

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

[Nigel O’neill]

Charles

You did not mention if you were getting the error in the 32 bit or 64 bit version of Vegas. I occassionally run into out of memory errors and immediately switch to the 64 bit version. Note that some plugins or CODECs are not available in Vegas x64, but if you are doing relatively straightforward edits, your project should render.

I used to run Vista x64 and had a number of issues, not necessarily related to Vegas. I reckon I was one of the early Windows 7 x64 adopters, but do not regret it. Windows 7 x64 is snappier, more stable (zero blue screens unlike Vista) and has excellent device support, including legacy devices such as my firewire connector.

In relation to your issues, have you tried the obvious such as uninstalling and reinstalling Vegas?

Was your path to Windows 7 an upgrade or fresh install? Although I chose the upgrade path and have had no issues, sometimes a fresh o/s install may be in order to remedy issues such as this.

Nigel

Intel i7 920, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 10 (x32/x64), Windows 7 x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S Pro 4.1, Neat Video Pro 2.6

[Charles Meadows]

Thanks Nigel. I did a new install of Win 7 and have been using the 32bit version of Vpro 10c so as to use Magic Bullet Looks (don’t get me started on Red Giant). The projects I’m trying to render though have no Magic Bullet effects.

[Stephen Mann]

You can install both, (32- and 64-bit) on the same PC.

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

[Al Bergstein]

Ok. Some thoughts. 32 bit caused me no end of grief on out of memory issues. I think this is your problem. If you HAVE to have your add ons in 32 bit, then you will likely continue with out of memory problems. I have not had an OOM problem in 64 bit windows 7. I had them with 32 bit.

I don’t totally agree with Stephen. Windows 7 is more stable and faster than Vista, but you MIGHT have to upgrade BIOS for it. I worked for a large OS company, and saw the BIOS changes that EVERY single OS upgrade brought. If your vendor recommends it DO IT. There is a reason. We were the beta pigs to learn this the hard way, and I lived through a huge number of blue screens waiting on companies like HP and Dell to get the BIOS upgrade done. It’s real. But if you aren’t experiencing Blue screens, then you might put it off. BIOS is there for a reason. It’s not just a bit of random code. It’s being superseded, but still might affect 32 bit versions of Windows. Go WIKI BIOS and read up on what it does. It’s not trivial. It helps drive compatibility from version to version of Windows.

Since you don’t always need the 32 add ons, run both versions of Vegas, and use 64 when you can. Let us know what happens.

Alf

[Charles Meadows]

Cheers Alf. Thing is, all was working fine in Vista 64bit and then it all went tits up and the result has been exactly the same with Win7 64bit. My suspicion is either ram, graphics card or processor (although I have stress tested the entire system with no red flags). The Bios update sounds like a worthwhile endeavour, will keep you posted.

[Charles Meadows]

Okay just to follow up. We think we have a favourable conclusion having put in a new system drive and a fresh install of Win7. We have also updated our bios to the latest version and to be honest the whole system feels a little brisker (asus P6T mobo). We are also in the process of loading Vpro 64bit version to tackle the renders that insist on crashing. Thanks to all for your assistance and help.

[Nigel O’neill]

Charles

I have had no issues on ASUS P6T and have not touched my BIOS since July 2010 when I had the system built. It was originally Vista x64 Ultimate which I upgraded to Win 7 x64 Ultimate.

Intel i7 920, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 10 (x32/x64), Windows 7 x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S Pro 4.1, Neat Video Pro 2.6