Video stuttering problem

[Paul Carlin]

Sounds like a field dominance issue.

Are you working with interlaced video? What is the source of the video you are using? Do you have an NTSC monitor? How do you capture the video (Firewire, capture card, etc.)?

More questions than answers. Sorry.

[John Nelson]

Thanks Paul,

Sorry for the incomplete information. I’m shooting with a little Canon ZR 20 consumer camera and capturing through a firewire onto an internal drive. Something that may have a bearing on this could be a 200gb firewire drive that is used to store the video, once captured. I take it from there for editing. I had lots of trouble capturing from the firewire camera to the firewire drive but worked around it by using another drive (not firewire).

I just feel there’s something not set right somewhere since the Premiere video is now stuttering. Playing back 740×480 or 640×480 Quicktime’s from the desktop is the same way. If I render everything down to a 320×240 it goes away. I also have a little Imac that doesn’t seem to do the stuttering the G4 does and it has less memory.

Sorry again for rambling. Hope you have some thoughts.

Thanks,
John

[Mike Velte]

Sounds like a hard drive speed issue. Try a test, transfer a file about 100 MB from firewire in and then internal out. Should take about 3-4 seconds each way.

[John Nelson]

Thanks Mike,

Just put the computer into render mode for a half hour talking head using cleaner ez. That process takes upwards of 10+ hours so won’t get control back until tomorrow. The output there is a 320×240 quicktime I copy onto CD’s.

As far as hard drives go, I’m using a 10gb as the master for programs and OS. I have a 60gb partitioned in half which are used for storing projects; Premiere, After Effects, etc. I use the 200gb firewire, as said earlier, for graphic and video storage. To the best of my memory the latter spins at 7200 while the others are 4800. I’m leaving now for my other job and will return to check emails in the morning. Can’t thank everyone enough for their input.

John

[Paul Carlin]

I agree with the hard drive speed diagnosis.

I suggest you get an internal 120 GB 7200 RPM drive for $50. Use this drive for all your footage storage needs. Use the 60 GB for projects and graphics files.

If you want to capture using firewire to a firewire drive, it is best to have two different cards in your computer. You are asking too much of one single firewire bus. Cards go for $30.

And how is it that you got Premiere Pro to run on a G4?

[Mike Velte]

When 10 GB drives were available for PC’s, they were too slow for video editing.

[John Nelson]

Thanks again Paul,

I’ll start the process of upgrading drives. Any suggestions on the type of card to look for? I’m using Premiere 6.0 on my G4.

So I gather my stuttering problem isn’t ram related but has to do with the drive, right?

Really appreciate your input.
John