Al Bergstein
Forum Replies Created
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I am not sure you will get smooth playback on a laptop without having 8 GBs RAM and all video files on an external eSATA. So that might narrow your choices down. I’m running on a Samsung new R580 w/4GBs 64 bit laptop with 512 GB video card, Vegas 9e and an external eStata and still get choppy video playback. I do NOT have the same problems with an 8 GB desktop with the same eSata plugged in and everything else the same. So go figure.
Alf
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The video memory on that laptop is not what I would consider, “good enough” especially if you are running HD footage. I am led to believe that 512 MB on the graphics card is sort of “baseline” for good clear running of HD footage. Would you agree with that Mike?
Secondly, it sounds like you have loaded your OS, files, and Vegas all on the same drive. I, like you, get herky jerky playback with that setup, and I sort of expect it. Your playback is trying to compete with your OS and Vegas’s needs. Make sure you are running Vegas 64 bit as well, as it’s easy to download the 32 bit version by accident.
My guess is that you might want to see if you can upgrade the RAM to 8 GBs in the laptop, as well as go into the computer>system properties>advanced system settings>performance>adjust for best perforamnce which turns off all the visual effects of W7 that aren’t essential.
My machine is running Windows 7, Vegas 64 Bit, and IE is showing a used memory of 2.35 GB, so that leaves 1.65 GBs before you start paging to disk, which dramatically reduces performance.
Loading an hour of AVCHD footage with no special effects brings my system up to 2.62 GB of used RAM. So you can see that your 4GBs of RAM is not going to go far. Make sure all other stuff is shut down, and make sure you are not running a bunch of unnecessary background processes.
Lastly, you might want to consider getting one of those external eSata drives (or USB at worse) and cards if your system can plug in an adapter. Offloading your files to a separate hard drive might help.
Maybe render in a proxy format? Mike, would that also help? I’ve not tried that yet on a Windows laptop, but I know that it’s standard operating procedure on the Mac world with FCP.
I think your choice of new laptop might have been a bit of a mistake. If you can return it for something that has at least 512 MB graphics RAM and an eSata port, you’ll probably be happier long term.
best of luck
Alf
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This problem appears to have cleared up for now.
Alf
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RAM will be more important than the processor. If you can get 8GBs RAM on your motherboard, and upgrade to W7 64 Bit, you probably will see decent performance.
Alf
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For the money, I don’t think there’s a better camera. I bought one in December and have not regretted it. Beautiful footage from it. Check out some of my footage on 8stringthing on Youtube. All the live clips were done with the 150. If you want to spend more, there are some excellent alternatives, like the Sony EX3. But that’s a big jump.
No low light problems from my POV. DOF could be better, but is to be expected on a standard video camera. I’m contemplating a Canon 5D as a B camera for those pesky shallow DOF clips of 12 seconds or less.
Be prepared to buy lots of hard disk drives to store your HD video. AVCHD *can* be edited in NLE’s like Vegas (I just did it this AM with no problem), but it’s recommended, whether converting to ProRes on FCP or AVI on Vegas, to go to an intermediate, which vastly inflates your footage. And make sure your computer is pretty state of the art with RAM and processors! Think Mac Pro pricing, not Dell low end desktop!
As far as corporate goes, while you certainly can do corporate (and definitely weddings with it), as I understand that some clients expect a higher quality camera for certain jobs. AVCHD is not yet considered a “pro” quality codec, and the 4:2:0 seems to be in disdain in the more “pro” broadcast circles. If I was so inclinded, *and had the money to invest*, I would consider a ‘broadcast’ quality camera, maybe stepping up to the P2 based Panny’s or the Sonys’ EX3, JVCs or ??? But for my money, I was better able to use those thousands of extra dollars on a decent field mixer, solid mics assortment, and lights. I was able to secure a grant for a six month video project, and they never asked “what camera do you shoot with”. But the fact that I had a full compliment of gear made a big difference. I would like to step up to that $10k price point region some day.
So don’t fret. You can always sell it for a good price if it doesn’t work out, and just consider the difference from what you paid to what you sell it for as your rental cost!
Alf
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Ah, I hadn’t seen that part of the email above. Thanks Bob. I’ll start using PNGs. I assume I can use Infraran to batch convert my folders of the Tiffs..Had no idea that TIFFs were using QT. How bizarre.
Alf
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xcellent. That makes it clear. much thx.
Alf
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JPEG or TIFF? I’ve gone with TIFF format as they usually end up rendering better in video.
Alf
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Which version of Windows?
Which version of Vegas 9 (b,c,d,e,f, whatever) 32 or 64 bit?
How large an AVCHD file did you try to import?The ‘answers’ seem to be, from what I’ve found, that windows 7 64 bit, with enough RAM (>6 GBs) and enough hard drive for media files stored *on a different drive than your OS* *should* work just fine with AVCHD.However, there have been numerous posts of AVCHD problems lately,it seems. To be clear,AVCHD is a recording codec and while Vegas says it handles editing it just fine, I’m still undecided.
I’ve also encountered this with the most current version of Vegas in the last week, and am trying to narrow down the cause. Is it a bug? An inherent problem with AVCHD files and Vegas? I’m working on converting to AVI to see if I can reproduce the problem with larger intermediate file types. The massive size of the AVI converted files is giving me pause, but probably shouldn’t any more than moving an AVCHD file to PRORES on FCP would. But my Prores files are not as large as the AVI files are. Not yet sure why.
Hopefully a more knowledgeable person on this issue will step up and clarify.
Alf
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Did I not clearly state the issue?
Alf