editing in AVI-uncompressed, PC can't play smoothly

[canada_habs2004]

I'm editing a project using several AVI uncompressed video files, because i used a conversion method that took 60i into 24p.

Now however, i have these huge files to edit with, and my computer plays them choppy in my editing program, Ulead MediaStudio, making it very difficult to edit.

I am looking for a way to bypass this problem, by making temporary low quality files that i can use while editing, and then after i get the film right, switch back to my high quality files and render the project.

how could i do this properly, so that i can edit my project using smooth-playing video, and then render at the end using my big raw files. thanks

[drag2f2f]

Try a lossless codec, Lagarith is very good, just enable the always suggest RGB option.

http://www.free-codecs.com/download_soft.php?d=584&s=331

[whitejremiah]

just a side note, your trying to play back the uncompressed video? if so, why? You would be better off just compressing it down using divx, xvid, dvd mpeg, ect......uncompressed and even lossless isnt really intended for video playback, more so as a temperary sort of storage between formats....

[Richard_G]

just a side note, your trying to play back the uncompressed video? if so, why? You would be better off just compressing it down using divx, xvid, dvd mpeg, ect......uncompressed and even lossless isnt really intended for video playback, more so as a temperary sort of storage between formats....

Not only strange advice but totally irrelevant to the question. He is asking why they play back choppy from within the editing program during editing, not a finished project that can be degraded by compressing to whatever format you choose.

To answer the question. When previewing in Mediastudio, are you just selecting a start point on the timeline and playing from there or are you creating a preview selection and playing that? There are two settings you can play with, if using Instant Preview, right click on the Instant Preview Performance level setting (to the left of the slider in the Preview Window) and reduce the level, alternatively, click on the Preview window menu (to the right of the slider in the Preview window), and try selecting Quick Preview instead of Instant Preview. This will do a temporary render on the selected preview range before playing it. I sometimes use it if I have a clip that I want to preview that may have a couple of clips overlaid on one another with Moving Paths, video and audio filters, etc. It allows a Preview if there is too much processing to be done for it to happen in real time. You could also try reducing the size of the Preview playback window, that will speed things up too.

[Steve Stepoway]

The playback problem is probably a disk-bandwidth limit, your video being uncompressed. The "wash-the-problem-away-with-money" solution would be a hardware raid. A cheaper solution: try making a compressed version of each file and edit those. Then when the picture is locked, exit MSP, delete the compressed files (don't really delete them, just rename or move them) and re-start MSP. It should complain about files not being found and ask you if you want to re-link to another file. Relink to the uncompressed versions, and render. I think this will work. But experiment first to make certain that it will. I've done similar things with MSP, but never with uncompressed video. I am not responsible for anything that happens if you try this.

Steve

[Mandaman]

Converting to DV is an option..

[canada_habs2004]

thanks for your replies. the only problem i would have is that my video is 24P.

there i can't encode to DV encoder type, because this is only 29.97fps compatible. i know an mpeg2 file would work, however, im not sure if ulead would properly relink from MPEG2 to AVI uncompressed

[Richard_G]

You'd probably run into all sorts of problems trying to relink to mpeg, to start with the project settings would be all wrong.

You may be pushing it as far as data transfer rate and it simply isn't possible to get your video off the hard drive fast enough. I notice you have an internal and external drives. I hope you aren't trying to play back off the external.

I suppose the bottom line is that you may need to select Quick Preview and set a preview range first. That way MSP will render the clip before previewing it.

[Steve Stepoway]

i know an mpeg2 file would work, however, im not sure if ulead would properly relink from MPEG2 to AVI uncompressed

Not too hard to do a small experiment. If you can take an uncompressed file, make an mpeg2, make a couple of cuts, and relink properly, it will probably work. Try it and see. Might also check out the MSP forum at creativecow.net.

Steve

[canada_habs2004]

I notice you have an internal and external drives. I hope you aren't trying to play back off the external.

i'm confused. i was told external hard drives are great for video editing. i also thought that since my Windows is running off my C:\ , my external what have a speed advantage over the the C: drive. It's a USB2 7200rpm external drive.

should i keep any video files on my external then? could someone clear up the best way to make use of an internal and external hard drive, when looking for the best speed/efficiency in video editing.


edit: i just noticed that AVI uncompressed files playback almost in realtime on my external (the odd skip, but fairly smooth) however playing AVI uncompressed on the C:\ drive shows constant stuttering and skipping, and doesn't play smooth at all.

Does this mean something is running slow on my C:\ drive? It's supposed to be S-ATA 7200Rpm drive, why does the USB 2.0 external playback these files better?

[Richard_G]

The drive with the operating system on it is going to be slower because the OS will be using parts of it. If you have Nero loaded, do a drive speed test. Open Nero Burning Rom, go to File, Preferences, Cache and click on Test all drive speeds. This will then show you what you sustained data transfer rate is for both your drives.

Work out what data rate is needed by your video files in MB per second (if 1 minute of video takes up 600MB, you need 10MB per second) and see how close your drives are. I've got 2 internal 7200rpm drives, the OS drive runs at 32MB per second, the other at around 48MB per second. S-ATA should be faster. External drives are excellent for archiving to, but I wouldn't use one to work from, I'd fit a second (big) internal drive to use for work in progress.

[canada_habs2004]

that's weird because I get about 59 000 kb/s for my C:\ drive (with windows) and i get about 29 000 kb/s for my external hard drive.

why do uncompressed AVI's still play back better on the external. Is the 59MB/s the entire drive, including what windows can take up?

[zoobie]

Check your settings in MSP.
It does the same thing on my box when in the "instant playback" mode so try unclicking this and let it render. Then you'll see it's smooth. There's a guide here to using MSP. It helps a lot since little instructions come with it.