DaVinci Problem (GPU Full)

[v8power]

I tried searching the forums for my problem, but could not find any answers. So if this has been asked and answered forgive me. Just to be blunt, I am brand new to editing. The most I've ever done editing videos is with Microsoft Movie Maker on an engine rebuild I did. It was very easy.

I wanted to do more than what Microsoft Movie Maker could give me. So I down loaded the free DaVinci Resolve 12.5. Wow! There is so much this program can do that I get lost! I've been having fun playing and learning on it.

Now to my problem. I've taken pictures and HD video of a family event. I want to make a nice video combining the pictures and HD video with background sounds/music. When I start to render my project, I get "Your GPU memory is full...Try reducing timeline resolution or the number of correctors." It seems to happen when I added the pictures to the time line. In fact I sometimes get the error just adding the pictures to my media bin (or folder). I've tried to optimize my media, but still get the error. And as I continued to work on the project the error comes more frequently. Meaning even cutting down the project size to smaller than I started, I get the error. I know there’s cache building up and I try to empty it, but still get the error.

What can I do to help this problem? Also, being that I’m such a newbe to editing, is using DaVanic even a good idea? I know it’s way over my head, and I like trying new things, but should I be using a more user friendly editing tool?

[brassplyer]

I'm going to suggest that the quickest and most hassle-free way to solve your problem is to get something like Sony Vegas. You can probably find an un-registered older version off Ebay if budget is a concern. It sounds like this is a crippleware version of the full DaVinci Resolve and probably has bugs and you're going to spend countless hours not solving them. Vegas is plenty powerful and is in a different universe than Movie Maker. I would avoid Pinnacle - has a long history of being buggy and has useless tech support. Supposedly recent versions are okay but they'll never get another dime from me. Vegas has worked fine for me and there are many aspects of it I haven't even touched yet.

As a warning I would avoid any download version of major brand software off Ebay and only get a hard copy. Or verify with the manufacturer that the people offering the download are authorized vendors. I learned the hard way - I was using Vegas Pro 8 for several years before I found out it was a pirated copy. Got it as a download on Ebay. When it was installed it used a verification page just like the real deal except it wasn't communicating with Sony, it was just an internal loop created by the crack code. I only found out because I was having problems upgrading to a later revision of 8 and was informed by Sony tech support that what I had was a cracked version of the demo.

And make sure the hard copy is an actual factory-pressed disc, not a burnable - if it's on a burnable it means it was pirated. Unlikely pirates are going to go to the expense of making pressed discs.

What are the specs of your system?

[larioso]

GPU is about graphics card and memory.
Did you check system requirements?

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/compare

Search the page for gpu and look through settings mentioned for low gpu systems.
"Half and quarter resolution debayer options for low GPU powered systems."
"Separate debayer and image sizing options play vs. stop for low GPU powered systems."

I downloaded yesterday but did not install anything yet.
Will check if true 64-bit and no requirement for quicktime per se in system - which is deprecated by Microsoft on Windows.

But I never saw so much specs of pure technical nature for software ever - and found no systems requirements page just listing what you need.
They had this $38 crash course to the software - but I would look at youtube and similar if something there.

I am pretty much beginner as you on video editing and so far have Adobe Premiere Elements 15 and Nero Video 2017, they are both easy to work in.
I also mix stills and video all the way and easy to do in both above.

I also looked at Corel products like Videostudio and Pinnacle - but they both need Quicktime installed still so my MOV films from cameras could not just be added.
MP4 worked though - testing Videostudio.

So depending on camera formats you have to test around a bit - and look at system requirements and compare to machine you have.
And remember that i7-processors on laptops are not as powerful as i7 on stationary computers. Laptops usually have double cores, not true quad - and less cache memory on cpu - as I looked around. Grapfics cards are fixed on laptops and not much you can do about it.

[larioso]

I would avoid Pinnacle - has a long history of being buggy and has useless tech support. Supposedly recent versions are okay but they'll never get another dime from me.

I tested a couple of questions to Corel about Videostudio and Pinnacle - and support itself is responsive and excellent.
Not like many support agents - just needing to get rid of you - they really looked for what you asked and answered.

But have no idea about maintenance as such - how quickly they attend to bugs.
I asked about it though - and they mean you report by putting a report on forum - did not quite check where.

But overall - Corel gave a good impression and seems they are serious about what they do.
So I will look back when they removed requirement for Apple Quicktime.

[brassplyer]

I tested a couple of questions to Corel about Videostudio and Pinnacle - and support itself is responsive and excellent.

I've heard that supposedly things have changed with Pinnacle - my last experience was Pinnacle 9. I liked certain things about the way it worked - supposedly the rendering engines in Pinnacle were considered very good. The basic layout was intuitive but it locked/crashed particularly as the projects got more involved, project files got corrupted, behaved various weird ways. 16:9 menus didn't behave correctly - the color got skewed. As I understand it that's what Pinnacle was famous for - a good idea that was poorly executed. The primary response I got from support was "Uninstall and reinstall Pinnacle". Which didn't work anyway. If you advised them it didn't work, they repeated "Uninstall and reinstall Pinnacle" or told you explore all these esoteric things that assumed Pinnacle wasn't the problem or just stopped responding altogether.

And authenticating the software was a PITA too now that I think of it - key codes had to be changed which was a song and dance to accomplish. And whatever authoring app that was bundled was buggy crap too - I don't even remember what it was called but it was useless.

Then I tried Vegas - unlimited video and audio tracks, multi-camera editing, a far superior preview window, much of the same audio capabilities as Soundforge - like supporting VST plugins, or you can just export audio to Soundforge and tweak it there - works smoothly and seamlessly. And of course then I got into doing HD which Pinnacle 9 doesn't do.

So far I haven't heard anyone say Pinnacle has it all over Vegas these days - more solid & dependable performance, more extensive capabilities, etc. And the fact is my Vegas Pro 9 is likely to meet my needs for a very long time. If I ever look to upgrade, it won't be Pinnacle just on principle.

[v8power]

Thanks for your responses!

Here are system specs:

Win7 Pro x64
AMD Phenom II x4 975 (3.60 GHZ)
16GB RAM (Not sure the speed)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (512MB mem I think)
ASUS SaberTooth 990FX Motherboard
WD 500GB HDD (OS & Apps) & 1000GB External HDD (Storage)

I built it back in 2009-2010. I downloaded DaVinci directly from BlackMagicDesign.com. Maybe my system is too old to run it and time for some upgrades.
I did drop down to quarter resolution on all the media to include the pictures (I thought). But when I go to the edit tab, I noticed only the HD Video was dropped down and grainy. The pictures still looked to be at full resolution.

Free or trial programs would be nice for now until I can get this project done. Before I shell out some money for a nice program, I want to try it and like it first. I was disappointed that DaVanic didn’t allow the use of mp3s and I had to convert to WAV files. Which, for me, leans it towards the “Don’t Buy” list.

So for my current system specs and skill set, which editing program would be better for me? What about Hitfilm 4 Express? Too high end?

BTW, I do plan to upgrade to a FX8370 CPU and GeForce 1070 or 1080 graphic card in the future. It may help with my DaVinci problem. Maybe?

Thanks again!

[brassplyer]

According to this site apparently your GPU might be the culprit. From what I see about your GPU it should be about a gig ram which is borderline usable according to the site.

I also wonder if using that AMD CPU might be an issue.

https://www.dcinema.me/davinci-resolve-system-requirements-a-reality-check/

GPU RAM:

512MB – Forget about it.
1GB – You’ll be okay with basic HD ProRes work, checking RAW files but avoid noise reduction and optical flow.
1.5GB – Approaching the absolute minimum to use Resolve with some level of complexity in HD. Noise reduction and optical flow will still be problematic. I’ve made a 1.5GB Intel Iris Pro GPU work well on a iMac and managed to render a full 4K delivery (no noise reduction or optical flow speed changes): 4K Post Workflow for Cinema DNG RAW on Entry Level iMac
2GB – A comfortable HD experience, limited 4K work.
4GB – Minimum for comfortable 4K work.
6GB – You can tackle pretty much everything a project is likely to require.
8GB+ – You can actually tackle everything any project is likely to require.

Looks like it's well-regarded software. 30 grand for the interface for the full version - jayzus....

[v8power]

Thanks for the information! Hitfilm 4 Express says it will work with a 512 MB GPU memory card. I've been playing around with the interface this weekend. There is a learning curve, but I think it will do what I want. The FX features looks very interesting too.

Thanks again for your help!

[brassplyer]

Thanks for the information! Hitfilm 4 Express says it will work with a 512 MB GPU memory card. I've been playing around with the interface this weekend. There is a learning curve, but I think it will do what I want. The FX features looks very interesting too.

Thanks again for your help!

It may work but if it's GPU memory dependent it would be a good idea to upgrade - 2 gig cards are pretty inexpensive these days especially if you aren't too proud to go used on Ebay. Even 4 gigs. Just make sure you've got enough power supply to run the whole thing.

When you say you've been playing around with the interface you mean the 30-grand one?

[v8power]

When you say you've been playing around with the interface you mean the 30-grand one?

I meant the Hitfilm 4 Express interface. It's a little different than DaVinci. I do plan to get a GeForce 1070 or 1080 video card, but if Hitfilm 4 Express will do what I want for now, then I can buy the video card later this year instead of right now. I'm debating on replacing a few components or rebuilding my whole system. This will help delay the need for right now and give me a chance to do some research on which would be better.