Performance Tips ?

Andrew90

Member Location: USA Joined: Dec 20, 2010 16:31 Messages: 108 Offline

Solved by

Apr 01, 2011 21:44

Hey,

I'm wondering if there are any tactics any of you have used or are familiar with to improve the operating performance of PD9. I have 8 gigs of ram, a core i7 720Q processor, and an nvidia gt 240m 1024 mb video memory. My laptop is quite snappy, and so it is very capable of handling this program. But often, especially as my projects get bigger with content, it can take a minute or two for PD9 to fully functional once it is already open. Also, I have to tone down the video quality to normal often, while watching any clip for editing/timing sake. Even in the middle of working with PD9, it will be fine in functioning, but then it will randomly slow down and freeze for like 30 seconds at times.

I am knowledgeable when it comes to cleaning a computer with software, as I use CCleaner, Auslogics Disk Defragmenter, Recommended registry cleaners, etc. I am also using the 64-bit version which from what I know reads the full 8 gb of RAM I have installed.

Anyway, if there are any additional tips you guys have for specifically speeding up PD9, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks

garioch7

Senior Contributor Location: Port Hood, Nova Scotia, Canada Joined: Feb 07, 2011 06:45 Messages: 852 Offline

Apr 02, 2011 11:29

Andrew: Your computer sounds capable of handling PD9 quite nicely. If you have Shadow Files enabled - disable them - you don't need them and they can cause problems. Almost most of the pros don't use hardware acceleration as that too can cause problems on some setups. Not much else I can suggest other than to make sure that your drivers are all up-to-date. Go the manufacturers' websites for those - don't trust Windows Update.

I have a pretty powerful laptop as well and I notice that some operations can take some time. There is a lot going on in PD9 and it is pretty resource-intensive. I have learned to be patient and let PD9 finish whatever I asked it to do before moving on to another command.

Hope this helps a little. Have a great day and happy PowerDirecting!

Regards,
-Phil

Andrew90

Member Location: USA Joined: Dec 20, 2010 16:31 Messages: 108 Offline

Apr 02, 2011 17:56

Garioch,

How would I go about disabling the shadow files ?

My computer is quite clean and in fit shape for the program...It's very understandable that a large video project would hiccup despite the power of the CPU.

Robert2 S

Senior Contributor Location: Australia Joined: Apr 22, 2009 05:57 Messages: 1461 Offline

Apr 02, 2011 18:42

Video editing is about the hardest thing you will ask your computer to do. You may think your laptop is powerful enough and it may be for simple editing.

When you are asking your computer to edit in real time 30 frames/sec in a video (just do the maths for 1 minute of video) where you have added special effects, fades, colour changes etc etc it will slow down sometimes even in high end desktops, so don't expect your laptop to do the work of a desktop.

Also as Phil says on a lower powered computer it is best to let the computer finish each command.

Regarding shadow files it is under Edit-Preferences-general My youtube channel====> http://www.youtube.com/user/relate2?feature=mhsn

Andrew90

Member Location: USA Joined: Dec 20, 2010 16:31 Messages: 108 Offline

Apr 02, 2011 20:24

Thanks for the info. Also, I am trying to determine which version/build of PD9 I currently have. How could I find that info ? I looked under preferences and a bunch of other menu options, but didn't find it. I'm wondering because I just found out a newer build was released on March 8, build 2702 I think. I want to see if I already have this latest version so I can know whether or not to update the program.

HalCon

Senior Contributor Location: Charlottetown, PEI Joined: Mar 01, 2008 10:36 Messages: 719 Offline

Apr 02, 2011 20:55

Andrew,

Just click on "Power Director" top right hand corner and it will give you the Power Director version you are runnng.

Hal
OS - Win11 Pro, Alienware R13, CPU - Intel Core I7-12700KF 12 CPUs), 16g DDR5 4400 RAM, Video - Geeforce RTX 3080ti 12g, PD11 & PD365
My YouTube

Carl312

Senior Contributor Location: Texas, USA Joined: Mar 16, 2010 20:11 Messages: 9090 Offline

Apr 03, 2011 14:47

Regarding shadow files it is under Edit-Preferences-general

The preferences does not say shadow files, We just call them that.

It actually says "Enable file proccessing to speed up High definition Video Editing." Uncheck that box. Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Robert2 S

Senior Contributor Location: Australia Joined: Apr 22, 2009 05:57 Messages: 1461 Offline

Apr 03, 2011 17:59

Hi Carl,

I don't know if it is just in the latest build but it now shows "Enable HD video processing (Shadow file)".

Which actually is about time, as it was very confusing for people for a long time. My youtube channel====> http://www.youtube.com/user/relate2?feature=mhsn

Carl312

Senior Contributor Location: Texas, USA Joined: Mar 16, 2010 20:11 Messages: 9090 Offline

Apr 03, 2011 19:49

Ok, Thank you.

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

All vodi

Senior Contributor Location: Canada Joined: Aug 21, 2009 11:24 Messages: 1431 Offline

Apr 03, 2011 20:40

PD does a lot of number crunching when doing rendering and displaying the preview. It is unfortunate that the designers did not bother to raise a "wait" flag for users when this happens (and it happens often even on the fastest PC), So be patient. As long as your PC does not "hang" or go into a perpetual loop you are OK. On a PC such as yours anything over 30 seconds is too long. Win 10, i7