PD9 Ultra Not Responding

Shiromage

Newbie Location: United States Joined: Jan 05, 2011 17:30 Messages: 7 Offline

Solved by

Jan 05, 2011 18:30

Hello everyone!

I'm having a problem with PD9 Ultra. It never actually crashes and gives me an error message, it just stops working. The cursor remains in the same shape no matter where you point after it stops, and Task Manager still describes that the program is running, but it obviously isn't. Only after I try to end the task does it say it's not responding.

I'll attach needed files, but I'll say here that I'm using W7 32-bit. I got PD9 Ultra because I'm going to build my own 64-bit system in the future. Sometimes during in-program playback, during a transition the video will freeze, with sound and the playhead still running. Often when the playhead moves on a new clip, it just freezes on the last frame of the previous clip. Playhead still running as well as sound. If you try to move the playhead when this happens, the program stops.

What really motivated me to bring this to the forums is that this is a reoccuring problem that happens on other programs too! I used to have Adobe Premiere Elements 8, and it did the same thing. (Plus, a lot of other problems. There's a reason it didn't get good reviews as opposed to PD9.)

So, therefore, I'm thinking it may not be PD9 but instead something wrong with my system. I've downloaded the latest driver for my 8800 GTS card. My OS is up to date.

Any help is greatly appreciated! "Technical Terms" welcome.

Shiromage


Filename	PD9 error.png	Download
Description	During the "Glow" transition. The video freezes several frames after this frame.
Filesize	689 Kbytes
Downloaded:	163 time(s)

Filename	DxDiag.txt	Download
Description	DxDiag file
Filesize	38 Kbytes
Downloaded:	345 time(s)

"Whoa, where'd the sound go?!"
"Where did you put it?"

Cap'n Kevin

Senior Contributor Location: Chebeague Island, Maine Joined: Dec 26, 2008 20:22 Messages: 2011 Offline

Jan 05, 2011 19:49

Hi Shiromage,

The other common element besides your PC is the video footage you are using. It is very possible that it is causing PD and the other software you were using to choke. It has been reported in the forum by other users. Certain camera footage has had some difficulty playing back smoothly in other software as well as PD.

Could you give us so more detail on what you are using? From a camera? Make? Model?

The best thing you could do would be to provide a 5-10 second sample of the footage from your camera. Just attach it in your next post so others can download it and test it on their PC's. This way if we have similar results, then your PC is OK.

Regards,

Kevin

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Shiromage

Newbie Location: United States Joined: Jan 05, 2011 17:30 Messages: 7 Offline

Jan 05, 2011 20:29

Good evening, Cap'n Kevin.

Yes, I've been using the same kind of footage all along. I did see that camera problem others were having, but the source of the footage isn't from a camera.

Come to think of it, the files being edited may be a problem. I use a capture program called "Xfire". It's used to capture video from games while you play. The raw files that are created are in mpeg-4 format. What's very strange is that these files are very large.

For example, one clip I have listed is 1.3 GB big, and it's 2.75 minutes long. Meaning that's about .47 GB per minute. That's absolutely enormous.

Do you think that these files have such large sizes that they're just very hard to playback with added effects, straining the system?

There's a way to "process" these files using Xfire to make them much smaller. A 1.5 minute video becomes only 10.5 MB big. However, it's a nuisance because the files are slightly altered. Color is changed a little bit, and overall detail isn't as great as the raw file. I suppose if using the processed files work, it would be worth the lost detail.

Thanks,

Shiromage "Whoa, where'd the sound go?!"
"Where did you put it?"

Cap'n Kevin

Senior Contributor Location: Chebeague Island, Maine Joined: Dec 26, 2008 20:22 Messages: 2011 Offline

Jan 06, 2011 07:54

For example, one clip I have listed is 1.3 GB big, and it's 2.75 minutes long. Meaning that's about .47 GB per minute. That's absolutely enormous.

I have had a similar experience when editing captured video using avi files. the files were very large, similar to the ones you are using, and I had similar response problems. I converted them to another file type, it escapes me which one at the moment, but the end result is....the files were smaller, still decent quality, and were much easier to edit.

If it were me I would experiment with the file type you convert to. Try to keep the original resolution, i.e. if you captured in 1920x1080, then keep that resolution when you convert it. If you inadvertantly convert it to something smaller without knowing...say 640x360 as an example, then when you use it in a project, PD will have to upconvert it if you choose a file type and profile that has a larger resolution....Do you get what I am saying?....I didn't want to get too over the top.

But bottom line: Using multiple files that are larger, in the 1 GIG and larger, from my experience on my system....cause frequent stalls and waiting periods for the software to "catch up". Occasionally it doesn't catch up and I had to manually close PD9.

Regards,

Kevin

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Shiromage

Newbie Location: United States Joined: Jan 05, 2011 17:30 Messages: 7 Offline

Jan 06, 2011 15:56

If it were me I would experiment with the file type you convert to. Try to keep the original resolution, i.e. if you captured in 1920x1080, then keep that resolution when you convert it. If you inadvertantly convert it to something smaller without knowing...say 640x360 as an example, then when you use it in a project, PD will have to upconvert it if you choose a file type and profile that has a larger resolution....Do you get what I am saying?....I didn't want to get too over the top.

I see what you're saying.

I capture in 640x512, or exactly half of my native monitor resolution. (Some clips are in 25fps, and are considered PAL format when read by PD9. All of my other clips are the same but have 30fps and are treated as the US format. I let PD9 convert the PAL clips, which I'm sure doesn't hurt performance, right?) I'll try converting the files while maintaining resolution and use those. I bet even if I choose the mpeg-4 codec I'd get a smaller file size. I've seen mpeg-4 videos with way smaller sizes at larger resolutions before.

I've once heard that .avi is optimal for editing, I'll try it first. I'll report back when I do.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Jan 06. 2011 19:15

"Whoa, where'd the sound go?!"
"Where did you put it?"

Cap'n Kevin

Senior Contributor Location: Chebeague Island, Maine Joined: Dec 26, 2008 20:22 Messages: 2011 Offline

Jan 06, 2011 19:45

PM sent to you.

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max0331

Member Location: Iowa Joined: Dec 29, 2010 13:58 Messages: 52 Offline

Jan 07, 2011 11:32

I see your making a WOW movie.... Ah yes, WOW, those were the days....

Cap'n Kevin

Senior Contributor Location: Chebeague Island, Maine Joined: Dec 26, 2008 20:22 Messages: 2011 Offline

Jan 07, 2011 11:50

Hi Shiromage,

The only other thing I can add is that I experience the same pausing on my system when I try to use files with the same file size as you. As a test I imported som files from a DVD...VOB files that were around 1 gig in size and in the editing phase when clip one finishes and it begins to play the second vob file it does pause. My system is pretty powerful, but working with files that large does stress my system right to the edge. If you then add a transition it is even worse.

The only thing I could change to improve the performance somewhat was to lower the Preview Playback quality down to HIGH. I normally run it a FULL HD QUALITY. By lowering the setting it will improve playback a bit.

Regards,

Kevin

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Shiromage

Newbie Location: United States Joined: Jan 05, 2011 17:30 Messages: 7 Offline

Jan 07, 2011 17:50

The only thing I could change to improve the performance somewhat was to lower the Preview Playback quality down to HIGH. I normally run it a FULL HD QUALITY. By lowering the setting it will improve playback a bit.

Oh man, I didn't know you could do that! I'll try this in addition to what I'm about to say.

Well, firstly I need to say that I had my file types backwards: the avi's that are being created by Xfire are the huge files. The processed avi's that make the small sized clips are the mp4's.

I ran a little test on my computer. I took one of my video clips, 1.3 GB in size, and processed it through both the Xfire program and PD9 to mp4 format to compare their size and quality. The Xfire counterpart was the smaller one in size, but the quality of the video made me flich a little. The PD9-created file was a little bigger, but pretty much the same quality of the raw file.

So, I guess I'll run all of my clips through mp4 conversion using PD9 and report back when I get results.

I see your making a WOW movie.... Ah yes, WOW, those were the days....

Yes :P I have a small group of fans that have been begging for more videos of my gameplay. When my previous software pretty much broke, it was months before I got a replacement: PD9.

Shiromage "Whoa, where'd the sound go?!"
"Where did you put it?"

Shiromage

Newbie Location: United States Joined: Jan 05, 2011 17:30 Messages: 7 Offline

Jan 08, 2011 11:46

Well, I can't seem to find that playback setting, but I did convert all my clips to the smaller .mp4 format. I've applied the same effects and transitions and everything works fine!

Thanks for you help!

Shiromage "Whoa, where'd the sound go?!"
"Where did you put it?"