I'm working with a DV video file recorded with a remote analog cmos cam connected (and converted via AV input) to a digital camcorder. Support said this shouldn't make a difference, and indeed I tested a standard digital file captured from mini DV that had not been converted from analog and had similar problems. All files are captured via firewire, in both AVI and MPEG (not sure which is best), but this made no difference.
I have many short scenes, all with fade transitions, with speeds varying between slow, normal, and fast motion. Seems as if I get the worst hangs or stutters with these fades, especially when going from one speed to another. Am I asking too much of it? Yes, my computer is old, but it was no slouch when I got it. Seems like it should be able to handle this.
DELL XPS
WIN XP SP2
Dual HD total 220 GB, striped (RAID 0), regularly defraged
P4 3.2 cpu
Radeon 9800 Pro video card 128 MB
2.5 GB ram
Tried two different video card upgrades with higher VRAM, same problem. (Currently running old card, because the other two were glitchy)
Recently set up a dedicated second HD to work off of. No difference.
I finally discovered I could at least produce a smooth playback by using the Rendered Preview feature. Unfortunately it takes several minutes to render, making it impractical to edit with.
I haven't tried capturing the DV file directly to the new dedicated hard drive, so I'll try that next. What's the best format? AVI, or MPEG, or ?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Chris