27 hour render for 1.5 hour timeline??

[Scott Brickert]

I have a V8 timeline with three nested files, totaling 1h29minutes. There is some Mercalli and Neat Video FX in the first third, applied in the nested file. The rest has zero FX in the nested files, and Neat Video applied on the Master file's timeline, with some CartoonR on the last 3 minutes.

Pretty simple, no?

so it's been rendering for 9 hours and sez it's 33% finished.

The PC is a CoreDuo 3.2GH, 3.25GB ram. Render From and Render To hard drives are two internal SATA 7200rpm drives. RAW footage is HDV, rendering to DVDA widescreen template set to Good, 7MM average bitrate, single pass. I tried Best single and double pass, but it hung up on the dual pass, and I stopped the single pass.

Is there a more efficient way to get from the m2t files to mpeg2? I don't mind rendering overnight, but this ties up the mochine for a whole day as well.

[Edward Troxel]

Pretty simple, no?

I would say no. Even though you say "the rest of the project has zero FX", you then say you have Neat Video applied to all of the timeline? That in itself would slow it down. Then add mercalli and additional neat videos to the nested projects, then add cartoonr, and you've added quite a bit of extra processing required.

[Sherif Choudhry]

Are u using 8 bit or 32 bit mode in Vegas? 32 bit slows down my machine by around 75%.

[Ian Stark]

Not quite answering your question I know, but I'm not sure what value you'll get from applying Neat Video to the entire timeline (which is what I think you're saying), unless of course the entire 90 minute timeline comprises footage shot in the same location with the same lighting throughout, which I would imagine is unlikely.

Neat is more of a spot corrector than a mastering tool and it needs to be set up appropriately for each individual clip to make the best of it.

Aside from that, all the filters you've mentioned are resource hungry ones.

My first thought would be to remove the instance of Neat video that sits on the master timeline, render, then decide if you need Neat on the whole thing and apply that in a second pass.

You also mention that you have some Mercali and Neat in the first third - and then you say that 9 hours takes you to 33% (that'll be a third then!). It may be the case that things will speed up significantly after that point if there are no further effects on the timeline - but only if you lose that instance of Neat on the master timeline.

Hope you get something of use from that.

[Scott Brickert]

It's an 8-bit project.

"the rest of the project has zero FX" refers to FX in the nested file. Of the three nested files, one has FX on it's timeline, the other two don't.

On the master timeline, the first nested file has no FX applied, the other two have Neat Video and CartoonR at the end. No blurs, no color curves, no color corrector, no fancy transitions, no glow, no nuttin' but Neat Video.



So there are no ways to speed this up? This is normal.?

[Ian Stark]

Sorry, not clear from your original post. I read that you have Neat applied to the master timeline (thereby affecting everything).

How about trying a render with NO fx at all. See how that speeds up things (or otherwise). Then you'll have a better idea whether it's the fx or something else.

These things are tough to diagnose without a good look at the veg.

[John Rofrano]

Neat Video has a bit of a problem with Vegas (or more accurately put, Vegas doesn’t work well with temporal filters). You can speed renders up significantly by turning off the temporal filter in Neat Video. When you add the Neat Video FX before you press Configure, look below it at the Temporal Filter section and change the Radius to zero. This will turn off the Temporal Filter.

Obviously you loose temporal processing because of this but sometimes it’s barely noticeable. If it’s needed for your footage then you just have to suffer through the incredibly long render times with Neat Video. If you can do without it, you will see a significant performance boost.

~jr

[Graham Bernard]

Having "Neat" myself, I agree with John. Knock the Radius slider over to ZERO.

Also, Nest veggies are proxy files. They are not completed pre-rendered files (Script-gurus think on!). So, what you see is a proxy file. And guess what, those other veggies, which may too have a multitude of FX, have to be rendered in the FINAL render.

So, here are some workflow tips I have found that work for me:

1] Yes, prepare and sequence your work within the top level project using NESTS. Once satisfied, render the nests and substitute the nest for the render (now there's an option for the Script-Gurus!)

2] Complete all the top level work and apply Neat JUST to those areas that require it.

3] Complete all the top level work and apply Mercalli JUST to those areas that require it.

4] Avoid any track fx that isn't really needed

5] Avoid any main Video Bus effects (motion blur . .etc . . )

Now, all of this WILL speed up your final render.

Give Vegas a chance to excel and it WILL astound you. Remember, we value Vegas 'cos of its ability to provide a lot of real-time output that other NLEs can't don't. This is the result of the way Vergas works. Giving some thought and planning to the amount of math we expect Vegas to deal with, during a render, will give you/me/us a much faster render.

Cheers,

Grazie