Preview not smooth

Paul Cascio · February 12th, 2010, 07:00 AM

I'm using Cineform (High Quality Mode) to convert AVCHD/H.264 files and editing in Vegas on a Q6600/8GB in Win7/64. Preview seems as if it should be a lot better than it is - slow, jumpy, delayed, etc.

My project setting are DV Widescreen, 8-Bit.

Am I doing something wrong? Shouldn't it work much better than this?

Mike Kujbida · February 12th, 2010, 08:56 AM

Paul, if you're using Pro 9, do you have the Adjust Size and Quality for Optimal Playback option in the Preview window (right-click there to get to this) disabled and set to your normal setting (typically Preview/Auto)?

Paul Cascio · February 12th, 2010, 11:58 AM

Mike, are you saying I should disable Adjust Size and Quality for Optimal Playback?

Mike Kujbida · February 12th, 2010, 02:24 PM

Paul, that was one of the first things I changed when I got Pro 9.
The main reason is that I didn't want the computer deciding what frame rate it would play at.
I generally leave mine at Preview/Auto unless I'm doing a RAM render or a Prerender in which case I'll set it to Best/Full.

Paul Cascio · February 12th, 2010, 03:25 PM

Do you know of any other tweaks that might help? My footage is 1920x1080, but I have the project set to DV. Does that matter at all, or does it only effect rendering?

Dave Blackhurst · February 12th, 2010, 06:02 PM

Slip a core i7 under the hood... I didn't have too much luck with AVCHD with a Q6600 even at fairly low settings - draft/full was about the best I could achieve. Although I'm getting decent results with a more recent quad core laptop... may have been a bottleneck elsewhere in my old desktop...

Adam Stanislav · February 12th, 2010, 11:34 PM

Paul, could you be using too many threads? I believe Vegas comes configured for 16 threads out of the box, while you should be using the number of processors you have plus one. Using too many threads may impose unnecessary overhead, so Windows cannot handle the playback at full speed and starts dropping frames, which in turn causes jerky preview.

Though I am not sure whether it uses all those threads when previewing or only when rendering, so I may be completely wrong here.

Paul Cascio · February 13th, 2010, 04:50 AM

Dave - If it was just a matter of replaceing the CPU, I'd do it immediately. Unfortunately, the i7 would require a new motherboard, new memory and a new power supply.

Adam - I will give that a try. How about Preview Memory? What's your recommendation there?

Adam Stanislav · February 13th, 2010, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Cascio

How about Preview Memory? What's your recommendation there?

The way I understand it, you should keep it fairly low. It is the amount of memory Vegas will allocate at the beginning and only release when it quits. So, if you set it too high, you are wasting memory that can be used for other things. If you set it low, it will just allocate whatever memory it needs when it needs it and release it when it no longer needs it.

So, in theory, if you go too low, it does not hurt as it will allocate the needed memory anyway, but if you go too high, you get a performance hit.

February 12th, 2010, 07:00 AM	#1
Paul Cascio Trustee Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Bristol, CT (Home of EPSN) Posts: 1,192	Preview not smooth - my fault? I'm using Cineform (High Quality Mode) to convert AVCHD/H.264 files and editing in Vegas on a Q6600/8GB in Win7/64. Preview seems as if it should be a lot better than it is - slow, jumpy, delayed, etc. My project setting are DV Widescreen, 8-Bit. Am I doing something wrong? Shouldn't it work much better than this? __________________ Paul Cascio www.pictureframingschool.com

February 12th, 2010, 11:58 AM	#3
Paul Cascio Trustee Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Bristol, CT (Home of EPSN) Posts: 1,192	Mike, are you saying I should disable Adjust Size and Quality for Optimal Playback? __________________ Paul Cascio www.pictureframingschool.com

February 12th, 2010, 03:25 PM	#5
Paul Cascio Trustee Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Bristol, CT (Home of EPSN) Posts: 1,192	Do you know of any other tweaks that might help? My footage is 1920x1080, but I have the project set to DV. Does that matter at all, or does it only effect rendering? __________________ Paul Cascio www.pictureframingschool.com

February 13th, 2010, 04:50 AM	#8
Paul Cascio Trustee Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Bristol, CT (Home of EPSN) Posts: 1,192	Dave - If it was just a matter of replaceing the CPU, I'd do it immediately. Unfortunately, the i7 would require a new motherboard, new memory and a new power supply. Adam - I will give that a try. How about Preview Memory? What's your recommendation there? __________________ Paul Cascio www.pictureframingschool.com

February 12th, 2010, 08:56 AM	#2
Mike Kujbida Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Windsor, ON Canada Posts: 2,770	Paul, if you're using Pro 9, do you have the Adjust Size and Quality for Optimal Playback option in the Preview window (right-click there to get to this) disabled and set to your normal setting (typically Preview/Auto)?

February 12th, 2010, 02:24 PM	#4
Mike Kujbida Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Windsor, ON Canada Posts: 2,770	Paul, that was one of the first things I changed when I got Pro 9. The main reason is that I didn't want the computer deciding what frame rate it would play at. I generally leave mine at Preview/Auto unless I'm doing a RAM render or a Prerender in which case I'll set it to Best/Full.

February 12th, 2010, 06:02 PM	#6
Dave Blackhurst Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Apple Valley CA Posts: 4,874	Slip a core i7 under the hood... I didn't have too much luck with AVCHD with a Q6600 even at fairly low settings - draft/full was about the best I could achieve. Although I'm getting decent results with a more recent quad core laptop... may have been a bottleneck elsewhere in my old desktop...

February 12th, 2010, 11:34 PM	#7
Adam Stanislav Trustee Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Rhinelander, WI Posts: 1,258	Paul, could you be using too many threads? I believe Vegas comes configured for 16 threads out of the box, while you should be using the number of processors you have plus one. Using too many threads may impose unnecessary overhead, so Windows cannot handle the playback at full speed and starts dropping frames, which in turn causes jerky preview. Though I am not sure whether it uses all those threads when previewing or only when rendering, so I may be completely wrong here.