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Solved Editing/Rendering still slow having just upgraded Graphics Card to AMD Radeon R7 370 4GB from nVidia Quadro K620

  • MistyRicardo
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Hi,

Having been unhappy with preview stuttering and rendering time my old nVidia Quadro K620 (no GPU support apparently), I have just upgraded to a AMD Radeon R7 370 4GB.

Have just been messing around with Sony Movie Studio Platinum 13, hoping that the preview window stuttering (during transitions mainly), and that the rendering time would improved. No Joy I'm afraid.

I've read up thoroughly (I think at least), and watched Derek's relevant videos, so tried changing various parameters in the Rendering section (GPU if available) trying both the Sony and the Main Concept formats.

The 'Check GPU' button in the System Tab of the custom settings shows 'Open CL' available, but only in the Main Concept format does an Open CL Encode mode appear (Render Using OpenCL if available). I have tried this option, but just like any of the combinations I've tried, it just doesn't speed up from what it was prior to the graphics card upgrade.

I have tried various combinations of CPU Only and 'Render if available' options, to no avail.

Also, as I mentioned, the video effects and transitions in the preview window don't seem to have speed up either.

Anyone any ideas ? I know this is a minefield.

Cheers,

Richard
Misty Ricardo's Curry Kitchen
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Hi Ricardo,

After you watching Derek's tutorials, I'm sure you know as much as I do. So, I'll offer what I do and perhaps it will help. To start with I preview at "Best (Full) at least 80% of the time as I always like the best when I can get it. However there are times, dependant on the type, degree, and combination of effects I use, that I have reduced the preview resolution to "Preview (Auto)" to eliminate stutters. I typically perform in this order....edit/cuts, color correction/match, Special FX, transitions, titles, etc. (well usually, not always).

I have an old technology box (it's pretty much from the stone age compared to recent machines being used for NLE's)......

Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit SP1
Intel Core2Duo CPU E8400 3.00 GHz 8 GB ram
Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 - 1 GB memory

In "Options", "Preferences", "Video", "GPU acceleration of video processing", options are "Off" and " Nvidia Corporation (GeForce GTX 460)".....I have " Nvidia Corporation (GeForce GTX 460)" selected.

In "Options", "Preferences", "Preview Device", "Device" = "Windows Graphic Card". Under "Display adapter:" = "1. 1280x1024 (60)". "Scale output to fit display" = checked. "Optimize GPU display performance" = checked. "Apply deinterlace filter", "Adjust levels from studio RGB to computer RGB", and "Wait for vertical sync" are all un-checked.

In MainConcept AVC/AAC and Sony AVC/MVC, from the System Tab, "Check GPU" reveals "CUDA is available"
In MainConcept AVC/AAC and Sony AVC/MVC, from the Video Tab, "Encode mode:", I have selected "Render using CUDA if available".

I almost always use "Match Media" to start my projects, as I understand this impacts preview. It is also my understanding that the CPU, memory bus, hard drive and bus, must equal the performance of a super powerful graphics card, to get the full benefit from the graphics card. In other words, between the CPU, machine memory and bus, hard drive and bus, and the graphic card, either of them can present a bottleneck in raw processing speed and need to be matched. Otherwise upgrading one of them may not show any increase in speed, or decrease in processing time.

I've never really compared rendering times between using GPU or not, as the render times I'm getting are adequate for my purpose and far better than the previous computer and editing software I had back during the turn of century!

I've never used the Radeon R7-370, the Nvidia Quadro K620, or any of the faster i5/i7 processors, so pitifully I can't help you sort things out.
Best Regards......George

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One other quick thought. "Options", "Preferences", "Video". I have my "Dynamic RAM preview max (MB):" set at the default of "200". This seems to be the best by many opinions. You may want to test yours at "0", "200", maybe something higher like "500", but I think Derek will recommend you leave it at "200" and in my experience he is correct.....that works best for me.
Best Regards......George

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I have a question for you Richard.
What camera do you use to record your videos ?
Are you using a GoPro video ?

I will wait to here back before saying anymore, because the type of video you import into the program can have a huge effect on Preview Window playback performance.
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  • MistyRicardo
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George, thank you for all that useful info. Helps build a better picture.

Derek... I record the videos using an iPhone 6 then import to PC via USB cable. They are in .MOV format when imported.

Looking forward to your assistance. Thanks.
Misty Ricardo's Curry Kitchen
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When you have a lot of .MOV videos in a project, they can be problematic.
The problem with editing Apple formats on a Windows computer, is that the version of Quicktime that Apple supplies to Windows Users, cannot utilize your computers RAM (memory) properly, which can slow things down.

There is no such thing as a perfect Video Editing program that never lags in the Preview Window. All Video Editing programs (even expensive professional ones), will begin to lag when you start adding more and more effects and different tracks on top of each other. When you edit, you are expecting your computer to do in real time, what rendering takes to do in a lot more time.

Your CPU has then biggest influence over performance, that is why a fast 4x core CPU is the minimum required for decent performance.
The GPU helps to process Video FX and Text events like New Blue Titler EX.

What model CPU does your computer use ?

The two things you can do right now to get the best experience are:

1. Convert your videos into Proxy versions before you start to edit. This should make it a lot easier for your computer to process in real time, because Proxy videos have been de-compressed. Original .MOV videos have to be de-compressed in real time before a transition or video effect can work.

Movie Studio Platinum 13 has an inbuilt proxy creation function.
Import your videos.
Right-click all your videos in the Project Media tab and select Create Video Proxy. This will render smaller and easier to play versions of all your videos.
Drag videos to timeline.
Now set Preview Window to Draft or Preview quality. This will force Proxy Videos to play back instead.
If you want to view original HD versions, set Preview Window to Good or Best.
Return Preview Window back to Best before rendering using Make Movie.
*Proxy versions will get stored in the same folder your .MOV versions live. It will look like a sheet of paper. They are larger in file size and can be deleted when you are finished with the project, if you need to save Hard Drive space.

2. Be more efficient with your Workflow.
Cut and edit first before you start adding Video FX and Text Events.
Then add Text and last add Video FX like Colour Correction.

3. Make sure your Frame Rates match perfectly all the way through the project.
Source Video (.MOV videos) frame rate needs to = Project Property frame rate, which needs to equal Make Movie "render as" frame rate.
If your Frame Rates do not match, it puts a massive load on CPU to convert.
ℹ️ Remember to turn everything off at least once a week, including your brain, then sit somewhere quiet and just chill out.
Unplugging is the best way to find solutions to your problems. If you would like to share some love, post a customer testimonial or make a donation.
Last Edit:07 Dec 2015 00:31 by DoctorZen
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  • MistyRicardo
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Derek, thanks for the post.

I just typed in a long response, only to find when I clicked submit my session had timed out and I lost it.

Anyway, here's a summary...

Video Proxy takes a long time to create, but makes the preview window work superbly. Thanks.

I was then hoping that the rendering process would use the video proxy in a similar way and be a lot faster. Sadly not with the many combinations of options I tried.

I did noticed that the .MOV file properties in Move Studio Plat showed the fps as 59.987 rather than 59.94. (iPhone 6 used to record).... is this significant, given your recommendation to use 59.94 fps as the project and rendering setting for 60p ? I did a quick test by changing the project and rendering settings (in MainConcept AVC/AAC to 59.987... Sony AVC/AAC wouldn't accept the number and went back to 59.94), but there was no subsequent improvement in rendering speed. Please note that all these tests (including the successful proxy one) were done on an existing Project, for which the editing/transitions/titles etc had already been done.

EDIT: Intel CPU x 4 (i5 4400 @ 3.1 Ghz)

Thanks in advance,

Richard
Misty Ricardo's Curry Kitchen
www.youtube.com/c/MistyRicardo
Last Edit:07 Dec 2015 05:18 by MistyRicardo

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The websites timeout period has always been set to 60 minutes. I was advised a long time ago to keep this low for security reasons, however that was before I added the forum to website. I have now increased the timeout to 4 hours, so that should be more than enough.

As I said previously, Apple formats can be difficult to work with on a Windows computer. I have no idea why iPhone video is being recorded at 59.987 fps.
Make sure you have Apple Quicktime installed on your computer.
This is the best version to have installed on Windows
support.apple.com/kb/DL1822?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

The more Video Fx and Text events you add to a project, the slower rendering times will be.
Long rendering times are nothing unusual for many people.

Can you please tell me the render time for one of your projects and how long in time the project is.
Then I can say if it sounds fast, medium or slow.
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Derek.. Thanks...

I already have Apple Quicktime installed, but it's version 7.7.7 which is a later version than the 7.7.6 which you provided a link for. Is there a specific reason to use 7.7.6 instead of 7.7.7 ?

Regarding the project in question
The project length is 7 mins 22 secs and the rendering time is about an hour, give or take.
At least 20 transitions and effects used, and many text events (the recipe ingredient captions/comments etc).
Misty Ricardo's Curry Kitchen
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Last Edit:07 Dec 2015 21:10 by MistyRicardo

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There is no official Apple Quicktime version 7.7.7 for Windows, which makes me guess that you have installed a non-official version of Quicktime.
There are a large number of un-official versions of QT that 3rd parties have released on a variety of non-official websites.
I have only ever downloaded direct from Apple here support.apple.com/downloads/quicktime
The latest version 7.7.8 does not install properly on Windows, so that is why I recommend version 7.7.6, because it was the last official version that works on all Windows Operating Systems.

As an experiment, it might be worth un-installing the version you have, re-boot your computer and then install v7.7.6

An hour to render a 7 minute video is on the slow side.
I think it has a lot to do with the weird iPhone video.
If you were to render some normal 25 fps or 29.97 fps .mp4 or .mpg video, my guess is that it would render a lot faster.
ℹ️ Remember to turn everything off at least once a week, including your brain, then sit somewhere quiet and just chill out.
Unplugging is the best way to find solutions to your problems. If you would like to share some love, post a customer testimonial or make a donation.
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