Playback of preview is jerky or slow

[community_help]

This question was posted in response to the following article: http://help.adobe.com/en_US/premiereelements/using/WSF365B21D-DCB9-4601-ACC1-6DF9042436DE.html

[Guest]

The clip doesn't studder when I watch it using Microsoft media player, but when I try and preview the clip within the software it studders.

[John T Smith]

1st... read about the difference between Play -VS- Edit http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1066154

2nd... what does "The clip" mean?

Please start a new thread, and... These questions below may be for a different product... but the information you need to supply is the same, for the products you use

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More information needed for someone to help... click these links and provide the requested information

-http://forums.adobe.com/message/4200840

-http://forums.adobe.com/thread/416679

-http://forums.adobe.com/thread/419406

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Read Bill Hunt on a file type as WRAPPER http://forums.adobe.com/thread/440037

What is a CODEC... a Primer http://forums.adobe.com/thread/546811

What CODEC is INSIDE that file? http://forums.adobe.com/thread/440037

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Report back with the codec details of your file, use the programs below... a screen shot works well to SHOW people what you are doing

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/592070?tstart=30

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For PC http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en or http://www.headbands.com/gspot/

[Steve Grisetti]

What model of camcorder is your video from and what format and resolution is it?

When you set up your Premiere Elements project, what project settings did you select?

How fast is your processor and what operating system are you using? And what version of the program are you using?

[Guest]

I am using a Sony HDV HDR-FX1000

I captured to my brand new ASUS computer (3.00GHZ 6.00 GB RAM-64 bit) with the HDV preset 1080i. The project settings match.

It's smooth on the camera..it smooth when I watch the mpeg via Media Player, but when I try and preview it within my Premier Elements 10 software it studders. When I put it on the timeline and play it it studders. When I burn it to a DVD disk to see if rendering fixes it, well it does - no studder.

[Steve Grisetti]

Something is not functioning correctly on your computer -- assuming that your 3.0 ghz processor is a dual core or quad core and not a Pentium 3.0 ghz. And assuming you used Premiere Elements to catpure your video over a FireWire connection.

Do you have more than one hard drive? Has your hard drive been cleaned and defragmented?

Any details you can provide would be very helpful. With a decently powered computer, you should have no problems editing and playing HDV footage.

(Are there red lines above your clips when you add them to your timeline? That would be an indicator that your project is not set up correctly.)

[Guest]

Dual core processor, one HD.

It is a brand new computer, but I did run system clean and defrag, just to be sure

I am capturing the video from mini DV tape. Camera is set to HDV.

Premiere Elements says project settings match.

I don't see any preview while it is capturing.

When I click on the clip in the in the project window to see a preview it shows up, and the audio is great, but the picture looks like when you see a video of a TV screen. The audio and video don't match up and sometimes two video images or running over each other.

Of course this makes it impossible to edit.

If I open the mpeg with windows media player it looks great. So it's something in the software that won't allow the preview to play correctly, in my opinion.

I have used this same software on my dad's ASUS computer and it worked fine.

So I'm thinking I have some setting wrong somewhere...

[John T Smith]

>one HD

Buy/install a 2nd hard drive... prefer a 7200rpm internal

If external, either 7200rpm eSata or USB3

Trying to use only ONE Hard Drive for Video Editing

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You are a music conductor, with a baton that you use to point to various parts of the orchestra... this is like Windows pointing to various parts of the hard drive to do Windows housekeeping or to load program segments for various functions

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Now, at the same time and with the same hand... while still using the baton to conduct the orchestra... pick up a bow and play a fiddle... this would be doing something with your video file at the same time as all the other work

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You as a person cannot do both at the same time with the same hand

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A computer is a LITTLE better, in that it can switch from one kind of task to another very quickly... but not quickly enough for EASY video editing

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You need AT LEAST two hard drives (separate drives, never a partition http://forums.adobe.com/thread/650708 for more) with Windows (or Mac OS) and software on your boot drive, and video files on a 2nd drive so the boot drive is not slowed down by trying to do everything

[Guest]

I have two HD's and set the path for my ScratchDisk to that drive.  My media is on that external drive and I run Premiere from my boot drive.

[Guest]

This is not relevant to my computer, the specs of which I included in my post.

[Guest]

I'm confused by these responses; they are all dated last year, and; I would guess, not relevant to v11 or to my computer; the specs of which I included in my post. 

There is a respose asking if I'm bringing media in through Primiere or  Explorer.  The asnwer is that I  bring media in using Premiere's Add media option.

There was a queston asking "what is a clip"... which seem axiomatic; a short video segment, a short recording or a section of video that has been "cut" and saved on the timeline or that is being viewed in the edit window.

I was hoping to get some feedback as to my computer's resources; is my graphics card adiquat to the task, do I have enough memory, is my processer fast enough, are there Profile settings that I might not be aware of; that might smooth scrub performance; should I consider changing the "Scetch Disk:" settings; etc.

btw my video media comes from a Canaon 60D, recored using default settings and inported using Premiere's default settings.

[the_wine_snob]

Mike,

I did not find the specs. of your computer. With H.264 CODEC footage, the most important aspect will be the CPU speed. Then, installed RAM would be next, but down the list quite a bit.

As for the media being on an external HDD, what is the speed in RPM of that HDD, and also what is the connection type, i.e. USB 2.0, FireWire 800, eSATA, USB 3.0, etc.?

Good luck,

Hunt

[Guest]

Hi Hunt, thanks for you reply,

I don't know how to link the message number: 5146692#5146692, my orginal post, but if you can find it using that number you will see the specs of my Dell Studio 540 computer.

As for my HD, it is a pretty new Seagate; Free Agent GoFlex,  1.5 TB drive, but I can't find a USB number.  I'm assuming, since it is such a large capacity drive, that it would be 3.

I have pored over a lot of the responses here and, I must confess, it's mosty Greek to me.  I'm using Premiere Elements, not Pro, so much of the responses don't seem relevent or are just too hi-tech for me; who is not a "newbe" to computers or CS5 but who is pretty new to video editing.  To date I have moved through version 7-11 but, to be honest, I haven't done a lot of editing in any of them, although I don't recall this prolem in  previous versions.

[the_wine_snob]

Mike,

It looks like the GoFlex can connect with either USB 2.0, or 3.0, and because of backward compatibility, which is used, will likely depend on the USB port on your computer. If it's a USB 2.0, then the GoFlex will step back to USB 2.0, but if it's USB 3.0, than that is what you get.

As for linking to the article, there is an "A" with a chain beside it, in the Forum editing screen's Toolbar, right before the smilies. With your Cursor where you wish to insert the Link, just click on that A w/ chain, and Paste your URL into the box. That will add the Link to your message.

I will see if I can Paste that article info into the Adobe PrE Forum header, and take a look.

Good luck,

Hunt

[the_wine_snob]

Here is the link to Mike's specs: http://forums.adobe.com/message/5147625#5147625

Hunt

[the_wine_snob]

It appears that your Dell has a single HDD, and it is partitioned into 3 logical drives. While probably not the cause of the jerkiness, partitions WILL slow down video editing. This article goes into more detail: http://forums.adobe.com/message/2858648#2858648

With that Quad-Core, you might be handicapped a bit, but that will depend on the footage that you are editing.

Though it might appear elsewhere, can you tell us all about the footage that you are using?

Good luck,

Hunt

[Guest]

Thanks for the link instruction, dah; I see it know

As for the partition issue, that too makes sense; after reading the link.  Actrually I had to reinstall my OS recently and wanted to remove the partitions, because they are something Dell created and I did't think I needed.

After reading the link I realize the down side. A few months ago I dl'd Minitool Partition Wizard but since it didn't seem to hearting anything I didn't pursue the issue and then I got sidetracked and forgot about it.  I will get back on it now!

I do note the scrubbing works better when not in the "clip monitor"

As for the footage data, here is a printscreen of the clip I just tried scrubbing.

http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1wf4TSfSfY8eYObozz4HfV9JqQt2f7

[the_wine_snob]

Usually, when a computer builder, like Dell, does a partition, it is a very small "recovery partition," and acts like a recovery disc. Should one have a crash with their OS, they can recover from the D:\ (usually) partition. Other mfgrs. ship a CD, or DVD, for recovery. With a recovery partition, there is no performance issue, as that partition is ONLY used, for recovery. Where partitions play a role in performance is when they are used like physical HDD's, and read from/written to, in normal operations. The OS sends instructions, calling for access of the partitions, thinking that they are physical HDD's, and as the heads can only be in one place on the platters, at one time, everything else has to wait. Also, as the heads have to travel greater distances, back and forth, there is more mechanical wear.

So there can be "good partitions," and "bad partitions." Some people will create a partition, just for their My Documents folder, for easy backup, but in most operations, that partition is not used, except when working on their documents. Caveat, if one adopted this scheme, they would be best served by NOT placing any media files in say the My Documents>My Videos, My Music, etc., and only use it for TXT, DOC, WPD, etc..

Good luck,

Hunt

[Guest]

Ok, good; thanks for explaining that.  Never the less, I would like to get rid of the partitions; now that I have re-installed the OS.  Would it be safe to just create recovery disks and remove the "hidden" partitions and their content?

[Bill Sprague]

I bought a brand new i7 "hot rod laptop" from ASUS for video editing.  It came with a partioned SSD C:\ drive.  I researched for weeks to find the right tool to remove it.  It worked perfectly on the HDD, but when I tried to do it on the SSD I killed the computer.

I learned that ASUS has very good customer support and service.  It took a week to send it to California where they rebuilt the software from scratch.  It came back with no partitions and good as new.  My backups of data files were only a week old, so not too much was lost.

[Bill Sprague]

I will try to make this plain English and not Greek!

(Edited because Bill Hunt posted before I finished typing.)

I looked up your computer at Dell where it said it was no longer available.  You appear to have a quad core processor.  I did read that it had all USB 2.0 ports, 4 in back and two in front.  So, no matter how good your external drive is, it won't work very well as a place to park your video files.  The USB 2.0 will "choke" the video data getting to the CPU.

Your GoFlex will be a great place to store and backup your work, but not as an "operating" drive.

Your best bet for improvement without spending money is to put everything for video on the C:\ drive because that's all you have.  Don't split it across partitions. 

The second bet (with money) is to buy more more memory.  Next would be an additional internal HDD, hopefully one that is 7200 RPM fast.

Good luck!

Message was edited by: whsprague because a lot of it was redundant after Bill Hunt posted.

[Guest]

Ok, I'm embarrased; why didn't I know those ports were slow!?

But I moved the clips in my current project back onto my C: drive and tried scrubbing through the clip I attached in a previous message and it was still not smooth or fluid.  If I scrubbed slowly it went fairly smoothing, but if I moved the CTO too fast it splutted, jerk, then stop and start.

I think I got burned by Dell, who told me this would be the computer that would work for video editing, and sold me this machine with a partitioned HDD! 

Maybe it's time to bite the bullet and consider a replacment; like something from ADK.

[the_wine_snob]

It amazes me how few computer builders (not just Dell), know almost zero about video editing. It is just not what they do for 99% of their clients, who only want word processing, Web browsing, e-mailing, etc.. Same for many IT departments. They just do not work with many graphics machines, so set up every computer the same.

Something else, that is often missed is the CPU speed and number of cores. This was less a consideration, when almost everyone was working with SD (Standard Def) footage with say the DV/DVC CODEC. Then, the speed and arrangement of the HDD was more important. Along came H.264 (AVCHD is a very popular sub-set of H.264), and suddenly computers with minimal CPU's, that got by nicely, were horribly underpowered. When AVCHD cameras first became popular, I joked that the salemen at Best Buy licked their chops, when they sold an AVCHD camera, because they knew the customer would soon be back, needing a new computer with a faster CPU, to edit that material - two sales in one!

If one is editing H.264 (not just AVCHD H.264), I recommend a very fast Quad-core CPU as the absolute minimum, and even then, things will not likely be smooth, especially if one has Clips on more than one Video Track. I recommend a fast i7 as ideal (at this point in time), and for an i5, or i3 will state that editing can probably be done, but the smoothness of playback will just never be what it should be. OTOH, many can edit well, even without smooth playback. Personally, I want to see my work, as I go, just as it will appear in the output file - smoothness and all.

Going back a decade, or so, I edited triple-truck (11 x 17), high-rez (400dpi/ppi) Images on a hot-rod 286 with only 1 1GB HDD. When I went to do a Save, I had to write my previous Saved file to a tape, and that would take about 45 mins.. Then, I would Delete that file, to give myself room for the next Save. Not very efficient, but that system was "state of the art," for its day - a day before SyQuest removable media, before CD's, before multiple HDD's, before large (yes, a 1GB HDD was considered BIG back then, and was about US $1000), before SCSI and before the 386 CPU. It could be done, though not with efficiency, and with long breaks in the creative flow. That is how I look upon editing H.264 with anything less than an i7 CPU - possible, but painful.

Good luck,

Hunt

[Bill Sprague]

Bill Hunt wrote:

If one is editing H.264 (not just AVCHD H.264), I recommend a very fast Quad-core CPU as the absolute minimum, and even then, things will not likely be smooth, especially if one has Clips on more than one Video Track. I recommend a fast i7 as ideal (at this point in time), and for an i5, or i3 will state that editing can probably be done, but the smoothness of playback will just never be what it should be. OTOH, many can edit well, even without smooth playback. Personally, I want to see my work, as I go, just as it will appear in the output file - smoothness and all.

From experience with a new laptop over the last couple months, I would add that to go with the i7, a SSD and 12GB of memory (or more) makes a lot of difference.  I'm using the biggest of 1080p60 H.264 files and getting smooth previews and 1:1 output render times, even with two video tracks.   If I get enough material on the video tracks, I do have to press the Enter button sometimes.

[Guest]

http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1LSHyZZujCGVpyf4P0bGoDRpMNu7M

Thanks for that explaination; what I was able to understand of it was helpful, because it forced me to check out the specs on my Canon D60, which I have mostly used for still photographey. I have only just begun to get interested in video, which is why I've ended up here; I have a project in mind!

I see that the format is H.264, which is the format you seem to refer to most often.  I don't have a clue what that means, but at least I recognize it as relavent to what I am trying to do.

I am beginning to wonder if I should be investiong in a new computer.  Actually I have been considering a new laptop, since the one I have is win7/32 and not even close to my desktops capability; which isn't all that great.  I hate to buy a new desktop, except for video editing I am ok with it; and it's newer than my latop.  So it seems to make better sense to replace the laptop; besides, I would be more mobile with it, able to work "in the field" as it were; so wouldn't be tired to a desktop.

I've been considering the 8600 http://www.adkvideoediting.com/laptop.asp