Getting best performance from PE2020 with my new system

[chrisw7286327]

I have just upgraded my PC and loaded Premiere Elements 2020. System is Windows 10 Home 64-bit, 16 GB RAM, Intel Core i7-3770K CPU @ 3.50 Ghz (4 cores), C drive 250GB SSD, D drive 2TB SSD.  I have put the Adobe programs on the C drive (in the recommended place AppData Roaming etc.) which still has about 140GB free space; and store all my data, including many videos, in separate folders for each project on the D drive, which has about 740GB free space.  I am editing some pretty big projects (e.g. Nepal holiday with about 413 avi source files, unedited running time 2 and a half hours).  The media cache database is in AppData and set at 5GB - half way; and all the scratch disks are set to 'same as project'. I render the timeline frequently, but that takes at least 15-20 minutes. I have also disabled as many background services as would appear safe to do so. I still find editing is a fragile process and need to re-boot occasionally for the project to recover after hanging.  Am I doing anything wrong, is my PC not up to the job, or should I try other settings such as copying my data and all the working files temprarily to the C drive for each project? Advice would be much appreciated.

Since first posting this I saw advice to increase virtual memory to 1.5x (initial) and 3x (max) of RAM (which is 16GB) and have now done this.  I did it on the C drive (programs only) - hope this was correct.  It was a big change from 2432MB to 24,000/48,000MB which worried me a bit!  Does anyone know of any down sides to doing this.  Initial results are encouraging but haven't tested it thoroughly yet.

[Steve Grisetti]

Your processor rates about a 6,500 on benchmark tests. I usually recommend at least an 8,500 or 10,000 for best performance. Especially if you're working on 4K or longer pieces. But you should be able to do basic editing.

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

If you've got a good, strong processor, you won't have to tweak your system. Today's computers can easily edit video (at least the ones that benchmark at 10,000) without increasing virtual memory or adding a special drive for virtual memory. 

That said, AVI is a strange format to be editing these days. What device recorded this video?

Open one of your AVIs in the free download MediaInfo. In MediaInfo, set View to Text and then copy the text and paste it to this forum. If there's an issue that's choking your workflow, this is a pretty likely place to look for it. The MediaInfo report will tell us if you have a codec or other compression system that's running contrary to your editing workflow.

[chrisw7286327]

Thanks Steve

I am years behind with my hobby video editing!  This lot goes back to 2012 on my old Sony camcorder, but I notice that since about 2013/14 the formats have changed to mov or mp4 depending on the camera I now use.  I can't really afford a new processor so will have to soldier on somehow.

(1) I attach the requested printout below

(2) Is it doing any harm changing the virtual memory as I have, or shall I leave it as now is?  My PC is only for domestic use and Premiere Elements is the only resource-intensive software that I use.

.................................................

General
Complete name : D:\Chris\Videos\2012 Nepal\Nepal 01 1.avi
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
Commercial name : DVCAM
File size : 9.51 MiB
Duration : 2 s 640 ms
Overall bit rate mode : Constant
Overall bit rate : 30.2 Mb/s
Recorded date : 2012-09-10 15:49:00.000
Writing library : Tdattc_O

Video
ID : 0
Format : DV
Commercial name : DVCAM
Codec ID : dvsd
Codec ID/Hint : Sony
Duration : 2 s 640 ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 24.4 Mb/s
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 25.000 FPS
Standard : PAL
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Bottom Field First
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 2.357
Time code of first frame : 00:41:33:02
Time code source : Subcode time code
Stream size : 9.06 MiB (95%)
Encoding settings : ae mode=full automatic / wb mode=automatic / white balance= / fcm=manual focus

Audio
ID : 1
Format : PCM
Format settings : Little / Signed
Codec ID : 1
Duration : 2 s 640 ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1 024 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 32.0 kHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Stream size : 330 KiB (3%)
Alignment : Aligned on interleaves
Interleave, duration : 880 ms (22.00 video frames)

[Steve Grisetti]

Your video is a widescreen PAL DV-AVI, the simplest video format to edit in Premiere Elements. If your project is set up correctly your computer should be able to edit this type of video without even working up a sweat.

Can you confirm that your project settings match this video's specs? The easiest way to do this is to put one of those AVIs on your timeline. If you don't see a yellow orange "render" line above the clip, you have a match. If you do see a render line above the clips, your project settings are limiting the program's performance.

[chrisw7286327]

Thanks Steve

In the currently edited video a complete green render line is now showing. When I tried opening a new project and added one of the files there was, as you suggested, no render line; so that's good news.  I have looked at the project settings and prefernces and as far as I can understand them they all seem fine.  I'm going to just carry on for now and am hoping that the virtual memory change is indeed making a difference.

2 questions remain unanswered if I may trouble you further, sorry if it's a bit long-winded:

(1) in my setup with 2 large SSDs am I right to keep the video files on the D whilst editing or should I copy them temporarily to the C?

(2) I've just noticed that, in the 'media' preferences setting, there is a media cache database in c\users\chris\appdata\roaming\adobe\common, with a media cache size of 5GB; and under the 'scratch disks' preferences setting the media cache is set to 'custom' and directed to d\chris\documents\adobe\premiere elements\18.0 (which is currently the default location for new project folders APE auto-save, Layouts, Media Cache Files, Peak Files and Styles).  Is this distinction correct, should the scratch disk setting be the same as all the others (i.e. 'same as project'),  and would it help to up the size of the media cache from 5GB to the max 10?  [BTW, 'same as project' means d\chris\videos\2012 Nepal in this case, the same folder in which all the video files, project-specific folders including auto-save and layouts etc., and the .prel file are stored.  As soon as I name a new project I always save it to the location of its video files.].

Thanks for your time, I really appreciate your help.

[Steve Grisetti]

As I said, I don't think you need to tweak your system by messing with these settings. Today's computers are powerful enough to edit video at their default settings.

Though yes, it is a good idea to keep your programs on your C drive and keep your media and video projects on your second drive (assuming it's an internal drive). But this is not so much about improving performance as much as it is good housekeeping. You've got twin SSDs! They are as fast as storage can get.