System memory and Moviemaker performance

[Guest]

I have just started playing with video capture so I apologize if my question
is an amateur one...

I have an AMD Athlon XP 2.4, with 512 MB of RAM and a 200GB 7200 RPM hard
drive.

I used my capture device to capture about 40 mins of video, in MPEG format.
The filesize was about 608 MB. When I tried to import this clip into
MovieMaker, it grinded for about 20 minutes until finally responding again.
The hard drive and entire system strained non-stop during this time. Once it
did respond I was not able to do anything with the clip without the
never-ending grinding again.

I was watching Task Manager and did not see Moviemaker use any more memory,
so I am not sure what it was doing, but it is certainly not useable with a
clip of this size. I have imported some smaller clips and the response was
much faster.

What do I need to do to speed this up? Do I need to have more system emory
than the size of the files I am importing? Can I import a file without
having it automatically cut it up into "clips", which also seems to take some
time?

Any advice appreciated.

 

[PapaJohn \(MVP\)]

You should convert MPEG-2 files to AVI before using them in Movie Maker....

most of time Movie Maker takes when importing a clip is assessing where to
split it into sub-clips... if just want the clip in total, it'll import
quickly by unchecking the option on the import wizard screen to auto-split
into clips.

--
PapaJohn

Movie Maker 2 and Photo Story 3 - www.papajohn.org
Photo Story 2 - www.photostory.papajohn.org
..

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the reply.

Do my system specs sound adequate for a clip of this size? Should my
physical memory be greater than the size of the clip?

 

[PapaJohn \(MVP\)]

Yes, your specs are fine.... it's not the size of the imported clips that
matter.... a 13 GB DV-AVI file isn't very complex when importing as a single
clip.... or even batch of clips.

Memory limitations are reached when you build a complex project on the
timeline, with lots of clips, transitions, effects, text overlays, etc....
at your point of importing source files to use, there's no real constraint
other than file types and codecs.
--
PapaJohn

Movie Maker 2 and Photo Story 3 - www.papajohn.org
Photo Story 2 - www.photostory.papajohn.org
..

 

[Guest]

Hello Joe, et al,
Yes, you're right! MM2 is very slow as compare to my WinDVD Creator-2 which came with my DVD burner BenQ-1620. Yes, it could not
open MM2 project file MSWMM extension BUT any program can open those standardized files system WMV or DV-AVI. Therefore; I choose
DV-AVI to used and it opened right away even though DV-AVI is very BIG files and using the same PC with no memory RAM added.

The needs to do to speed this up: Clean and Defrag your hard drive. Exit out all unused programs especially those Anti Virus
program, Spy & Ad's wares, Instant Messenger, Screen Saver, etc. The more the Memory RAM the better.


These are our common wish list:
1. Hope Microsoft Programmers can write a Pro version - wishing it be MM3 Pro.
2. It must open files as quick as the rest and similar programs.
3. Replace MSWMM files and concentrate only with DV-AVI file system.
4. Straight from the box burn DVD, SVCD, VCD, or CD playable in PC & all Players.
5. Eliminate all CoDec problems by having them integrated into the software.
6. More features added but make it simple to use.
7. Pro version must be purchase as the rest Microsoft products.
8. Continue the FREE version for new comers.

If you can add some more, so our good Programmers will have a better guide lines to follow this people demands.

All The Best,
--Rino



I have just started playing with video capture so I apologize if my question
is an amateur one...

I have an AMD Athlon XP 2.4, with 512 MB of RAM and a 200GB 7200 RPM hard
drive.

I used my capture device to capture about 40 mins of video, in MPEG format.
The filesize was about 608 MB. When I tried to import this clip into
MovieMaker, it grinded for about 20 minutes until finally responding again.
The hard drive and entire system strained non-stop during this time. Once it
did respond I was not able to do anything with the clip without the
never-ending grinding again.

I was watching Task Manager and did not see Moviemaker use any more memory,
so I am not sure what it was doing, but it is certainly not useable with a
clip of this size. I have imported some smaller clips and the response was
much faster.

What do I need to do to speed this up? Do I need to have more system emory
than the size of the files I am importing? Can I import a file without
having it automatically cut it up into "clips", which also seems to take some
time?

Any advice appreciated.

 

[Guest]

I disabled the checkbox to auto create clips, and it is still brutally slow.
My capture utility only supports MPEG, so I cant do AVI right now.

 

[PapaJohn \(MVP\)]

Convert the captured clips to AVI using a utility such as TMPGEnc... link on
the Setup > Other Software page of my site.
--
PapaJohn

Movie Maker 2 and Photo Story 3 - www.papajohn.org
Photo Story 2 - www.photostory.papajohn.org
..

 

[Guest]

I took a look at the TMPGEnc, and it sounds like it goes the other way. AVI
to MPG. It does MPG to AVI too? It does not mention that. It says:

TMPGEnc converts *.AVI file to MPEG1, the format which is used in VideoCD.
Using variety of option in TMPGEnc, you can compress your video file in high
quality.

 

[PapaJohn \(MVP\)]

Yes, it goes the other way too... as an example see step 2 of my process of
getting recorded TV into Movie Maker, MPEG-2 files to AVI.... it's the
Importing Source Files > Video > Recorded TV page.

--
PapaJohn

Movie Maker 2 and Photo Story 3 - www.papajohn.org
Photo Story 2 - www.photostory.papajohn.org
..

 

[PapaJohn \(MVP\)]

Joe, make that step 3..... not 2

--
PapaJohn

Movie Maker 2 and Photo Story 3 - www.papajohn.org
Photo Story 2 - www.photostory.papajohn.org
..

 

[Guest]

PapaJohn,

Thanks for all your help. I found the utility but also found that to be
very quirky and slow. Conversion of large files takes HOURS, and you dont
know what the quality will be like until it is done. Your site does a fine
job of explaining the different options, but it is just too tedious. Another
problem I have with the converter was that it was not able to convert several
of my MPEG files, even though they were all captured with the same exact
device, minutes apart. I got an error about unsupported filetypes.
Apparently I am not the only one with this problem, as lots of people were
complaining about it on their forum.

I was just about ready to hang it up and send this thing back until I fired
up a program that came with my computer but I had no use for until now. It
is called InterVideo WinDVD Creator, and it does everything I need. It is
very similar to Movie Maker, in interface and features, except this one can
import all my files very quickly, and it just plain WORKS. I think I will
stick to this app.

One other note - I know you say that MM will only import AVI files, but the
dialog box does definitely give me the option of importing MPEG files.
However, when I do so, I end up with sound only and no video. MM looked
great on the surface but was just too frustrating to use. For someone who is
new to video capture, there is just too much to know and MM does not automate
it. I should not have to be an expert on Codecs and conversions just to get
my feet wet.

Thanks again for your advice and attempted help. You are an MVP indeed.

 

[PapaJohn \(MVP\)]

Thanks Joe,

Beyond wishing you luck with whatever, I just want to make a comment about
the MPEG situation. Movie Maker can handle MPEG-1 files, but it doesn't come
with the codec needed to use MPEG-2 files, both of which may have an MPG
extension. That in itself can be confusing.

If you try to use an MPEG-2 file in Movie Maker, you might have success,
limited success, or no success. It'll depend on the codecs on your system
that are available to Movie Maker, none of which come from Microsoft. After
watching people wrestle with that issue for a couple years, I have to
conclude that rather than tell them to get a codec that will allow it to
work, it's easier to convert it to an AVI file and use that instead.

WinDVD Creator comes with an included codec that it works well with.... the
license fee for the codec is bundled in the cost of the software.

--
PapaJohn

Movie Maker 2 and Photo Story 3 - www.papajohn.org
Photo Story 2 - www.photostory.papajohn.org
..

 

[Guest]

I think I figured out my problem!

One of the first videos I captures was the one I originally referenced,
which was over 600 MB. Thinking back, I remember the Preview Mode of my
capture program freezing while it was recording. The recording still seemed
to be working so I let the tape play through.

When I tried to open this video with MM or Media Player, the computer would
grind to a halt for minutes at a time with non stop disk thrashing. As it
turns out, the file was corrupted! I thought the file was just too big.

I read on some other boards that when a videotape has a "blank spot" or
changes scenes, the capture program may freeze. This is exactly what
happened. But the major side effect of this "freeze" is that it seemingly
continues to record, but it records NOTHING. This seems to have corrupted
the file.

I tried making another long file last night that did not have the scene
stops, and it was fine.

Of course, this does not mean I can import the files directly into MM since
it will not handle MPEG2 directly.

I hope this info is helpful to someone.