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Having given up on achieving any really precise result in Windows Movie Maker (it keeps subtly de-synching my finished vid when I render it), I am now trying to get started working with Premiere Pro 6.0. Premiere doesn't like my source avi files, so I asked around a bit and people told me to use VirtualDub to convert my source to an avi that would be usable by Premiere, and to use Huffyuv to encode/compress/? (arrgh, I need to learn vidding terminology!) Now, I've played around a bit with the program and the codec, and so far I have two problems:

1.) The file size is *huge*. For a clip of around 1500 frames it can be between 500 and 700 MB. This could turn into a big problem for me soon, as my hard drive really isn't that big. I have around 18 GB free space at the moment, could possibly expand that to around, hm, 30 GB.

2.) The clips play very jerkily, as if a lot of frames are being dropped.

Anyone know what to do?

Current Mood: determined
Current Music: David Bowie: Life On Mars

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

tazey.livejournal.com

I can change the resolution? Hmm..... have to find out how...

Check the filters in Virtualdub. There's one called Resize.

As it is, even the second-hand 100 GB one I have at the moment I only got sometime last year, from a friend. Before that, I had something like 20 GB, and didn't even dare to *dream* of vidding

I made "Right here, right now" on 4GB of space. Thankfully, I didn't have gazillion clips in it. *g*

100GB is a good start. If on your next system install, you can partition it, try to do so.

From:

hmpf.livejournal.com

Wow.

Actually, the main problem with my previous system wasn't so much the size of the hard drive as the fact that the processor was kind of prehistoric. *g*

From:

tazey.livejournal.com

Yep, 4GB and a 966 Mhz processor that sometimes lagged a little so while I watched the vid, I'd need to pause it every 20 seconds or so to let the sound catch up with the video and make sure it synched up correctly on key moments. Fun times. ;)

Actually, I didn't mind the lack of space and technical limitations, it forced me to think ahead and figure out where I was going before starting at all.

From:

hmpf.livejournal.com

And not even a Pentium. Yep, I was using that still in 2005. I've given it to a friend now - the entire computer - to replace her even more prehistoric one (300something MHz! And her hard drive's so small it's constantly full, and you can hear her computer 'thinking'. *g*)

From:

tazey.livejournal.com

Which reminds me of another thing: how much RAM do you have?

From:

hmpf.livejournal.com

I have another 256 MB stick I could put in, but I'm a bit wary of that one as the last time I put it in my computer it crashed a lot more often than it does now. It's - like almost everything in my computer - a second-hand component, and it was stored very improperly (in a plastic bag with several other components, with no kind protection), so my 'personal computer specialist' said that quite possibly it had become damaged while in storage, and could be the cause of my system's instability.

Still, I suppose I could put it back in just for a day or two and see how it goes. Can't really hurt, after all. If it keeps crashing my system I'll just take it out again...

(Did I mention my processor's also damaged? It's a bit of a miracle that it works at all: one of the corners is chipped!)

From:

tazey.livejournal.com

Well, it's a toss. 512MB would help for vidding but it might be at the expense of an already fragile system.

In those conditions, I think you should consider encoding at half resolution with a high-end codec that won't get Premiere to crash. I find that better than encoding at full resolution with a crappy codec. Cut up your clips so that the files don't get over 200-300MB, that'll help with the RAM. If you need two different bits of the same scene, make two different clips.

And don't forget to set the auto-save project at a short interval. *g*

From:

hmpf.livejournal.com

VirtualDub is not my friend.

Okay... found the filters, but it just occurred to me that I have no idea what the original size of the source is. I feel so stupid. I'm sure there must be a very obvious way to find out...

Also: when rendering/recompressing/converting, do I use 'full processing mode' or 'normal recompress' or what? I only seem to be able to use the filters in full processing mode; they're unavailable for 'normal recompress'.

Also... do I need to pay any attention to things like bitrate... interlacing... etc.? I'm reading the marvelous AMV guide at the moment, but it's a bit confusing at times...

(You'll get a credit in my vid for technical assistance, I think! *g*)

From:

tazey.livejournal.com

I'm sure there must be a very obvious way to find out...

File --> File information

You'll find out about the frame rate, I'm guessing it'll be 25fps. You'll also know the video and audio codecs, as well as image resolution. Check all your files to see if they're on the same specs.

when rendering/recompressing/converting, do I use 'full processing mode'

Yes.

to things like bitrate... interlacing... etc.? I'm reading the marvelous AMV guide at the moment, but it's a bit confusing at times...

Yes, it is. I could direct you toward AMV's Avisynth for resizing and re-encoding but, for what you have to do, Virtualdub itself will do just fine. I've only just started pottering around with Avisynth and I'm not yet convinced by the advantages. Apparently, I will be one day. *g*

For interlacing, it depends on where your source comes from. Bitrate is irrelevant with Huffyuv but it'll be when you'll encode your final file for web distribution.