[SOLVED] MPEG2 Import: Lightworks (Free) (Not Responding) - Size Limit? [THANKS RONNIE!] Posted by blinvisible - 04 Jun :33

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1 [SOLVED] MPEG2 Import: Lightworks (Free) (Not Responding) - Size [THANKS RONNIE!] Posted by blinvisible - 04 Jun :33 Hi, I've been using Lightworks off and on the last few months and quite enjoy it when it works. I currently have the free version and have used it to cut together some small videos for myself - little 720p things, etc. I've recently gotten a paid job editing an HD recording of a play, complete with a soon-to-pass deadline; simple enough and I've been going about my regular convert-and-import process. My problem is I'm having a LOT of trouble importing MPEG2 files bigger than 500MB without Lightworks almost immediately crashing. Most of the files are at least 1GB. I understand it takes longer to analyse and import bigger files but to grey out and stop responding completely? I have no idea what to do or how I'm to continue working. I can't seem to find anything on the forums that'll help (at least nothing that rhymes with the keywords "lightworks; file; size; limit; import; crash" etc.). Now I've had minimal success waiting for the files to complete "analysing" and trying after the import bin gives a green light, but even then the prgram crashes after importing the file, necessitating a restart; worse still it is very unstable when I try to actually work with any kind of measurable progress, crashing frequently. I have to ask, is Lightworks this unstable? I appreciate that I don`t lose any work when I restart, but this is hardly a reasonable workflow. Could it be the files? Too many projects? (all of these seem like things that should be a problem...). Would a simple (but tedious) work around be to somehow cut the files into parts and use them in smaller bundles? Any help would be highly appreciated. Thanks 1 / 9

2 Posted by ABCRONNIE - 04 Jun :54 Hi blinvisible Welcome to the forum and congratulations on getting your paid job. I have worked with Lightworks for a couple of years. Everything from short music video to long form documentaries using Lightworks. I learned very early on, and in my own experience, to help forum users understand just where the hiccups in your workflow may eminate, it is important to give us all a little more information on the system you are running Lightworks on along with the version of Lightworks you are using. Now as tedious as this may be, many on this forum have wide and varied system setups and I am sure there are those that will possible have a similar system to yours. Note that most users put their system setups in their signature area and include detail of CPU, amount of Ram, Graphics Card and Operating System. It may be just a simple case of altering your workflow a little to suit what you are trying to do. Perhaps you could let us know, along with your system for example, how many Hard drives your system has and how are they connected ie USB or Sata or RAID whatever. Ronnie Posted by blinvisible - 04 Jun :22 2 / 9

3 Ah of course, I guess I'll attach that to my signature. Til then - My System: OS: Windows 7 Home Premium CPU: Intel Core i7 2.80GHz Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 5700, 1024MB Memory: 6.00 GB RAM Seagate Barracuda TB HDD (SATA, internal and just the one) **though I was contemplating and still could run the media and backups off of a WD MyPassport 2TB external HDD, USB 3.0) Giving the program time to analyse and work through the hiccoughs seems to be somewhat effective, but I`d hate to think I have to wait 30s every time I cut, or else crash each time I double click. P.S. Thank you for the lightning response! Posted by ABCRONNIE - 04 Jun :25 Hi blinvisible 3 / 9

4 You are welcome. As a side note I probably would look to playing such long media files off another drive. I am assuming the Seagate also has your system's OS on it as well. It could be that the Lightworks index files, along with the actual media files are just pushing the limits of this single drive. I would give the USB 3.0 drive a go for the media files and see if that improves things. BTW I am also assuming you are using Lightworks 11.1 final release free version if so which version 32Bit or 64Bit? Ronnie Posted by conleec - 04 Jun :54 I'm a relative newcomer here, so take my advice with a very large grain of salt. In the short amount of time I've been playing with LW, I find it to be pretty stable when editing codecs that it "likes," but no so much with codecs it doesn't. My advice would be to convert your files outside of LW into something that it plays smoothly. I too have had great difficulties in getting LW to convert files for me; particularly RedRAW files. Chris Posted by blinvisible - 04 Jun :46 I'll try to work from the external and see how it goes. Also, I believe my version is , 64-bit. I'll do it anyway as a matter of course, but would the update 4 / 9

5 be a drastic improvement? (I really don't keep up with these things). Thanks again! Posted by ABCRONNIE - 05 Jun :02 Hi blinvisible I run Lightworks on both my Intel Laptop (see signature) and an AMD Workstation. I have been part of the Beta testing program since it started. My personal observations are that each new release was generally a major improvement over the previous release. Most recently I installed the 11.1 final release replacing the 11.1L beta release on both machines. I have a Lacie 3tb USB 3.0/Thunderbolt drive I use for testing various file types and codecs and an internal 8Tb RAID0 drive system on my Workstation. Without doubt the latest 11.1 final release version performs the best. Most of my test files range from between 4.1Gb uncompressed to ProRes, DNxHD, H264/AVCHD, DVCPro, DV, and also DPX image sequences to highly compressed MP4's at around 50Mb. Lightworks 11.1 performs extremely well and as I am also an Avid Symphony owner, my personal observations indicate that Lightworks out performs Avid Symphony for pure speed of editing in some circumstances, although Lightworks is by no means as well set up for compositing functions as Avid is. I think you will find Lightworks 11.1 final release is a considerable improvement over for functionality and stability so I would update and btw you can take advantage of the 30 day free Pro trial it offers, complete with Pro codecs. Do consider your system setup and workflow when contemplating any change of software though. Ronnie 5 / 9

6 Posted by blinvisible - 05 Jun :54 Eureka! It seems to be working. A few "(Not Responding)" hiccoughs but only while it's in the process of actually doing something. Which is fantastic and I can't thank you enough. So of course, I'll ask another question, this time, less urgent (and possibly in the wrong type of thread). The footage I'm working with was shot in Africa. So it was a pain for my director to get it transfered from the Sony DV PAL tapes, etc. The files I have, which play fine on my computer, are currently 25fps. Could this be an issue for playing anywhere in North America were it burned to a DVD? I have to convert the files for Lightworks anyway, so it's not a big deal if I need to transcode it all to a format, but my gut is conflicted between staying with the original frame rate and converting the export later, and changing the framerate now so I have one less conversion and thus, degredation in quality to worry about. This piece is going to be a selling tool and archive and is not meant to be screened... but I still would like the least amount of degredation possible. Any adivce? Posted by ABCRONNIE - 05 Jun :44 Hi blinvisible 6 / 9

7 Glad to hear you are up and running. I can't really answer your question regarding the 25fps issue in North America, only to say in Australia (PAL 25fps), there is a legal requirement for all DVD players to be NTSC/PAL compatible and as such, NTSC 29.97fps discs and PAL 25fps discs will play on machines sold here. I would imagine you would need to transcode your final edit of 25fps to or 30fps if your country does not have the same legal requirements. I have played around with VirtualDub, a free application, which will allow framerate changes but the results are not to my liking so I invested in a Teranex converter from BlackMagic design for standards conversion. (Not cheap) but necessary. Perhaps there are others on the forum that have more experience using software alternatives. I am not sure what you mean by "I have to convert the files for Lightworks anyway," as you can edit in either 25fps or 30fps in Lightworks. Just set your project frame rate to match your footage frame rate. I am sure someone on this forum will have a solution to exporting and transcoding the final edit to the required framerate for North America. Ronnie Posted by blinvisible - 05 Jun :06 Ahh ABCRONNIE, that explains how you're awake during my ungodly timeframe. 7 / 9

8 The reason I need to transcode the footage for Lightworks in the first place is because I'm working on the free version with limited codec support - alas, at my current settings, the transcoding is practically lossless - it even de-interlaces my footage for me. I was mostly just concerned about pumping the files through too many conversions (RE: raw->lightworks->export->ntsc legal) but it doesn't seem to be a major difference and I prefer to edit with the raw's native fps for now... One more thing (sorry...). My raw and transcoded files play perfectly. When I import into Lightworks, there's the odd expected lag, but my exports seem to have consistent jump frames. It seems to be only in the video channels (audio sounds alright) but it's rather disconcerting. I have limited export options (free version, maybe after this job I'll afford to upgrade), but has anyone experienced this? I've been exporting as: Compression: DVCPRO 100 [the only available HD option] Frame Rate: 25fps [50fps also available] Size: 1080p, 1920x1080 Aspect Ratio: 16:9 [greyed out] Display Optimisation: Frames [Fields gives me interlacing] Audio: Stereo Sample Rate: 48Khz [other standard options available] Audio Location: Imbedded [for obvious reasons (; ] Again, it plays alright in Media Player and VLC but there's some consistent-lagged and jumped frames. I'm going to keep fiddling, but any insight or shared experience would be appreciated. 8 / 9

9 And once again, that you all for your help thus far. Seriously saved me. 9 / 9