Edit Media on TC is too slow to be functional...

[TechGuy]

I guess I'm missing something here, but I'm very new to TC and have been trying all night to edit a one hour show. I guess everyone else must use Premiere or something else to do their editing? Every time I move a clip I have to wait about 10 minutes for the system to catch up... during which time the mouse pointer will move, but no buttons on the TC respond and the time in the top-right corner freezes. After about 10-15 minutes, everything returns and I can work again until I make some magical change that causes the slow down again. While waiting, I've noticed that the hard drive light on the TC is on almost constantly during the wait.

Any suggestions on how to reasonably edit video? Maybe I have some setting wrong that allows for faster editing? Or maybe no one uses the TC for editing? Thanks for any tips!

[SBowie]

Hi. Which TC model, what sort of project (many layers with multiple dve's, titles, etc? or fairly simple? ), and are you working with the native TriCaster MPEG2 files or something else?

[TechGuy]

It a TC Broadcast. It's only two layers at a time (probably a total of 5 clips) with DVEs between each one. No titles (I couldn't figure out how to get transparency to work in Edit mode -- titles completely covered the clip, but that's probably a question for another day)...

As far as I know, I'm recording it native MPEG2 -- I didn't change any settings from the factory as far as that goes and the recording is a .mpg

I think it's a relatively simple project -- like I said, about 5 clips with a DVE between each. It is a little long -- the longest clip is just over an hour and around 18GB. That size doesn't really shock me, but I was expecting the TC to be able to handle editing one hour clips. ;)

[SBowie]

It's only two layers at a time (probably a total of 5 clips) with DVEs between each one. No titles (I couldn't figure out how to get transparency to work in Edit mode -- titles completely covered the clip, but that's probably a question for another day).A Broadcast is reasonably beefy, and a couple layers shouldn't be an issue. Can I assume it's stock (no third-party codecs or software, that sort of thing?)

(Just by the by, to toggle transparency for clips, use the "y" key.)

[TechGuy]

Yup, completely stock -- no third party codecs or software.

Thanks for the 'y' tip! :)

I'm actually working on it again today (and frustrated that I'm not done yet! ;) )... I was just adjusting the volume of one of the clips and it "froze" again... it's frozen now. Again, the mouse moves but the cursor is the left/right arrow (for scrolling)... in a few minutes it will switch back and all will be well for a while.

[Zane Condren]

Are you letting the clips conform before editing? The first time you bring a clip it has to build the audio waveform files which may take some time if they are long clips. IF you start to edit while its building these it could slow down.

[TechGuy]

Thanks for the tip! I just clicked the "Render" button and am waiting (patiently) for the dialog to appear asking where I want to save it, etc. In the mean time, I'm frozen again. Maybe this delay is expected? It'd be nice to have an hour glass or progress bar if it is, but having never used a TC before, I'm not sure which delays are a problem and which are normal. :)

I don't know that I waited at first, but I know for certain (looking at the screen) that all of the clips have conformed (or at least the waveforms are showing).

[TechGuy]

Well, I've given up on trying to edit on the Tricaster... I just downloaded the 30-day trial of Adobe Premiere. The only problem is that I can't open the .mpg from the Tricaster in Premiere! When I try, it says, "Unsupported format or damaged file." If I check in GSpot, it says it's an MPEG2 and that "Codecs are Installed." It plays fine in Windows Media Player. Any thoughts?

[Zane Condren]

Did you record the Clip in "High Quality" or Studio Profile Mode? If so most other applications do not support it. One possible cause for the Trial of Premiere not reading the clip is that reading/writing MPEG2 often requires paying MPEGLA to use it so they may have disabled that featured in the trial.

[TechGuy]

I didn't check the "Studio Profile Mode" -- maybe I should try that next time? (What's the difference? Time to find the manual... ;) )

I just tried another (non-Tricaster) MPEG file and found that Adobe would not import that, either. I expected the trial to be fully functional, but I think you're on to something!

[TechGuy]

Having another long night of waiting for the TC editor to respond... just thought I'd pop the thread back up to see how other handle this... Thanks!