There are a few things that can cause a sort of "hiccup" during the render.
1. If the clips in your project are in all different locations & folders on your computer. You know, like your sound effects are in documents>sound fx & your photo clips are in libraries>pictures, music used in libraries>music, yadayadayada.
2. If your computer doesn’t meet or barely meets the minimum system requirements.
3. If you have never expanded the codecs that came standard with your computer. (They are limited & SVP uses those)
4. If your clip properties don’t match the project properties as well as the render settings. Like say your video is 29fps & 1280x720 but your project properties are at 540x360 & or also a different fps. You need to ensure the project properties are equal to or below the original clip prop’s.
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Before doing anything, first go to the Control Panel & make a brand new system restore point. This way if you don’t like anything for any reason, you can easily undo it.
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1. CLIPS IN YOUR PROJECT
Now for the master project, keep every single clip inside ONE master folder. If you have 7 different videos in the timeline that are in 3 different locations, etc., not good. It does make sense when using clips, to not clutter your computer with copies in different locations of the same one clip of course, BUT, SVP is having to do so much as it is when processing a render. To have it looking in 30 or hundreds of different locations, it can cause hiccups. For the organized clips you don’t want to actually MOVE, make a copy inside the master project folder. Once you finish the project, you can move that folder over to a huge external HD, which everyone who is wise, should do & have. At the very least, you should have a 2TB ext. HD. If ever you wish to return to an old project, you can always move the folder back on to your computer. I had SO many issues when I didn’t have all clips in one folder, too many to mention. I also had way too many freeze/crashes as well.
2. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS/VM SETTINGS
Google your computer’s make & model #, then view your SVP version to see if it’s meeting those minimum system requirements. If not, do something about this. Either get a new computer that is beefier, or do some things to improve the performance like changing the Virtual Memory settings that are usually set at default. You can change them to get a much better performance, it makes a big difference when rendering. If I remember correctly, SVP 13 has a higher min. sys. Requ. than previous versions. I bought 3 different SVP version on Craigslist between $20 to $45 that all work great. If you’re using SVP13, you might buy up 12 pro or later.
VIRTUAL MEMORY SETTINGS
A. Change the virtual memory default settings to “Best Performance.”
B. Customize the default settings in the “Performance Options” & manually reset them.
A.
In Control Panel, type in “System” then select it.
On the left, select, “advanced system settings.”
In the Advanced tab, under “Performance” select “settings.”
Change it to “Adjust for best performance.”
Don’t close this yet.
B.
Go to the advanced tab here in the Performance Options. Keep this open & go to your web browser to do a search, go to youtube.
Now type in the search “how to change my virtual memory settings in Windows 8” (or whatever version you have) & follow along to change the default settings to custom.
Also if you have some laptop that has a shattered screen, or in the garage or closet that no one uses anymore, take out the ram if you can. When googling your specs, see what your maximum capacity is for the ram & whether you would need to swap out all of what you have OR add to the additional slots. I did this which changed the RAM that was 8GB & raised it up to 16GB I noticed a HUGE difference working in SVP, great improvement. You may have a friend, neighbor or family member who has a broken computer they haven’t yet tossed or donated yet. Grab it if you can or buy something online cheap. There are also lots of spoiled rich kids who got some expensive laptop for Christmas who may be selling a terrific barely used beefy computer really cheap on ebay or Craigslist.
3. CODECS
SVP uses whatever codecs that came with your computer, which is limited.
Once you expand them, SVP can work much better. I would download this free audio/video codec pack. Sometimes if you have 7 or dozens of different video clips in your timeline that have all different codecs, this can cause a hiccup during the render.
Go to this website to download. Don't worry it doesn't have any bait & switch that tricks you into installing junk programs you later have to delete. It does however come with a terrific media player MPC (Media Player Classic) which has terrific customization settings options. I like this player better than the old Windows Media Player or the VLC I used to have.
http://www.codecguide.com/
4. PROPERTIES – render, project & clips.
Right click the vid clips in the timeline, view the properties, including the fps. Then go up to the SVP menu & choose Project>Properties to be sure they match the original vid prop’s. Also be sure the render matches as well. Equal to or below the dimensions as well. So if some vids in your timeline are at 640x360, others 1280x720 & others at 1920x1080 & your project prop’s are at say 1280x720, this can be a problem being that the 640x360 clip is a total mismatch. Ideally you want all your clips in the largest best HD quality possible. Say ALL your clips are HQ at 1920x1080. Render at exactly this or down to 1280x720. If one of your pictures or vids are a lower quality, see if you can replace it with a high quality clip instead. Or decide to drop in something else to replace that lower qual. Clip with. If you have some images you got from google images, always use the filters to search by large or largest to use the very best quality available.
I'll give you a few links, but you might also look in your area as well. Also find out whether they provide a download link or will be sending you the installation disk. The Pro 11 for $25 is a great deal.
SVP "all years" $20
http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/sys/5396059223.html
SVP 11 $25
http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/pho/5370160947.html
SVP 11 $40
http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/sys/5320996857.html
You should also put a shortcut for the autosaves folder on your desktop so after you do have a crash, you can find the most recent autosave quickly.
It's in C>Users>(you)>AppData>Sony>Vegas Pro> & here you should see your version. Right click & select "copy."
Now minimize everything on your screen so you can see your desktop & right click to "paste" the shortcut you just copied.
I also highly recommend dl the free converter. I use this when I have some stubborn clip that won’t drop in the timeline or a grossly too large render. I had a render at 4GB & after converting the mp4 to mp4 in the same size dimensions, it compressed it under 700MB, which I played the orig. & the conv. Side by side & the quality appeared identical. Remember if you have some renders you want to post to your YT channel, I would extend/lengthen the end of the video so once what you want seen has finished playing out, there’s a blank screen for about 2 to 3 minutes. At the very end will be a watermark “Freemake” that shows up. Most people don’t sit there staring at the blank screen at the end. For the few that do who might see it, so what. But, I prefer to do this so it’s not popping up immediately after the vid. finishes playing out.
I hope this helps :0)