AVI files split
 

I am just after rendering a one hour AVI file in vegas 8 when it was rendered it was split into five different files why did this happen and how do I prevent it from doing this again
Thomas

What size are the files? Are they the same?

There is an option in Vegas to make sure that AVI files are created with OpenDML 2.0 compatibility:

"Create an OpenDML (AVI version 2.0) compatible file" under the Video tab when selecting Render As...

If this isn't set, you will get fragmented files.

Is the hard drive formatted as FAT32?

The files are all the same size 3.99 gig I have the openDML box ticked (should it be ticked) and yes the hard drive formatted as FAT32
Thomas

Thats your problem, the drive needs to be formatted NTFS!

It's pretty cool that it will split the files if on FAT32 though. It sure beats a crashed render.

Terry -& John
Thanks for your help on this I still a lot to learn about Vegas even after 3 years
Thomas

Thomas, the 4GB file size limit isn't a Vegas limitation, it is a limitation of the Fat32. Do yourself a favor and switch the drive over to NTFS. This will NOT destroy any of the files and besides allowing for larger files, it is much more efficient.

Be advised that, if not done properly, ALL data WILL be erased :-(


How to convert a FAT16 volume or a FAT32 volume to an NTFS file system in Windows XP is from the Microsoft site on how to do this AND keep your existing data.

IMO,the first part of these instructions should ALWAYS be followed, no matter what you're doing to a hard drive's data.


How to convert a FAT volume or a FAT32 volume to NTFS

Note Although the chance of corruption or data loss during the conversion is minimal, we recommend that you perform a backup of the data on the volume that you want to convert before you start the conversion.

To convert an existing FAT or FAT32 volume to NTFS, follow these steps:

1. Click [b]Start[/b}, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.

2. At the command prompt, type the following, where drive letter is the drive that you want to convert:

convert [u]drive letter[u]: /fs:ntfs

For example, type the following command to convert drive E to NTFS:

convert e: /fs:ntfs

Note If the operating system is on the drive that you are converting, you will be prompted to schedule the task when you restart the computer because the conversion cannot be completed while the operating system is running. When you are prompted, click YES.

3. When you receive the following message at the command prompt, type the volume label of the drive that you are converting, and then press ENTER:

The type of the file system is FAT.
Enter the current volume label for drive drive letter

4. When the conversion to NTFS is complete, you receive the following message at the command prompt:

Conversion complete

5. Quit the command prompt.

I strongly recommend the follow procedure if you can do so:

1. Copy the entire contents of the FAT32 drive to another drive with enough space.
2. Quick format the drive to NTFS
3. Copy all the files back

It will be much, much, much quicker this way if you have many GBs of files. It will also be bomb proof. i.e., if the convert function messes up or there's some other failure during conversion, you won't be too happy.

Also, if the 4GB files are as a result of rendering, you might want to consider rendering again after converting the drive to NTFS. If so, delete the existing rendered files before converting to save time. If the drive contains nothing but rendered files, I'd just quick format it to NTFS and render the project again. That way you end up with a single file.

Done just that as this was a new external USB 2 hard drive and had little on it I usually use my second hard drives via a cradle system
Thomas

Render
 

I have used a utility (since forgot the name) to split my extremely large AVIs from capture. IT was extremely fast because it just copied the file up to the split point. Rendering out via Vegas takes a LONG time compared to a file copy with any split utility. There has to be a better option! I suppose Vegas is not designed to have that kind of functionality so I should be surprised. But the render was significantly longer than a split so I Have to suspect that Vegas did something other than just copy the data. Something was taking the extra time, but what? Were artifacts introduced using the Vegas render? I just don't trust that the render to avi (uncompressed) didn't alter the media in some way.

Interesting.

I've just run some tests and have determined that, for DV AVIs, even when Vegas doesn't need to recompress, it regenerates the DV frames rather than just copying the existing DV frame data.

What I mean by this is that a DV frame consists of the compressed video, audio and subdata (such as timecode etc). Even the simplest editors such as Windows Movie Maker just copy the entire frame when recompression isn't required. Vegas appears to generate a new frame even though the video and audio parts are the same. Effectively, it unpacks and then repacks the video, audio and subdata. This, of course, requires additional processing and is unnecessary.

If you take an existing DV AVI clip and render it from Movie Maker, you will find that all the subdata remain intact. With Vegas, however, new subdata get written - completely new timecode, date and time, camera settings etc. The new date and time are derived from the computer's clock.

I find this odd behavior and, for me, rather frustrating since I prefer to maintain the original subcode data when making simple cut edits - especially the camera settings.

Perhaps there's a setting to prevent this but I haven't found it.

I'm surprised Vegas split the files TBH...

Fat32 is old and annoying :o

The only reason to have Fat32 is on an external to be compatible with Macs... If you're on Windows XP/Vista... NTFS is the way :)

I think I accidently rendered a 100GB file once... had some settings wrong at some point and walked away... came back to find 1/5th of my drive filled up with 1 file...

Woah there....
 

I just went back and looked at the files that Vegas8 created. 45GB and 30GB from a single 6GB avi! So something went drastically wrong in the AVI creation. I choose file type "AVI" and under the template, choose "Uncompressed"

That is what caused the massive files to be created. When I chose the "NTSC DV" template, the render window says "No Recompression Required" and absolutely zips along because it is just copying data.

So the lesson here is pay attention to the template being used because "uncompressed" must be doing something different.