RAM options for vidding?

[stardust-rain.livejournal.com]

I've been vidding from a laptop using Windows XP and 4GB of RAM and I've been wanting to upgrade its memory for a while, because I'm pretty much on the verge of crying in frustration. Mainly, for two reasons:

1. Sony Vegas 9's preview is extremely slow when I'm vidding with more than one level. If I ever use masking effect or overlay, I have to render the video and then edit in the timeline.

2. AutoGK takes well over one hour to rip a 20-30 minute .VOB clip (I have it on target quality 100% for output). I don't know if it's just me, or if it's just as slow for anyone else.

Basically, I guess I'm wondering if buying more memory space would help, or if there's another solution for this. Any input would be be wonderful. Thank you in advance!

Comments

[feochadn.livejournal.com]

Are you running 32-bit or 64-bit XP? 32-bit XP only has the capacity to handle a maximum if 4gb RAM, so upgrading would be useless.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa366778%28v=vs.85%29.aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_xp

[stardust-rain.livejournal.com]

32-bit right now, but I've got a 64-bit disc that I can install. It'll be a pain in the arse, but if it makes things go faster...

Is it worth a shot?

[anoel.livejournal.com]

I use Windows 7, 64-bit and Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 with 8 GB of memory and it usually works pretty decent but it can get slow with multiple layers and effects and stuff. It'd probably be better but I don't know if the cost is worth it for the amount you'd gain.

[stardust-rain.livejournal.com]

I had no idea, I'll be keeping that in mind. Selecting and prerendering is what I'm doing now, which is exactly why I'm thinking about an upgrade. I'll have to think of way of acquiring the 64-bit version. Thank you very much!

[littleheaven70.livejournal.com]

I'm running Vegas Movie Studio HD 11 with 64-bit Windows 7 and 8GB of ram, and my preview is still pretty laggy. I always got around it by using the pre-render (I would just pre-render 5-second sections at a time so when I made an edit I didn't have to pre-render the whole thing again) but that is also playing back laggy now. So it might not be a magic bullet. I do have an awful lot of stuff on there, though, so not sure if it will improve once I clean the timeline up significantly.

[stardust-rain.livejournal.com]

I will keep that in mind, thank you! Are you running the 64-bit Vegas as well? Also, can you run other programs (Chrome/Firefox, Mediamonkey) at the same time? Sometimes I need to look up tutorials, I'd like to have the window open, sometimes...I just have the primal urge to listen to any other song.

[littleheaven70.livejournal.com]

Yes, I had to swap to 64-bit because my old 32-bit version wouldn't work on the 64-bit Windows 7 OS my new laptop came with.

I've had about three 64-bit versions of Vegas Movie Studio on this laptop (I just keep upgrading) and the preview is a little less laggy now I've doubled the ram to 8GB, but it's not perfect. It might smooth out a lot when I ditch all the extraneous clips at the end of my timeline - there's about 4 tracks worth spread over 20 minutes, so I bet that's really draining the resources.

Often my backup or virus scan will run in the background and this does slow things down a bit, but having a browser open doesn't seem to cause too many issues. Extra ram increases the number of different tasks that you can run simultaneously so it should definitely help there.

You do need to make sure your system can access additional ram, though. 32-bit XP will only ever use 3GB, no matter how much you have installed. I'm not sure if 64-bit XP will use more - you'd need to do a bit of research on that one.

[stardust-rain.livejournal.com]

Well, I've been debating over just buying more memory cards and getting a new laptop entirely. If 64-bit XP turns out not to run well, I'll probably just save up for a new machine. Thank you for the input, it's been very helpful.

[littleheaven70.livejournal.com]

Glad to have been of some help. It's definitely worth trying the 64-bit with extra RAM first. At least then if you end up selling it and getting a new one, it'll be a bit more saleable.