Tried to do an Instant Movie...Failed

[braindeadsoftwareguy]

Ok, so it was recommended that I try an Instant Movie.
I took a small film from my files and chose Kid television. I tried to save it to a computer file, but it seemed to "Render" forever, even when I chose a simple format like Windows Media. Some things popped up on the screen from other program dialogue boxes doing their thing and these images all became part of the video I was rendering?
The time remaining was now at 33 hours. I gave up.

Is it normal for other images on the monitor to imbed into the clip being processed and why was it taking so long even before that happened?

I told you I was an idiot. Can't even do the spoon-fed method.
My processor and speeds are minimum, but still...............33 hours?

[George Tyndall]

You need to use the correct "preset" for the format of your clip.

When you open the Welcome screen, click on Change Preset and select the correct one for your clip.*

*I don't use PRE10, but that's what I recall from when I briefly had it installed.

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

Can you provide details of your PC system spec and also the video format that you are using?

[Steve Grisetti]

To further John's question, open a clip of the video you are recording and using for your video source in a program like G Spot.
http://www.headbands.com/gspot/

It will give you (and us) information about the video's frame rate, dimensions and, above all, its codec.

[braindeadsoftwareguy]

I know this old computer is not the greatest. It is 2.8GHz and only 1.50 GB Ram.
I could probably slip another Ram card in if that is the main issue. I figured that since I'm not doing HD, that I'd be fine.
I retried with another clip. It is a wmv format as was the first. I called for the same output. On this attempt, it took a good 15 minutes to render and an hour and a half to create. It's original size was about 21.5 MB. The final product was grainy and not as good as the original.

The other point I was asking about, is why screen images appear on the time line?
This time I minimized the PRE 10 screen to check something. When I maximized again, I saw my desktop image in the timeline. What is that all about. I started over on my rendering as I think that image would be part of the movie. Is this common to have desktop images be put in the timeline?

[Dave McElderry]

The other point I was asking about, is why screen images appear on the time line?
This time I minimized the PRE 10 screen to check something. When I maximized again, I saw my desktop image in the timeline. What is that all about. I started over on my rendering as I think that image would be part of the movie. Is this common to have desktop images be put in the timeline?

To answer this particular question, no it's not common, and in fact is the first time I've ever heard of such a thing. When you first mentioned that messages and screen images were showing up in your finished product I was astounded. I have no answer for you on this, but I hope that someone comes up with an explanation. I'm certain that I'm not the only one giving this thought.

[braindeadsoftwareguy]

The wonderful world of software. I should have stuck with my hands-on hobbies.
Here's a question regarding de-fragging the computer. I am a diligent computer cleaner-upper and thought I'd check that out after my small attempts. What I like about XP is that you get a visual before and after graph of what needs to be done and the finished cleaning.
In this case, I had never seen so much red before! It is cleaning as I speak and I'm on a laptop right now. Can I expect this when making movies and is a defrag part of the routine with editing?

[Chuck Engels]

1. Can I expect this when making movies and
2. is a defrag part of the routine with editing?

Yes and Yes

[RJ Johnston]

If we knew more about your computer, we might find that it's graphic capabilities aren't adequate for video editing.

You can run DXDIAG from Start > Run. When the DirectX dialog appears, click "Save all information." That will save a lot of information about your computer to a text file named DXDIAG.TXT. If you ZIP it up, you can upload it to Muvipix in your gallery and then provide a link to it. (Maybe everyone should do that and put the link in their signature.)

[braindeadsoftwareguy]

If we knew more about your computer, we might find that it's graphic capabilities aren't adequate for video editing.

You can run DXDIAG from Start > Run. When the DirectX dialog appears, click "Save all information." That will save a lot of information about your computer to a text file named DXDIAG.TXT. If you ZIP it up, you can upload it to Muvipix in your gallery and then provide a link to it. (Maybe everyone should do that and put the link in their signature.)

Ok then. How do I find my gallery?

[braindeadsoftwareguy]

If we knew more about your computer, we might find that it's graphic capabilities aren't adequate for video editing.

You can run DXDIAG from Start > Run. When the DirectX dialog appears, click "Save all information." That will save a lot of information about your computer to a text file named DXDIAG.TXT. If you ZIP it up, you can upload it to Muvipix in your gallery and then provide a link to it. (Maybe everyone should do that and put the link in their signature.)

One more thing, if my computer isn't good enough, will I get grief from Adobe by re-installing in another unit? The clerk indicated that Adobe was hyper-jealous and protective of their copyrights?

[Chuck Engels]

One more thing, if my computer isn't good enough, will I get grief from Adobe by re-installing in another unit?

You can install the software on up to two computers, that is in the Adobe User Agreement.

[braindeadsoftwareguy]

I think I found the gallery and tried to upload the ZIP, but got this message: Forbidden file extension
Does that mean two computers simultaneously, or two computers forever? In otherwords can you keep on updating your computers indefinitely or only once? If that is the case, that is unfair.

[braindeadsoftwareguy]

I couldn't upload the zip file, but here's the main info from the DX text:
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 12/5/2011, 19:29:48
Machine name: YOUR-6PCF80RESA
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.101209-1647)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: MEDIONPC
System Model: MS-7046
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 1536MB RAM
Page File: 611MB used, 2823MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode
If this is poor processing, then I'm outa luck, as we can't justify a new computer at this time.

[RJ Johnston]

In PRE10 there's provision, under the Help menu, to deactivate use on a computer. That way you can install on a new computer. You can keep doing that forever.

Did your ZIP file have a .zip file extension?

What about your display device? Please copy and paste from that section in DXDIAG.

Your computer might handle standard definition video, if you don't try multitasking. It appears your CPU doesn't have hyperthreading. If you don't have a decent graphics card, then video editing will really be difficult and frustrating.