Media Bins

[UnicycleDaddy]

I do not use bins, nor do I use Project Media, except in rare cases. I just keep my clips organized on my hard drive and access that way through the program. Is this a problem? I notice that the link to my video clips is constantly lost, but it still seems to play fine when I select "ignore and leave offline." However, more recently Vegas is getting less stable as I'm starting to edit with HD clips. I am wondering if this system is incorrect and the program has to work harder when the video on the timeline is not linked to the clips on the computer. If you have any thoughts, let me know.

Thanks!
S.

[Steve Grisetti]

When you add any clips to your Vegas project, they are automatically added to your Project Media panel, S. No matter how you add them to your timeline. Check and you'll see that they're there.

There could be a number of reasons your system is getting less stable and/or is losing connections to your clips.

Are you clips on an external drive? Windows frequently breaks connections to external drives by applying a different drive letter to the drive or not recognizing it as a previously attached drive. There could also be issues if this drive is set up as FAT32 rather than NTFS.

For system stability, I highly recommend Advanced System Care, a free, automatic tool that just gets better and better at keeping my computer running at its absolute best. The newest version even monitors your system and "grades" its performance with an A, B, C, D or F to let you know when you need to run it again.
http://www.iobit.com/advancedsystemcareper.html

Assuming you've got enough hardware power (and hi-def demands plenty!) it should keep things running as stably as possible.

[UnicycleDaddy]

Thanks for the info. My computer has a 2nd internal hard drive in it, and this hard drive was originally on another computer. I'm wondering if this drive is set up wrong, as it still contains little fragments of whatever operating system was in use when it was the main drive. The issue with the clips losing the connection has always been there, but only when I bought a Sony camera (also a little GE waterproof one) that films in high def have I had issues with general stability. I will definately check out the free program you suggested. Sounds great! I'm sitting here reading your book now, by the way. Halfway through and learning more. I filmed some teenagers surfing, and was able to put face shots in the corner of the screen using your Brady Bunch (PIP) information. Looks great! (Except that my final video was rendered as two separate videos, and Vegas crashes when I tried to import the two two-minute videos to try to render them as one.

[Steve Grisetti]

I don't know any details about your camcorders, but remember that the first key to program stability is to ensure that your project settings match your source video. So check to see what type of video (MOV, AVI, AVCHD) these camcorders are producing and ensure that your project is set up for them.

And, of course, never mix two different formats of video in the same project. It's a sure recipe for disaster.

As for your second drive -- yes, I would have recommended a re-formatting before you started using it for the storage. At the very least ensure that it's set up as NTFS and not FAT32. Then restart your computer and go into your BIOS/Set-up (press ESC or F1 or whatever is required when your logo screen comes up, before Windows starts launching) and ensure your second hard drive is set up in there. Having a second drive set up in your operating system but not in your BIOS is like putting a new wheel on your car but not bothering to put on the lug nuts!