On Mon, 25 Oct 1999 14:58:56 -0500, "Chris Ramirez" wrote:

>I am using a Canopus DV Raptor on a Dual PII 300mhz with 256MB of RAM and a
>5400 RPM Maxtor. Everything works fine as far as capture and A/B editing
>but it is the filters/overlays/motion/transparencies that seem to take a
>very long time. For example. I have an 8 second image overlay using a
>black alpha matte transparency. The first second has motion as well the
>last second. The rendering time for the preview takes in excess of 15-20
>minutes! I am wondering if this is normal and if I wanted to speed up the
>process, am I better off getting a 7200 RPM hard drive or upgrading the
>processors. Which one would make the most significant difference right away
>and how much of a difference? I realize real time is out of the question
>but if I can get my rendering times down to 30 seconds for each second of
>effect, I would be satisfied.

You don't say what editing software you are using, but with
Premiere 5.1a or MS Pro 5.2 the mini-DV render times
should be FAR shorter! (I assume that settings/codec-selection
is such that unchanged footage does not require rendering, so
the preview "render" time for this is almost instant.) If
settings are correct, I dunno what to suggest - the render time
for 8 seconds of material you describe should be under a
minute (or maybe two...). Of the things you suggest for
speeding things up, the drive change will make almost no
difference, but switching to a faster CPU (even a single,
since your editing software may not really take advantage
of the dual processors) like a 450MHz PII or even a Celeron
should speed things up (roughly!) by the factor of the speed
increase. I would look elsewhere first for the cause of the
problem (with a 450MHz-clocked single Celeron 300A, P-5.1a,
and 5400 rpm drives, an 8-second cross-dissolve takes 35
seconds on my system - overlay tracks and filters combined
extend the render time somewhat, but color-correcting and
sharpening clips on my system are quite practical in terms
of render time required). You are using HD's other than your
program drive for video files? If not, and if your program
drive is badly fragmented, adding at least one video-dedicated
drive will help.