Editing large AVI files is slow process?
 

Hi,

I'm recording old tapes from a JVC HR-S6600 (S-Video) to a Hauppauge Impact VCB TV-Tuner card (WinTV 885) with VirtualDub 1.10.4 onto a Samsung EVO 840 SSD with a data rate of about 21MB/s (720x576 YUY2). This all goes decent, but, when I want to cut the avi files, it's -extremely- slow in VirtualDub. The only program that allows quickly skimming/looking at different times in the recordings is VLC media player. How come this program can do it quickly and others not?

Is there something I can do to look/edit the large avi files (>50GB) faster? Preferably in virtualdub...

Or can I use VLC media player to locate places to cut the avi's and use a non-graphical program to cut it or ...?

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edit: Or should I use Huffyuv for smaller file size? Is that compression possible to use during recording without getting sync errors?

Nobody got an idea? The avi files are simple YUY2 (which does not need codecs) and PCM Audio. I don't understand why VLC Media player can easily play (at different timings/locations in time-line) and VirtualDub is so darn slow.

Can I perhaps record with some sort of chapters to speed up editing in VirtualDub?

Btw, I'm not going to use Huffyuv, because of low support in media/video players.

I do most of my editing in VirtualDub or Premiere Pro CS4.

Are you saying that the saving of the files is slow? If so, are you reconverting, or simply stream copying? Noting that you can only stream copy if you're not changing it in the editor. Essentially, editing with scissors and tape.

What codec are you using, then? None of the lossless files is really intended for media players -- just editing workflows. To watch it, the files need to be in a distribution format, like H.264, Xvid and MPEG-2.

Sorry, for the unclear post. I haven't even touched converting yet, I mean that after I drag-n-dropped the YUY2 .avi into VirtualDub and go to (for example) frame 19865, it says "Decoding frame 19865..." and nothing happens. Virtualdub doesn't use any processor power (< 5%) and only 28MB memory. However, going to frame 50 or so it plays the file normally. It's impossible to edit the file if it's that slow or does not work.

Edit: What bothers me is that VLC Media Player can go to 'frame 19865' almost instantaneously and VirtualDub not.

What are the specs of the source video?

I attached a GSpot scan. Is this enough information?

Did you mean with specs of source video the recorder or the avi file? The avi file (see attachment previous post) looks normal to me, only the part "23.9GB unneeded bytes at end of file" is a bit weird. The recorder is, as mentioned in the first post, a Hauppauge Impact VCB TV-Tuner, this one: http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B0053WPNR0

What you describe may be a hard drive error. It's hard to say.
Why VirtualDub chokes while VLC does not is odd. Usually both fail if there's a drive problem.

I doubt it is a hdd error. The hdd I use, to store and play it on, is brand new.

I googled the Gspot message ("unneeded bytes at end of file") and it's a normal feature/bug. So I can ignore that.

Are there any settings I can try with VirtualDub to record differently? I'm stuck now, because I thought recording in raw avi was the best way, but if editing is impossible... what am I supposed to do? Does nobody else have this problem of slow editing large avi files (21MB/s)? Is it a recording bug? A playback bug?

recompress into huffyuv or lagarith and see if it fixes it