Shotcut running slowly

[Roasteros]

Hi, I’m working on a project about 30 x4 min tracks (choir video). Shot cut is running really slowly and freezing from track 20. I’m working on Windows 10, HP laptop, 8gb RAM, 1TB. My question is, do I need to upgrade my RAM? I have already decreased the size of the videos, before adding them to my timeline.Thanks in advance for your advice!

[MusicalBox]

Hi @Roasteros
You can never have too much RAM I suppose.

But you could try to apply these tips first, and see if it improves things for you.

How to Reduce Memory Usage

Here are ways to reduce the memory usage in general: Save and restart Shotcut Close other browser tabs. Close other applications. Reboot (does all of the above). Here are ways to reduce the memory usage of your project: Reduce the resolution of the Video Mode. Reduce the number of tracks. The number of tracks will increase the amount of caching to prevent files from being closed and reopened repeatedly from one frame to the next. Here are some ways to reduce the memory usage while editing: …

If you’re not already using Preview Scaling and Proxy Editing, give them a try.

[Roasteros]

Thank you @MusicalBox. I have done the save and close, as I got the notification of low memory, but I haven’t looked at the real-time tip, so I will try that. I can’t reduce number of tracks, unfortunately.

[Austin]

@Roasteros

I can’t reduce number of tracks, unfortunately.

If needed, you could fake reduced tracks similar to a bounce in the audio world.

Let’s assume your choir video grid is 6x5.

Create a project with the finalized audio on track A1. Put the top row of videos in place, synced to the music. Export.

Create a new project with the finalized audio on track A1. Put the second row of videos in place and export. Repeat for each row.

Create a new project that imports all those other videos at once, and use Crop: Source along with Size, Position, and Rotate to put each row in its place.

It’s a hack, but it can help when there are tons of layers. Six videos in effect reduce down to one video thanks to pre-processing.

[Roasteros]

That’s an interesting idea @Austin. I was wondering if I could do something like this! Thanks, I’ll have a look at that!

[Austin]

For higher preview performance, assuming a 6x5 grid, I would make a custom video mode that is 1920x216, assuming a 1080p final export. If I made full 1920x1080 exports of every row, 4/5ths of every video would be cropped away and be wasted CPU usage processing it.

Then I would use the DNxHR HQ export preset (or lossless Ut Video if I had the disk space) for those single-row videos to keep the quality visually lossless and avoid artefacts at the final export.

But there are 100 ways to do this… that’s just my take on it.

[Roasteros]

@Austin forgive me if this is a silly question as I am a novice at this, but how do I combine the audio from each video onto A1?

[kagsundaram]

@Roasteros

combine the audio from each video onto A1?

One way is to do an Export using an audio-only choice from the Export Presets, then bring the new audio file back into the project as a new original.

[Roasteros]

@kagsundaram