Need help with my vacation video!!!

[kritter]

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My DH created an awesome vacation video of our latest WDW vacation and cruise in Windows Movie Maker.
Every time he goes to compile it and save it so we can share it with others on a DVD or email it to friends it crashes our computer. It is a large file and he has even tried cutting it in half and still can not get it to work. It is awesome we just need a little technical support here..
Was hoping someone on the boards could help us we have plenty of memory and a new computer too...
It is just such a bummer since whenever we want to share it we all have to sit around our computer to watch it...
Help!!!

Thanks,

If you think you can help us we can provide you with more information if you need it......
__________________

 

[MarkBarbieri]

What software are you using? What are the specs on your computer (amount of memory, disk space, processor, OS)? When you say it crashes, what exactly does it do? Blue screen of death? Error message? Automatically reboots? Freezes?

 

[DueyDooDah]

After the questions Mark asked, I would ask if you have the latest version of the software. If you set it up straight out of the box, chances are there is a patch available from the manufacturer. Visit their site (google the software title) and look for a download section. It should have the latest updates. (the software may also have an automatic update feature, so check that too)

 

[kritter]

What software are you using? What are the specs on your computer (amount of memory, disk space, processor, OS)? When you say it crashes, what exactly does it do? Blue screen of death? Error message? Automatically reboots? Freezes?

I'm using Windows Movie Maker. I've got a gig of RAM, I've got about 485megs of available physical memory, and 1.96 gig of virtual memory - so I'm doubting memory is the problem. I've got 43 gig of free hard drive space, caching shouldn't be an issue. I don't know what I've got for a processor. It's a Dell Dimension 4700 using Windows XP Home Edition.

What happens is the program (Windows Movie Maker) locks up and stops responding.

Thanks for your help.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

It sounds like you're covered with regards to what Windows Movie Maker needs. You might try DueyDooDah's suggestion and go to Windows Update to see if there are any updates for Windows Movie Maker. You might also want to try a different video authoring package. Another option would be to render it with a different codec.

 

[JR6ooo4]

also:
how long is the movie?

 

[kritter]

also:
how long is the movie?

24 minutes...

I have even tried cutting in half and it still does not work....

 

[rtphokie]

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My DH created an awesome vacation video of our latest WDW vacation and cruise in Windows Movie Maker.
Every time he goes to compile it and save it so we can share it with others on a DVD or email it to friends it crashes our computer. It is a large file and he has even tried cutting it in half and still can not get it to work. It is awesome we just need a little technical support here..
Was hoping someone on the boards could help us we have plenty of memory and a new computer too...
It is just such a bummer since whenever we want to share it we all have to sit around our computer to watch it...
Help!!!

Thanks,

If you think you can help us we can provide you with more information if you need it......
__________________

I had this very problem and finally got it sorted out yesterday. It sounds like the MPEG codec you are using is corrupted. Have you installed anything MPEG related recently? Have you removed it? If so you might be defaulting to a non-existent CODEC.

I installed and uninstalled drivers for a USB HDTV receiver and it didn't uninstall cleanly. I used a registry cleaner (RegScrubXP) to clean out registry entries that refer to non-existent applications. I could see the difference immeidately upon rebooting, the machine was faster overall and booted in 1/4 the time.

The MPEG file you rendered is probably corrupt, once you've cleaned things up and are sure you can play older MPEG, AVI, and any other media files you use, then rerender your vacation video.

IF that doesn't work, try reinstalling the application you are using to create the DVD, it should reinstall the CODECs. If that doesn't work unfortunately you may have to reinstall the OS to get rid of the offending CODECs.

 

[kritter]

I had this very problem and finally got it sorted out yesterday. It sounds like the MPEG codec you are using is corrupted. Have you installed anything MPEG related recently? Have you removed it? If so you might be defaulting to a non-existent CODEC.

I installed and uninstalled drivers for a USB HDTV receiver and it didn't uninstall cleanly. I used a registry cleaner (RegScrubXP) to clean out registry entries that refer to non-existent applications. I could see the difference immeidately upon rebooting, the machine was faster overall and booted in 1/4 the time.

The MPEG file you rendered is probably corrupt, once you've cleaned things up and are sure you can play older MPEG, AVI, and any other media files you use, then rerender your vacation video.

IF that doesn't work, try reinstalling the application you are using to create the DVD, it should reinstall the CODECs. If that doesn't work unfortunately you may have to reinstall the OS to get rid of the offending CODECs.

Hmmm... I did update the Windows Media Player to version 11 recently. You'd think that would be most up to date.

 

[mabas9395]

What happens is the program (Windows Movie Maker) locks up and stops responding.

How long have you let it run before you tell yourself that it crashed? Depending on the size of the media files, the amount and type transitions and special effects, output resolution, etc, it may take several hours to render. I've heard of some projects taking more than 10 hours to render a one hour project.

 

[kritter]

How long have you let it run before you tell yourself that it crashed? Depending on the size of the media files, the amount and type transitions and special effects, output resolution, etc, it may take several hours to render. I've heard of some projects taking more than 10 hours to render a one hour project.

I have not tried letting it go that long..Do you think I should let it go over night????

 

[kritter]

Anyone else still need help PLEASE!!!!!Thank YOU!!!!!!

 

[mabas9395]

I would let it run over night. Shouldn't hurt anything if you do.

 

[JR6ooo4]

After all the work editing you can save a file, correct? then you tell the program to burn a "movie" DVD that can be reckognized by DVD players?

If you can send that raw file to a dvd (how big is it?) you can mail it to me and I will try to burn it. I have a win xp media edition but have never used win movie maker but I will give it a try. No charge!

also a good idea to backup that file to DVD anyway since you are having problems. It could even be a problem with a part of your hardrive. Like a bad sector that movie maker cannot retrieve data from.

also a good time to back up everything on the computer, anytime even one program is giving you problems.

after a backup you may try the system restore disks
choose the repair option and if possible point it towards the movie maker.

back up the file
then try leaving it all night, set monitor to sleep mode
if that does not work, PM me

good luck, again!
Mikeeee

 

[kritter]

Let it run for 30 plus hours and still nothing...UGH!!!!!

 

[kritter]

Still need help anyone???PLEASE!!!!

 

[rtphokie]

Still need help anyone???PLEASE!!!!

Do you have Windows setup to take snapshots when you install new software? You might be able to roll back to an earlier point where things might cooperate better.