martyredwhitman:

Well, after changing the DEP, and replacing the sound   graphics card with a GeForce 7900 GT/OC, still no difference.

Sorry if I've missed something in the thread, but isn't a GF 7900 a five year-old GPU?  The core clock speed is rather high, but the 256 MB memory is a bit low for display of heavy AVCHD stuff.  Is there a reason you picked the GF7900 instead of a 2011-vintage card?  If you got it for free from a friend, or scavenged it from some throwaway, don't complain.  But, if you paid any money, you might consider exchanging it for something properly vetted for the latest video stuff, which would include AVCHD-2 (the 28mbps 1920x1080 50p/60p stuff) or possibly even 4k video (which may start to appear in some prosumer cameras late next year).   Don't be too cheap, unless you enjoy crashes, hangs, black screens, or unending trouble.  But if stinginess is supreme, first try editing with a trial version of another product.   If they work, fine, but if your stingy gene throws a fit when you see the cost of the full versions, maybe you'll want to test another graphics card.

 

 

 

martyredwhitman:

Well, apparently the issue only occurs for mp4 files. You don't have to tell me anymore, but as long as you're willing to answer questions, I'm willing to hear them! :-)

You could do as many others do and that is to put the mp4 files on the timeline and export to file as mpeg2 files at the same resolution. These would be easier to edit.

Even so, the i7 990 processor should not be having a problem with the mp4 files (I assume they are 1920x1080 mp4 H264 ACV). Out of interest what is the make and model of the motherboard. It should have the LGA 1366 socket.

So, I've pretty well discovered that Studio isn't playing the files at the frame rate. They're videos I captured on my phone, so they're like 3-5 fps. It looks like Studio pretty much only plays back at 29fps.
That seems kinda lame, but that's what I'm encountering. Aside from that, everything is running just peachy keen. Thank you so much for your help and insight!

Yeah, it's old. It was a free-bee. but no, I'm not complaining. Turns out that the graphics card wasn't the problem, and it actually functions quite reasonably. The issue, as it turns out, was the sound card, and the frame rate of the files.
Thank you for your contributions, though. It was still most helpful! :-)

I am not a gamer either.  I bought an ASUS EN210 Silent/D1/1GD3/V2(LP GeForce 210 1 GB 64 bit video card for $45 minus a $15 rebate.  It works fine with Studio 15.

Before I upgraded my computer, S15 playback was very unstable with blinking and freezing.  Since closing and restarting the program eliminated the problem temporarily, It wasn't all hardware.
I found if I changed to a second monitor or made other changes, the problems began.  I have used Pinnacle Studio for 10 or 12 years and it has always had instabilities.  I have found ways to work around them.

I have recorded video from my cell phone (Android HTC Hero) and the audio was fine while the video was choppy. That is to be expected from a cell phone. Mine did not record at 30fps. Not even close. What I got was what I actually recorded. The audio was in sync with people talking.

I use Studio Ultimate HD collection which is an older version of yours, but I have found that when not responding comes up it is because the computer is still working on the program completing what you had been doing.  I have found if I leave it for a while it eventually completes the actions and then works fine.  Try this and see if it works for you

I also had this problem when I used my Cellular Phone Video Camera. When I wanted it to edit it on Pinnacle 12 or 14, the video came out like a strobe effect (video flashing). I cannot recall on how I fixed this problem but believe I had converted it either into Mpeg format by using a video converter or by using Windows Movie Maker into AVI. My phone video format was 3GPP.