Memory Managment

[Rincevent]

Hello,

I tried a search on that topic but not been able to found what i looked for.

I think resolume should have some memory managment options.

Memory managment for the clips in decks with options like "Load to RAM"

I mostly use very short clips (a few seconds and maybe 2-5 Mo for each file)
And i noticed that the first use of one of these clips is always slower then the next usages.

I mean i assign clip_exemple to layer 1 and it starts playing but it is not smooth and then when it has been played one time it is smooth, I think it is because when it is on a layer it is in RAM am I right ?

so when you assign a clip to a layer it read from the HDD => RAM.

I have lots of unused RAM I'D like to use to store all the clips of one deck for exemple so i can trigger them and play them smooth always.

Well.... It's had to express your ideas in another language, I hope you will at least understand me...

[therandelman]

it is certainly a good idea to use all the ram.
u can for example create a RAM DRIVE of a certain memory space and then store clips there for smooth playback...

i actually have never tried this and i dont even know how it's been done, but i am really curious.
so if u try it - make sure to tell us how it worked...

good luck
the|randelman

[SuperficiaL]

you can always buy a fast HD. most HD nowadays have sufficient datarate even for the first use of a clip...
but if your clips play smooth when they are played a few times its not the speed of the disk. its the accesability that counts, so defrag...

[Danger]

therandelman: in windows how can we make a temp. Ram Drive?

SuperficiaL: if he uses small 2-5mb files i don't think the problem will be resolved with defrag

[therandelman]

Originally posted by therandelman
i actually have never tried this and i dont even know how it's been done, but i am really curious.
so if u try it - make sure to tell us how it worked...

[Danger]

sorry
here in portugal is 11:55 am
i still have my eyes a little closed

[SuperficiaL]

Originally posted by Danger
SuperficiaL: if he uses small 2-5mb files i don't think the problem will be resolved with defrag

if the files run slower in the beginning defrag helps a lot. if the hd head finds all the clusters of the file and caches them they become faster... so if this is the case defrag may be all it takes to get rid of this problem...
but if its the other way arround (faster beginning slower in time) its a had datarate thing and ramdrives would be desirable...

[Rincevent]

First of all thaks to all the contributors here,

I tried to defragment my disk but it was very little fragmented (I use a second dedicated Disk for the clips ) and it didn't help

I also tried the RamDisk solition using Cenatek's software but it was not very stable, actually when you google a little on that topic you quickly find infos on how bad Windows handle this, about the initial 32M limitation and all.

I also noticed a proposal in another thraed : use USB drives (usb keys ?) I haven't thought about it and it could be a cool solution with 1Go Keys at about 100 Euros I could put a fairly large selection of clips and I suppose the speed would be better.

So there are solutions or workaround out there but I still think that resolume could take a big advantage of a better memory managment.

[Rincevent]

I did a little test :

I used a monitoring software to see the ram usage when using resolume.

I monitored the Physical memory and the swap file, I don't know if this is right or significant , maybe you'll tell me, that's why I post

Then I loaded a long and full DVD res clip in channel 1, i heard the HDD making noise for a short time and then it was justmaking a little buzz, the RAM stayed at the same level it was when the application started

the I started a second Big clip on channel 2 and then the HDD noise came back and didn't stopped until I remove the second clip , the ram didn't move.

and the 3rd clip just confirmed it, the HDD was making a hell of a noise, and the RAM didn't move.

I also noticed that i always had about 100Mo of free physical RAM ( on a 512 total )
My CPU is a AMD XP 2000+
runing XP Pro with 2 HDD one for Windows and softwares like resolume and one for the clips (Maxtor 7200 rpm 8Mo cache)

So I think that Resolume ALWAYS read the clips from the HDD, even when the loop on a channel for a long time.
Am I right ? or is it something on my system or config ?

If I am right I REALLY wish that we'll see a version of resolume adressing this (by keeping the active clips in RAM at least)

[Edited on 3-11-2004 by Rincevent]

[bart]

yes resolume always plays everything from the HD. No ram loading is used. This is because is it quite hard to find a good mix of reading from the hd and ram loading.

As you know having clips in RAM takes a lot Mb. so you have to watch not to overload the ram and if the ram is full what clips are loaded and which not?

It,s sounds simple at first to load stuff in ram but it,s not as easy as it seems. At least loading video always frm the hd gives predictable results and if you have a decent HD it,s not a big problem.