Resolved Video editing: memory problem?

Hi. I recorded my son's graduation ceremony and preparations for it, but using a borrowed handycam I'm not familiar with, so there's a LOT of gunge to be edited out. Total time about 25 minutes; maybe 15 or so worth keeping. Trouble is, Movie Maker keeps crashing on me, and I'm pretty sure it's because the memory's full/insufficient.

I've had the videotape dubbed onto a CD, and then converted the .VOB file (about 1 GB) to .wmv (about 670 MB), which is the one I'm trying to edit. I'll get about 20% through the edit process, and then - when I try to add another clip to the storyboard - the program simply shuts down on me. I imagine this is because I'm trying to juggle 670 meg, plus however many MB the end-product file has become so far, with only 1.50 GB of RAM on board.

I've tried saving what I've edited so far, importing that, then importing the whole original .wmv file and deleting from it the clips I'd already edited into the "saved so far" version, but that didn't solve anything.

Question 1: is my assumption right that this is simply a case of not enough RAM?
Question 2: if so, is there any way I can trick the PC into juggling just the pieces I'm working on and ignore the others?
Question 3: Or am I just going to have to give up on this (been working on it 2½ days so far - lucky I'm retired!) and try to find a professional shop that will let me look over the guy's shoulder and say "Keep that bit" or "Cut that bit "?

 

Go to http://www.papajohn.org/. On the left click on problem solving > Crashes and hangs.

 

No I don't think it is your Ram I use the same amount on a XP machine, how much disk space have you got available.
The link from Russ might help, very good link.

 

Thanks, guys. Sorry I didn't reply at once - had to go out of town for a very unexpected funeral

Let me check out these suggestions once I've got everything sorted out that I dropped at short notice, and then get back to you.

 

The PapaJohn site is awesome! It contains so much information I'll be working through it for a week or more, just for the fun of learning. Many thanks for the tip, Russ. And for the encouragement, Hawk, that you are getting by with the same amount of RAM, otherwise I might have given up.

I have MM v.5.1 (although the Info window also lists v. 2.1 ?) and 107 codecs on board, so it'll be a while before I've worked through all the options. But I promise to post back when I have an outcome to report.

 

I should also mention that I use "VideoReDo" for my editing, it is not free, but does exactly what I expect it to do.
I use it to edit out commercials from TV shows that I record.
Some versions of Power DVD also include video editing.
Good luck

 

Solved! I deselected all the codecs on the Compatibility page and turned the video acceleration down two notches, as PapaJohn suggested. Gave me no further trouble. I'm very grateful for the lead - I'll spend some happy hours browsing PapaJohn for further tips and ricks.

As for VideoReDo, well, I don't own a handycam and don't see any future occasions for it coming up, so I'll stick with the free Movie Maker for now.

As thanks for your help, I shall take you off the list of people to whom I'm sending a highly boring, amateur, shaky, hand-held video of my son's graduation!