1) "@lpatter: could you tell us something about your system setup? iClone shouldn't stutter with 6 avatars, unless the scene is very complicated with many textures. Even with complicated scenes I get reasonable render times. For practical reasons it is a good idea to split your movie up into scenes of up to a minute. If you want to make change in one scene you don't have to re-render all others. As to audio files, iClone works with wave files and there is no preference for MP3s" .

2) "seppgirty (1/17/2014)

---

I think you should give Windows movie maker a shot. Most of the time you don't need more than that..... I personally use Magix movie edit pro 17."

IMO, the above Posts are the most relevant to your immediate requirements (And - It is just an opinion ;) )

There are many Video Editing Programs; Professional / Semi-Professional / Consumer. Very expensive / Expensive / Cheap / Free. 

Windows XP OS has Free Windows MovieMaker. Windows Vista & W7 have Free Windows Live MovieMaker.

If you plan to not Author (make) DVDs & just Upload Video Files to eg; Youtube / Vimeo, you need to ensure that the Free Programs can handle the Highest Definition for both Importing Video files for Editing, from iClone & Exporting. By the Time Youtube / Vimeo have converted them they "Could" be unwatchable. (I have a Vimeo paid subscription for HD Conversion). 

Tip; You need to decide at the outset what Medium your final Video is going to be, before you start an iClone Project. This is covered in Forum Member Warlord's iClone Beginners Guide.

If you're new to 3D Animation, IMO, you're trying to run before you can walk ;)

It's well-worth purchasing Warlord's iClone Beginner's Guide (Based on iC4, but includes the new Features introduced with iC5, but not all of iC5 later versions).

3D Animation isn't easy. It can be made easier by adopting the right approach in the first place ;)

I, like many others, have encountered many problems by not initially adopting the right approach. Starting with iC1.5 

You'll find a lot of Video Tutorials by Reallusion & Forum Members.

However the question of "But where do I start?" still remains.

IMO, the best way to start (Others may differ), is to go through Stuckon3D's Free Video Tutorials, which cover iClone Basics. These are based on iClone 4, which don't include the many new Features in iC5.

When you've gone through those, you'll be better placed to tackle the iC5 Tutorials provided by Reallusion.

Warlord's Purchase Tutorial Book also based on iC4 but with iC5 new Features added, goes into the basics in more depth, with his own Content provided for individual Project-based Tutorials.

1) Stuckon3D

Here; https://forum.reallusion.com/Topic31003-33-1.aspx

2) Warlord:

Here; http://www.iclonebeginnersguide.com/

3) Reallusion iC5 Video Tutorials

Here; http://www.reallusion.com/iclone/iclone_training.aspx


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I would agree that, unless there is something you want to do that it just can't do (like multiple sound tracks), I'd make the first one using Windows Movie Maker just to get a feel for the basics. However, you'll eventually want a more pro version especially if you need multiple soundtracks and multiple video layering. Here's a comparison chart with a ton of info.

http://video-editing-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

The only one I've used here is VideoPad Pro. It was a good editor but they had no customer support. A computer crash could leave you in a bind as they don't have a re-download feature and you would have to re-purchase in order to replace the software lost.

Good Luck :)

:cool: pete 


http://www.youtube.com/user/peterblood50?feature=mhee

Just to throw in something a bit different. This is a video editor geared towards musicians. It has a beat matching audio loop engine in it. Also has a bunch of audio effects. I don't think it can use VST's, though.

Sort of like Sony Acid, with video capabilities as well.

http://www.trakax.com/software/pc/

Myself. My choice is Magix Movie Edit Pro.

System
Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit, 2.2GHz. 2 GB memory
Used Frame rate 30

AUDIO OUTPUT
Based on your comments that it should work I rechecked everything since I have installed all bug fixes since my last rendering attempt and this is what I found.

 Media - WAV File error message
  I have 4 MP3 test files that work with Iclone and with my default window player.
  I have 4 wav test files, 3 do not work with iclone. All play on the default player
   - Failed to load audio file, this is an unsupported audio format

VIDEO OUTPUT
I have 5 dancing avatars against a background wall
Testing live the audio and video still degraded with multiple avatars or more than one audio and minimum props.
When rendering I previously only checked AVI and WMV - preview - 30 frames and the rendered output was almost as bad as the live output.

Since your responses I checked again and this time tried MP4 and received an error message about installing codecs.
   "This output forms...needs to be online activated in order to ensure legal license"
So I followed the procedure.
The AVI and WMV presented other choices for a "compressor" that they never did before.
I chose full frames uncompressed and the rendering was definitely better in the audio.
The MP4 performed much better than the others. There was some jerky behavior but much better than previously

If my problem was the codec and if AVI was defaulting to Uncompressed then that may have been part of my problem as suggested.

For some reason the Reply+ buttons were missing and this reply was added to the bottom. So I am reposting.

SYSTEM
Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit, 2.2GHz. 2 GB memory
Used Frame rate 30

AUDIO OUTPUT
Based on your comments that it should work I rechecked everything since I have installed all bug fixes since my last rendering attempt and this is what I found.

 Media - WAV File error message
  I have 4 MP3 test files that work with Iclone and with my default window player.
  I have 4 wav test files, 3 do not work with iclone. All play on the default player
   - Failed to load audio file, this is an unsupported audio format

VIDEO OUTPUT
I have 5 dancing avatars against a background wall
Testing live the audio and video still degraded with multiple avatars or more than one audio and minimum props.
When rendering I previously only checked AVI and WMV - preview - 30 frames and the rendered output was almost as bad as the live output.

Since your responses I checked again and this time tried MP4 and received an error message about installing codecs.
   "This output forms...needs to be online activated in order to ensure legal license"
So I followed the procedure.
The AVI and WMV presented other choices for a "compressor" that they never did before.
I chose full frames uncompressed and the rendering was definitely better in the audio.
The MP4 performed much better than the others. There was some jerky behavior but much better than previously

If my problem was the codec and if AVI was defaulting to Uncompressed then that may have been part of my problem as suggested.

 "2.2GHz. 2 GB memory"

IMO, that's the cause of your Problems.

I'm not sure  your CPU meets Reallusion's Recommended Spec; 2.4GHz? which in practise, should be considered the Minimum.

And - IMO, you need  a minimum of 4GB System RAM to Run iClone 5.

I suspect your PC's Graphics Processing Unit might also be under-powered.

Go to; Start / Search & enter; "dxdiag" / Display Tab, for details & Post those.

It looks like you're going to have to limit what you have in a Project, to the limiting factor of your PC Hardware. 

Under-powered PCs have caused many a problem for many Users over many years in Video Editing per se, Forums.

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Recommendations so far are Video Studio Pro, Sony Movie Studio, Magix movie edit pro 17, Adobe Creative Cloud subscription

A. Video Studio Pro or Ultimate http://www.corel.com/static/product_content/vsp/x6/VSPX6_Matrix_EN.pdf
I was considering Video Studio Pro or Ultimate (formerly Ulead?) until Iclone had those great Christmas sales.

B. A 2012 Sony Movie Studio on amazon was $59.44 marked down from $129.95, so good deal if I can get an on-line upgrade.
C. I will definitely research the pros/cons of Compressed Vs Uncompressed
D. Thanks to my limitations I did figure out that this IS the best/most flexible way to create.
E. Tip from Maxae - very useful. I am assuming you are talking about the popvideos. I had wondered how well popvideos in the background would work and if they sucked up CPU but I could not render a good test movie.
F. Adobe Creative Cloud subscription. I saw that option in the old post and thought it might be a cheap alternative but only after I really learned how to use similar software.
G. Lightworks. Since it is an annual subscription it is the same issue as Adobe. The free option seems limited but I will try it after Movie Maker.
H. Tip from Colour. Thanks I want very good quality but the marketing information on these software never seems to address the limitations on size and quality.
   But your tips reminds me that I need to find a standard size and an output format (mpg4, wmv, avi, flash ) and see what is most compatible with all devices
   The videos will be about 30 minutes, on Youtube but I want to make a good CD quality.
   I learned/am learning Iclone by watching ALL the instructional and finished videos I could, deconstructing all the freebies and setting up little test cases.
I. Tip from Peterblood. I thought that Corel would give good support, theirs was the product I might select.
j. Final tip from Colour. Did not realize that I was below the Iclone minimum. This problem is the genesis of my decision to make many tiny little videos and sew them together then add audio.
   Fortunately these are mostly instructional, documentary style with some short action and limited characters talking to each other.
   However I don't want it to be a glorified Powerpoint presentation.

Here are the HORRIBLE "dxdiag" results.
Name: Mobile Intel (R) 4 series express chipset family
Chip Type: same as above
DAC type: Internal
Approx Total memory: 829 MB
Current display mode: 1366x768 (32 bit) (60 Hz)]
Monitor: Generic PnpMonitor
Drivers:
   Main Driver:igdumdx32.dll,  igd10umd32.dll
       Version: 8.15.10.2202
          Date: 8/25/2010
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
DDI Version: 10
Driver Model: WDDM 1.1

DirectX Features:
DirectDraw Acceleration: Enabled
Direct3D  Acceleration: Enabled
AGP Texture Acceleration: Enabled

"Name: Mobile Intel (R) 4 series express chipset family
Chip Type: same as above
DAC type: Internal
Approx Total memory: 829 MB"

Hmmmm.............Looks like Intel GMA GPU integrated within your PC's MOBO, with all of it's Video RAM  shared with System RAM. With only 2GB System RAM, that's not good news.

................and - Lightwave is a Professional Video editing Program used by Motion Picture Houses with a very high learning curve & won't Run on your PC, anyway..

Corel VideoStudio ok, but with only User to User Forum support. No Corel Forum support.

In any event, your low PC Hardware Specs will rule-out most of the Video editing Programs apart from Windows Moviemaker that's only available with XP, anyway & Windows Live Moviemaker.

Which windows OS are you Running; XP / Vista / W7. If Vista / W7, 32 or 64Bit ? & which iClone 5 Version 32/64 Bit?

Answers to the above determines the best possible HD Export & Resolution for WMV for Import into an NLE Program. 

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Colour already pointed out your system limitations. Looks like you are running on a laptop?

3D animation programs need a lot of memory, especially for textures, so that will be your bottleneck. As you have only 2GB and your OS needs some and then your graphics module, there won't be much left.

As to editors, I was going to suggest HitFilm Express, which is current available for free, but it requires a 64-bit Windows OS.

---

1) "for several documentary style videos"

..........and;

2) "am still a newbie learning on her own for one year now so bear with me.
I know NOTHING about animation before buying iclone"

In view of the above & what has been Posted re; your under-powered PC, IMO, if you want to achieve 1), you need a new PC. You can't do it with your current PC, I'm afraid.:ermm: 

2) Animated Film Production & Video Editing is difficult-enough using PC's that are sufficient, without adding more difficulties with a PC that isn't. Your PC is preventing you from learning iClone .

Animated Film Production & Video Editing can be an expensive hobby. You're looking at up-to £1000 for a new PC

Plenty of Expert advice has & can be given as to what PC to purchase according to your Documentary Style Videos requirements. You would need to look at the current Threads re; that & Start your own.

Here's a current Thread; https://forum.reallusion.com/Topic175282-281-1.aspx. A lot of "Technobabble" I'm afraid ;)

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