SharpCap Captures Folder Taking Up Huge Amount of Space

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js10
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Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2020 4:20 am

SharpCap Captures Folder Taking Up Huge Amount of Space

#1

Post by js10 »

In truth, I'm not really sure that this is a "bug" per se, but it is an issue that concerns me a bit and is causing me problems. Recently, I started getting messages that my laptop's hard drive was running out of space. I thought this was strange, as I had to check for different reasons just a few weeks ago and it was less than half full. Then, I ran one of those programs that determines exactly what is taking up all the room, and it turned out that my SharpCap Captures folder is the culprit! I didn't expect this at all, but then sure enough, when I right-click on it and go to Properties, the folder's size is 196GB, which seems pretty huge to me. Keep in mind that I haven't been at this for that long, so I don't have THAT many videos, and most of them are only 2.5 minutes long. Is it normal for this folder to get so big so quickly? Yes, I could just delete the whole folder or at least most of it and basically start over again, but I'd kind of like to keep those files around to maybe work with again in the future if possible. Any thoughts? Thank you.
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turfpit
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Re: SharpCap Captures Folder Taking Up Huge Amount of Space

#2

Post by turfpit »

js10

I have a capture laptop with a 500Gb hard drive. My processing machine is a desktop with an attached external 4Tb USB3 drive (cost around £100). When I have completed a capture session I copy the files to the 4Tb (over my network) and process them from there. That way I never work on the only copy of the captures (risk of mangling/losing data). The 4Tb currently has 2.7Tb used with data going back 2 years

For me, a typical 1 hour lunar session will produce 100Gb of data as SER files. I would not consider 196Gb to be a lot of data.

Consider developing some sort of data management scheme that suits you to off-load the capture data and be able to clear down the capture drive in an orderly fashion.

Dave
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Menno555
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Re: SharpCap Captures Folder Taking Up Huge Amount of Space

#3

Post by Menno555 »

I am with Dave on this one. Video files can take up a lot of space so, that 196 Gb is not that much. For me a moon session is typically done with the Zwo ASI385MC camera on 120 fps and will result in around 200 to 300 Gb of SER files.
It also depends on the resolution you have: if I capture with my Zwo ASI385MC camera, the SER files are smaller in comparison with my Zwo ASI294MC Pro which has a bigger resolution. And it also depends on FPS: a 2.5 minute video of 120 fps will be bigger then a 2.5 minute 60 fps video. So maybe that's also something to look into when you want smaller files.

Menno
js10
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Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2020 4:20 am

Re: SharpCap Captures Folder Taking Up Huge Amount of Space

#4

Post by js10 »

Thank you to both of you! I guess I really have kind of a warped sense of reality when it comes to file sizes of astrophotography videos (and arguably several other issues as well). Menno555, I should let you know that, coincidentally enough, I'm using the ASI385 as well. As for fps, well, that's not really something I've been keeping track of (again, as you say see, I'm new at this). But, yes, as you say, it's something I might want to look into if I want smaller files, but obviously that's only putting a bandaid on the problem. Ultimately, as Turfpit said, I'm just going to have to come up with some kind of serious storage solution. Thanks again.
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admin
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Re: SharpCap Captures Folder Taking Up Huge Amount of Space

#5

Post by admin »

Hi,

so, of course you can delete the whole folder if you want – nothing bad will happen except that you will no longer have your saved videos. SharpCap will work just fine afterwards and happily start filling up the space again :-)

if you are capturing lunar/solar/planetary then check that you are using RAW8 (for a colour camera) or MONO8 (for a monochrome one). Using one of the RGB modes or a high bit depth mode is unnecessary for high-speed imaging and will just make your videos take much more space.

Cheers, Robin
js10
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Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2020 4:20 am

Re: SharpCap Captures Folder Taking Up Huge Amount of Space

#6

Post by js10 »

admin wrote: Sun Nov 29, 2020 9:59 pm Hi,

so, of course you can delete the whole folder if you want – nothing bad will happen except that you will no longer have your saved videos. SharpCap will work just fine afterwards and happily start filling up the space again :-)
Well, sure, I realize that. I just kind of hate to get rid of work that took time and effort to complete, even if I HAVE already processed/stacked the images. I just feel like you never know when you might need them again! But, yes, if it makes my laptop inoperable, obviously I'm going to have to do something or another.
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Re: SharpCap Captures Folder Taking Up Huge Amount of Space

#7

Post by admin »

Hi,

I know what you mean – I have SER file stashed away that go back to at least 2014 as you never know when you might want them again (if only for testing features or new stacking programs). A big external drive maybe to store them?

Cheers, Robin
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