Video editing requires a significant amount of system resources, especially when working with high-resolution images or HD and UHD videos. 
Make sure that your computer meets the expected system requirements and turn off all unnecessary applications before you start working on your project.

Update your System

You always want to keep your system updated, since updates mostly focus on bug fixes and will make your system run better.

• Click the “Start” button and type “update” in the search box.
• Select “Windows Update”.
• Click “Check for Updates”.
• If there are updates, select “Install Updates”.
• When the updates have finished installing, restart your computer.

Software Update

To upgrade your software, simply select "Online Update" from the "Help" menu. 

Update your graphics card drivers

• For a detailed guide on upgrading drivers for Intel, Nvidia and AMD, see the following link: https://www.magix.info/us/support/article/how-to-keep-your-video-drivers-always-up-to-date--1626/
  

Choose the right graphics card settings

• Open the program settings window via the menu "File->Settings->Program -> Display Options".

The "Display Options" section shows the graphics cards installed on the system.

• Assign the graphics card with the best performance to each editing step.
• When set to 'CPU', it is the CPU that will carry out the editing work. (For older graphics card).

Make use of Proxy files

Proxies are just "copies" of your video files (with lower resolution and quality settings), which are utilised to reduce resource consumption during the editing process.

• Select "File -> Settings -> Movie" and and activate "Automatically create proxy files".
• Activate the flash icon below the preview monitor to reduce the preview resolution and work with the proxy files.

In current versions the proxy function is only available when the Hardware acceleration ist set to " CPU mode"!

Take advantage of the "Preview Rendering" feature

You can let the software pre-render certain parts of the project. This is especially useful if the amount of effects and fades applied to these specific parts of the project prevent it from playing back smoothly. You can either let the software automatically determine the areas that need to be pre-rendered, or specify them manually.

Automatic preview rendering

With automatic preview rendering, you don't have to worry about which areas might be affected.The software analyzes your computer's performance to determine which areas are eligible for preview rendering.

• Click the Preview Rendering button in front of the Timeline.
• The software now analyzes which areas should be pre-rendered. A dialog will follow showing how many areas were found. The areas are marked with a red bar.
• Select "Yes" in the dialog to start the preview rendering. After rendering, the bar in the timeline turns green.

Manual preview rendering

With manual preview rendering, you must first narrow down the area that has problems due to delayed, jerky rendering.

• Set a start and end marker above the area you want to render.
• Then click the "Preview Render" button. 
• Select "Area".

A green line appears in the timeline, indicating that the area has been pre-rendered.
The area remains pre-rendered as long as no objects are moved, added or changed within the area.

Preview rendering is always in effect as long as you make no changes to the pre-rendered area.
You can recognize a pre-rendered area by the green bar in the Timeline.
As soon as you edit an object in the area, the green bar turns red and you will have to pre-render it again.

Preview rendering is available in Timeline and Multicam mode.

Verify your Power management settings

• Type "Power" in the Start menu search bar.
• Select "Edit Power Plan".
• Click on "Change advanced power settings"
• Select "High Performance".
• Under "PCI Express", set "Connection State Power Management" to "off ".
• Under "Intel(R) Graphics Settings", set the setting to "Maximum Performance".