We have a method of improving the deposition rate uniformity of the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of films when a number of substrates are processed in series, sequentially in a deposition chamber. The method includes the plasma pre-heating of at least one processing volume structure within the processing volume which surrounds the substrate when the substrate is present in the deposition chamber. We also have a device-controlled method which adjusts the deposition time for a few substrates at the beginning of the processing of a number of substrates in series, sequentially in a deposition chamber, so that the deposited film thickness remains essentially constant during processing of the series of substrates. A combination of these methods into a single method provides the best overall results in terms of controlling average film thickness from substrate to substrate.