Best budget friendly computer for editing 4K video? Phantom 3 Pro

[jlo]

The trouble is, you might always be *waiting* for the next latest and greatest, I was doing the same and just bit the bullet and got the current best option at the time. There is always going to be something better in the pipeline every 6 months or so. I have had my 27" iMac 'Sandy Bridge' for going on 4 years, I really want the 5K also but can't justify the expense as this one is still doing the job (a bit slowly for my taste). I am lucky in that my Spouse could care less what I buy (has something to do with the $5K in sewing and crafting stuff SHE has )

Happy wife, happy life!

 

[F6Rider]

Get the best computer within your budget, and edit in proxy. You don't need the latest and greatest for 4k editing.

It's not the editing that gets you, it's the rendering. I can edit with no problem, it's when its time to render the video to your finished movie that you need the processing power, RAM, and drive speed. A 15 minute 4K video?, I just start it and go to bed.

 

[Sketch6995]

Hi, just got my Phantom 3 Professional and I know 4K video on my current computer won't cut it. Let alone trying to watch it.
I'm wondering what you guys would recommend in terms of a computer. Preferably a laptop. On a budget but willing to spend on something that will work.
Lots of people are telling me I should just get a Mac Book. If so which one do you recommend?
Thanks so much
Glad I found this forum.

I have always been a big fan of DIY (do it yourself)
buy the parts from tigerdirect and build to suit.
much cheaper and no one to blame but yourself.

 

[DrewFlies]

The trouble is, you might always be *waiting* for the next latest and greatest, I was doing the same and just bit the bullet and got the current best option at the time. There is always going to be something better in the pipeline every 6 months or so. I have had my 27" iMac 'Sandy Bridge' for going on 4 years, I really want the 5K also but can't justify the expense as this one is still doing the job (a bit slowly for my taste). I am lucky in that my Spouse could care less what I buy (has something to do with the $5K in sewing and crafting stuff SHE has )

Yeah. But, the problem lies between not being able to edit and being able to edit. Yes I can't playback my files right when I transfer them to the computer. Well I can it's just choppy. But, after rendering everything is fine. Why Pay $2,500 on the new iMac. When clearly by next year 8k resolution will be out and the iMac 5k will be outdated. Of course every year a new computer will be superior to the prior year. The thing is I heard about UHD about 3 years ago (including 2k, 4k, 8k and 16k). You don't hear anything about 8k and 16k yet because thats marketing. The new GoPro Hero 5 is expected to have 8k recording capabilities. Once an iMac comes out that can playback 8k and 16k I will buy it. Because its been 3 years and I haven't heard of anything better than 16k.

 

[hozzie]

Save some money and build a Hackintosh. I am in the process right now. It is a bit more work, but you can then upgrade components later. I like Macs and heavily considered an IMac 5k ,but for better specs, I can build my own and save at least $1000 after buying a monitor. I will wait for the Dell or HP 5k monitors to drop in price over the next 6 months, but I can always upgrade. Once you buy the Imac 5k, all you can do it add some RAM. My base system will be right at $2200 and out process the IMac any day. Don't get me wrong, the Imac 5k monitor is great, I just wish they upped the processor to the new x99 chipset. Yes, you can go Mac Pro, but then you are really in big money.

Or just build it and go with Windows (unless you are set on using FCP).

 

[wat17]

It's not the editing that gets you, it's the rendering. I can edit with no problem, it's when its time to render the video to your finished movie that you need the processing power, RAM, and drive speed. A 15 minute 4K video?, I just start it and go to bed.

I have i7, 16gb ram, ssd. Rendering is so slow sometimes. Would a graphics card make a difference?

 

[Keelbyfish]

I tend to edit 1080p on my iPhone 6 using iMovie on the way home if someone else is driving.
Obviously has its limitations but don't like the idea of been glued to a pc for a few hours.
That's why I'm thinking I'd be better with upgrading with an advanced than a pro and sticking with 1080p

 

[prostreetcamaro]

I have i7, 16gb ram, ssd. Rendering is so slow sometimes. Would a graphics card make a difference?

Yes it will. I use opencl when I render on my R9 290X.


You will be hard pressed to find any better video quality than this. It looks absolutely stunning on a 5k monitor.

 

[F6Rider]

I have i7, 16gb ram, ssd. Rendering is so slow sometimes. Would a graphics card make a difference?

Not much in the rendering dept, the on-board RAM could help if sharing is on, but rendering is a CPU function for the most part, the task could be shared with the GPU on the card but I have no hard data on how much that would help. if at all, but a better graphics card can definitely improve the playback, as long as you have a 4 or 5K monitor. You must be on a PC, I am a MAC guy, my 4K monitor and graphics are great (the video above looked awesome) but I am constrained by the 4 year old i7, a MAC Pro would be the bomb!, but to much $$$ for me. So I just put it on and go to bed, it will be finished when I wake up.

 

[^bOss#]

I use adobe after effects for my video editing and I thing a i7 would be good enough and the Adobe after effect is the perfect choice for editing

 

[stealthbomber]

I'm not a computer wizard and have little knowledge of the required inside guts and gizmos to make it run and edit 4K video. Just need something that works OK. Don't need a video rendered in 30 seconds . I can pick this gaming laptop up from our local online classifieds for $800cdn ($643usd). Is it worth it? Any info is appreciated. I DON'T need the latest and greatest and shiniest. DON'T want to spend a fortune as suggested in some of the posts above, $800 is a fortune to me . I can supply more info about the unit if required.

Configuration / Specs

Brand: Asus
Type: Premium Gamer
Size: 17.3”
Color: Brushed Silver Alumimum Chassis ^ Black Accents
Processor: Intel Core i7-3630QM
Ram: 16GB DDR 3
Hardrive: HDD 750 GB 7200RPM + SSD 120 GB
Video / Graphics:Nvidia GTX 670M 3GB
DVD/BluRay: DVD Super Multi Double-Layer Drive
Webcam: Yes
Card Reader: Yes
USB: x4
Bluetooth:4.0
Other: 17.3-Inch FHD (1920x1080) True High Def, Premium Sound, Back Lit Keyboard, Bluetooth.
Software

 

[^bOss#]

Yes this laptop is good as I think because of core I7 3630 Q laptops are the one of the newest out there
And a 16 gb ram is best
And the graphic card nvidia gtx 670 is one of the best graphoc cards out there so I think it will be an outstanding laptop for rendering
But you have two problems in the laptop in my perspective
1. Is the hardrive I think it is small I prefer a 1tb
2. Is the screen resolution I think it is not good to see what really is going on with your 4k vid

 

[R2-D2]

There is not alot of room to add memory inside a laptop. Its cheaper to get a tower with 32 gig. Amazon has deals like this for about $1,500.

I don't see 8k or 12k whatever catching on, unless you have a TV larger than 55 inch you can't tell 1080p from 4k apart on smaller screens (but that won't stop apple from selling fan boys Iphone 9s with 4 inch screens in 4k. Plus you need around 60 mbs to stream it. Most people I know aren't interested in 4k or higher and won't pay the highway robbery rates these telecoms would charge to even see something in 8k

 

[B- Scene Films]

World class editing software, free: Blackmagic Design: DaVinci Resolve 12

 

[stealthbomber]

World class editing software, free: Blackmagic Design: DaVinci Resolve 12

At $30,000 maybe I'll pick up the advanced control surface as well. I think it would compliment the phantom nicely.

 

[B- Scene Films]

There is a free version... The difference between free and that one is the control surface, 3D support and noise reduction. None of which you need to use for editing...

 

[stealthbomber]

There is a free version... The difference between free and that one is the control surface, 3D support and noise reduction. None of which you need to use for editing...

Nothing is free as they say. What is the catch- adware, constant popups?......

 

[mrtibbs]

I'm floating on the fence to move to Premiere Pro ...my workflow has been taking quite a long time to process and I could get more performance boost from using CUDA

 

[B- Scene Films]

Nothing is free as they say. What is the catch- adware, constant popups?......

There is NO catch. I have been using Resolve for over 5 years. BMD always makes a free version of their app available.

 

[stealthbomber]

There is NO catch. I have been using Resolve for over 5 years. BMD always makes a free version of their app available.

Nice. Thanks for posting.