What computer is everyone using to edit 4K video?

[SteveMann]

Hey guys you all seem very knowledgeable to video editing so I thought this would be the place to ask If this would be a good laptop for editing. I have never edited anything before and do not plan on doing so for a profession only as a hobby. I just bought a p3p and would like something compatible. I kinda got my eye on this computer but am unsure if it will meet my needs.
Lenovo Y50 UHD $1,479.00

Processor
4th Generation Intel Core i7-4720HQ Processor (2.60GHz 1600MHz 6MB)
Operating system
Windows 8.1 64 upgrade to Windows 10
Display
15.6'' UHD LED Glossy Multitouch Backlit (3840x2160)
Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 4GB
Memory
16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3L SDRAM 1600 MHz
Hard Drive
512GB SSD
Optical Drive
None
Network Card
WIFI AC Wireless (2x2)
Bluetooth
Bluetooth Version 4.0

Personally, I don't like editing on a laptop, but the one you describe should be more than sufficient. I recommend maximizing the RAM memory to whatever can be installed. It is not recommended that you have your editing projects on the SSD because there is a lot of disk R/W going on during an edit and render. I recommend using an external USB docking station and a couple of OEM drives - hopefully your laptop will have USB3. OEM drives are currently running only $50 for a 1Tb drive.

 

[REBELimgs]

Personally, I don't like editing on a laptop, but the one you describe should be more than sufficient. I recommend maximizing the RAM memory to whatever can be installed. It is not recommended that you have your editing projects on the SSD because there is a lot of disk R/W going on during an edit and render. I recommend using an external USB docking station and a couple of OEM drives - hopefully your laptop will have USB3. OEM drives are currently running only $50 for a 1Tb drive.

You really think you can kill an SSD before it's time to upgrade anyway?

 

[stripe14631]

Thanks for the reply steve. Does it matter on the speed of the external drives?

 

[REBELimgs]

Thanks for the reply steve. Does it matter on the speed of the external drives?

There's no reason not to buy the best 7200 RPM drives you can afford if you're going to be editing off them. I wouldn't get anything less than that unless it were strictly for archiving.

 

[stripe14631]

There's no reason not to buy the best 7200 RPM drives you can afford if you're going to be editing off them. I wouldn't get anything less than that unless it were strictly for archiving.

would this be sufficient

• 1TB Storage Capacity
• USB 3.0 Interface
• 7200 rpm Rotational Speed
• Up to 5 Gb/s Data Transfer Rate

 

[SteveMann]

the best answer yet SteveMann! I might just add here, Divinci Resolve? It's been an up and coming NLE for some time now and it's free. Add to that the capabilities of color grading and it's hard to beat. The latest update has just come out and claiming to be right up there with the best of them. Also, if you throw in Fusion, also free, I think (imo only) you have a very good comparison to Adobe's Premier Pro + After Affects package. But it's FREE!

I have heard a lot of good things about Divinci Resolve, but since I am expert with Sony Vegas, I don't see a reason to learn yet another UI. But I will add DR to my list of links. Thanks for the heads-up.

You really think you can kill an SSD before it's time to upgrade anyway?

I've never heard of anyone "killing" their SSD's through using up all the write cycles. But editing requires really large read/write cycles and as the SSD fills up the file writes require the controller to move some sectors around to make room. This could dramatically slow down the rendering process. Also, 500Mb just isn't enough to hold your O/S, various programs and data, your camera raw video and your work-in-progress files. You could probably do a few edits before something needs to be deleted.

 

[REBELimgs]

I have heard a lot of good things about Divinci Resolve, but since I am expert with Sony Vegas, I don't see a reason to learn yet another UI. But I will add DR to my list of links. Thanks for the heads-up.

I've never heard of anyone "killing" their SSD's through using up all the write cycles. But editing requires really large read/write cycles and as the SSD fills up the file writes require the controller to move some sectors around to make room. This could dramatically slow down the rendering process. Also, 500Mb just isn't enough to hold your O/S, various programs and data, your camera raw video and your work-in-progress files. You could probably do a few edits before something needs to be deleted.

I edit on a 256gb Samsung Pro and I'm definitely not having any slow downs. I won't be keeping it long enough to worry about write cycled either so I think I'm good. That drive is also my system drive. I have everything installed on it and I store everything else on a raid array. No problems.

 

[SteveMann]

would this be sufficient

• 1TB Storage Capacity
• USB 3.0 Interface
• 7200 rpm Rotational Speed
• Up to 5 Gb/s Data Transfer Rate

The speed of the drive is not the important spec. What is the sustained data transfer rate? All that's advertised is the burst data rate. That is how fast can a block of data that is smaller than the RAM buffer on the drive can be read or written. Your rendering work files will almost certainly be larger than the buffer size of your drives RAM, so if you are comparing the specs of drives, look for the sustained data transfer rate.

In the early days of DV videography, a fast HDD was required because when capturing the data from camera there was no throttle - the camera sent the data in real time. Older laptop hard drives couldn't sustain even 12MBs to capture DV data.

That said, I wouldn't put too much thought into the data rate of the HDD today. They are all pretty fast.

 

[SteveMann]

I edit on a 256gb Samsung Pro and I'm definitely not having any slow downs. I won't be keeping it long enough to worry about write cycled either so I think I'm good. That drive is also my system drive. I have everything installed on it and I store everything else on a raid array. No problems.

I tend to do large projects - Two or three hours of raw video. so I am biased.

 

[REBELimgs]

would this be sufficient

• 1TB Storage Capacity
• USB 3.0 Interface
• 7200 rpm Rotational Speed
• Up to 5 Gb/s Data Transfer Rate

I think it's hilarious how they said "up to 5gbs". That's the interface speed. The actual disk will never be that fast or even remotely close.

 

[REBELimgs]

I tend to do large projects - Two or three hours of raw video. so I am biased.

What do you edit 2 hours of footage for?

 

[SteveMann]

What do you edit 2 hours of footage for?

I do a lot of theater and stage performances using three HD cameras, so I have a LOT of raw camera data.

 

[REBELimgs]

I do a lot of theater and stage performances using three HD cameras, so I have a LOT of raw camera data.

Sounds expensive Haha what cameras?

 

[jcknows0]

I work in 4k 10 bit RAW so I would recommend maximum IO (SSD RAIDs w/ external array archiving) That said your graphics card will be your Achilles heel with plain MOV file from phantom. unless you have at least a 2 GB VRAM (4 is best) then you will feel the pain she it comes to multiple tracks/effects

 

[jcknows0]

I do a lot of theater and stage performances using three HD cameras, so I have a LOT of raw camera data.

I'm completely an amateur (though did TV and film in HS and college). Now videos of my kids and drone videos are up to 9TB video (with a double for backup). I only started in the fall with my first go pro 4 black and a dream

 

[stripe14631]

where would a person go to learn all the things you guys are talking about?

 

[SteveMann]

where would a person go to learn all the things you guys are talking about?

The school of hard knocks.
When you select the editing program you want to learn and use, take advantage of the user forums for that specific program. There you will find other users who are more than happy to assist. I recommend CreativeCow.com

 

[ephor209]

I got a used workstation off eBay for 620 that has Xeon processor and nvidia quadro gpu that should work better with video editing


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Adamation]

I got a used workstation off eBay for 620 that has Xeon processor and nvidia quadro gpu that should work better with video editing

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

"It's a deal, it's a steal, it's the sale of the ******* century!" - Tom

 

[III% Streve]

I use either a Dell T7400 with Dual 4gig xenon and 256 gig of ram and a total of 20 TB of SAS or a custom i7 4790K running 4.8 gig and 32 gig or RAM and 15 TB. Both have twin ASUS 980Ti. More than sufficient to edit anything that exists!