How much processing power needed to edit 1080P 5.1 video

[rogman]

I'm looking for a PC to edit 1080P video from my Sony SR11 camcorder. I don't want to lose 1080P or 5.1 surround sound. I'm considering an HP laptop w/1GB video card, 6GB RAM, and an Intel i7-720QM quad-cord (1.6Ghz) processor. Is anyone using a similar configuration? Is that enough power?

Another potential configuration is a Dell desktop w/8GB RAM, 1GB video card and the i7-860 quad-core processor (2.8Ghz)

I'm planning to use Pinnacle Studio 12 (which I hate BTW) to edit the video. Any recommendations for something else? I was thinking of Adobe Premier Elements but that doesn't seem to handle 5.1 surround.

Any recommendation for PC or software would be appreciated. Thanks!

[peteri8706]

Hi there Rogman,

I have a desktop, here are the stats:

i5 2.66 quad core, 6 gb RAM, 1TB HDD, 1GB video card, Pioneer Bluray burner all running under 64bit Windows 7.

Rendering HD video requires a lot of RAM (as you probably already know) and to utilise all memory available, I would be sticking with a 64bit OS.

I use Vegas Pro 9 with DVD architect 5. Vegas Pro has the ability to render the video to 1080p Bluray or HDV at up to 21GB framerate or whatever (quality setting). I cannot recommend Vegas more for rendering - nil loss of video quality and the rendered video looks as 'vibrant' as what my Sony SR-7 records it at. 5.1 Audio is also included.

With this PC configuration, a 1 hour HD video is re-rendered inclusive of transitions, music overlay etc in around 3 hours. To put it on Bluray takes another hour or so - you can use Vegas Pro 9 to do this or a third party app like TSMuxer to take the video and prepare it for Bluray burning (no re-enconde, just prepares folders etc for Bluray structure) and ImgBurn to burn to Bluray.

Hope this helps, I would personally stick with the power of a desktop to do this type of work.

[rogman]

Originally Posted by peteri8706

Hi there Rogman,

I have a desktop, here are the stats:

i5 2.66 quad core, 6 gb RAM, 1TB HDD, 1GB video card, Pioneer Bluray burner all running under 64bit Windows 7.

Rendering HD video requires a lot of RAM (as you probably already know) and to utilise all memory available, I would be sticking with a 64bit OS.

I use Vegas Pro 9 with DVD architect 5. Vegas Pro has the ability to render the video to 1080p Bluray or HDV at up to 21GB framerate or whatever (quality setting). I cannot recommend Vegas more for rendering - nil loss of video quality and the rendered video looks as 'vibrant' as what my Sony SR-7 records it at. 5.1 Audio is also included.

With this PC configuration, a 1 hour HD video is re-rendered inclusive of transitions, music overlay etc in around 3 hours. To put it on Bluray takes another hour or so - you can use Vegas Pro 9 to do this or a third party app like TSMuxer to take the video and prepare it for Bluray burning (no re-enconde, just prepares folders etc for Bluray structure) and ImgBurn to burn to Bluray.

Hope this helps, I would personally stick with the power of a desktop to do this type of work.

Thanks for the info. The fastest laptop that HP makes now is an i7-820QM (1.72Ghz). I noticed your CPU is ranked 38th on the benchmark list, the 820 is ranked 40th so they're pretty similar in that regard. I really need the portability of a laptop, but it's hard to resist the fact that I can get something much more powerful in a desktop for the same price. The thought of being 'chained' to one location might be a problem.

Does the Vegas software do all the fancy menus, etc. on Blu-ray discs? I've been creating strictly AVCHD formatted DVD-R discs using the software Sony provided with the camcorder but can't edit the video in Pinnacle Studio w/my current laptop. It takes about 4 hours to render burn those discs (about 25 minutes of video).

[BLindsay]

imo if you are serious about video encoding dont do it on a laptop stick with a desktop. I have an i7 920 @ 4.0GHz and my desktop with 12GB of DDR3 1600 and it just mows through everything.

Get a desktop for your video encoding and then a laptop for on the go stuff

[peteri8706]

Originally Posted by rogman

Thanks for the info. The fastest laptop that HP makes now is an i7-820QM (1.72Ghz). I noticed your CPU is ranked 38th on the benchmark list, the 820 is ranked 40th so they're pretty similar in that regard. I really need the portability of a laptop, but it's hard to resist the fact that I can get something much more powerful in a desktop for the same price. The thought of being 'chained' to one location might be a problem.

Does the Vegas software do all the fancy menus, etc. on Blu-ray discs? I've been creating strictly AVCHD formatted DVD-R discs using the software Sony provided with the camcorder but can't edit the video in Pinnacle Studio w/my current laptop. It takes about 4 hours to render burn those discs (about 25 minutes of video).

Might be 38th at stock levels, I overclock mine so it would be as good as an i7!!

Anyhow, Bluray menus only able to be done in DVD Architect 5, which, comes as a package or smaller additional cost (depending which store/place you might buy from).

I agree with the previous post on 'Desktop for video rendering'. If you're serious about it, buy a desktop. Get a cheaper Laptop for on the go stuff. Desktops, IMO are more reliable and quite future proof in respect of expandability.

Cheers.

[hoju3508]

That's what I did as well. I couldn't justify buying a quad core laptop compared to a desktop.

Originally Posted by BLindsay

imo if you are serious about video encoding dont do it on a laptop stick with a desktop. I have an i7 920 @ 4.0GHz and my desktop with 12GB of DDR3 1600 and it just mows through everything.

Get a desktop for your video encoding and then a laptop for on the go stuff

[rogman]

Originally Posted by hoju3508

That's what I did as well. I couldn't justify buying a quad core laptop compared to a desktop.

I realized last night that I could get a well-configured desktop from HP that would do all the video-editing and still have money leftover to buy a cheaper laptop that would have enough power to do everything else I need to do (websites, Photoshop, etc.).

Guess I need TWO new computers- not one!

[BLindsay]

Originally Posted by peteri8706

Might be 38th at stock levels, I overclock mine so it would be as good as an i7!!

Anyhow, Bluray menus only able to be done in DVD Architect 5, which, comes as a package or smaller additional cost (depending which store/place you might buy from).

I agree with the previous post on 'Desktop for video rendering'. If you're serious about it, buy a desktop. Get a cheaper Laptop for on the go stuff. Desktops, IMO are more reliable and quite future proof in respect of expandability.

Cheers.

what is your i5 clocked to? cause video editing is one of the cases where the i7 noticable outshines the i5, especially with an i7 clocked at 4.0GHz

Originally Posted by rogman

Thanks for the info. The fastest laptop that HP makes now is an i7-820QM (1.72Ghz). I noticed your CPU is ranked 38th on the benchmark list, the 820 is ranked 40th so they're pretty similar in that regard. I really need the portability of a laptop, but it's hard to resist the fact that I can get something much more powerful in a desktop for the same price. The thought of being 'chained' to one location might be a problem.

Does the Vegas software do all the fancy menus, etc. on Blu-ray discs? I've been creating strictly AVCHD formatted DVD-R discs using the software Sony provided with the camcorder but can't edit the video in Pinnacle Studio w/my current laptop. It takes about 4 hours to render burn those discs (about 25 minutes of video).

Whats this CPU ranking you speak of?

[peteri8706]

Originally Posted by BLindsay

what is your i5 clocked to? cause video editing is one of the cases where the i7 noticable outshines the i5, especially with an i7 clocked at 4.0GHz



Whats this CPU ranking you speak of?

i5 is overclocked to 3.33 GHZ which is better than an entry or stock level i7. Still fast enough for doing what I want it to do Of course if you overclock a an i7 you will have better results..

[rogman]

Originally Posted by BLindsay

Whats this CPU ranking you speak of?

I've been comparing the benchmark rankings at: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php.

I ordered my PC today, a desktop. Thanks to everyone who chipped in their $.02.

Here are the specs:

Intel Core i7 950 @ 3.07GHz
9GB DDR3-1066MHz SDRAM [5 DIMMs]
1.5TB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
1GB ATI Radeon HD 4850 [2 DVI, HDMI and VGA adapters]
Blu-ray player & Lightscribe SuperMulti DVD burner

Can't wait til it gets here!

[peteri8706]

Originally Posted by rogman

I've been comparing the benchmark rankings at: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php.

I ordered my PC today, a desktop. Thanks to everyone who chipped in their $.02.

Here are the specs:

Intel Core i7 950 @ 3.07GHz
9GB DDR3-1066MHz SDRAM [5 DIMMs]
1.5TB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
1GB ATI Radeon HD 4850 [2 DVI, HDMI and VGA adapters]
Blu-ray player & Lightscribe SuperMulti DVD burner

Can't wait til it gets here!

Nice config, but I would like to point something out to you.

You say you want to edit HD content. Why don't you opt for a Bluray writer? Editing to AVCHD DVD will only get you 20-30 mins of content at the highest settings, let alone not being supported by all standalone bluray players for playback. I would futureproof my system by getting a Bluray writer. Granted, Bluray blanks are still pricey, but you can get them cheaper off ebay, ie: 20 Sony 4x 25Gb Bluray blanks - $73 delivered. Not bad when you pay $10-15 per blank here in Australia!!

Also, why don't you opt for 1333 or 1600 MHZ CL8 RAM, instead of 1066? Prices of RAM have dropped considerably and there is a noticeable difference between the speeds and cas latencys. 9GB is great, although I would be opting for 1GB less at a higher speed and quicker latency if $$ were an issue. (Considering that your motherboard can handle these speeds etc).

Just my .02cents worth. Cheers.

[rogman]

Originally Posted by peteri8706

Nice config, but I would like to point something out to you.

You say you want to edit HD content. Why don't you opt for a Bluray writer? Editing to AVCHD DVD will only get you 20-30 mins of content at the highest settings, let alone not being supported by all standalone bluray players for playback. I would futureproof my system by getting a Bluray writer. Granted, Bluray blanks are still pricey, but you can get them cheaper off ebay, ie: 20 Sony 4x 25Gb Bluray blanks - $73 delivered. Not bad when you pay $10-15 per blank here in Australia!!

Also, why don't you opt for 1333 or 1600 MHZ CL8 RAM, instead of 1066? Prices of RAM have dropped considerably and there is a noticeable difference between the speeds and cas latencys. 9GB is great, although I would be opting for 1GB less at a higher speed and quicker latency if $$ were an issue. (Considering that your motherboard can handle these speeds etc).

Just my .02cents worth. Cheers.

I considered a Blu-ray burner, but figured I'd add it as my 2nd drive (deliberately left the 2nd drive bay empty) if/when prices come down on discs. I've burned several AVCHD discs and find that I wouldn't sit much longer that 30 mins or so to watch the family videos, etc. so they're just the right length for me.

The RAM was my only choice (I think). To be honest, I didn't consider so much the speed of the RAM as the amount. Since DDR3 was faster than the DDR2 I figured that would work ok.

Thanks for the tips!

[peteri8706]

Originally Posted by rogman

I considered a Blu-ray burner, but figured I'd add it as my 2nd drive (deliberately left the 2nd drive bay empty) if/when prices come down on discs. I've burned several AVCHD discs and find that I wouldn't sit much longer that 30 mins or so to watch the family videos, etc. so they're just the right length for me.

The RAM was my only choice (I think). To be honest, I didn't consider so much the speed of the RAM as the amount. Since DDR3 was faster than the DDR2 I figured that would work ok.

Thanks for the tips!

No problems. I do hope you at least considered running Win 7 x64 so it can take full advantage of your Ram? I'm using the x64 win 7 ultimate - and am finding it a great OS.

Good luck and enjoy your new PC!! You'll be amazed how quick it will be on converting regular DVD format !!! ie. something that took about an hour to convert on my older PC now only takes 10-15 mins to do!! NICE.

[-Sandro-]

are you getting 3x3GB modules to use in triple channel?