Best computer for Vegas Pro

TheHappyFriar wrote on 4/29/2015, 9:29 AM

Depends on the file format and the $$ you're willing to spend.
I have a 7 year old AMD Phenom and it edits HDV w/o any issues.

BruceUSA wrote on 4/29/2015, 10:47 AM

BEST COMPUTER is depends how deep is your pocket. If you click on my name, you'll see I have two system. They chop thru HD FROM MY 5D Mark III footages super smooth and can edit 4K capable.

https://vimeo.com/116909126?email_id=Y2xpcF90cmFuc2NvZGVkfDQxZjk3ODdmNDNiYTcxYmIzYmQ1N2YzNTNjNTU2NWI5NzgxfDEwNTExNDk1fDE0MjEzNjE4MDh8NzcwMQ%3D%3D&utm_campaign=7701&utm_medium=clip-transcode_complete-finished-20120100&utm_source=email

Guy S. wrote on 4/29/2015, 11:18 AM

My work computer is an HP Z420 workstation with a Xeon 6-core CPU. My home computer is self-built and uses a core i7 3770 CPU. Both computers were adequate for editing native HD video shot with a Panasonic GH3, but after switching both computers from nVidia to AMD graphics cards the performance of both computers improved by a tremendous margin. To be specific, I can now edit native HD video from the camera (i.e. I don't need to convert it to a different file format first) in real time, without dropping frames or crashing.

On both systems I'm using SSDs for my boot and scratch (for temp files and rendering) drives. I'm only running 16GB of RAM on both and it's adequate, even with multiple programs running, but I would not recommend using less than 16GB RAM. No idea what the memory speed is, but it's not the fastest.

My work computer is a bit faster, but not by much - and it cost at least twice as much as my home editing system. The biggest difference in my editing experience happened when I switched from nVidia to AMD, and at home I'm only using a mid-range (about $180 USD) card. I might consider upgrading your graphics card to AMD and making sure you have 16GB RAM. If you're using a CODEC that's especially difficult to edit you can always transcode it to a more edit-friendly format - HDCAM-EX has worked well for me.

Stringer wrote on 4/29/2015, 7:04 PM

Before anyone could accurately recommend the ' best ', they would have to know what your budget is...

There will be a point of diminishing returns, but the best would be dual Xeon 14 core combined with 2 x R9 290x's...

Two of those CPUs will cost about $5500

Laurence wrote on 4/29/2015, 7:16 PM

Well for me at least, the computer has to fit under your arm so you can also carry a cup of coffee out to screened in patio in one trip...

OldSmoke wrote on 4/29/2015, 8:12 PM

Stringer

While such a systems sounds good on specs, Vegas may not be able to make any use of the 28 cores proposed. Also high core Xeons have limited clock speeds and as far as we know today, clock speed trumps core count in Vegas; Catalyst may be a different story.

HyperMedia wrote on 4/30/2015, 12:28 AM

Mac and run Windows on Bootcamp. Never look back.

wilvan wrote on 4/30/2015, 12:30 AM

@oldsmoke :

vegas 13 defintely makes use of , for example , 32 or 40 cores ( in my z820's ) and clock speeds of turbo 3.6 GHz are more than sufficient :-)

What matters as well is LOTS of RAM AND fast SSD's for reading from and rendering to.. ( as soon as they are available here , gonna try the intel 750 PCIgen3 SSD's )

( and a dedicated system for editing , not connected to internet , minimum OS services running , no other non-editing software installed etc...helps as well , of course )

Rich Parry wrote on 4/30/2015, 1:34 AM

I have to disagree with the Xeon recommendation based on my experience. I have dual Xeons (24 cores total) and performance isn't that great. Remember, Vegas maximum is 16 cores.

I also have SSDs and 48GB RAM. I believe the best place to put money is in the video card. I recently changed from NVideo to AMD, got some improvement.

If I didn't have so much $$$ invested in the dual Xeons, I go with a really fast i7, but that is based on what I read, not on experience. I've been pretty unhappy with the dual Xeons. Sony "red car" benchmark renders in 125 seconds, good but not great IMO.

Rich

OldSmoke wrote on 4/30/2015, 5:46 AM

@wilvan

I looked up your specs and you have grat systems. What are your rendering time on SCS benchmark project? Like rendering to XDCAM EX 1080 29.97p? Have you tried the converted SCS 4K Benchmark project? I am especially interested in performance of the system with the 2x 8core 2687w; something I was thinging of getting too.

RinaS wrote on 4/30/2015, 10:27 AM

Hi to all,
I am also trying to find the best spec for my new PC that I'm about to order. I film with GH4 - 4K and need a computer that can handle long films.

This is the spec, any information would be welcome :

Case: Zalman Z12 BLACK Without ALIM. (8809213764783)
Power: ALIM 750W Corsair power C-Series CXM CX750M - 80 PLUS
Processor: Intel i7-4790 3.6 GHz / S-1150
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14-quiet S.1150
Mainboard: ASUS Z97-PRO INTEL Z97 LGA 1150 ATX
Video Card: Asus GTX970-STRIX DC2OC-4GD5
RAM: M-D3-16G kit DDR3 16GB (8GB * 2) -1600mhz
Drive1: SSD SATA3 480GB Sandisk
Drive2 ?: DD-W-2T-P DD PURPLE WD 2TB SATA 64MB CACHE WD20PURX * 6 *
Firewire card?: COMBO-CC-1394 Firewire Combo PCIExp 1394-400 / 800
Drive: DVD Writer / Blu-Ray Asus 90DD01E0-B30000 black oem sata

Thank you in advance,

Rinas

OldSmoke wrote on 4/30/2015, 10:37 AM

RinaS

It depends on how you intend to work in 4K. If you are ok with HD proxies, your system is ok aside from the video card. If you want to work in full 4K, you need at least a 5930K or 5960X, 32GB 2133MHz ram, an SSD or fast RAID-1 for your source files and if possible a render drive different from your source drive. I also recommend at least a closed loop water cooler because you will need to O.C. the CPU; a stable O.C. As video card, only GTX580 and lower are supported under VP13, AMD 290X will be a much better choice and as a power supply I recommend a 1000W. As always, add a UPS to your system and you will have much less troubles.

astar wrote on 4/30/2015, 12:01 PM

@Truong - make sure to try converting all source media to XDCAM-EX.mxf before you give up on your machine. Work in Preview - Quarter or Half, and render in full res. Even 4k material, when you build proxies will use xdcam to edit. You could also try proxy editing with 16x9 DV, an i5 with 8GB ram will be more than enough.

Desktop: New system 4th Gen i7-4770k, 32GB RAM - 1600Mhz, Samsung 850 SSDs, r9-290x.

Workstation Class: Xeons with 8+ physical cores, 64GB RAM, w9100

I do not support over clocking CPU, memory, or video cards. Using built in turbo boost on CPU is not what I am talking about. I do support the idea of water cooling your CPU, GPU and chipset, as keeping heat low eliminates thermal speed reductions.

Truong wrote on 4/30/2015, 12:42 PM

I have read all the suggestions and I understood why my computer was so slow. I may have to send about 5K up !
Thanks ALL !

RinaS wrote on 5/2/2015, 11:32 AM

@OldSmoke

Thank you for all that valuable information.

Up to now I have worked with the following system with GH3 HD footage on SV P 12:
6Go RAM
AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 965, 3,41 Ghz
64 bits
Nvidia Geforce GTX 285

with no problem, especially since I do almost entirely straight cutting work, with the odd fade to or from black and a single title sequence at the end. I bring my files into the timeline, and edit; no compression first, no off line then on line.

I have now moved onto a GH4 and would like to continue in the same way, but I do admit the specs seem like overkill and would be costly, so my question is two sided :

Can I do a viable 4k (GH4 4K 25fps footage) PC build that will not be too costly ?
If so what would this ideal build be?

If not, what would an alternative PC build be and for what workflow?

Thank you so much in advance for your answer,

All the best,

RinaS

OldSmoke wrote on 5/2/2015, 12:50 PM

RinaS,

I don't know what kind of codec, container and compassion rate the GH4 uses for 4K files. Even with "just" 25P files preview in Vegas can be very bad.

Here are 4K 100Mbps 24p files from my AX100 if you like to try.

Myerz wrote on 5/2/2015, 4:09 PM

A POWER MAC! :-)

Had to say it!

Come on Sony.... get with it!

RinaS wrote on 5/2/2015, 5:14 PM

@OldSmoke
I played both clips without a problem in my current system as described in my email above.

What can one conclude from that then ?

Thank you,

RinaS

OldSmoke wrote on 5/3/2015, 12:29 PM

I played both clips without a problem in my current system as described in my email above.

That you have a magic system and should stick with it.

RinaS wrote on 5/4/2015, 7:30 AM

@Old Smoke

Thank you for your confidence my old machine!
However, I'm going to have another PC built anyway for multiple projects, and that is the build I'm after, what would be the best PC build today for both HD and 4K editing, knowing now that I could do proxy editing, etc. and would not need necessarily to edit 4k directly in the timeline.

Best,

Rina

OldSmoke wrote on 5/4/2015, 7:55 AM

@RinaS

Since you have no problem with 4K on your current system, why would you want to change?

RinaS wrote on 5/4/2015, 8:09 AM

@ Old Smoke
I'm editing with assistant more than one project at the same time, those are on HD on the current system.

Will be editing new project 4k shot on GH4 coming up very soon and hence need 2 machines anyway, and hence logically seeking to optimize.

Any suggestions?

Best, Rina

OldSmoke wrote on 5/4/2015, 9:01 AM

RinaS

To be honest I am at a loss. If your current system has no issues handling 4K files then I don't know what to propose that isn't a total overkill. There are users including myself that have far superior systems and can't preview 4K at Best/Full so I really don't know what to propose.

BruceUSA wrote on 5/4/2015, 9:22 AM

I know this is not relate to this topic. But I want to share a small incident yesterday. I and my family at the beach and I have my EOS 5D Mark III attach to Canon EF-70-200 F/2.8L IS II. I had a man in his 70+ year old came up to me and say. Can I ask you a question and I said sure. Then, he said why do you need such a big camera to take picture. I have a 8 MP pocket camera can take the same picture. Then, I said the quality of your pocket camera is not have the same quality as this one. He proceed to say, oh I can do any thing I want with my pocket camera. I told him look. if your are happy with your pocket camera, then STICK with it. Then, I told him, this camera is not for every body. He agrees and laughing happily and walk away.