portable computer to handle Resolve's last edition for 4K editing and grading

[shooter]

https://store.hp.com/us/en/ConfigureView?catalogId=10051&langId=-1&storeId=10151&urlLangId=&catEntryId=3074457345618723818&quantity=1#

 

https://store.hp.com/us/en/ConfigureView?catalogId=10051&langId=-1&storeId=10151&urlLangId=&catEntryId=3074457345619013318&quantity=1

 

What's the best? Do they handle the job?

 

Basically, the difference is between (per each of both options, respectively):

- Intel® Core™ i7-8705G (3.1 GHz, up to 4.1 GHz, 8MB cache, 4 cores) vs Intel® Core™ i7-8750H (2.2 GHz, up to 4.1 GHz, 6 cores)

- 16 GB DDR4-2400 SDRAM (2x8GB) vs 16GB onboard

- Radeon™ RX Vega M Graphics (4GB dedicated memory) vs NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050Ti with Max-Q design (4 GB)

 

[thephoenix]

more cores are better, vega is better for resolve too

[Shirozina]

Depends what you mean by 'handle' and what codec of 4k media you are using. I'd say for resolve you are going to need an eGPU to make editing 4k in Resolve a practical proposition. More cores will help and 16mb of RAM may not be enough. 

[shooter]

Yes. Here:

https://egpu.io/external-gpu-buyers-guide-2018/

16Mb of RAM not enough for 4K editing and 4K grading?

[thephoenix]

32 is much much better on laptop where cpu and gc are weakest than on desktop

[shooter]

So in this case isn't it enough with an external GPU of dedicated 8GB memory?

We're planning to add an external GPU because of the portable need (HP Spectre x360) :

https://egpu.io/external-gpu-buyers-guide-2018/

As for example this one:

https://www.gigabyte.com/Graphics-Card/GV-N1080IXEB-8GD#kf

In this case, might we dismiss the internal GPU with dedicated 4GB memory for Intel® UHD Graphics 620 to share the 16GB RAM once we'll have an external GPU with dedicated 8GB memory?

[jhnkng]

I guess it depends on budget, but I've always found that it's better to have as much computer built in as you can afford. More cores are better, particularly for h264 footage, and I'd go with the Vega inside rather than rely on an eGPU system. There are just times where you want to be able to open your laptop to get something done quick without having to plug in the eGPU. If that's not the case, you should just get a desktop which will give you more bang for buck. 

For reference, I edit 4k h264 material in Resolve on a 2016 Macbook Pro (i7 2.9ghz, Radeon Pro 460, 16gb RAM) and it works great. I don't use Fusion, and I don't grade much beyond basic colour correction (curves mostly, the odd power window and tracking) and I rarely have more than 3 video tracks running (and never simultaneously like editing multicam footage). The system you're speccing should be faster than my MBP, so depending on what you actually edit/grade it should be fine. As an aside I've worked with some 6k RedCode footage in Resolve and my MBP was not handling it well. No problems after transcoding to prores, but it was not handling RedCode well.

[Shirozina]

There are other obstacles for high intensity use like video editing for which laptops are not designed for. The first one is thermal capacity where the CPU and GPU will be 'throttled' to lower speeds to prevent overheating and the other is how many HD's the PCI bus can handle for the various media locations - 1 for Apps, 1 for a scratch disk and another for the media. Using an eGPU will certainly help with throttling as many laptops share the same cooling system for GPU and CPU so if the GPU is idle the cooling capacity gets a lot better and it will run for longer without throttling. Again it depends what kind of 4k you are editing? - 8 bit Pro res or 10bit H.264? If you are using Resolve it does all the hard rendering of optimised media and Render cache ( which you will need to do on a laptop)  using the GPU and without an eGPU you will be very frustrated - take it from someone who has tried and now has an eGPU setup.

[gt3rs]

Buy a gaming notebook with at least 8 GB Video Ram. For resolve gpu ram is more important than the system RAM. I edit on a ASUS gaming notebook with 16 GB Ram and Nvidia GTX 1070 with 8 GB Ram. I edit 4k 60fps Mjpg and 4k 60 fps h264 without issue and without render cache or optimize media.

 

 

[Shirozina]

30 minutes ago, gt3rs said:

I edit 4k 60fps Mjpg and 4k 60 fps h264 without issue and without render cache or optimize media.

 

 

8 or 10 bit?

[newfoundmass]

4K 60p 150 mbps doesn't play back smoothly at all in Resolve (free version) for me. I have a decent gaming laptop that I got in February of 2017. I've heard that the paid version handles h.264 better though? 

Intel Core i7 7700HQ @ 2.80GHz, 16 GB of ram, and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card. 

Haven't tried it on my main editing rig yet, I still haven't unpacked it after moving. 

 

 

[kye]

This thread is mostly going no-where, but it's not anyones fault.  It's actually a symptom of how a nodal editor like Resolve works.

Begin PSA

In PP or FCPX a person can ask the question "how much power do I need" and someone else can give an answer that is useful because people use the software in basically the same way.  Sure, you can have layers and multiple tracks of video, but mostly people edit with one shot visible at a time, and PP and FCPX have such limited colour functionality that you would only use a couple of colour effects.

Resolve is different.

Resolve is a nodal editor, which means that you can make an infinite arrangement of adjustments that apply to some or all of the image.  It's a "how long is a piece of string" question.

It's not uncommon for a 'basic' grade in Resolve to include:

• Lift/gamma/gain/offset level and tint adjustments (to set black and white points exposure and adjust WB)
• A luminance vs luminance curves adjustment (adjust contrast and finer adjustments like shadows)
• A luminance vs saturation curves adjustment (desaturate extreme shadows and highlights)
• A hue vs saturation curve to take one over-saturated item and make it not be distracting
• A node adjusting mid-tone detail, maybe contrast, and some levels that has a key to only be applied to skintones
• An oval qualifier with level adjustment for a vignette adjustment

This is without any OFX plugins, LUTs, Colour Space Transforms, etc.

When you think of Resolve as an EDITOR, you can compare it to PP/FCPX in terms of how it works, but when you think of Resolve as a COLOUR GRADING tool, you should compare it to After Effects.  You wouldn't ask "what computer do I need for After Effects" because it depends on what the hell you're using After Effects for - you could be tracking a window or you could be rendering an entire CGI universe.  Grading in Resolve is the same as that - you could be setting WB and contrast or you could be doing a day-for-night transformation.

End PSA ???

[webrunner5]

@kye  I will give you a prize for the above post. 2 bags of... I can't believe people Really like them LoL.

 

[kye]

@webrunner5 Thanks!  I think!

I haven't tried them, but maybe I should.  Much stranger flavours have been edible and if you put enough salt and sugar into something it's normally passable.  Besides, if you use those little banana lollies as a benchmark the fake flavouring version of something only has to be vaguely in the same flavour universe to be successful ???

[gt3rs]

20 hours ago, newfoundmass said:

4K 60p 150 mbps doesn't play back smoothly at all in Resolve (free version) for me. I have a decent gaming laptop that I got in February of 2017. I've heard that the paid version handles h.264 better though? 

Intel Core i7 7700HQ @ 2.80GHz, 16 GB of ram, and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card. 

Haven't tried it on my main editing rig yet, I still haven't unpacked it after moving. 

 

 

h264 is hw accelareted only in the paid version of resolve.

I manage some light grading also on c200 raw at 24 fps

[shooter]

Yes paid version adds features. I also opened a thread there in their forum: https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=82501

As other member said, they are slow to publish new posts so I wonder if is there anyone here to know if this external gaming box is upgradable for the AORUS GeForce® GTX 1080 Ti 11G with 11GB?

https://www.gigabyte.com/Graphics-Card/GV-N1080IXEB-8GD#kf

Is it?