PC mods to handle larger photo/video processing loads

[Rob Wadsworth]

Since RAW files are much the same size for a full frame camera (around 25mp), I never had any difficulty with processing these files when using Lightroom. But some plug-ins such as Topaz Gigapixel, Denoise, Sharpen, and video editing requires far more processing power. A one minute 1080p video takes 1 1/2 hours to clean and convert to 4K with this unmodded system!

Was using an older AMD 4-core processor with 16gb of DDR3 ram to begin with. Along with a 1050Ti/4gb video card and a SSD with win10 OS. So I scavenged parts from a couple of other computers. Put in an 8-core 4ghz processor and 32gb of ram. Everything else was the same. I first put in the extra ram, and this seemed to make a difference. It was after that point that putting in the better cpu was then done. Again the loading speed and processing time was gradually reduced somewhat. The Nvidia card also received 'Studio Drivers' instead of the gaming drivers, which are targeted for photo and video work (new drivers were just released today - btw). Lightroom seemed to be better off in every way. But videos; ugh.

Video files are enormous after processing. Just a one minute video converted to 4K and cleanup became a whopping 12gb file!!!
There has got to be a better way to do this, both for work flow speed and file size.
Any thought or recommendations are appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[Talmadge Pipkin]

Rob,
Some thoughts I had and please forgive any “rambling as I am in the process of a bout with COVID (Delta variant). I would first make sure your BIOS is update for your board. If you switched the processor it very well may be that the older BIOS did not fully support the newer CPU thus an update would make things run more cohesive. For my business, I run a Ryzen 5 2600 3.9Ghz “sometimes” OC” depending on the nature of my current situation. The board is a gaming board and supports DDR4. Not sure if yours is DDR4 driven, however that made a big difference to my workflow.
Now regarding file size. I don’t think there is a way to get around this too much. There are “hacks”, if you will, that can alleviate such a large size however the quality always becomes a question that pops up. What are you using to encode the video footage? I currently use Premiere Pro 2021. There are different format settings that might render smaller file sizes. I would love to fire up my system and give you some potential examples, however I have been quarantined and remain in my spare bedroom (very comfortable with bath and everything I need). I absolutely do not want my wife catching this. It has kicked a mud hole in me, even with the Pfizer shots!
I tell you what, I will also see if I can locate the videos I had that dealt with file size and send a link to you. If that is something you are interested in? Take care Rob, and stay safe out there!!
Respectfully,
Talmadge Pipkin
Paws Under the Door Studio
Clearwater, Fl.

 

[Rob Wadsworth]

Thank you, Talmadge Pipkin, for that info . . . may I ask what video card you use in your arrangement?

Guess this PC I am presently using may be better suited for just LrC photos. It is 32gb of DDR3.

For video rendering, I guess that I will have to go with an AMD 5800x cpu, 64gb of 3800mhz of DDR4, 1tb M.2 SSD, ASUS X570x mobo, and a hideously expensive RTX 2060Ti 8gb card. I understand at this point, that video card performance makes a pivotal difference with rendering speed.

Thoughts?

 

[Talmadge Pipkin]

Thank you, Talmadge Pipkin, for that info . . . may I ask what video card you use in your arrangement?

Guess this PC I am presently using may be better suited for just LrC photos. It is 32gb of DDR3.

For video rendering, I guess that I will have to go with an AMD 5800x cpu, 64gb of 3800mhz of DDR4, 1tb M.2 SSD, ASUS X570x mobo, and a hideously expensive RTX 2060Ti 8gb card. I understand at this point, that video card performance makes a pivotal difference with rendering speed.

Thoughts?

…while I am thinking about (just took NyQuil to thwart some of the effects of COVID) and awake, here is the card I got on Amazon. VERY happy with the performance of this card!
EVGA GeForce GTX 1650 Super SC Ultra Gaming, 4GB GDDR6, Dual Fan, Metal Backplate, 04G-P4-1357-KR https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081R425Y...abc_QZ8NPH52DYJP6XCDPBQA?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
More later! Take care…

 

[Rob Wadsworth]

Update:

Since having a i7 8700K processor, an Nvidia GTX 1070 FTW (8Gb), and a Z370 chipset Asus mobo in another computer, I decided to try modifying that one - instead of modifying the AMD 8350 cpu/board any further.

First, the C drive/OS Samsung 970 NVMe 256gb was replaced by a faster Samsung 980 1tb NVMe. The 970 was then formatted and repurposed as a fast scratch pad for Adobe Ps. Dunno if Adobe Pr has a setting like that as yet; but will look. Next, the 16gb of G.Skill 4000mhz RAM was replaced by some G.Skill 64gb of 3600mhz RAM. Already have a nearly empty 4tb HDD installed and will get another in the near future.

The mobo BIOS was then upgraded to the newest available. The Cinebench benchmark had pretty much the same results as the 16gb setup; within a mere 10 points with the slightly slower but more copious RAM. Which is still more than twice the speed of the AMD box - in comparison. The original AMD board and cpu still work fine for doing just photo work and is still part of the workbench arrangement. But the new computer is now geared up for 4K video editing. In addition to the Adobe Pr, have also added the free version of DaVince Resolve.

Also acquired a SpyderX Pro to tune the monitors for the most accurate color. Was simple to install and set up. That seems to work better on just one of the monitors; not so much on the other. Suspect that the one monitor is failing and may need to be replaced in the near future. Not surprised, as it is already tens years old and counting.

Any tips or just some thoughts any may have to improve this arrangement is greatly appreciated and welcomed, since doing viddy work is new to me. I see the need for digging deeply into the video software, as it is really quite foreign to me. Need some training wheels for that software! Far more complex than Adobe LrC or Ps photo software. Perhaps a more rudimentary editing software may become necessary, just to get used to more of the basic actions and really get my feet wet . . .

 

[Talmadge Pipkin]

Update:

Since having a i7 8700K processor, an Nvidia GTX 1070 FTW (8Gb), and a Z370 chipset Asus mobo in another computer, I decided to try modifying that one - instead of modifying the AMD 8350 cpu/board any further.

First, the C drive/OS Samsung 970 NVMe 256gb was replaced by a faster Samsung 980 1tb NVMe. The 970 was then formatted and repurposed as a fast scratch pad for Adobe Ps. Dunno if Adobe Pr has a setting like that as yet; but will look. Next, the 16gb of G.Skill 4000mhz RAM was replaced by some G.Skill 64gb of 3600mhz RAM. Already have a nearly empty 4tb HDD installed and will get another in the near future.

The mobo BIOS was then upgraded to the newest available. The Cinebench benchmark had pretty much the same results as the 16gb setup; within a mere 10 points with the slightly slower but more copious RAM. Which is still more than twice the speed of the AMD box - in comparison. The original AMD board and cpu still work fine for doing just photo work and is still part of the workbench arrangement. But the new computer is now geared up for 4K video editing. In addition to the Adobe Pr, have also added the free version of DaVince Resolve.

Also acquired a SpyderX Pro to tune the monitors for the most accurate color. Was simple to install and set up. That seems to work better on just one of the monitors; not so much on the other. Suspect that the one monitor is failing and may need to be replaced in the near future. Not surprised, as it is already tens years old and counting.

Any tips or just some thoughts any may have to improve this arrangement is greatly appreciated and welcomed, since doing viddy work is new to me. I see the need for digging deeply into the video software, as it is really quite foreign to me. Need some training wheels for that software! Far more complex than Adobe LrC or Ps photo software. Perhaps a more rudimentary editing software may become necessary, just to get used to more of the basic actions and really get my feet wet . . .

Rob,
Sorry for the "delayed" response! Being a public school teacher as my main source of income (15 years now), I have seen and experienced a TON of distractions ranging from COVID to contract issues. Nevertheless, I wanted to take a quiet (lol!) moment and respond. It sure looks like you have "dialed in" your current system! Has the BIOS been stable? Sometimes the most current versions have bugs to work out unless they have been pushed out to address some of the "slightly" older processors/peripherals. I am using a dedicated firewire audio interface (Focusrite Pro 40) which takes some of the "stress" off of the CPU/bus processing. Is the memory DDR3 or DDR4? That can make a difference, however not a deal-breaker. DDR4 just provides a bit more speed and video will eat up anything you throw at it, as you know. Are you using "system audio"? USB 3 interfaces and up should be more than adequate and are fairly cheap nowadays. I had to revert back to Windows 10 as I have seen issues with some of my gear NOT being supported with the Windows 11 architecture. THAT was a big issue for me as of late.
As far as Adobe Premiere settings go, I am more than happy to share screenshots of my configuration. One thing that does stand out to me is making sure, when in Premiere, that your project "Video Rendering and Playback" setting for "Render" is set to CUDA (Mercury Playback Engine GPU Acceleration). And use a alternate internal disc for your scratch disk. Doesn't matter which one, just make sure it is not the one with your OS. As a final measure, I am using MSI Afterburner when needed for heavier projects.
I REALLY hope this has been a help, Rob, and if you have ANY questions or want to bounce any ideas my way, please do! I will do my very best to respond more quickly next time. Getting over a nasty cold (out of work two days so far) this week. Blah! The rigors of teaching are not for the faint of heart, lol!! Oh yeah, here are a couple links on Adobe Premiere that I have found VERY helpful. Take care!!!

VideoRevealed - VideoRevealed Colin was a Senior Solutions engineer for Adobe for 17+ years!
https://www.youtube.com/c/PremiereGal/videos Kelsey Brannan does a fantastic job with her channel

 

[Rob Wadsworth]

Thanks, Talmadge!

Today, I acquired a Sony 4K monitor. Refresh rate is 120hz, which means it should frame video like a true monster. Planning to use the Sony A7III just as a video cam, and let the Canon cameras (6D MkII and RP) handle the still shots. This monitor is capable of the HLG color gamut dynamic range (nearly 14 stops). Wasn't 'cheap'. I cried . . . but the dynamic range really is amazing and softened those tears. A little.

A couple of days ago, I bought an 'Nvidia RTX 2070 Super' video card; should take a week to get here. Tested this system using the EVGA GTX 1070 FTW on PC Mark 10 benchmark and got 6914 points/91% placement score out of all computers tested (<2 million). This present setup beat a Ryzen 7 3700X system by nearly 200 points. Looks like it is starting to come together. Surprised that the older i7 8700K cpu is still a contender. Who da thunk it?!? Not me.

So this computer should be a real zinger once the upgrade video card arrives. Maybe posting some updated results then. But it already seems to be capable of doing most video editing, except for 4K. I don't use this computer to play video games, but it should be able to do most any of them with relative ease at the 1440 resolution. Should give one game a spin just to observe and evaluate further.

After careful examination of the benchmark stats, the PC Mark test revealed that the 1070 video card was the one part holding this system back - quite a bit. It would literally double the video rendering score by upgrading, since the 1070 doesn't handle 4K very well. The upgraded video card is needed just to keep up and stay in that '4K game'. Will put the 1070 in the previous AMD system build and give it a much needed shot in the arm.

 

[Rob Wadsworth]

Just acquired a Ryzen 5800X, MSI X570 mobo, 1 Tb NVMe M.2 PCIe ver.4.0, and am still looking for a RTX-3070 for another build to evaluate for video editing vs price analysis and opine - TBA and posted within the month.

Some thoughts so far . . .
It can be said that a ten year old multi core PC can do most LrC photo editing with few - if any - mods with relative ease.
However, an older monitor would best give way to the newer 4k versions, especially if they have a better color dynamic standard than REC709, as many monitors do. So for better quality photo edits and if you had planned to upgrade your editing rig, money may well be best spent on the best monitor that you budget will allow. Sony, BenQ, and LG are frontrunners to consider. Prices are fairly low and there is a large supply ATT.

As far a video editing goes?
That's "a horse of another color" - said the doorman of Oz.
So long as you have 32gb of ram, six/eight cpu cores, fast SSD drive; then 1080p is easily doable with that older PC. Not fast, but reasonable enough to perform adequately. Make sure that you video card is a GTX 1050Ti - equivalent - or higher. But for rendering 4K videos, that older PC will be nightmarishly slow and process slowly and ultimately prove to be a waste of time - IMO. See post #1. I would spare you of that, and thus this thread. Of course, I am a relative noob to video production, so I am hoping my mistakes and accounting for them here may help other noobs spend less money and time and accomplish more.

The i7 8700K/64gb ram rig is more along the lines of adequacy - IMO. The Nvidia 20/PCIe 3.0 series cards (RTX 2060, 2070, etc) are far better suited for 4K editing, as well as the AMD/Radeon equivalents (5600XT, 5700XT, etc). Although it is true that this future Ryzen system has yet to be finished and tested, I suspect at this point that it will be diminishing returns for the money outlay. 64gb of ram on the 8700K system is also a little excessive, since 32gb is both cheaper and practically as efficient. It is true that the Ryzen cpu, NVMe, and mobo purchased was used and bought a very reasonable price ($485), the PCIe 4.0 RTX 3070 video card planned on is still at a premium price point ($1100/new and $850/use at this time of writing). But this should soon change too . . .

Video card pricing really should come down soon, since the Intel chip mfr has also entering the lucrative video card market and thereby creating a greater market supply. Dubbed 'Alchemist', it is said to be very competitively priced (cards will support DirectX 12 and Vulkan ray tracing), and should cause both AMD and Nvidia scrambling to lower prices and still come up with 'wow' value to stay in the running for your dollar. The May/June 2022 release is the word on the street.

More to come after the new Ryzen build is finished . . .
Gurus welcome to chime in!