Solved 4K editing

Thinking of purchasing a 4k Camcorder but not sure my PC is up to the job of editing the footage. Any advice as to how much memory and RAM I would need to edit effectively?
Thanks

What model CPU does your computer use ?
How much RAM do you have now ?
What model Graphics Card do you have ?

If you search "system" using the Windows search box in bottom left corner, you can find this info.

You need a minimum of 8 GBs of RAM, more is always better.

The main thing with editing 4K video, is to make sure you use the Proxy Video technique while you edit.
Both Vegas Pro 12/13 and Movie Studio Platinum 13 have an inbuilt tool to do this for you. As soon as you import the 4K video, the program will create smaller file size & easier to play versions, which will be used while you edit. This means that you don't necessarily need a "super computer" to edit 4K video. When it is time to render the final video, the program then switches back to the original versions. This is when you need a really good CPU and/or GPU, to speed up the processing.

Regards
Derek

Derek, thanks for the prompt response. My PC has am Intel (R) Core (TM) i 7 CPU and has 12.0GB of RAM, the graphics card is an NVIDIA GEFORCE GTS240. Currently I use Movie Studio 12.
Dave

Can you be more specific on your CPU model.
i7 is just the series. I need the full model number.
Example: My CPU is Intel i7-2600k

Your Graphics Card is very, very basic and not powerful enough for 4K video.
I suspect that before your report back, your CPU is also an older model.
Once I know the exact CPU model, I can say more.

If I understand what is being displayed, the processor is an Intel i7 920 @2.67GHz

Thank you
This is your CPU model details.
ark.intel.com/products/37147/Intel-Core-i7-920-Processor-8M-Cache-2_66-GHz-4_80-GTs-Intel-QPI

I would not recommend your computer for 4K video editing. It's time to invest in a new computer if you want to get into 4K. Your CPU is too old and slow for this type of work load. CPUs were not optimised for HD video and higher video formats, back in 2008. Back in 2008, 99% of people were mainly working with smaller Standard Definition video files. It wasn't until 2011, that CPU's took a major leap forward in processing power and were able to handle the larger 1080p video files.

Derek, thought you might say that. Is there an alternative to having a brand new PC.... doubtful if my wife would approve of such lavish spending! Would it not be possible to upgrade my existing PC. If so how would be the best way to go about it incrementally, more powerful CPU first, then graphics card? This could be a medium term strategy encompassing various birthday and Christmas presents from my children (maybe the wife too, who knows?). Clearly if this is not an option it looks like my days of 4K editing will be just a distant dream.
Dave

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you can't upgrade an older computer like this.

Do you you follow Dave Dugdale on YouTube ?
His website is www.learningvideo.com/

I have been following Dave since the very beginning and seen his transformation.
A year ago he built a "proper" 4K ready computer. He was sponsored by Asus when he built this, so was very lucky.


I built my computer in 2011 and used the best 4x Core CPU at the time, an Intel i7-2600k.
This is still a great CPU for HD video editing, but not really suitable for 4K.
I can import 4K video into Vegas and edit if I create Video Proxies, however when it comes time to render, it is painfully slow.
Software makers recommend that you really need a 6x or 8x Core CPU for 4K video editing, since 4K is 4x times the file size of 1080 HD video.
A higher end Graphics Card is also recommended and at least one SSD (Solid State Drive) and you need a lot of memory, like 32 GBs of RAM.

Hi Dave,

Sorry, but have to agree with Derek on this one. The i7-920 you have is older architecture for computers, and well behind in even "modern" amenities. The link that Derek gave you for Doug Dugdale's recent build, is an upgrade for one that he had done about two years earlier. He used an i7-3930K, on an Asus motherboard then, with 32 GB of RAM, and various hard drives, and if you follow along on different problems he encountered, even the "Monster" as he called it then, had issues with trying to render video once he started moving to 4K. Even the video card was having problems with the previews, and Adobe uses the CUDA cores in nVidia cards compared to the OpenCL utilized by AMD cards that Sony was adopting. I had built a similar computer to Dave's original, upgrade to an i7-4930K (so I had full use of PCI-E 3.0 natively), with SSD's and Hard Drives on a dedicated LSI RAID card, an updated GTX 780 video card, and was still having problems with 4k footage (though figured out some ways to help with that dreaded GoPro files!). So, I built another (eventually two) computers with the even newer Haswell-E architecture (one has the i7-5930K, the other has the i7-5820K - use it for some gaming also), newer SSD's for the entire work-flow, GTX 980 and 970 cards (not a huge AMD fan, sorry), and these machines are much more fluent when working and rendering files now. I keep up with the Computer architectures, even though I'm retired, and a lot of what I see on YouTube videos concerning the new Skylake processors, is that people are still using an HD workflow. When they want to move to 4K, they are going the Intel Enthusiast Platform route, which would be Haswell-E and the newly released Broadwell-E, which also slots into the Intel X99 motherboards (most of the older boards only require a BIOS/UEFI update).
The problem with our hobby is that for it to be enjoyable like most other hobbies, requires $$$$$$$. No getting around it. Which is one reason I don't play Golf as much as I'd like to either (at least with my scores I get my Green Fees worth of the course!) But again, it still depends on the person and what they are expecting to get out of it. If you are only doing short videos in 4K, the Skylake platform may be advantageous to you, including a savings in your investment. But either Skylake or Haswell-E/Broadwell-E platforms will give you all the new upgrades like native USB 3.0/3.1, fast PCI-e SSD connections, updated Audio codecs, memory support, etc.
Now, if only that retirement pay would cover for the purchase of that Broadwell-E i7-6950X! :whistle:

Hope this helps some,

Mike "The Chief" O'Sullivan

Dear Mike, Many thanks for your very comprehensive response, unfortunately you lost me somewhere after " the link that Derek gave you.....". You were not to know that yours truly is completely without any technical understanding of the inner workings of a PC. The bottom line is I may have to wait until the cost of the technology drops to less eye watering amounts if I want to edit in 4k, at least I now wont be spending my retirement pension on a 4K camcorder. However I won't be taking up golf in the meantime, as Winston Churchill once aid " Golf is a good walk spoiled! (only Joking!). One thing never ceases to amaze me with this forum is how helpful, understanding and very patient people are when dealing with a complete clutz like me!
Dave