Inspiring

Question

Editing multiple 4k video files in one scene. Slowing down machine.

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
January 5, 2019
4 replies
2040 views

I'm trying to cut multiple pieces of 4k footage into one meaning, basically layering a ton of 4k footage over itself with effects and layers moving in and out .and no I cant make them smaller or render the 4k clips out to 1080p because of loss of quality even though my composition is in 1080, lots of zooms in and out. My Machine isn't handling it well, Tried proxies but it acts funny every time I do multiple proxies, the clips get changed around in the composition. Does anyone have any idea or a method of working with multiple pieces of 4k footage?

I still have a ton of footage to go through still so I'm not sure the fastest way to accomplish this is. the camera shot with was a sony a6500 and Phantom 4 pro. I don't know if that should matter because I've done graphics on top of 6k Raw RED cam footage with tons of effects with lots of ease.

Specs.

I7-6700k

64 gb RAM

1080ti.

Footage is working of SSD T5 Hard drives

Thanks in advance,

This topic has been closed for replies.

Mo Moolla

Legend

Hi Charlie

Firstly let me say that motion graphic reel on your site is awesome. Love that spaceman on a rock in the middle of the ocean hehe. Love that shot.

The H.264 is the issue.

Get into media encoder and get to out to a format thats less likely to eat all your resources.

What I normally do for large projects (and this take me back to an IMAX project I did for Castrol isL

Footage was

4k UHD Alexa Mini (drone shots)

5K (Red Dragon). 30fps to 240fps.

4K Phantom Flex at high speeds (1200-300fps)

I first brought all into PP, and set in and outs and created subclips

I then set the ins and outs and dropped this onto a 4K Seq

Created a new 1080P seq and dropped the 4K timeline clips in and resized down to 1080p

Then took the whole edit into AE as a 1080

Did all effects work there. Then used instant 4K to upscale andUsed instant 4K to upscale an

Pretty seamless and there was zero loss of quality.

Render times were spot on for this given the very heavy use of particle effects and that the entire project x 2 was 139 layers deep

Just a different workflow that worked for me. My 2 c worth

Mo

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charlieg46861227Author

Inspiring

Thanks for the kind words Mo! that reel is a little old and embarrassing but I'm glad you like the space man.

I really like your workflow and I didn't even know Instant 4k upscale was a thing, I will definitely look into it. Your production company looks really awesome!

Mo Moolla

Legend

Hey there Charlie thanks for the kind words

We do what we gotta do right?

Are you all sorted?

Mo

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Rick Gerard

Community Expert

charlieg46861227 wrote
I'm trying to cut multiple pieces of 4k footage into one meaning, basically layering a ton of 4k footage over itself with effects and layers moving in and out

Do you mean one short comp that is basically one effect or do you mean you are cutting a longer movie in After Effects that have multiple layers?

A lot more detail about the production process and the goal would be very helpful. After Effects is not an editing system, it is a tool used to create shots and short sequences that you cannot create in an NLE. I work on long-form projects all the time that include everything from explainer videos to feature films. Some of these projects have visual effects and graphics in nearly every shot, but my average comp is less than 7 seconds. Even long form explainer videos that must be created using AE's motion graphics capabilities are broken up into comps that are no longer than a single sentence or phrase, then the final film is cut (assembled) in an NLE (Premiere Pro). Even most of my dynamic link projects are rendered in AE, then the footage is used in the PPro sequence because I can render complex comps a lot faster in AE while I'm working using Render Garden than they can be rendered in Premiere Pro through Dynamic Link.

I still have a ton of footage to go through still so I'm not sure the fastest way to accomplish this is. the camera shot with was a sony a6500 and Phantom 4 pro. I don't know if that should matter because I've done graphics on top of 6k Raw RED cam footage with tons of effects with lots of ease.

The A6500 and the DJI Drone are going to give you compressed footage that takes longer to decode and process in AE than it does to decode a proper digital intermediate. If you are going through footage to pick shots then start in Premiere Pro, do a rough cut leaving handles (extra frames to allow for transitions) on your selected footage. You can create comps from each shot or even from short sequences using Dynamic Link to easily import the needed footage into an AE project and create comps from trimmed shots. After Effects is just about the worst tool there is to sort through footage and pick shots. There are a bunch of other tools you can use to pick your shots and plan your production than starting the project in AE.

If these suggestions don't give you some guidance please give us some project details and goals and we can get you pointed down the most efficient path.

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charlieg46861227Author

Inspiring

Thanks Rick, Yes I used Premiere to pick the shots. this is a music video so Timing to the song is essential but i believe It's the h264 compressed footage that is giving me the trouble. I could send you a private vimeo link to what I am doing but I can't send public. And I have to pick the shots in AE, I know but it's the nature of the effect on what looks good and experimenting with it. So I think my solution will be to break up the song into around 20 pieces and go from there. Thank you again

To give you more insight It's a video sort of like this but with a lot of different clips and effects and PSD layers. Mirror City Timelapse on Vimeo

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Rick Gerard

Community Expert

You should be able to get some idea of what shots will work in Premiere Pro. You can even layer things, flip them around and create something similar in PPro. When you think you have an idea for a single musical phrase:

Pick the shot or shots in the sequence and create an AE comp using at most the shots in a single phrase of music and the audio track
As soon as the comp is created and the Project File saved, go back to Premiere Pro and undo the last action so the original shots return
Back in AE - Duplicate the created comp and try a few experiments
When you get something that works save an animation preset for each layer, render the working segment to a suitable visually lossless DI (digital intermediate format) without audio
Import the rendered phrase and try it in Premiere Pro by adding it above the original layers in PPro and fine-tune the timing of that shot
Repeat as necessary using the Animation Presets as templates for other sections of the video

Just poking around in AE and experimenting with various clips is going to be a huge waste of time, organizing, visualizing and planning using PPro as the basic building block will speed things way up.

If you have trouble in AE with the compressed files then, and only then, transcode them to a suitable visually lossless format. I didn't see anything in the sample video that could not be produced efficiently using the workflow that I outlined. The only other workflow hack I can think of would be to export some still frames from PPro and use those as placeholders in AE to fiddle with the effects. If you want to show me some of the footage you can PM me by selecting my profile. I'll be happy to try and take a look.

Dave_LaRonde

Inspiring

Why are you using After Effects to edit? It isn't made for that. Use Premiere Pro instead. It's a video editing application.

With 4K H.264 it probably won't be able to play back in real time -- BUT -- and this is a very big but -- it WILL be a lot better to use than AE!

There is one worse video editing application I can think of other than AE: Microsoft Word.

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charlieg46861227Author

Inspiring

Dave, cmon dude I'm not a complete amateur. I don't think you read my post and put any thought into it. I wish I could share a clip with you of what I am trying to accomplish but I can not. All though I did create my body of work in Microsoft word here is my website to prove it. https://www.blackhills.studio/

imeilfx

Inspiring

If you worked before with Red raw footage it workeed ok and now working with h264 (i'm guessing based on camera specs because you did not provided that info) So for that kind of work I would befor I start editing I would convert those file to some good intermediate formats - mov/Prores, mov/animation, cineform etc.
H264 in mp4 wrapper is quite labor intensive for CPU to playback so if you try to play 4x4K in h264 and with som heavy effects added - that is why your CPU is probably dying.

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charlieg46861227Author

Inspiring

Thanks man I think you are right, it's the footage. It's my camera (A6500) and I've done a ton of compositing and shots with it and have always wondered why the 6k Raw footage cut like butter opposed to my 4k footage but it's the fact it's in the MP4 wrapper an its XAVC Long. I basically thought, well hell I can cut 6k RAW, I can cut anything. So I guess I'm going to have a field day with the Media Encoder? I will research it. Thanks a lot man!

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