Computer for editing 4k (150/100Mbps) Panasonic HC-X1E footage

[funkytwig]

Hi.. We just got a Panasonic HC-X1E and was wondering what computer we would need to edit the footage without transcoding?  The main thing I am interested in is which CPU we would need.

The specs of the footage from the Panasonic site are:

Recording / Playback Mode

	AVCHD	PS 1920x1080 59.94p/50.00p: Average 25Mbps (VBR) PH 1920x1080 59.94i/50.00i/23.98p: Average 21Mbps (VBR) HA 1920x1080 59.94i/50.00i: Average 17Mbps (VBR) HE 1440x1080 59.94i/50.00i: Average 5Mbps (VBR) PM 1280x720 59.94p/50.00p: Average 8Mbps (VBR) SA 720x480/720x576 59.94i/50.00i (SIDE CROP/LETTERBOX/SQUEEZE): Average 9Mbps (VBR)
	MP4/ MOV	4K 4096x2160 24.00p 100M: Average 100Mbps (VBR) UHD 3840x2160 59.94p/50.00p 150M: Average 150Mbps (VBR) UHD 3840x2160 29.97p/25.00p/23.98p 100M: Average 100Mbps (VBR) FHD 1920x1080 59.94p/50.00p/29.97p/25.00p/23.98p 200M (ALL-Intra): Average 200Mbps (VBR) FHD 1920x1080 59.94p/50.00p 100M: Average 100Mbps (VBR) FHD 1920x1080 59.94p/50.00p/29.97p/25.00p/23.98p/59.94i/50.00i 50M: Average 50Mbps (VBR)

Did some googeling and still not really sure.  Can someone point me at any recent articles or give me your thoughts.

We are shooting in the 50p/150Mbps setting, but would shooting on maybe a 25p/100Mbps seating help?.

Ben

[excited_Genie16B8]

Honestly, I think you should eliminate the "no transcoding" rule and use Premiere Pro generated proxies for this type of media.

[funkytwig]

This is probably what we are going to have to do but be good to know what type of CPU power we would need if we upgraded out edit suits.

[kulpreet singh]

Hi Ben,

For more suggestions & opinions I have moved your thread to the Hardware Forum.

Thanks,

Kulpreet Singh

[excited_Genie16B8]

A pretty good answer to most any "What equipment should I buy?" question is: "The best that you can afford."

[Alan_Craven]

"A pretty good answer to most any "What equipment should I buy?" question is: "The best that you can afford.""

Agreed!  But the problem is the definition of "best"!  That is what keeps this particular forum alive, and kicking.

[funkytwig]

Kind of but there is often various price-performance sweet spots.  The vibe I get is a dual socket 2015 i7 2.8Ghz desktop can handle it.  This is a LOT cheaper than a modern dual core Mac Pro.  There is always a price consideration for buying kit for a business, even in creative industries.

[Bill Gehrke]

funkytwig  wrote

Kind of but there is often various price-performance sweet spots.  The vibe I get is a dual socket 2015 i7 2.8Ghz desktop can handle it.  This is a LOT cheaper than a modern dual core Mac Pro.  There is always a price consideration for buying kit for a business, even in creative industries.

Unfortunately there is no such thing as a dual socket i7, I assume you were talking about dual Xeon processors.  IF you would like to see how various CPU's can run Premiere Pro.  Take a look at my collection of CPU intensive scores from my newest Premiere Pro BenchMark (PPBM) site and you can roughly make you own trade-off of cost per CPU or CPU pair.

My personal sweet spot is highlighted and it is a single i7 6950X, much less expensive than the few very high end Dual Xeons for CPU intensive processing .  An then when you add in the additional expenses of more costly memory and more costly motherboard  it even makes it more desirable.

[excited_Genie16B8]

But the problem is the definition of "best"

The Internet abounds with CPU performance charts.  Some tests even use PP.

[funkytwig]

OK, I probably asked the wrong question.  It should be what processor is likely to work well.  I am guessing one of the recent 12 core xeons would do the trick but would a recent i7 6 or 8 core work?  Just looking for a few options of CPUs that, given the correct graphics card/HD, should give good performance playing 2/3 streams.

[excited_Genie16B8]

For any H.264 based media, I recommend using the Proxy workflow.  Stick to the included GoPro Cineform presets.  This will provide a marked improvement in performance, especially with effects.

And that brings us back to my earlier answers.  Read the benchmarks and get the best hardware you can afford.

[andreamrg]

What about the DNxHD presets for proxies? I've used the 720p LB 8 bit.
I'm using it for Panasonic GH4 4K 100mbit (which is H.264 if I remember correctly).

[excited_Genie16B8]

Unless they were added in 2017.1, there are no DNx Proxy presets, which means you'd have to create them.  You can, of course, but I do think it's an unnecessary step.

I think the included Cineform presets are all one really needs.

[andreamrg]

No, there aren't any DNx proxy presets in the latest version, I created my custom presets by myself in Media Encoder and then I've imported in Premiere.

I was asking that because the second computer I own (laptop) hasn't a powerful CPU, so I was wondering if there was any performance differences in timeline playback between Cineform and DNx.

[excited_Genie16B8]

I wouldn't expect any noticeable difference.