[Jerry Hart]

I recently had an editing workstation built. I took John Rofrano’s recommendation and built it with a Sandy Bridge CPU – HexaCore i7 3930.
I originally had a AMD Radeon HD 7970 GPU. I ran many render tests and found that the render time with the GPU was slightly slower than with the CPU only. The i7 3930 CPU really did a great job and the render was fast enough for me. ( a short render w/o many FX)

I switched the GPU to a geForce GTX 570 and ran the same render tests, both with and w/o GPU and found the same situation. I tried the latest GPU driver and the GTX ran even slower. I tried many older drivers and settled on 296.10 which performed best. Still, the render times were slower with the GPU acceleration turned on. I have finally given up and do renders on the CPU only. I’m happy with what I have, because I experience no crashes and it seems really stable. I’m fine with the current speed. I hope that soon, a new version of SVP 12 will allow the GTX 570 to perform.

I’m sure the render times without the i7 3930 CPU would be terrible, but I have no problem with render times (about real time length for a simple file, no complex FX. A four minute clip takes about 4 minutes to render)

I guess my point is that if you get a really powerful CPU, then the GPU isn’t such a problem. And hopefully it will get better with new versions of SVP.

[Jerry Hart]

Can I export my timeline to another format and do color correction with a different program like premiere, then import back to SVP12?
Can I do this without rendering until the final render in SVP12?

[Jerry Hart]

If I do the final render in SVP 12, will the file (color corrected but not rendered in SVP10/11) render properly with the color corrections intact?

[Jerry Hart]

My original footage was shot with Lumix Gh3 – .mov I-Frame 24p 1920×1080 at 72Mbps. I’m using Vegas Pro 12.

I didn’t know about nested projects and that I could assemble .veg files into a master. How do I load separate .veg files onto the timeline?

Also, once I get the master assembled, what render choice is best for the best quality Blu-ray?

[Jerry Hart]

The file is .MOV shot at 72Mb/s, I-Frame codex, 1080p/24p from a Lumix G3. I don’t have auto-ripple on. The drop-down next to the auto-ripple button is checked “Affected Tracks”.

It plays fine in VP12 or outside of VP12 in Quicktime. The only problem is when it gets to the timeline and it stretches out in freeze frame after the shot ends. When I drag it back to size to match the length of the audio (proper length), everything plays fine.

I just adjusted the various time choices with the time-line counter and nothing solved the problem.

[Jerry Hart]

This is very sad to hear. I’m taking delivery tomorrow of a editing workstation I had built for Vegas Pro 12. It will have an AMD Radeon HD 7970 w. 3gb.

Sony’s Vegas website on GPU Acceleration states:

AMD/ATI
Requires an OpenCL-enabled GPU and Catalyst driver 11.7 or later with a Radeon HD 57xx or higher GPU.

I believed what Sony said when stated “or higher” and ordered accordingly. Now I hear that this was not correct.

Sony has cost me a very expensive, useless GPU. I’m thinking of downgrading to a Radeon 6870 from e-bay. This was the GPU used in Sony’s benchmarking tests.

[Jerry Hart]

John:
Can you explain what an ISO file is and how it’s created. Do you render it in VP or DVDA?

[Jerry Hart]

Thanks again for all the terrific information.

My system is really running better than you think. I found in the control panel that I actually have an i5 M450 2.4Ghz (not i3 which I read on the sales receipt) But I know it’s still the source of the problems I have of occasional jittery playback.

I tested 24p .mov 72Mb/s footage rendered to Blu-ray Main Concept MPEG-2 (.m2v) 1920×1080 24p at 25 Mb/s and the Blu-ray looked smooth and beautiful. So, thanks for the offer to view footage but I don’t think it’s needed. Thanks to the forum I now have a good idea of how to proceed and a good understanding of the problem.

I’m starting filming my first project with this new camera LUMIX GH3 and even though the film may never see theatrical distribution, I still want to have the best possible quality in case it does.

As I said, I’ll limp along in post with this laptop for the time being. I’ll probably be building an Intel Hex Core Video Editing Workstation that John Rofrano/Video Guys recommends sooner than I planned. I guess I’m looking at $ 2k – 2.5k.

The LUMIX GH3 is the best performing cinema DSLR for the price ($1,300.00) Check it out:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/892456-REG/Panasonic_Lumix_DMC_GH3_Mirrorless_Digital.html

Thanks again. This Forum is really, really helpful.

[Jerry Hart]

John: Thanks for the great information. I think I will begin shooting .MOV 24p (All-Intra) at 72Mb/s and limp along with my system. I can edit OK… it’s just that playback is a bit jumpy. I think my system should be able to handle it even though it’s not a super rig. Here are the specs:

ASUS Laptop X52F-XF1
Processor: Intel i3-370M, 2.4GHz
Graphics: Intel GMA X4500HD
Ram: 8 gig Ram
C: Primary Drive 500g 7200rpm
D: Back up Drive- 2TB Western Digital
F: (For Projects only)CalDigit V2 2TB Raid connected to USB2.0 (two Hitachi 7200rpm)

Even though USB 2.0 to the RAID could be a bottleneck, it’s still rated at 480Mb/s, so that shouldn’t be the problem. I guess Core i3 is the problem. I’m sure it’s a long way from a Core i7 Quad.

I’ve been to your site and have considered building an Intel Hex Core Video Editing Workstation that you recommend, but can’t afford it right now. So I’m starting filming my new project next week on .MOV 24p and hope to get through for the time being.

One further question. Is my question regarding image quality on a cinema screen raising a moot point? Aren’t both formats (codecs and bit-rates) a compromise of some sort. Maybe the difference at the final stage of screening is not noticeable at all (or very little, if any). What do you think?