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May 20, 2012, 02:26:39 AM


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Author Topic: How much RAM for Video editing  (Read 211 times)

Offline sytrusze

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How much RAM for Video editing
« on: February 19, 2012, 04:37:51 PM »
Dear members,

How important is RAM when it comes to rendering videos? At the moment rendering is a little bit sluggish but i think it's because of my 4GB of RAM. I want to upgrade to 16gb but some ppl say that it doesn't make any difference going above 8gb.

What are your opinions about this?
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Offline Ctwo

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Re: How much RAM for Video editing
« Reply #1 on: February 19, 2012, 09:45:10 PM »
I've monitored resource load and it comes down mostly to processing power. I have not gone above 6GB when processing HD video using a fast i7, fast ram, and video (not helping...)...
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Offline sytrusze

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Re: How much RAM for Video editing
« Reply #2 on: February 20, 2012, 06:30:00 PM »
Hmm i've got a brand new iMac with an i7 built in and 4gb of RAM. I doubt that my processor is lacking?
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Offline bcowper

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Re: How much RAM for Video editing
« Reply #3 on: February 20, 2012, 06:42:50 PM »
I have a Mac Pro with 12gigs of ram, it's insane for editing...but you really only need 4gigs for hd video...
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Offline sytrusze

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Re: How much RAM for Video editing
« Reply #4 on: February 20, 2012, 06:45:09 PM »
What can be my problem then? :(

Let's say if i add a blur to a 10 second clip in After Effects, rendering takes so long! Don't know what i can do to fix it
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Offline 1074

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Re: How much RAM for Video editing
« Reply #5 on: February 20, 2012, 06:56:33 PM »
And there it is! I was going to ask what you were editing with, but you've already answered.

Using a comp with 4GB of RAM and wondering about slow rendering effects in AE is the equivalent of entering the Indy 500 with an '87 Corolla and wondering why you lost.  ;D

Adobe products are NOT processor intensive like the Sony products are. They have different needs, and After Effects needs RAM like a fish needs water.

I wouldn't expect "quick" rendering with less than 12GB of RAM, but any RAM that you could add would improve performance. And if you're using CS5, make sure your graphics card is CUDA compatible (generally speaking, it would need to be a late model NVIDIA card, but there are others), that will make a MAJOR difference in performance. Adobe enabled hardware acceleration, and it's pretty cool if you're machine meets the specs.
« Last Edit: February 20, 2012, 06:58:15 PM by 1074 »
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Offline sytrusze

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Re: How much RAM for Video editing
« Reply #6 on: February 20, 2012, 07:02:42 PM »
Cool, thats an answer i was looking for. I have no problem with upgrading my RAM at all, i just need to know the 'maximum' because i've read/heard several times that there basically is a limit to RAM...In other words, upgrading more than the 'maximum' amount of RAM will not improve the performance at all (not yet in any case, maybe in the future it will).

I actually DO use CS5, my iMac has an AMD Radeon HD 6970M 1024 MB graphics card built in. I'm not quite sure if this card is CUDA compatible but i think it is since it's a late 2011 iMac.
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Offline sytrusze

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Re: How much RAM for Video editing
« Reply #7 on: February 20, 2012, 07:03:54 PM »
Quote from: 1074 on February 20, 2012, 06:56:33 PM
Adobe enabled hardware acceleration, and it's pretty cool if you're machine meets the specs.

Is this automatically enabled in CS5, or do I have to enable it manually?
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Offline Ctwo

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Re: How much RAM for Video editing
« Reply #8 on: February 21, 2012, 07:30:57 AM »
Only some nvidia cards are CUDA enabled. Which i7? It needs to be a 2nd gen. i7...

AMD has an encoder that will use the GPU - it is part of the driver package and accessible via the catalyst interface (PC - not sure what is on Mac). I've tried it and will stick with CPU encoding.

Also, http://www.mainconcept.com/press/single-view/article/mainconcept-and-amd-collaborate-to-accelerate-high-definition-video-encode.html

http://www.mainconcept.com/products/sdks/gpu-acceleration/opencltm-h264avc.html

I've read some mixed feelings on CUDA, but that is about all I know of now that works with *some* Adobe products.

http://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/PremiereCS5.htm

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Offline 1074

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Re: How much RAM for Video editing
« Reply #9 on: February 21, 2012, 08:19:52 AM »
I guess the maximum would be how much you can cram into your motherboard...  ;D

I know plenty of people run & recommend 24GB, so that's probably a good number for a max.
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Offline Ctwo

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Re: How much RAM for Video editing
« Reply #10 on: February 21, 2012, 01:30:59 PM »
To be honest, I'm just using Premier Elements - I did not know that AE would use so much more RAM...anyway, I'm glad to have 16GB and feel better that it could someday actually be used...
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Offline sytrusze

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Re: How much RAM for Video editing
« Reply #11 on: February 21, 2012, 02:57:45 PM »
 Hehe okay cool. Thanks for the feedback guys!

Gettings myself some 24gb of horse power...or i might get myself 32gb  8) well see..
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Offline sytrusze

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Re: How much RAM for Video editing
« Reply #12 on: February 21, 2012, 02:59:33 PM »
Quote from: Ctwo on February 21, 2012, 01:30:59 PM
To be honest, I'm just using Premier Elements - I did not know that AE would use so much more RAM...anyway, I'm glad to have 16GB and feel better that it could someday actually be used...

After Effects has RAM preview, which (probably) renders the HD video in the RAM modules. Don't know how this goes in Premiere exactly
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Offline GouletPens

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Re: How much RAM for Video editing
« Reply #13 on: February 25, 2012, 06:21:02 AM »
Another thing to consider when rendering video like this is if you're going to be working on other things at the same time. I have 16GB in my 27" iMac, and I can render full HD while simultaneously shooting and editing pictures in Aperture and Photoshop, while streaming music from Pandora ;) The RAM really helps a lot not just with rendering video, but allowing you to accomplish other things on your computer while your video is rendering. I whole-heartedly recommend the upgrade.
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