Adobe marketing videos? Hype vs. reality? Please weigh in... at DVinfo.net

Ben Freedman · August 21st, 2011, 03:07 PM

Howdy, all...

So, I just finished watching this video piece that was emailed to me by Adobe:

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/cs-55-prod...grading-power-

In this video, they show a laptop displaying 10 HD tracks of footage, in mixed formats, with multiple color corrections and keys, all playing back in realtime (although reduced resolution), and this on a non-GPU accelerated computer.

However, reading the messages on this forum, it would seem that ANY HD editing (even custs and dissolves) is beyond the reach of all but the most expensive desktop-replacement 10lb behemoths.

I'm just wondering where on the continuum of reality PPRo CS5.5 actually falls. Does anyone have experience using PPro on a reasonably priced (ie. $1500) laptop with an external USB3 drive, or the like? Is 2-3 tracks of basic HD editing doable?

Most importantly....is Adobe kidding us with the performance in this video? Is it tweaked to death just for their roadshow, or pure hype?

Love to hear all opinions...

Best,

Ben

Noa Put · August 21st, 2011, 03:43 PM

Not able to see the video but you can bet their laptop has cutting edge hardware, same applied for the very first video they aired where they showed off MPE technologie, it also was done on a dual six core (12 real cores) which explained why everything they threw on it ran so smooth, only at that time that was not mentioned and they fooled a lot of users thinking MPE would be the solution of realtime everything. I don't believe you can run 10 HD streams realtime on a "regular" laptop, you need some serious horsepower to do that. Furthermore you DO need a certified gpu to help you with displaying realtime colorcorrection, I wonder how they pull this off on a laptop with mpe turned off.

Ben Freedman · August 21st, 2011, 04:01 PM

Agreed..... but I would assume then that you could easily do at least 2-3 HD streams with no effects in realtime on a 'regular' i5 or i7 class laptop, no?

Best,

Ben

Chris Duczynski · August 21st, 2011, 04:02 PM

Not sure why you would be doing 10 tracks of HD on a laptop for a start. Can't see the video either.
But can tell you that multitrack HD may be "out of reach of all but the most expensive desktop replacements", but so what. The whole point is to run the MPE with CUDA certified cards on fast desktops - and that is where PPro Cs5 is at it's best.
If you want to spend $6K plus, on a laptop that does what a $1500 desktop can do then go for it. I would be using the laptop to roughcut a lowres version before migrating to a desktop for finishing.

Ben Freedman · August 21st, 2011, 04:11 PM

Sorry about the video link... Should be fixed now in the original post...

Of course, the point isn't that you want to edit 10 tracks of HD with filters...

The point is that mobile editors often need to at least put together the basics of an HD shoot while on the road. Realistically, this means 2-3 tracks of un-transcoded HD. I expect few people want to replace their $1500 desktop with a $6K laptop, but many (like me) would like to begin a project while still on the road, and get the basics finished before adding effects and the like back home.

They're touting 10HD tracks with effects on a non-GPU laptop. OK, so they're using an uber-laptop to do this. I'd like to be able to do 2 or 3 tracks of HD on a $1500 laptop, and then do the heavy lifting back home on my desktop...

I don't need to playback in full-res for this, so 1/4 resolution playback is fine. Again, it's not my 'main' editing machine, but a mobile solution to make use of hotel and plane time when away from the edit suite.

Maybe the 'whole point' is to run with CUDA etc... but this video makes it seem like that wouldn't be necessary.

Thoguhts?

Ben

Chris Duczynski · August 21st, 2011, 06:25 PM

I think it's more about available features - Editing Red Epic 5K is an example but I wouldn't be doing it natively on a laptop.
Good to see how quickly Adobe are moving with multi-format integration - there are a lot of editors moving away from FCP to Avid or Adobe.

Ben Freedman · August 21st, 2011, 06:56 PM

Yes, but those of us moving from FCP would like to know that the software lives up to the performance described in Adobe's own videos.

Ben

Chris Duczynski · August 21st, 2011, 09:50 PM

Maybe you should ask them the question about the specs - then you can try it and report back

Noa Put · August 22nd, 2011, 01:23 AM

At 1:28 you see icons appear on the bottomside of the laptop screen showing it was done on a Mac laptop so I guess they took the fastest one available with the 2,3-GHz quad-core Intel Core i7?

Ben Freedman · August 22nd, 2011, 08:18 AM

Interesting....

So it isn't one of these 'uber-laptops' that cost $4K, but rather a high-end MBP? I had heard that MAC performance was slower than PC, so again, that would lead me to feel that those who say you can't edit HD decently on a laptop are mistaken...

He's likely using a RAID of some sort, don't you think? Although this video was made pre-thunderbolt, so I wonder how he's got it hooked up...

Thoughts?

Best,

Ben

Chris Duczynski · August 22nd, 2011, 04:15 PM

Ben,
I have a i7 and a 3 GHz PC with 12mb Ram and a GTX470 Cuda certified card - both work fine with CS5. The PC flies and the Mac does OK, but unless you are roughing up very short high-res native multi-formats - which is what may be happening on the vid - an average laptop would seriously struggle IMO. And yes you need RAID and scratch.

Thomas Smet · August 22nd, 2011, 07:40 PM

The performance is the video is correct. The key is that he was playing at 1/4 resolution which helps a lot. Even without an Nvidia gpu CS5.5 can do some amazing stuff. You may not be able to play full resolution at full framerate with that many layers but you can still edit. Honestly if you are editing in the field why on earth would you want to play HD or 4k footage at full res anyway? At best your preview monitor will be 1/2 res or even smaller depending on your other tools and panels.

The system used was a MBP which is hard for Adobe to fudge. I highly doubt they hacked the computer with custom parts since that would be virtually impossible. Chances are it was a newer generation 17" MBP which is basically a $2,500.00 laptop. Not a bad price for the performance there. A PC equivalent may be much cheaper and you may even be able to get one with a supported Nvidia card for even better performance.

August 21st, 2011, 03:07 PM	#1
Ben Freedman Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 188	Adobe marketing videos? Hype vs. reality? Please weigh in... Howdy, all... So, I just finished watching this video piece that was emailed to me by Adobe: http://tv.adobe.com/watch/cs-55-prod...grading-power- In this video, they show a laptop displaying 10 HD tracks of footage, in mixed formats, with multiple color corrections and keys, all playing back in realtime (although reduced resolution), and this on a non-GPU accelerated computer. However, reading the messages on this forum, it would seem that ANY HD editing (even custs and dissolves) is beyond the reach of all but the most expensive desktop-replacement 10lb behemoths. I'm just wondering where on the continuum of reality PPRo CS5.5 actually falls. Does anyone have experience using PPro on a reasonably priced (ie. $1500) laptop with an external USB3 drive, or the like? Is 2-3 tracks of basic HD editing doable? Most importantly....is Adobe kidding us with the performance in this video? Is it tweaked to death just for their roadshow, or pure hype? Love to hear all opinions... Best, Ben Last edited by Ben Freedman; August 21st, 2011 at 04:03 PM.

August 21st, 2011, 03:43 PM	#2
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,510	Re: Adobe marketing videos? Hype vs. reality? Please weigh in... Not able to see the video but you can bet their laptop has cutting edge hardware, same applied for the very first video they aired where they showed off MPE technologie, it also was done on a dual six core (12 real cores) which explained why everything they threw on it ran so smooth, only at that time that was not mentioned and they fooled a lot of users thinking MPE would be the solution of realtime everything. I don't believe you can run 10 HD streams realtime on a "regular" laptop, you need some serious horsepower to do that. Furthermore you DO need a certified gpu to help you with displaying realtime colorcorrection, I wonder how they pull this off on a laptop with mpe turned off.

August 21st, 2011, 04:01 PM	#3
Ben Freedman Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 188	Re: Adobe marketing videos? Hype vs. reality? Please weigh in... Agreed..... but I would assume then that you could easily do at least 2-3 HD streams with no effects in realtime on a 'regular' i5 or i7 class laptop, no? Best, Ben

August 21st, 2011, 04:02 PM	#4
Chris Duczynski Major Player Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: sydney Posts: 304	Re: Adobe marketing videos? Hype vs. reality? Please weigh in... Not sure why you would be doing 10 tracks of HD on a laptop for a start. Can't see the video either. But can tell you that multitrack HD may be "out of reach of all but the most expensive desktop replacements", but so what. The whole point is to run the MPE with CUDA certified cards on fast desktops - and that is where PPro Cs5 is at it's best. If you want to spend $6K plus, on a laptop that does what a $1500 desktop can do then go for it. I would be using the laptop to roughcut a lowres version before migrating to a desktop for finishing.

August 21st, 2011, 04:11 PM	#5
Ben Freedman Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 188	Re: Adobe marketing videos? Hype vs. reality? Please weigh in... Sorry about the video link... Should be fixed now in the original post... Of course, the point isn't that you want to edit 10 tracks of HD with filters... The point is that mobile editors often need to at least put together the basics of an HD shoot while on the road. Realistically, this means 2-3 tracks of un-transcoded HD. I expect few people want to replace their $1500 desktop with a $6K laptop, but many (like me) would like to begin a project while still on the road, and get the basics finished before adding effects and the like back home. They're touting 10HD tracks with effects on a non-GPU laptop. OK, so they're using an uber-laptop to do this. I'd like to be able to do 2 or 3 tracks of HD on a $1500 laptop, and then do the heavy lifting back home on my desktop... I don't need to playback in full-res for this, so 1/4 resolution playback is fine. Again, it's not my 'main' editing machine, but a mobile solution to make use of hotel and plane time when away from the edit suite. Maybe the 'whole point' is to run with CUDA etc... but this video makes it seem like that wouldn't be necessary. Thoguhts? Ben

August 21st, 2011, 06:25 PM	#6
Chris Duczynski Major Player Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: sydney Posts: 304	Re: Adobe marketing videos? Hype vs. reality? Please weigh in... I think it's more about available features - Editing Red Epic 5K is an example but I wouldn't be doing it natively on a laptop. Good to see how quickly Adobe are moving with multi-format integration - there are a lot of editors moving away from FCP to Avid or Adobe.

August 21st, 2011, 06:56 PM	#7
Ben Freedman Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 188	Re: Adobe marketing videos? Hype vs. reality? Please weigh in... Yes, but those of us moving from FCP would like to know that the software lives up to the performance described in Adobe's own videos. Ben

August 21st, 2011, 09:50 PM	#8
Chris Duczynski Major Player Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: sydney Posts: 304	Re: Adobe marketing videos? Hype vs. reality? Please weigh in... Maybe you should ask them the question about the specs - then you can try it and report back

August 22nd, 2011, 01:23 AM	#9
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,510	Re: Adobe marketing videos? Hype vs. reality? Please weigh in... At 1:28 you see icons appear on the bottomside of the laptop screen showing it was done on a Mac laptop so I guess they took the fastest one available with the 2,3-GHz quad-core Intel Core i7? Last edited by Noa Put; August 22nd, 2011 at 01:59 AM.

August 22nd, 2011, 08:18 AM	#10
Ben Freedman Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 188	Re: Adobe marketing videos? Hype vs. reality? Please weigh in... Interesting.... So it isn't one of these 'uber-laptops' that cost $4K, but rather a high-end MBP? I had heard that MAC performance was slower than PC, so again, that would lead me to feel that those who say you can't edit HD decently on a laptop are mistaken... He's likely using a RAID of some sort, don't you think? Although this video was made pre-thunderbolt, so I wonder how he's got it hooked up... Thoughts? Best, Ben

August 22nd, 2011, 04:15 PM	#11
Chris Duczynski Major Player Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: sydney Posts: 304	Re: Adobe marketing videos? Hype vs. reality? Please weigh in... Ben, I have a i7 and a 3 GHz PC with 12mb Ram and a GTX470 Cuda certified card - both work fine with CS5. The PC flies and the Mac does OK, but unless you are roughing up very short high-res native multi-formats - which is what may be happening on the vid - an average laptop would seriously struggle IMO. And yes you need RAID and scratch.

August 22nd, 2011, 07:40 PM	#12
Thomas Smet Trustee Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Milwaukee, WI Posts: 1,719	Re: Adobe marketing videos? Hype vs. reality? Please weigh in... The performance is the video is correct. The key is that he was playing at 1/4 resolution which helps a lot. Even without an Nvidia gpu CS5.5 can do some amazing stuff. You may not be able to play full resolution at full framerate with that many layers but you can still edit. Honestly if you are editing in the field why on earth would you want to play HD or 4k footage at full res anyway? At best your preview monitor will be 1/2 res or even smaller depending on your other tools and panels. The system used was a MBP which is hard for Adobe to fudge. I highly doubt they hacked the computer with custom parts since that would be virtually impossible. Chances are it was a newer generation 17" MBP which is basically a $2,500.00 laptop. Not a bad price for the performance there. A PC equivalent may be much cheaper and you may even be able to get one with a supported Nvidia card for even better performance.