ello everyone

i had to drop my video setting on my DJI P4Pro From 4k/60 to 1080/60, due to my editing platform is a macbook air (2011) with 60GB the process to Edit a Video it takes a long time to process and also running out of space while converting the video file. the only thing i can upgrade is the ssd, it will help on space running out space issue ,but i think my cpu is to slow to process 4k/60 video any suggestion thank you. see stats macbook air below

MacBookAir4,1

Processor Name: Intel Core i5

Processor Speed: 1.6 GHz

Number of Processors: 1

Total Number of Cores: 2

L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB

L3 Cache: 3 MB

Memory: 2 GB

ntel HD Graphics 3000:

Chipset Model: Intel HD Graphics 3000

SSD 60GB

I am a computer professional  and I do a lot of video editing. There is not really too much you can do with your existing computer.  As a matter fact, I'm surprised it works at all with only 2GB of memory.   4k video is an absolute resource hog, so you will need the biggest processor you can afford, an SSD,  and 16 GB of memory in minimum.

Jeffyk Posted at 2017-5-31 14:03
I am a computer professional  and I do a lot of video editing. There is not really too much you can do with your existing computer.  As a matter fact, I'm surprised it works at all with only 2GB of memory.   4k video is an absolute resource hog, so you will need the biggest processor you can afford, an SSD,  and 16 GB of memory in minimum.

thanks for the reply and the information I so my next system should have 16 GB for memory or 16 GB memory for the video card im thinking of getting a Mac system what do you suggest again thank you for the reply

andyc57 Posted at 2017-5-31 20:15
thanks for the reply and the information I so my next system should have 16 GB for memory or 16 GB memory for the video card im thinking of getting a Mac system what do you suggest again thank you for the reply

16 GB of RAM and 4 MB video card if you can afford the cost.

Actually, the major part of the work is done by the processor, so an i7 processor with 4 or  more cores is best. If you want to really nail it, a Mac Pro is the best option in the Apple world. But you can do better for less money by speccing a Windows gaming machine with a good graphics card like an RX480.

I would counsel you, to look for another type of computer, fast (i7) with a very good Ram, as big as possible (32Gb DDR3/1600Mhz.), a very good graphic card for 4K ( 4 MB at least ), two SSD disks, one for the sistem and another one for previous and renders, and a 4K monitor

Bullflyer Posted at 2017-5-31 22:57
I would counsel you, to look for another type of computer, fast (i7) with a very good Ram, as big as possible (32Gb DDR3/1600Mhz.), a very good graphic card for 4K ( 4 MB at least ), two SSD disks, one for the sistem and another one for previous and renders, and a 4K monitor

Sounds a bit slow, much better to get an i9 with 1TB of memory and a RAID array of 9 SSD for the rendering?

Alternatively reduce your expectations and use more efficient software.

While it is true that a full 4K high super quality render on my i3 onto an external USB mechanical hard drive tends to be an over night task, it will still do the job without difficulty and without preventing me from sleeping.

I had the MacBook 12" Retina, I upgraded from this to a 13" TouchBar 2.9GHz i5, 8GB 2133MHz RAM, 512GB SSD (2GB/s Write, 2.5GB/s Read), 1.5GB Iris Graphics, honestly you can easily play the full 4K content and it can edit it rather quickly.
And the Touchbar models are made for video / photo editing as the touchbar hosts features and quick buttons making editing much simpler. You dont need 16GB RAM, it is an expensive upgrade at Apple and is maily used for multitasking, and the latests macbooks use the 2133MHz, much faster than the 1333 or 1600 speed so 8GB is plenty.

Bradders Posted at 2017-6-1 00:38
I had the MacBook 12" Retina, I upgraded from this to a 13" TouchBar 2.9GHz i5, 8GB 2133MHz RAM, 512GB SSD (2GB/s Write, 2.5GB/s Read), 1.5GB Iris Graphics, honestly you can easily play the full 4K content and it can edit it rather quickly.
And the Touchbar models are made for video / photo editing as the touchbar hosts features and quick buttons making editing much simpler. You dont need 16GB RAM, it is an expensive upgrade at Apple and is maily used for multitasking, and the latests macbooks use the 2133MHz, much faster than the 1333 or 1600 speed so 8GB is plenty.

Bradders, this might be my next Mac... what editing software do you use?

Those H264 and H265 are mostly CPU hungry because they are so compressed so you would need a fast i7 cpu four-core or more. It is a good advice to get a good GPU card also with at least 4GB RAM which I find to be bit to low, and it also depends on the editing APP you use. There is not so much need of a fast SSD disks for H264 and H265 files which are low bit rate 100Mbps (12.5 MB/s) at the most from P4P, but it is nice to have. Maby you mey get away with 8GB RAM which I think is to litle, so more RAM is better. The RAM need also depends on the APP you are using.

JoiCam Posted at 2017-6-1 09:23
Those H264 and H265 are mostly CPU hungry because they are so compressed so you would need a fast i7 cpu four-core or more. It is a good advice to get a good GPU card also with at least 4GB RAM which I find to be bit to low, and it also depends on the editing APP you use. There is not so much need of a fast SSD disks for H264 and H265 files which are low bit rate 100Mbps (12.5 MB/s) at the most from P4P, but it is nice to have. Maby you mey get away with 8GB RAM which I think is to litle, so more RAM is better. The RAM need also depends on the APP you are using.

Hello joiCam thank for you reply and information

I've been uploading videos to YouTube for 7 years now, the honest truth is that you need to be thinking specialist machine spec to be editing and rendering efficiently in 4k resolution. Everyone has an opinion on this and I might be right or I might be wrong, as far as I'm aware PC/Mac hardware really isn't ready for editing that kind of footage quality. If you take a look at most standard laptops/desktops they can't even play a 4k video files, let alone accommodate it on standard sized monitors and edit the files. Realistically it's the gaming market which has pushed for this resolution and machine spec for business hasn't embraced this. I'm a little bit of a hardware snob, but I think like others in this thread you'd need to switch over to a desktop solution with a lot of processing power, I use Premiere Pro which is CPU and GPU intensive and I would recommend  an i7 processor with 16GB memory, along side a decent sized capacity SSD, and dedicated Graphics card, for example Nvidia 1070/1080 or AMD RX570/580 with a decent quantity of video memory. Of course a 4k monitor to support the raw and final edited clips.

Of course this is a recommendation, I'm not right or wrong, it's your choice at the end of the day.

I run an i7 @ 5.0Ghz watercooled, 16GB memory, 2 x 512GB SSD raid 0 and 10TB of storage, AMD R9 290 GPU on a ASUS ROG motherboard. This will edit and render a 7 minute 4k video for YouTube in 15 minutes.
Hope this helps. Jake Billing - YouTube Content Creator

Jake Billing Posted at 2017-6-2 07:13
I've been uploading videos to YouTube for 7 years now, the honest truth is that you need to be thinking specialist machine spec to be editing and rendering efficiently in 4k resolution. Everyone has an opinion on this and I might be right or I might be wrong, as far as I'm aware PC/Mac hardware really isn't ready for editing that kind of footage quality. If you take a look at most standard laptops/desktops they can't even play a 4k video files, let alone accommodate it on standard sized monitors and edit the files. Realistically it's the gaming market which has pushed for this resolution and machine spec for business hasn't embraced this. I'm a little bit of a hardware snob, but I think like others in this thread you'd need to switch over to a desktop solution with a lot of processing power, I use Premiere Pro which is CPU and GPU intensive and I would recommend  an i7 processor with 16GB memory, along side a decent sized capacity SSD, and dedicated Graphics card, for example Nvidia 1070/1080 or AMD RX570/580 with a decent quantity of video memory. Of course a 4k monitor to support the raw and final edited clips.

Of course this is a recommendation, I'm not right or wrong, it's your choice at the end of the day.

Hi make thanks for your reply and infomation

Actually, you can shoot 4K files first and then redner 4k to 1080p. It would bring you a much better quality during editing.