So I've filmed my first 4K footage with my new P4. Edited a few bit and pieces together getting to grips with what the p4 can do. My only gripe is that editing 4K is a real drag, it really slows things down while it renders in the background so I usually just stop and let it catch up. I'm using a MacBook Pro (13" early 2015 Retina) with 3.1GHz i7, 16 gig ram and SSHD running Final Cut X. In the past I've just stuck with 1080p and it's a breeze.

I suppose what I'm asking, is there any way of speeding things up, if there's not I'll probably just go back to filming in 1080?

Thanks in advance....  

Hi
I use Sony Vegas and there is an option in it called "Automatically create video proxies for 4k media" This is in video settings.
What it does is show everything in HD or SD so you can edit add effects etc. and show it in real time.

I don't know which you are using but there may be a similar option.

Hope that helps

In regards to staying with what you have, you can try to free up some of your CPU space. Do you have a lot of programs on your computer, or not that many?

I've done some reading, I can switch to proxy media for editing purposes, hopefully that'll speed things up. Downside being it takes up more space.

Most likely the capability of the video card or whatever is in the Mac.  To get good performance you need to pass the rendering off to the video card whenever possible. I just purchased a new system just because of 4K rendering and the video card made a world of difference.  The video card has 2,816 CUDA cores and 6GB of GDDR 5 memory.  The base machine has 32 GB of ram but is hardly used when rendering video.  All the work is being done in the video card.

If your using FCP on the preview window click the upper right drop down and select better performance. It defaults to better quality. Thats for only when your editing and doesn't have anything to do with the way it will look once your export it

I too have a Mac with upgraded memory and have messed with some 4k but your correct its just way to slow when rendering so I just shoot 1080P at 60 FPS and turns out great.

Creating Proxy footage will make the editing process faster, but not the actual rendering in the end.
If you have a decent PC with a good video card then you can also get away with editing real footage. I have a Skylake i5 with GTX970 and usually dont bother with proxy footage for shorter movies. But for longer projects with several layers, adjustements etc. I do create proxy footage.