format easiest on processor / file size?

ushere wrote on 5/23/2012, 3:42 AM
just been asked if i know which formats edit easily on not so hot pcs (school dual cores);

so i started off saying dv, then hdv, then avchd. however, i'm not sure where mxf, cineform, avid, etc., fit in....

nor could i answer, or even find a comparison of say one hr of material in each formats file size.

for once wikipedia doesn't seem to help me out ;-(

anyone point me at a chart or something please....


Comments

TheHappyFriar wrote on 5/23/2012, 5:54 AM
Vegas edits DV & HDV easiest (least CPU power) unless you get in to some really low res stuff. I edited some Android phone MP4's that were 171 by something for someone and that went smooth as butter. :)
John_Cline wrote on 5/23/2012, 8:27 AM
DV is the least processor intensive, HDV is MPEG2, which does not require a lot of processor horsepower. If you need full 1920x1080 HD, then the Sony MXF format would be a good choice since it's also MPEG2. Cineform is works reasonably well, too. AVCHD or anything else based on h.264 encoding, is much more processor intensive.
Laurence wrote on 5/23/2012, 8:33 AM
Sony .mxf is my favorite. Just as light on the CPU as HDV, but the audio is uncompressed so you don't get damage on successive smart-renders.

The other thing that is important when you want to minimize CPU cycles is to keep all your footage the same dimensions. 1440x1080 mixed with 1920x1080 uses way more CPU than either format individually.

720p is very light on the CPU, even when it is a more complex codec. For instance, 720p off a flip type camera or DSLR edits like butter even on a two core processor.
farss wrote on 5/23/2012, 9:15 AM
There's no simple answer.
Uncompressed is the lightest on CPU, nothing for it to do really but you need very fast I/O. DV, DVCpro 25/50/100 is quite light and file size more reasonable.
Once you get into anything that uses a GOP the harder it gets. mpeg-2 is reasonably simple to decode plus the GOP is short. The H.264 codecs are very efficient but quite a bear to decode, the longer GOP means more buffering.
Cineform is pretty darn good and offers a variety of PQ options including lossy RAW encoding.

Bob.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 5/23/2012, 9:16 AM
Sony .mxf is my favorite. Just as light on the CPU as HDV, but the audio is uncompressed so you don't get damage on successive smart-renders.

I thought DV & HDV were uncompressed 48khz 16-bit stereo too. Is HDV audio compressed?
Chienworks wrote on 5/23/2012, 10:39 AM
DV is uncompressed audio. For some reason i thought HDV used MPEG audio.
Laurence wrote on 5/23/2012, 11:05 AM
It does.
ushere wrote on 5/23/2012, 7:21 PM
thanks everyone - have pointed a few people to this thread!

Laurence wrote on 5/23/2012, 7:32 PM
If you want to make it super easy, mpg 2 at 720p edits incredibly easily. 720p is usually easy even with a more complex codec. A 480p SD resolution mpeg2 project is even easier. MJPEG, especially this one is probably even faster and great for odd sizes.

There comes a point of diminishing returns, where the video is so easy on the PC that you don't need to go this far. I am really aware of this from my P4 days.

TheHappyFriar wrote on 5/23/2012, 8:21 PM
DV edits faster then mpeg-2 though @ SD. mpeg-2 can be much smaller though.