While experimenting with Blender and Lux Render, I read something that AnandTech was using Luxmark for evaluating OpenCL performance between GPUs. Then come to find out Anandtech also uses Vegas Pro as a benchmark tool. The results are somewhat interesting, with the best gaming card not necessarily making the best GPU for Vegas. It appears that AMD performs much better overall with OpenCL and hence Vegas. So while AMD might not have the best scores outputting MC mp4 files, they might perform better with general work inside Vegas.
This made me think that maybe Sony or a 3rd party could develop a system diagnostic page inside Vegas, or system evaluation score page. What would be nice is an auto diagnostic that tests the compatibility of installed hardware. A display and GPU check listing, OpenCL version, and tests against all Sony GPU accelerated effects, and verifies compatibility. This might offer a simple Green/Red Check, or evaluation score set by Sony, much like the MS system score. Black Magic has a disk utility that performs a similar diagnostic for uncompressed capture. A diagnostic like this would go a long way to answer peoples questions on upgrades, or fail configurations that many attempt to run Vegas on. It might not solve crashing, but identifying fail or weak hardware might relieve some.
Here are the Anantech Vegas reviews with benchmark scores:
2014 GPU - Vegas Bench Results
290x and Vegas Review
270x and Vegas Review for older cards
After running Luxmark on my own Vegas configuration, it made me think what codecs are actually GPU accelerated? Here is run down on my test.:
Here is my test configuration, no over clocking:
Intel Core i7 870@ 2.93GHz - Lynnfield
20GB DRAM Frequency -533.0 MHz
Gigabyte P55-USB3
HD5770 1GB @850MHz (Juniper) - OpenCL 1.2 - 10 compute units
Disk -M4 SSD - AHCI mode
OS Win 8.1-64x
AMD Catalyst Version - 13.9
AMD APP SDK 2.9
AMD System Monitor
MS Visual C++ 2005 -2012 code packs
Vegas Pro 12 - 770
Luxmark Ball Score = 6759
Winsat Scores from cmd:
CPU LZW Compression 484.18 MB/s
CPU AES256 Encryption 341.45 MB/s
Memory Performance 13054.68 MB/s
Disk Random 16.0 Read 171.47 MB/s 7.6
Disk Sequential 64.0 Read 268.66 MB/s 7.6
Disk Sequential 64.0 Write 110.88 MB/s 6.7
Disk Average Read Time with Sequential Writes 0.531 ms 7.9
Disk Latency: 95th Percentile 2.300 ms 7.5
Disk Latency: Maximum 89.437 ms 7.7
Disk Average Read Time with Random Writes 0.635 ms 8.6
Render As:
XDCAM 1080-24P File -----> <target codec (+OpenCL Enabled if available)>
XDCAM ---> AVC-Intra100 = No GPU Assist
XDCAM --->WMV - 1080-24P = No GPU Assist
XDCAM --->XAVC - 1080-24P = No GPU Assist (Shocking)
XDCAM ---> Avid DNxHD 36mbs = No GPU Assist
XDCAM ---> Black Magic HD422 8bit Uncompressed = No GPU Assist
XDCAM --->Uncompressed-YUV - 1080-24P = No GPU Assist
XDCAM ---> HDCAM SR 422 = No GPU Assist
XDCAM ---> HDCAM SR Lite 422 = No GPU Assist
XDCAM ---> Black Magic MJPEG422 = GPU@29% Assist
XDCAM ---> DV-24P-Wide = GPU@34% Assist
XDCAM ---> MainConcept MPEG 1 = GPU@56% Assist
XDCAM ---> MainConcept Mpeg 2 - 1080-24P= GPU@34%Assist
XDCAM ---> MainConcept AVC(OpenCL) - High Profile = GPU@79% Assist
XDCAM ---> MainConcept MP4(OpenCL) - Internet 24P= GPU@85% Assist
XDCAM --->MXF HD EX - 1080-24P = GPU@34%Assist
XDCAM --->XDCAM to MXF HD422 50mbs - 1080-24P = GPU@32%Assist
XDCAM --->Sony AVC - Internet - 1080-24P = GPU@32% Assist
XDCAM --->Sony AVCHD - 1080-24P = GPU@32% Assist
XDCAM --->XDCAM 1080-24p = GPU@44% Assist
XDCAM --->HDV 1080-24p = GPU@34% Assist
Playback was noted on single timeline element with project matched to file @ Best Full setting displaying full frame rate. Playback was tested in Standard sized video preview window above timeline, external monitor @ 1080p showed a 20% increase in GPU load. After testing, it occurred to me that maybe the screen draw was causing the somewhat consistent utilization. So I disabled GPU support, restarted and tested each codec. With no GPU support, the screen draw was generally 1-3% load on the GPU.
Playback:
HDV-1080x1440-24P = GPU@24% Assist
MTS-AVC-1080-24P = GPU@50% Assist
AVC-HighProfile-1080-24P = GPU@50% Assist
XDCAM EX .MP4-1080-24P = GPU@31% Assist
XAVC - 1080-24p = GPU@34% Assist
Avid DNxHD - 1080-24P = GPU@31% Assist
DV - 24P Wide = 32% Assist
MPEG-1 = GPU@7% assist
HDCAM SR 422 = GPU@ 32% Assist
HDCAM SR Lite 422 = GPU@ 32% Assist
Uncompressed - YUV = Not Tested
Black Magic Uncompressed = Not Tested
Smart render is something that I miss from the DV editing days. According to Sony documentation Smart Render is supposed to work across several codecs, the one I have been using the most is XDCAM EX . The test results indicate that while XDCAM EX is supposed to be working according to Sony documentation, it is not functional at least on my configuration. I guess this means I will switch to the container that works, mainly MXF EX or 422.
Smart Render:
DV AVI - Works
DV MXF - Works
HD MXF - Works HD EX & HD422
MPEG-2 - Works HDV1080
XDCAM EX - HQ 35 Mbps VBR 1920x1080 to/from XDCAM EX - Not Working
TESTED: AVC-1080-24p.MTS --->XDCAM EX 24p ---> XDCAM EX 24p = :(
This made me think that maybe Sony or a 3rd party could develop a system diagnostic page inside Vegas, or system evaluation score page. What would be nice is an auto diagnostic that tests the compatibility of installed hardware. A display and GPU check listing, OpenCL version, and tests against all Sony GPU accelerated effects, and verifies compatibility. This might offer a simple Green/Red Check, or evaluation score set by Sony, much like the MS system score. Black Magic has a disk utility that performs a similar diagnostic for uncompressed capture. A diagnostic like this would go a long way to answer peoples questions on upgrades, or fail configurations that many attempt to run Vegas on. It might not solve crashing, but identifying fail or weak hardware might relieve some.
Here are the Anantech Vegas reviews with benchmark scores:
2014 GPU - Vegas Bench Results
290x and Vegas Review
270x and Vegas Review for older cards
After running Luxmark on my own Vegas configuration, it made me think what codecs are actually GPU accelerated? Here is run down on my test.:
Here is my test configuration, no over clocking:
Intel Core i7 870@ 2.93GHz - Lynnfield
20GB DRAM Frequency -533.0 MHz
Gigabyte P55-USB3
HD5770 1GB @850MHz (Juniper) - OpenCL 1.2 - 10 compute units
Disk -M4 SSD - AHCI mode
OS Win 8.1-64x
AMD Catalyst Version - 13.9
AMD APP SDK 2.9
AMD System Monitor
MS Visual C++ 2005 -2012 code packs
Vegas Pro 12 - 770
Luxmark Ball Score = 6759
Winsat Scores from cmd:
CPU LZW Compression 484.18 MB/s
CPU AES256 Encryption 341.45 MB/s
Memory Performance 13054.68 MB/s
Disk Random 16.0 Read 171.47 MB/s 7.6
Disk Sequential 64.0 Read 268.66 MB/s 7.6
Disk Sequential 64.0 Write 110.88 MB/s 6.7
Disk Average Read Time with Sequential Writes 0.531 ms 7.9
Disk Latency: 95th Percentile 2.300 ms 7.5
Disk Latency: Maximum 89.437 ms 7.7
Disk Average Read Time with Random Writes 0.635 ms 8.6
Render As:
XDCAM 1080-24P File -----> <target codec (+OpenCL Enabled if available)>
XDCAM ---> AVC-Intra100 = No GPU Assist
XDCAM --->WMV - 1080-24P = No GPU Assist
XDCAM --->XAVC - 1080-24P = No GPU Assist (Shocking)
XDCAM ---> Avid DNxHD 36mbs = No GPU Assist
XDCAM ---> Black Magic HD422 8bit Uncompressed = No GPU Assist
XDCAM --->Uncompressed-YUV - 1080-24P = No GPU Assist
XDCAM ---> HDCAM SR 422 = No GPU Assist
XDCAM ---> HDCAM SR Lite 422 = No GPU Assist
XDCAM ---> Black Magic MJPEG422 = GPU@29% Assist
XDCAM ---> DV-24P-Wide = GPU@34% Assist
XDCAM ---> MainConcept MPEG 1 = GPU@56% Assist
XDCAM ---> MainConcept Mpeg 2 - 1080-24P= GPU@34%Assist
XDCAM ---> MainConcept AVC(OpenCL) - High Profile = GPU@79% Assist
XDCAM ---> MainConcept MP4(OpenCL) - Internet 24P= GPU@85% Assist
XDCAM --->MXF HD EX - 1080-24P = GPU@34%Assist
XDCAM --->XDCAM to MXF HD422 50mbs - 1080-24P = GPU@32%Assist
XDCAM --->Sony AVC - Internet - 1080-24P = GPU@32% Assist
XDCAM --->Sony AVCHD - 1080-24P = GPU@32% Assist
XDCAM --->XDCAM 1080-24p = GPU@44% Assist
XDCAM --->HDV 1080-24p = GPU@34% Assist
Playback was noted on single timeline element with project matched to file @ Best Full setting displaying full frame rate. Playback was tested in Standard sized video preview window above timeline, external monitor @ 1080p showed a 20% increase in GPU load. After testing, it occurred to me that maybe the screen draw was causing the somewhat consistent utilization. So I disabled GPU support, restarted and tested each codec. With no GPU support, the screen draw was generally 1-3% load on the GPU.
Playback:
HDV-1080x1440-24P = GPU@24% Assist
MTS-AVC-1080-24P = GPU@50% Assist
AVC-HighProfile-1080-24P = GPU@50% Assist
XDCAM EX .MP4-1080-24P = GPU@31% Assist
XAVC - 1080-24p = GPU@34% Assist
Avid DNxHD - 1080-24P = GPU@31% Assist
DV - 24P Wide = 32% Assist
MPEG-1 = GPU@7% assist
HDCAM SR 422 = GPU@ 32% Assist
HDCAM SR Lite 422 = GPU@ 32% Assist
Uncompressed - YUV = Not Tested
Black Magic Uncompressed = Not Tested
Smart render is something that I miss from the DV editing days. According to Sony documentation Smart Render is supposed to work across several codecs, the one I have been using the most is XDCAM EX . The test results indicate that while XDCAM EX is supposed to be working according to Sony documentation, it is not functional at least on my configuration. I guess this means I will switch to the container that works, mainly MXF EX or 422.
Smart Render:
DV AVI - Works
DV MXF - Works
HD MXF - Works HD EX & HD422
MPEG-2 - Works HDV1080
XDCAM EX - HQ 35 Mbps VBR 1920x1080 to/from XDCAM EX - Not Working
TESTED: AVC-1080-24p.MTS --->XDCAM EX 24p ---> XDCAM EX 24p = :(