What does Edius use: CPU or GPU

alpi69

alpi69

Veteran
I used Liquid Edition so far and with that system the Grafix Chip is very important and does a lot of the work. There are many GPU effects that accelerate working with it when a good GPU is in the machine (a state-of-the-art graphics card).

Does Edius also use the GPU to render effects? Or is the PGU mainly displaying and the CPU rendering.

I plan on using this machine with Edius to start with DVCProHD: P4-3.06HT CPU, Nvidia FX5700, 1 GB RAM. This system works easily with 4-6 DV-streams in realtime in Liquid

My upgrade path in the next months will be:
1. another GB RAM
2. better graphics card (I use a AGB mainboard still)

and eventually I plan on getting a new mainboard with a Core2Duo 6400 processor and 2GB and a PCI-e graphics adapter. But since that is practically a new machine I would like to add GPU power and RAM first. But will that help at all with Edius?
 
It's all about the CPU.

When you do 3d effects, however, and use xplode 4.5 (which now comes as a free download) the graphics card will begin to play a role in whether or not you get realtime through some of that. With your current video card, you will have to render some of that (but most of the 3d transitions, etc. I don't find very useful). Even so, it usually equates to a 2-5 second render for that overloaded section.

I would say the two most important components are going to be the processor, and Ram.
 
Bummer. Looks like a new mainboard/DDR2-RAM/CPU set sooner than I thought....

and I hate those 3D transitions, so I don´t worry about them. And if I need one for a parody then I can wait it out. Thanks for the info!
 
If you do ever need a 3d transition, like I said, it's just a couple of second render, usually.

I would definitely want to pop some ram in your current system. But, I think you might be pleasantly surprised with your current systems ability to handle more than one stream of DVCPRO HD in real-time. DVCPRO HD isn't that all demanding on one's system, in comparison to HDV. And, EDIUS handles it great. Folks have edited footage from the HVX on laptops with lesser specs than your current system.

Of course, an upgrade will be a great thing, in the future. But, in the meantime, I would be somewhat surprised if you couldn't handle it.

You may want a faster drive for editing. An eSATA enclosure and a SATA II drive would work nicely for your footage. I have a pci eSATA card that came with my enclosure, if you end up needing one. :thumbsup:

Jason
 
i have a RAID-0 SATA drive of 300GB (2x160GB Samsung) that runs really fast and quiet. Running uncompressed with it right now a lot. So I don´t worry about HD-speed really. But eSATA will be the way to go I guess.
 
Sorry for the deviation but still curious, Jason: how does the following configuration sound:

MB: Gigabyte M59SLI-S4 /NF590 SLI /AM2
CPU: ATHLON64 3800+ X2 /AM2
HDD: 2 X 320GB SEAGATE SATA2/7200/16MB
RAM: 2 X 1GB DDR II 800 A-DATA
VC: nVidia Quadro FX 560

Is this going to work ok with Edius mainly for HVX work?
 
It looks pretty alright to me. You might save some money by getting a 7000 series card or something. The Quadro will be overkill with EDIUS. If you are planning on doing a lot of after fx or other 3d heavy programs, then you may want the quadro. But for EDIUS, it isn't going to make a difference. I would just get something with dual monitor support (if you want that).

Concerning the AMD. I am a bit out of the loop on AMD's. But, what I am about to say, I say as a long time fan of AMD. The core duo and core 2 duo processors from intel, just scream. They are the best processors out there right now, and the last time I checked, the AMD AM2 processors were overpriced when compared to comparable Intel chips. You may want to look into getting an intel instead. Just an idea. Someone working with DVCPRO HD on a similar AMD setup should chime in here, and let you know how that system would handle HVX footy. I would think, it would be fine. DVCPRO HD has been edited on much less powerful single core laptops, so...

And a little disclaimer. Don't let the yellow fool you. I'm no expert on EDIUS. I have just been learning it, little by little, over the last few months. Don't take my word as the authority on this :thumbsup:

Jason
 
Hey, thanks a lot, Jason! It is a bit late for the choices because today I already managed to put the above machine together. Long time AMD fan as well, quite liked the price/productivity of the X2 (in Sofia I got it for 130 bucks which was around 100 less than the Core 2 Duo, otherwise I would have bought the duo). I am of course sad for the Quadro, I really counted to help with the NLE, I am not planning some serious 3 D for the time being but may be some FX, we will see.
 
EDIUS is fairly evenly optimized for both AMD and Intel CPUs. Some operations are more Intel-optimized, some are more AMD-optimized. The net result is a balance of optimization in general use.

Brandon
 
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