Video Editing Issues - Premiere Pro

[samdezzy43]

Hello all,

I own a i7, 16 GB Ram, 512 GB memory Surface Book. Although I do definitely love it, I do have a bit of an anxiety regarding if it was worth the money. For instance, when I try to edit 4K footage in premiere pro (main reason I purchased the most powerful model), it really struggles. When I try downscaling the footage to 1080, it still struggles. This is highly concerning. Please help!!

Thank you,
Sam

 

[dcoplien]

It may be due to the length (minutes) of video. I have no problems with 5 minutes. If I need to go over that, I edit multiple 5 minutes clips, then merge. For the merge I use other software that doesn't consume as much system resources.

 

[tomin.fhl]

I heard pre-rendering to Prores codec helps but I am not an editor, just someone that's been watching a lot of YouTube reviews.

 

[samdezzy43]

Thanks guys, might have to try it. because even 3.8k footage is freezing after every couple of seconds, even on 1 quarter resolution playback

 

[JaeMelo]

There is a setting in the NVIDIA control panel that you can force which'll allow the application to run smoother. I've done this for both Premier Pro and Photoshop and now there is no more lag when scrubbing or even drawing. Even did it for a few steam games and the FPS count bumped up.

Incase you have no idea what I'm getting at once you've opened up the Nvidia Control Panel click on: Manage 3D Settings than click on the "Program Settings" tab. Select "Adobe Premier" from the drop down menu(#1) at the top, then scroll down in the lower menu (#3) until you see "Power management mode". Change it from "Adaptive" to "Prefer Maximum Performance" Hit 'Apply' in the bottom right and you should see a noticeable improvement.

 

[tomin.fhl]

Are you saying that forcing Premier Pro to use the gpu eliminates lag when scrubbing 4k video or that it reduces the lag? I am specifically asking about 4k editing. Thanks.

 

[dcoplien]

Are you saying that forcing Premier Pro to use the gpu eliminates lag when scrubbing 4k video or that it reduces the lag? I am specifically asking about 4k editing. Thanks.

It will reduce lag but there are other things to take into account as to how much it will reduce it.

 

[tomin.fhl]

Ok, because I am thinking of picking one up but don't want to regret the decision when I try to do some 4k editing on the go. So far the tips are:

1. Limit editing to 5 minute clips at a time then merge
2. Try pre-rendering to cineform or prores codec
3. Force gpu acceleration for Adobe Premier Pro CC

Alternatively I have also been researching the option to run MacOS on the Surface Book and try some Final Cut Pro on it. There seems to be some stability with it so far.

 

[JaeMelo]

Are you saying that forcing Premier Pro to use the gpu eliminates lag when scrubbing 4k video or that it reduces the lag? I am specifically asking about 4k editing. Thanks.

Reduced, however like dcoplien mentioned there are other factors to take into account like for instance the codec being used like you yourself mentioned. By default the device should already be utilizing the dGPU if you own that model however forcing that specific option in the Nvidia Control Panel alone has made an impact. I'm not sure how to explain the difference because I started playing with Premier Pro after that change was made; however judging by some of the videos on YouTube describing how unimpressive the overall experience was all I can say is I cannot relate. I'm assuming this is because of a combination of improved drivers compared to the one available at release from NVIDIA, in addition to that particular change I mentioned above.

 

[kiomon]

I am a professional Filmmaker and unfortunately I have just not gotten great performance out of my Surface Book. I have an i7, 16GB, 512GB SSD. I normally shoot a mix of Red, Arri, and Sony.
The surface book struggles in 4K and for me is only passable at 1080P when you have 4k footage. The computer itself plays back 4k clips just fine outside of Premiere or Resolve (the two I use most). But inside the apps it's a different story.
In Premiere if you are working with 4K H264 footage then you will want to change scaling to 1/8 th resolution and use a 1080P timeline. That's not going to be buttery smooth but it will get you close and the best I have managed. If you check the preferences, most of the time the NVIDIA GPU is automatically selected and being used with CUDA. I didn't see a huge difference between CUDA and OpenCL. I was hoping CUDA was going to be much better.
In Resolve, the results are worst. ‎ I have to run on proxies and optimized media and set the timeline to 1080P to edit. Once I generate the proxies it works fine. And then when I go to render out 4K, I switch the timeline resolution back to 4k and then render out with the clipboard detached as if the clipboard is attached I get GPU memory full errors.
‎
So overall, I just don't feel like the Surface Book is very optimized for performance and for a video editor is a fine emergency machine but don't drop $2700 on it as your editing laptop. You will be disappointed unless you work with 1080p or below footage. And to be fair to MS they demoed it cutting FULLHD footage not 4K. But it's still sadd because my Retina MacBook (NOT Pro) performs better and it has not dedicated GPU and is half the price. ‎
‎

 

[Bandito]

I'm not sure whether this will help or not, but have you made the change suggested in the linked video?

There is a setting for the GPU that has it always looking for opportunities to slow down or rest in order to preserve battery life. If you turn this off, you may get somewhat better performance from the GPU. It's worth a try, I think.

 

[JaeMelo]

I'm not sure whether this will help or not, but have you made the change suggested in the linked video?

There is a setting for the GPU that has it always looking for opportunities to slow down or rest in order to preserve battery life. If you turn this off, you may get somewhat better performance from the GPU. It's worth a try, I think.

See post #5