Blackmagic Forum

Yesterday I had a new graphic card installed - GeForce 2080 ti, so my expectations were high when I began a new task: Transcoding 4K files from my GH5 to DNxHR. However, I may realize that I dont know enough about transcoding and chosing codecs because I choosed the "DNxHR 444 12 bit" since it was the "best" codec and my original files are 4K 10 bit 422 MOV-files from my GH5. The result was files 4 times larger than my original MOV-files and on the timeline theese files were impossible to run smoothly.
Can someone please tell me what "flavor" to use for optimal performance on the Resolve 16?

PS: I have also tried using the "Generate optimized media" function and that helps. But I would like to have my files transcoded and saved in a folder for future use as part of my workflow. Changing resolution in Proxy mode doesnt help much neither.

Be aware that transcoding to a lossy compression format will result in a loss of image data / image quality (even if the file is bigger). There is no need to transcode when you work out the best workflow in Resolve using optimised media and render cache. Optimised media set to DNxHQ 4.2.2 10bit or GoPro Cineform should work well with GH5 10bit media.

What is your CPU?
Your GPU is good, so you should be able to work with UHD DNxHR files.
You can create Cineform instead of DNxHR and then use 1/2 proxy mode. This will reduce CPU load a lot.

Thank You both for Your replys. It makes sense, off course, so I guess I will use the "Optimized media" option.
Is it enough to generate the optimized media and choose "Use optimized media if available" in the Playback menu, or do I have to "Relink selected clips" too?
My PC has an Intel Core i7-6700 CPU 3.40GHz.

It's not very powerful CPU, but Cineform at 1/2 resolution should work.
You either convert your source files and then work from Cineform files (and archive them) or let Resolve do it over optimised media option and manage it by itself (I'm not a fan of it).

Kent Bovin wrote:Thank You both for Your replys. It makes sense, off course, so I guess I will use the "Optimized media" option.
Is it enough to generate the optimized media and choose "Use optimized media if available" in the Playback menu, or do I have to "Relink selected clips" too?
My PC has an Intel Core i7-6700 CPU 3.40GHz.

I would pick a Cineform codec that fits your needs, your CPU is fast enough to handle any kind of cineform up to atleast 4k in real-time https://blog.frame.io/2017/02/13/50-intermediate-codecs-compared/

My choice for Transcodes would be Cineform YUV 10 bit files, Quality Medium. They're as good as the originals, but will edit a lot smoother.

I've found on my laptop system (described in my profile) which is marginal in terms of capability with resolve that DNx plays back slightly better than cineform.

Switch to 1/2 resolution playback fo Cineform and it will work very smooth.

Many thanks for all Your replys and good advice
I will try the Cineform codec and the playback resolution and see what happens. A better CPU is also on the wish-list, but after having bought the 2080 ti I would like to see if I can get it all to work before spending more money

Your cpu is only okay for HD not 4K ! And your new graphics card won't help you with your problem !

Intel® Core™ i7-6700 Processor

Performance

# of Cores 4
# of Threads 8

Memory Specifications

Max # of Memory Channels 2

Expansion Options

Max # of PCI Express Lanes 16

It will have no problems playing Cineform at 1/2 resolution.

Thanks again for Your inputs.
Ole, can You recommend any CPU's that will work well with Resolve? (Intel line...?)

Kent Bovin wrote: Ole, can You recommend any CPU's that will work well with Resolve? (Intel line...?)

Hi Kent.

I hope it will be OK with you, that I will try to answer your questen.

For many years Resolve worked best on Intel or AMD Top HEDT CPU's with its many cores and PCI lanes. But now AMD decided to move it mainstream Ryzen CPU's UP. So Resolve users can now with the new Ryzen 3000 series get the same CPU and PCI lane performance, as until now required a Top HEDT system.

So for Intel, do I know Resolve will work with the right CPU in a X299 top motherboard and for AMD will I recommend one of the new Ryzen CPU's in a X570 motherboard. Both the new AMD Ryzen CPU's and the X570 motherboards will be in the stores worldwide, from July 7th.

Regards Carsten.

There appears to be some misinformation here. You don't need the latest and greatest CPU/Mobo combo unless you have money to burn.

Your GPU will handle most of the encoding/decoding/transcoding. With that in mind, your i7 6700 is fine even for real-time 4K. If you need to do some heavy editing, better to invest in more RAM.

I myself have an i7 6700K with a GTX-1080 and do 4K real-time plenty fine.


Regarding transcoding media... if you simply want to do basic edits, there is no point in transcoding. If you are trying to save space, stick with the original H264 and if you are doing something more taxing, then optimized media 1/2 Cineform is the way to go. It all depends on what you are trying to do.

If you really must transcode, avoid lower settings like the plague... it's like taking a photocopy of a photocopy... conversely higher settings will naturally result in a larger file size but provide you less added artefacts. If you simply want to "archive" your footage... going from original H264 to other codecs such as ProRes/DNxHR adds zero value. You are trying to add encoding "quality" that is not there in the source file to begin with.

If you want to archive for future use the originals will be the best you can get. You cannot get more quality but can make it easier to edit.If you want a smaller file then h265 would be the option. You can use the NVENC output from your new card that should encode a file that is smaller when encoded with all the best settings and be almost indistinguishable. I have encoded to h265 with my 1080Ti from a 422 ProRes UHD HLG file recorded in my NINJA V from my GH5. In this case the h265 file is 17 times smaller and I cannot see the difference on my equipment. For me good enough for a copy to keep rather than the very large ProRes files. It encoded by the way in a little less than 2 x realtime. Of course the ProRes file is easier on the timeline for editing.

RikshaDriver wrote:There appears to be some misinformation here. I

Your GPU will handle most of the encoding/decoding/transcoding. With that in mind, your i7 6700 is fine even for real-time 4k.

there is disinformation in this thread, and you're the one spreading it. He's working with 4k 10-bit h.264, GPU decode does not work on that.

hence the reason why his quad core CPU won't work well. It can't handle the load of running resolve and doing CPU decode at the same time.

RikshaDriver wrote:There appears to be some misinformation here. You don't need the latest and greatest CPU/Mobo combo unless you have money to burn.

Your GPU will handle most of the encoding/decoding/transcoding. With that in mind, your i7 6700 is fine even for real-time 4K. If you need to do some heavy editing, better to invest in more RAM.

.

Resolve encodes/decodes only specific formats on GPU. Good CPU power is also needed in typical cases.
More RAM won't do much at all. You either have enough RAM or not. If there is enough then more does nothing.

Kent Bovin wrote:can You recommend any CPU's that will work well with Resolve? (Intel line...?)

I'm using the 8700 with great success.

Dan Sherman wrote:there is disinformation in this thread, and you're the one spreading it. He's working with 4k 10-bit h.264, GPU decode does not work on that.

hence the reason why his quad core CPU won't work well. It can't handle the load of running resolve and doing CPU decode at the same time.

Ah 4:2:2... Sorry my bad, Missed that bit.


The CPU should still be able to handle it if there's nothing too intensive. I have the 6700k and there's not much difference between the two.

Not only 4:2:2 but also 10-bit 4:2:0 h.264 will not be decoded/encoded by current GPUs, let's see what Navi brings.

Sent from my GM 5 Plus d using Tapatalk

Mario Kalogjera wrote:Not only 4:2:2 but also 10-bit 4:2:0 h.264 will not be decoded/encoded by current GPUs, let's see what Navi brings.

Yep,

For h.264 the only thing even a Turning based card will decode is 8bit 4:2:0 with a maximum resolution of 4096x4096. Everything else gets dealt with by the cpu.

Hello,

Op did not say if he had the Studio version?