My computer doesn't like exporting 6K footage :(

Hi all!

Working with footage shot on the BMPCC 6K through an external SSD. Editing and playback is going fine so far. Sure, occasionally there will be some momentary lag, but I know I have a relatively older PC and it's mostly been working for me. Like any long-term relationship, it's a game of push and pull.

But when I go to the export page, that's where the real fun begins. My export settings are as follows:
Format: MP4
Codec: H265 (it doesn't let me do H264)
Encoder: Auto
Resolution: 6144 x 3456
Frame Rate: 24
Quality: Restrict to 20000 Kb/s
Encoding profile: Main
Key Frame: Automatic ("frame reordering" checked)
Rate Control: Variable Bitrate
Preset: Medium
Tuning: High Quality
Two Pass: Disable
Lookahead: 16 frames ("enable adaptive B-frame" checked)
AQ Strength: 8

The video I'm exporting is 9 minutes and 35 seconds long. I added to render queue and got 23% exported when my PC freaked out! The fans started to spin like crazy making a really loud noise, like a vacuum. Both of my monitors showed a black screen, and then "No signal." Interestingly enough, I could still hear the audio of a video I was watching in Chrome.

Anyway, this has happened to me the couple of times I've worked with the 6K footage and was wondering what I could do to prevent my PC from dying (recommended export settings, hardware upgrades, etc.). I have a feeling that my GPU might be too old, but it's honestly pure speculation. I'm not that much of a tech wiz.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!!!


Specs:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12-Core Processor
RAM: 32 GB
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB
System SSD (for DaVinci Resolve): Intel 660p Series M.2 2280 1TB PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4 1800 mb/s R/W speeds
External SSD (where my footage lives): SanDisk 2TB Extreme Portable SSD. Read: 1050 MB/s. Write: 1000 MB/s.

I added to render queue and got 23% exported when my PC freaked out! The fans started to spin like crazy making a really loud noise, like a vacuum. Both of my monitors showed a black screen, and then "No signal." Interestingly enough, I could still hear the audio of a video I was watching in Chrome.

Sounds like a hardware problem.

Run Furmark stress test for GPU and CPU together and see if the problem occurs

https://geeks3d.com/furmark/

Sounds like an overheating issue.
I'd try and reduce the render speed under Advanced. Another step to try is exporting to Cineform or DNxHR instead. Exporting into 6K as H.264/265 doesn’t make much sense anyway. Which device do you want to use to show that?

Install GPU-z to see what our GPU actually does. https://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/
It shows temperatures, gpu memory usage, power and more, which helps you find out if there's something odd going on.

Second that. Great app, I wish something like that would exist for Intel Macs.

Have you tried export with no other programs running? Watching video while exporting means both programs are sharing resources and may be just enough to push over the limits.

Have you tried export with no other programs running? Watching video while exporting means both programs are sharing resources and may be just enough to push over the limits.

I believe I have but don't remember a difference. Will honestly have to pay more attention to it next time though

Install GPU-z to see what our GPU actually does. https://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/
It shows temperatures, gpu memory usage, power and more, which helps you find out if there's something odd going on.

Thanks. I do have the CPU-Z but didn't know GPU-Z existed, which makes sense that it does. Will try it out

Sounds like an overheating issue.
I'd try and reduce the render speed under Advanced. Another step to try is exporting to Cineform or DNxHR instead. Exporting into 6K as H.264/265 doesn’t make much sense anyway. Which device do you want to use to show that?

I clicked under "Advanced Settings" but can't seem to find a way to reduce render speed. One thing I did try that worked was change the Encoder from "Auto" to "Native," which if I'm not mistaken uses more of the CPU right? Anyway, it takes a little longer, but the export does work without any overheating issues or bunker sirens sounding off.

I'm mainly exporting for web (YT, IG, etc.). So I guess seen on a desktop or mobile device. In retrospect, this is something that could've been remedied in pre-production. I probably shouldn't have shot in 6K for the client but I am curious in case I run into this issue in the future.

I added to render queue and got 23% exported when my PC freaked out! The fans started to spin like crazy making a really loud noise, like a vacuum. Both of my monitors showed a black screen, and then "No signal." Interestingly enough, I could still hear the audio of a video I was watching in Chrome.

Sounds like a hardware problem.

Run Furmark stress test for GPU and CPU together and see if the problem occurs

https://geeks3d.com/furmark/

Thanks. Do think it might be a GPU issue. Will test it out!

I don't think you have enough normal RAM to export 6K. When I was exporting 8K, it took 68GB of RAM to render MP4s. My gut says 6K is going to take around 48 to 50GB of RAM. I use Rainmeter to actively watch my CPU, RAM, and VRAM while working and it looked like it was working fine when I had 64GB of RAM and would do exactly what you described. Then I installed another 64GB and it popped right up to 68 and stabilized. So it might look like you have enough RAM but I think your under by about 25%.

Set the timeline to UHD or 4K and see if that exports. If so, Ben is right.

I don't think you have enough normal RAM to export 6K.

If I'm reading the OP right he set it to native and it worked. That's more ram intensive not less.

He might not have enough VRAM. But the symptoms sound like overheating or a power issue.

I thought the same thing when my machine would blank the screens and then die. I would need to hard reset my machine to recover from the memory overflow. It's hard to remember whether I upgraded to more memory or from 3xGTX 1080ti 11GB cards to 2x RTX 3090s. I'm pretty sure I did the GPUs first and it still didn't work but maybe you're right? It could be VRAM but he should drop the resolution for the sequence down to see what he can get away with.

I realize this does not solve your problem, but:

Resolution: 6144 x 3456
Frame Rate: 24
Quality: Restrict to 20000 Kb/s
Encoding profile: Main

Why would you ever want to export a 6K video to an 8-bit video with a very low bit rate?

Why would you ever want to export a 6K video to an 8-bit video with a very low bit rate?

Thank god somebody asked this. I bow to you, Cary.

As far as I know, the most anybody can deal with online, on the net, on streaming, in theaters, and on home video is 4K. 4K is kind of pushing it on some of these venues. I have no idea why the o.p. believes that 6K is going to gain even one iota of better performance. H.264 is almost laughably bad.

Maybe Steve has an explanation as to why he believes 6K is important. If you were exporting high quality plates for VFX, and blow-ups were involved and all that stuff... then I'd say maybe 6K would be important, but you'd have to use DPX or EXR or at least a 444 format like DNxHR. The other stuff? No.

That's why I wrote this above: "Exporting into 6K as H.264/265 doesn’t make much sense anyway. Which device do you want to use to show that?" He never answered...

He kind of did. It wasn't a planned intentional choice.

I probably shouldn't have shot in 6K for the client but I am curious in case I run into this issue in the future.

A client had the idea to shoot in 12K. Edit and VFX in 8K. Release different formats in 1080p, 1920 vertical, 1080x1080, 1350x1080 etc... sigh, welcome to social media. The idea was to punch in and reframe of coarse. It worked moderately well but it definitely was indecision up till the end.

Anybody who asks for 8K should be charged accordingly.

A client had the idea to shoot in 12K. Edit and VFX in 8K. Release different formats in 1080p, 1920 vertical, 1080x1080, 1350x1080 etc... sigh, welcome to social media. The idea was to punch in and reframe of coarse. It worked moderately well but it definitely was indecision up till the end.

I would have stopped them right there and said, "no, this is a bad workflow for a lot of reasons." We would have either asked them to shoot in 6K (from a 12K camera), or just transcoded everything to 6K and then delivered 4K, which is not that awful. You are not going to see even 1% difference on social media.

A lot of bad decisions get made by clients, and unfortunately they tend to shoot first and then ask for advice second. I wish this wouldn't happen. We might try to tactfully ask, "why did you shoot it that way?", and they respond, "we didn't know it was wrong" (if they're honest). 4K delivery is fine and works for all those deliverables, from Netflix down to crap 1x1 social media. Reframing is more a question of aspect ratio than absolute resolution.

Anybody who asks for 8K should be charged accordingly.

Yeah, totally agreed. We once inherited a project where the client had fired the colorist because the colorist realized (too late) that their system couldn't actually play the 4K files in real-time. People sometimes learn too late you have to be careful not to bite off more than you can chew.

Why would you ever want to export a 6K video to an 8-bit video with a very low bit rate?

Thank god somebody asked this. I bow to you, Cary.

As far as I know, the most anybody can deal with online, on the net, on streaming, in theaters, and on home video is 4K. 4K is kind of pushing it on some of these venues. I have no idea why the o.p. believes that 6K is going to gain even one iota of better performance. H.264 is almost laughably bad.

Maybe Steve has an explanation as to why he believes 6K is important. If you were exporting high quality plates for VFX, and blow-ups were involved and all that stuff... then I'd say maybe 6K would be important, but you'd have to use DPX or EXR or at least a 444 format like DNxHR. The other stuff? No.

So, as you can probably tell, I am a beginner in this realm, particularly on the camera side. The reason I'm exporting with such a low bitrate is because it's not the final draft. It was a rough cut and I wanted to send a low res version to not take up a lot of storage, but that still kinda looked somewhat okay.

In retrospect, I shouldn't have shot 6K and will likely end up exporting the final product in 4K. I've sort of figured out a workaround for now. But I decided to post anyway because I was really curious and have gotten good information to use in the future. It's not truly important to deliver in 6K. Just wanting to learn more

I thought the same thing when my machine would blank the screens and then die. I would need to hard reset my machine to recover from the memory overflow. It's hard to remember whether I upgraded to more memory or from 3xGTX 1080ti 11GB cards to 2x RTX 3090s. I'm pretty sure I did the GPUs first and it still didn't work but maybe you're right? It could be VRAM but he should drop the resolution for the sequence down to see what he can get away with.

Yeah 4K exports work beautifully so it is merely a 6K issue. I have been meaning to upgrade to 64 GB RAM and I guess I probably should start looking at a newer generation graphics card.

I realize this does not solve your problem, but:

Resolution: 6144 x 3456
Frame Rate: 24
Quality: Restrict to 20000 Kb/s
Encoding profile: Main

Why would you ever want to export a 6K video to an 8-bit video with a very low bit rate?

So it was mainly just to send a low res version of a rough cut. But it's likely I'm just going to end up delivering the final product in 4K. For future reference, do you mind if I ask what your 6K export settings would be?

Shooting in 6K and delivering in 4K or UHD is a good idea, you can get excellent quality.
But which settings you need for delivery depends on your distribution channel.
Is it straight to a client, social media, your private TV or home cinema?
Personally, I export a high quality master and later encode that to whatever is asked for.

Shooting in 6K and delivering in 4K or UHD is a good idea, you can get excellent quality.
But which settings you need for delivery depends on your distribution channel.
Is it straight to a client, social media, your private TV or home cinema?
Personally, I export a high quality master and later encode that to whatever is asked for.

Yes. Mainly social media. The client also wants it to promote their film (it's a BTS video) so that will be in a standard horizontal format. It might end up on YT if it's too big for whatever fundraising site they are using.

How would you go about the high quality master, good sir?

Since you are on a PC, I'd use GoPro CineForm at YUV 10 bit or DNxHR HQX 10 bit. Visually lossless, but needing more space than GOP codecs. No other settings than resolution needed. Please remember that 4K and UHD are not the same.

You can even send that to YT if the film is not very long, they'll recompress anyway. For a fundraising page, use HandBrake with x.264 and set quality around 22 or less, space allowing (less is better here).

Since you are on a PC, I'd use GoPro CineForm at YUV 10 bit or DNxHR HQX 10 bit. Visually lossless, but needing more space than GOP codecs. No other settings than resolution needed. Please remember that 4K and UHD are not the same.

You can even send that to YT if the film is not very long, they'll recompress anyway. For a fundraising page, use HandBrake with x.264 and set quality around 22 or less, space allowing (less is better here).

Thank you Plank! Will give it a try

So it was mainly just to send a low res version of a rough cut. But it's likely I'm just going to end up delivering the final product in 4K. For future reference, do you mind if I ask what your 6K export settings would be?

6K is not a delivery format, so in case you would need an intermediate format I would opt for a minimal 10-bit ProRes or DNxHR format with bitrates close to the original (unless the original is inter-frame then the bitrate needs to be much higher).

...use HandBrake with x.264 and set quality around 22 or less, space allowing (less is better here).

H.264 is an old and far more limited CODEC, there is no reason not to use H.265 for new encodings. The block processing and motion compensation is much better using H.265.

For all intents and purposes, H.264 is obsolete except for legacy footage.

If you want the widest exposure, I’d still suggest H.264.
You’re right about everything else, Cary, if most of your audience can watch H.265. Both those x. codecs are excellent in ffmpeg.

If you want the widest exposure, I’d still suggest H.264.

My thinking as well. Haven't yet run across a client who can't play H.264 MP4 files.

I save H.265 only for HDR delivery. (At least then I know the client has a UHD display.)