Benchmark and a test of laptops (PC and Mac)

This is my original article written for "Digital Production" (Munich) in German:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cMYncu ... sp=sharing
For translation I recommend DeepL.
You may distribute it unaltered, but please no translations without my consent.

The benchmark is here. I used a few very demanding functions, which nevertheless may be needed regularly, like Depth Map and Fog (18 only), massive NR and Speed Warp.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nig23ohng2gpu ... e.drp?dl=0

It's using demanding sources, 10 seconds each, like:

is.gd/arri_sample_footage (very high data rate, but easy to decode)
is.gd/bmd_sample_footage (we all know these, don't we?)
is.gd/red_sample_footage (wavelet RAW is hard to decode, but supported by an SDK for CPU and GPU)
is.gd/sony_sample_footage (Sony Venice at relatively high data rate)
is.gd/tony_r5_download (in case you don’t have a Canon R5 around, 8K RAW by Tony Mellinger)
And finally some 8K HEV out of Canon R5 with the highest data rate:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z8y7Il ... sp=sharing

The short URLs are not seen as links by the forum, so copy/paste.

An Asus ProArt laptop with a Ryzen 9 CPU 5900HX and the Nvidia RTX 3070 mobile GPU with 8 Gbyte VRAM is rendering it into CineForm YUV 10 bit in 28 minutes 7 seconds (but crashing if trying to go straight to HEVC or DNxHR).
The Mac M1 Pro (details in my sig) does it in 26:25 for CineForm or with very similar numbers for the rest.

As a goody, a river scene for adding some fog with Depth Map:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dJzt_e ... sp=sharing

Here is my article in English: https://www.dropbox.com/s/l6znbhmtjc3mm ... 0.pdf?dl=0

It was first published in German by "Digital Production" (Munich, www.digitalproduction.com)

For further details see below.

hello uli
your download links will no longer work if you edit the entry again, because they will be shortened and no longer complete.
if you edit an entry again in this forum software, then you must insert all links again, otherwise they become unusable.

An English version of my article is in the making.

Hi.

First, thanks for taking the time to publish your test.

I don't know why you decided to compare the Mac M1 Pro to the Asus ProArt laptop. But I will expect many users on the road will chose a less expensive laptop, and then invest more on a Desktop PC at home?

But while we are waiting for you English version of your article, did I find this Engadget review:

Quote: The MacBook Pro models with the M1 Pro and M1 Max CPUs are making things more interesting for potential creative laptop buyers. They’re much more competitive than the Intel MacBook Pros, as they’re faster, quieter and have longer battery life. However, as Engadget has discovered in testing,
the new MacBooks are better than PC laptops like the Studiobook 16 in some ways (battery and video playback) and worse in others (rendering, GPU performance in general). More on that soon in an upcoming Upscaled.'

From: https://www.engadget.com/asus-pro-art-s ... fvjqLIxUmH

I don't know yet, if you come to the same conclusion as Engadget?

Regards Carsten.

@ Mark
Thanks for the heads up, I'll fix that.

@ Carsten
See me article, it's up now.

The project file has been fixed, it's pointing to the right Venice clip now:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nig23ohng2gpu ... e.drp?dl=0

The originals are here (thanks, Wesley):

1. ArriRAW_6,5K is A006C021_150902_R0D0.[0044458-0044937].ari retrievable from ARRI's direct link: https://webgate.io/directlink/2d375f9f1a442fac/1002803

2. 12K_BRAW is A0010_06050642_C043.braw retrievable from within the zip: https://downloads.blackmagicdesign.com/ ... 3.braw.zip

3. 8K_HEVC is 8K_643_mbps.MP4 renamed from the download 643_mbps.mp4 at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z8y7Il ... sp=sharing

4. Canon_8K.CRM is Canon_8K.CRM from the dropbox link https://www.dropbox.com/sh/btjdcqsft6qw ... _S8ea?dl=0 (however, I had trouble downloading this file successfully)

5. Helium_8K is B001_C096_0902AP_001.R3D which is within the download file weapon-sth-8k-50fps-9to1redcode available from RED's site (after you register your email), scroll down to the poster frame of a light skinned woman: https://www.red.com/sample-r3d-files

6. Komodo_6K is C003_C010_021190_001.R3D which is within the download file komodo-6k-s35-lathe-2 available from RED's site (after registration), scroll down to the poster frame of a lathe with a tattooed hand: https://www.red.com/sample-r3d-files

7. Venice_XT.mxf is renamed (now only in the project) from A005C024_201101I9.mxf which is found on Sony's https://sonycine.com/testfootage/# (search page for A005C024 which is a 6K 17:9 resolution). Click to download, enter email... may need to then click to download again.

The Venice clip is used intentionally in its original frame rate, all others are retimed to 25 fps by Clip Attributes.

Here is my article in English: https://www.dropbox.com/s/l6znbhmtjc3mm ... 0.pdf?dl=0

It was first published in German by "Digital Production" (Munich, http://www.digitalproduction.com)

For further details see below.

Thanks for creating and sharing this document!

It's hard to get this kind of information as many online sources choose to only highlight what the M1/ M1 Ultra does extremely well and ignore everything else..., If you dee any similar tests with desktop M1s let me know

IIRC somebody did it in this forum, just look for it.

Uli, well done wonderfully written article.

But you are taking two essentially portable consumer devices and then subjecting them to very heavy camera original codecs, and asking them to perform complex work directly on those codecs. Whereas in any professional post finishing, this simply would not be the case - they would be transcoded to a 4K post codec. I say professional because these codecs (Arri, Red and Venice) are unlikely to be finished in such a way, on consumer devices.

I professionally finish in both HD and 4K on a pc laptop, simply because of the needs of a small online suite and onsite flexibility. It is an Avid certified, rather old ZBook 17 G5. It does have 64GB ram and a 16GB Quadro but they are some 4 years old now. I finish in DNxHD/DNxHR on both Avid and Resolve. Often I wish it was a more powerful desktop but nonetheless I have no major problems still and crashes are rare. Rendering and export speed in professional workflows is never really an issue. You either walk away and do something else or there is a machine room full of assistants who do that work for you.

Even though, as I say my machine copes with HD and 4K, quite reasonably, I would never dream of working with say 6.5K Arriraw on the go on any laptop. I accept you have to play and transcode such codecs in the first place, but I have no issues with Braw at higher rez than 4K and if I was working with Arriraw in features, I would have some much more powerful workstation, as well, necessarily.

The fact that this particular Asus kept crashing too, may not be a fault of windows nor the individual pc components, necessarily - it is a gaming laptop ultimately marketed for something quite different than you are testing it for. Professional workstation laptops are a quite different thing, still, although I accept they would be considerably more expensive than your M1. However in normal finishing with such professional camera codecs, this would not be an issue.

His Asus is not a gaming system unfortunately. If it was and it was a good one would have a proper cooling system.
It is a artsy laptop with a great screen unfortunately most laptop companies thing that artists are some dandies that do not need even more power than gamers so they put lousy cooling systems in these laptops. To make it worse usually the GPU is not even pushed to the max power. A laptop 3070 goes to 145w.
But it would be nice to know what failed in the Asus: VRAM not enough? other?

In my gaming Legion(3060 6B 130w) i never crashed in Resolve but i don't push it seriously and the fan is never at maximum when i encode. I nevertheless push it to the maximum in Blender and Unreal and never crashed.

I'd blame the VRAM, since it worked when not encoding to a demanding codec at the same time.
But I'm not the programmer…

In general, I'd suggest a potent desktop machine (Windows or Linux) for serious work in DR. Better price/performance ratio, better expandability, and better upgradeability.

If you need something for rough editing, trying out some looks and sending rushes to project partners, the M1 laptops are a good solution with a decent time off the grid.

OK, if a mobile solution as the only machine matters most to you and you are never too far off a mains plug, a gaming laptop may be fine. But they are not cheap either.

If you need something for rough editing, trying out some looks and sending rushes to project partners, the M1 laptops are a good solution with a decent time off the grid.

Yes I would broadly agree. As far as I see it, laptops of this kind, fall into 3 main groups of use: 1) People who shoot on prosumer cameras, such as mirrorless Dslrs and Pockets; 2) Working cinematographers who may want to adjust, view and experiment with their footage in say Resolve; 3) Freelance editors who are working from home, either with a remote desktop solution like Teradici, or local offline media sent to them on a drive.

A more typical case use comparison here would be performance with 1). Anyone who is professionally finishing, would not be concerned too much, with these products. As good as the M1/2 and the roadmap that I am seriously keeping my eye on (particularly the most powerful Mac Studios, as my next mobile/space saving replacement), I currently don't know of anyone who is professionally finishing on them, particularly with such codecs. BTW they don't currently work happily with Avid - not Apple's fault - Avid is using Rosetta.

I'd blame the VRAM, since it worked when not encoding to a demanding codec at the same time.
But I'm not the programmer…

Thanks Uli for feedback.

@ Mark
The originals are here (thanks, Wesley):
...
2. 12K_BRAW is A0010_06050642_C043.braw retrievable from within the zip: https://downloads.blackmagicdesign.com/ ... 3.braw.zip

3. 8K_HEVC is 8K_643_mbps.MP4 renamed from the download 643_mbps.mp4 at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z8y7Il ... sp=sharing

4. Canon_8K.CRM is Canon_8K.CRM from the dropbox link https://www.dropbox.com/sh/btjdcqsft6qw ... _S8ea?dl=0 (however, I had trouble downloading this file successfully)

Hi Uli, links to these three seem to be broken. Do you happen to have correct links, please?

You got a PM, Alexander.

Since two of those missing files are not mine, I don't dare to post them publicly.
But you can replace them with anything in the same format as long as 10 seconds from the web, find some 8K Canon RAW. The 12K BRAW files are still here for download, BM has only rearranged them:
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/produc ... ro/gallery

The 8K Canon HEVC 10 bit 4:2:2 from a friend's camera is here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/55hsywkj4ktuv ... s.MP4?dl=0
(High motion, high detail and even longer than needed.)

You got a PM, Alexander.

Thank you!!! I'm trying to run your test on my desktop so I can get a reference point for MacBook vs. Windows desktop and see will I experience any crashes like you did.