Laptop won't play 10-bit footage properly. Desktop does.

[Stab]

Hi guys,

I have a weird problem with the 10-bit mov clips from the GH5-s.

I have a desktop and a laptop with very similar specs and performance. The desktop has a Ryzen 1700 with a GTX 1070 ti, the laptop a i7 8750h and a GTX 1060 6GB. Both have an SSD, the same version of Windows 10 (64-bit Home) and the exact same version of Premiere.

The desktop plays the 10-bit clips without any problems in both VLC player as Premiere and cuts through it like butter.

The laptop is a different story. VLC player (same version) acts very weird upon importing and crashes. Premiere can't handle the files as playback is horribly slow and choppy. The CPU and GPU don't fully work as I can see in diagnostic tools.
8-bit 4k files however are no problem and editing is as smooth as can be.

I know that the 1060 is a bit less powerful than the 1070 ti but it should be more than capable for just simple browsing through the footage. Mind you, even the preview monitor can't handle the files.

Mercury playback is on for both machines. Copying the mov files to the SSD makes no difference. It seems to me like a software or codec problem, especially because even the same version of VLC player can't show the clips.

Anyone know how to fix this? Would be appreciated!! Thanks

[Mokara]

Graphics cards on laptops are not the same as the ones in desktops in terms of capability. That is likely your problem. A laptop is NOT a replacement for a desktop when video editing is concerned.

If a hardware decoder is being used it won't show up in tools since the work is not being done in the processor cores. That is why it doesn't look like they are being fully utilized (when they probably are, at least in so far as the hardware decoder is concerned). 

[androidlad]

Check your laptop GPU driver if it's the latest.

[Emanuel]

6GB vs 8GB GPU memory seems to me the gap at first glance : -)

[Stab]

  On 3/12/2019 at 8:27 PM, androidlad said:

Check your laptop GPU driver if it's the latest.

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Yep. Updated today. Didn't make a difference.

 

  On 3/12/2019 at 8:35 PM, Emanuel said:

6GB vs 8GB GPU memory seems to me the gap at first glance : -)

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It is a gap but 6GB should be plenty for just previewing a single clip on a 1080p screen.

And what about the other telltale? VLC player crashes when opening the files on the laptop, whereas on the desktop it plays it just fine.
I don't believe that you need a better GPU than a 1060 for just viewing a clip on VLC player.

Also, the laptop handles the 4k 8-bit h264 files just fine. They are also 150 mbps (same) and it playsback without any framedrops. Even 3 clips on top of each other on the timeline are no problem. 

[MeanRevert]

My laptop doesn't play Fuji XT3 H265 files well either although PotPlayer does a better job than VLC or MPC.

Also, is your laptop one of those dual card setups?  If yes, try setting it to NVidia for the App in the Control Panel.

[Stab]

  On 3/12/2019 at 8:56 PM, MeanRevert said:

My laptop doesn't play Fuji XT3 H265 files well either although PotPlayer does a better job than VLC or MPC.

Also, is your laptop one of those dual card setups?  If yes, try setting it to NVidia for the App in the Control Panel.

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Yes it is. And I did

[UncleBobsPhotography]

I have found Media Player Classic to play 10 bit 4:2:2 much smoother than VLC. I still have trouble playing it back in Premiere though.

[androidlad]

Disable iGPU in BIOS.

[Rinad Amir]

Try Media Classic Player it works smooth on 10bit files 

[Stab]

  On 3/13/2019 at 4:50 AM, Rinad Amir said:

Try Media Classic Player it works smooth on 10bit files 

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Thanks! I tried that and indeed, the files playback smoothly!

Still trying to figure out the Premiere problem though. I'm downloading Resolve now to see if that makes a difference. Just trying to rule out any hardware inefficiency.

[Rinad Amir]

  On 3/14/2019 at 11:55 AM, Stab said:

Thanks! I tried that and indeed, the files playback smoothly!

Still trying to figure out the Premiere problem though. I'm downloading Resolve now to see if that makes a difference. Just trying to rule out any hardware inefficiency.

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About Premier Pro go to sequence settings 

And try changing preview codec to something like gopro 4.2.2 codec see if it helps  

[Vision]

GoPro Cineform YUV 10bit helps to preview playback ? smoothly 

[MeanRevert]

 

  On 3/14/2019 at 6:46 PM, Vision said:

GoPro Cineform YUV 10bit helps to preview playback ? smoothly 

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What are you guys using to transcode to Cineform? 

[deezid]

Seems like the iGPU is rendering which is really slow in comparison to the 1060.

[Stab]

  On 3/14/2019 at 5:30 PM, Rinad Amir said:

About Premier Pro go to sequence settings 

And try changing preview codec to something like gopro 4.2.2 codec see if it helps  

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Hmm will try tomorrow.

I downloaded Resolve to give that a try. Smooth as butter. No problems whatsoever with the native 10-bit files. Just as I expected, it is a software / codec thing.
Either I 'make the change', or your trick or something else silly (not meant bad) will work in Premiere.

[Mokara]

  On 3/14/2019 at 8:05 PM, deezid said:

Seems like the iGPU is rendering which is really slow in comparison to the 1060.

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Playback does not involve rendering. It is just decoding, the data is not being transformed.

Usually when you encounter issues like this it is a case of the software doing the decoding rather than hardware. Since software decoders vary considerably in efficiency, some will give smooth output while others will stutter. In this case since the issue seems 10 bit centric, my guess is that various software is treating those files very differently as a result, which is causing the performance issues.