Learn how How Avid Media Composer Utilizes Computer Power

For all of you die-hard techie Avid video editors out there, take a look at this Avid article from Avid engineers on how Media Composer uses computer power.... On another note - have you see our custom built HP z Workstations and zBooks? They are built for speed and optimized for Avid editors! If you are looking for a new editing computer, you can get more information about our workstations here. From Avid Blog

...1. Everything works better with more RAM. Filling a computer with the maximum it can handle is now a standard recommendation. Having less RAM constricts Media Composer’s abilities.

Media Composer works best when it encounters the least restrictions possible, especially when it comes to RAM. For example, take a 2014 MacPro with 16GB of RAM. Hit play and watch the RAM usage in the macOS Activity Monitor. (This is how we monitor apps and their efficiency.) Media Composer may hover generally around the 8GB area. But if you take that same system and change the RAM to 32GB, Media Composer may hover generally around the 14-16GB area. This isn’t Media Composer “hogging” more resources, but rather the smaller RAM is constricting the system’s ability to use any available resources. This is a prime argument for increasing a system’s RAM to max capacity.

Maxing-out the RAM “lifts the computers ceiling” as high as possible. Thus all functions have the possibility to operate at their own maximums on that computer, without constraints placed on them by lesser amounts of RAM. If a new iMac can physically hold a maximum of 64GB of RAM, then that’s what is recommended by Avid.

Since RAM can be the easiest and least expensive way a user can upgrade a computer, Avid has been architecting the 64-bit playback engine to take advantage of RAM first.

Minimum requirements will, of course, still exist. For example, a laptop with only 8GB of RAM and a 5400RPM external drive holding a project’s DNxHD media will work as a minimally qualified machine....[continue reading]