The Mac Studio M1 Ultra Chip vs 12K Footage
Can the Mac Studio M1 Ultra Chip Handle 12K Footage?
For years, I have been editing on a 2019 16 inch MacBook Pro with an Intel Core I9. Recently, I noticed the device was slowing down dramatically when editing projects with a lot of color nodes and graphics. I upgraded to the Mac Studio with the M1 Ultra chip. I download the 12K Blackmagic Clips from their website and pulled them into DaVinci Resolve to see if the Mac Studio M1 Ultra chip could handle the footage without dropping frames.
What Happened When I Pulled the 12K Clips into DaVinci Resolve?
When I pulled the 12K clips into DaVinci Resolve, the clips played back really smooth without dropping frames. Scrubbing was really smooth too, so I added some film grain to see how the Mac Studio M1 Ultra chip would handle it. Unfortunately, the Mac Studio was struggling with the film grain on top of the 12K files, and I saw drop frames. I dropped the timeline resolution to a half and that seemed to help, but when I dropped it to a quarter, the playback was pretty smooth.
Is the Mac Studio M1 Ultra Capable of Handling 12K Footage?
Although the Mac Studio M1 Ultra chip struggled with full 12K resolution footage, it could handle it when I dropped the timeline resolution to a quarter. This is great news for those who are not shooting or editing 12K footage and need an ultra-powerful laptop for their 8K projects. The Mac Studio Ultra with its 64 gigabyte RAM might be better able to handle the 12K footage.
Danggg!
Dang I’m surprised too
What screen are you using for viewing?
I have a fully loaded ultra it’s the software that hasn’t caught up with the chip
Quick and great test! Thanks!
We need a "advice for filmmakers in 2023" video, I feel like the landscapehas change yet again
Man, I love Davinci Resolve. I spend most of my time in the Edit and Fusion tabs. I also color grade my S-Log3 clips, using the Color Space Transform in the Color Tab.
As for your 12K footage, you're better off creating proxies and doing your edits. When you render, Resolve automatically reverts back to the 12K footage.
nice
As a studio owner, it’s still one of my favorite purchases. If I ever run into any issues I just resize the timeline and then resize it back to full upon export. Genuinely no issues.