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A couple of questions for the photo editing experts

hammick

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I have been researching the piss out new computers for photo editing. I've determined a laptop will get much more use by not confining me to my upstairs office.

Yesterday I bought a Dell XPS 15 with a 4k display. I cancelled the order today. I'm not sure the pop of the 4k screen is worth the battery hit, the screen glare and the scaling issues with Win 10 and some programs.

Initially I thought Video editing would be something I would be doing regularly. But after giving it thought what I will be doing is extracting still photos from 4k video. From my research I don't think this requires the dedicated GPU that video editing does.

So if I plan to just edit high resolution photos and extract stills from 4k video (and then edit them) is there any reason I need a laptop with a dedicated GPU? I'm starting to look at the Dell XPS 13 with the HD display rather than than the 4k touch screen. It's a high spec laptop with incredible battery life, just missing the dedicated CPU of the XPS 15.

I can get a 4k screen on the XPS 13 but I have the same concerns as above.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
I'm using the Dell XPS 15 along with 32 gig of RAM. Wasn't concern about the battery mainly because I usually keep it plugged in.
 
Oh and I'm running the entire Adobe Suite.
 
I thought the same thing you did, that I would NEVER edit video and would just be extracting photos for editing. Boy was I wrong! I started out 9 years ago using a laptop and it worked perfectly fine until I decided that i wanted to edit some video and then it was really slow to render things out. I couldn't even imagine editing 4k on a laptop. So I ended up with a desktop with a dedicated GPU, which sometimes my GPU isn't fast enough.
 
I thought the same thing you did, that I would NEVER edit video and would just be extracting photos for editing. Boy was I wrong! I started out 9 years ago using a laptop and it worked perfectly fine until I decided that i wanted to edit some video and then it was really slow to render things out. I couldn't even imagine editing 4k on a laptop. So I ended up with a desktop with a dedicated GPU, which sometimes my GPU isn't fast enough.

I had the same experience.
 
I just don't see it happening. If by chance it does I'll build a workstation.

So any reason I need a dedicated CPU to extract still photos from 4k video?
 
I'm using the Dell XPS 15 along with 32 gig of RAM. Wasn't concern about the battery mainly because I usually keep it plugged in.

Do you have the 4k touch? If so, are you glad you got that screen. If not, how is the accuracy of the FHD screen?
 
I just don't see it happening. If by chance it does I'll build a workstation.

So any reason I need a dedicated CPU to extract still photos from 4k video?
I didn't use a dedicated GPU when I was doing it. The video playback was sketchy sometimes, but I could still extract.
 
I didn't use a dedicated GPU when I was doing it. The video playback was sketchy sometimes, but I could still extract.

That reminds me, I wonder if you can extract photos using a Crystalsky or a Gnarbox? If so you could save a lot of money and have more capabilities. It doesn't take a lot of computer to edit a photo. I have the CS and should try it sometime,
 
If I can add another thought here, it's that if your goal is to take stills, take stills. Extracting them from video won't be quite as sharp, AND you'll learn very little about composition and light.

Stills and video are two very different animals. The Mavic is (in my opinion) a better still photography platform than video, plus you won't have the file sizes you have with video, nor will you need to learn video editing software. And the laptop you purchased is more than up to the task.
 
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Good info here. Keep it coming please. Plan to order my laptop by tomorrow. Need to run to MicroCenter or BB and see a 4k screen in person.

My dated Thinkpad with Core I5, 4gb of memory and SSD plays mavic 4k videos just fine on Win 7 Pro in both VLC and WMP. Just tried and I can extract 4k still just fine using VLC. If it didn't have such an inaccurate display I'd just use it.

So for my purposes a high spec laptop without a GPU will work just fine. Just need to decide on whether I get a 4k screen.
 
If I can add another thought here, it's that if your goal is to take stills, take stills. Extracting them from video won't be quite as sharp, AND you'll learn very little about composition and light.

Stills and video are two very different animals. The Mavic is (in my opinion) a better still photography platform than video, plus you won't have the file sizes you have with video, nor will you need to learn video editing software. And the laptop you purchased is more than up to the task.

I agree. But if I'm above a grizzly you can be assured I'll be getting my video first and photos second.

There are many times where videos will have that certain frame that you couldn't get with the camera. Especially since you have to also fly and pay attention battery and telemetry.
 
Good info here. Keep it coming please. Plan to order my laptop by tomorrow. Need to run to MicroCenter or BB and see a 4k screen in person.

My dated Thinkpad with Core I5, 4gb of memory and SSD plays mavic 4k videos just fine on Win 7 Pro in both VLC and WMP. Just tried and I can extract 4k still just fine using VLC. If it didn't have such an inaccurate display I'd just use it.

So for my purposes a high spec laptop without a GPU will work just fine. Just need to decide on whether I get a 4k screen.

Wait, this has been what I'm trying to say and I keep messing it up. Why not just buy a really good monitor? I'm ASSuming you're not editing in the field so just pick your shots once you get home. Size matters. A nice 27 or 32" 4k screen would be awesome! Of course, again I'm ASSuming your current rig has an HDMI output since it plays 4k video.
 
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Wait, this has been what I'm trying to say and I keep messing it up. Why not just buy a really good monitor? I'm ASSuming you're not editing in the field so just pick your shots once you get home. Size matters. A nice 27 or 32" 4k screen would be awesome! Of course, again I'm ASSuming your current rig has an HDMI output since it plays 4k video.

I understand. I just checked and my Thinkpad T440s has a display port and will run a 4k monitor at 30hz. You might have saved me a bundle. Maybe I'll upgrade it to 12gb ram and buy a monitor.
 
I am very happy with my xps 9560 4k. Mostly always near a power source so battery life isn't a concern, but with video editing I am sure a power source would be a priority when possible.
 
In order to capture the still won't you first have to display it in the 4k manner? My desktop has extreme difficulty handling 4k and I found Premiere Elements will NOT handle it (video edit) so I went with a deal on CyberLink Power Director 64bit which could.
My point is if you need to capture and have trouble displaying the 4k how can you chose the frame? I don't see how a laptop can,.. YMMV.
 
In order to capture the still won't you first have to display it in the 4k manner? My desktop has extreme difficulty handling 4k and I found Premiere Elements will NOT handle it (video edit) so I went with a deal on CyberLink Power Director 64bit which could.
My point is if you need to capture and have trouble displaying the 4k how can you chose the frame? I don't see how a laptop can,.. YMMV.

It's certainly confusing but my understanding is there are two ways to extract 4k stills. Extracting them from the actual 4k video clip which VLC does or extracting them with a program that takes 4k screenshots. The latter would require a 4k display.

My laptop has the Intel I5-4300U at 1.9GHz with 4gb of memory. Graphics are integrated (no dedicated GPU). It will play 4k clips in VLC from my MPP smoothly if I enable DirectX Video Acceleration in the Input/Codec settings. I'm sure having an SSD as my drive is just as important as having as having a dual core processor with hyperthreading. Without DirectX Video Acceleration enabled in VLC it is very choppy. It plays 4k video just fine in Windows Media Player without changing any settings.

I use VLC to extract the stills. It's super easy. Advance to the frame you want and hit the "Take a Snapshot" button. It's saves the still in the Pictures folder at 3840 x 2160 resolution. I can process the photo through Gimp if needed just like any other photo. Best part both VLC and Gimp are totally free.
 
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I agree with Pixl's comments. Another issue that will arise from grabbing stills from video is that you can run into motion blur if say your shutter speed is at 1/50s while shooting video versus capturing a photo where your shutter speed can be much faster resulting in much sharper images. You could certainly shoot your video with a faster shutter speed if it is bright enough, however this will result in a look to your video footage you may not wish for. So I'd say if you are looking for great photos then just shoot photos.
 
I agree with Pixl's comments. Another issue that will arise from grabbing stills from video is that you can run into motion blur if say your shutter speed is at 1/50s while shooting video versus capturing a photo where your shutter speed can be much faster resulting in much sharper images. You could certainly shoot your video with a faster shutter speed if it is bright enough, however this will result in a look to your video footage you may not wish for. So I'd say if you are looking for great photos then just shoot photos.

That's certainly my limited experience thus far. If the drone or Gimbal are moving during the video frame the extracted still will be blurry. If the drone and gimbal are stationary during the frame the extracted still look pretty good. I'm guessing winds will also cause blur.

So for wildlife shots where the animal can disappear at any moment I will video while hovering and then try to get some good pics.

Wildlife is much different than scenery. No time to play around with settings and take a bunch of different pics.
 
That's certainly my limited experience thus far.

Wildlife is much different than scenery. No time to play around with settings and take a bunch of different pics.

Definitely true, and 4k video shot at a high shutter speed is a good option. Using a DSLR I film hummingbirds in 4k at 2000 shutter and get some nice images that would require pure luck to get when shooting stills. You're basically shooting 8Mp stills at 30fps if your shutter speed is high enough--but the video will look choppy. But if you're after the stills, go for it with a high shutter speed.
 
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