Best upgrade for 4k video editing. Processor or Graphics card?

[thrillium3000]

Hello. I'm Will and its amateur hour. Please bare with my juvenile questions. My current specs are 3.4ghz quad core intel i7, 24gb ram, dedicated SSD for video and one for programs, and my newest addition a GTX1060(can still be exchanged for a 1070 or 1080). I'm getting a ton of lag and long renders editing music videos and skits in premier even before effects or basic coloring. I do use a ton of clips and a lot of split screen action, and resizing. Would I be best served getting the GTX1070, upgrading the CPU, or just getting some more ram? My specs are already pretty rockin so my workflow is def the main problem probably. Any pointers on that end are welcome. I've looked into proxies but IDK if I have the patience or even have the direction to do that to 50+ clips per session. O, and when I say 4k it's kind of a joke. It's a Sony FDR-X3000. Thankyou for your time!

[Moderator note: moved to best forum]

[jasontcox]

My first question is why are you rendering at all before even adding effects or making color adjustments? Your media should just play in the sequence with zero rendering necessary. And what kind of lag do you mean? Skipping frames? Do you have your Playback Resolution set to 1/2 or 1/4? That can help a bit if you're simply experiencing skipping/stuttering frames in the Program Monitor (And has zero impact on export quality).

I wouldn't THINK you'd need to create proxies for your sort of media and projects, but it could certainly help. But before you pursue that workflow, tell us more about the exact "lag"/"long renders" you're talking about!

[thrillium3000]

Thankyou for the reply! I tried the render and replace at one point when the lag was happening. I understand that makes no sense now so lets forget I said that;) I have tried the 1/8 resolution and still get lag on playback. The lag i'm talking about is skipping/stuttering. Enough to be distracting enough to not know how that scene will look. It is most prominent at sections were I have up to 4 layers of videos split screen style, also where I set the clip duration to be slow mo or speed up.

[jasontcox]

Hmmm still a bit surprised you're having the skipping frames but with playing for CPU intensive clips simultaneously, I guess it'd certainly possible. Compressed formats like H.264 clips are in some cases HARDER for the CPU to play than larger, less compressed formats like ProRes, DNxHD, etc. Creating proxies may be the best route. It's not hard. In fact you can do it without reimporting anything. Just select the clips in the Project Panel, right click and choose Create Proxies. I would pick something like ProRes LT 1280x720 from the options in the new window that pops up (if memory serves). Once it begins, you can let Media Encoder do its work in the background. Lastly, you just need to find the button to turn ON proxies, which can be found in a few places, such as the Button Editor (the little plus button) in either the Source or Program monitors.

More info here: Adobe Premiere Pro Help | Ingest and Proxy Workflow in Premiere Pro CC 2015.3

[thrillium3000]

I'll do just this and see how it works. Thanks a ton Jason!