video_editing:davinci_resolve_in_the_cloud

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video_editing:davinci_resolve_in_the_cloud [2021/03/21 14:34] davidvideo_editing:davinci_resolve_in_the_cloud [2021/11/22 09:55] (current) david
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 I'm trying to keep up with my notes on [[:video_editing|Video Editing]] and [[video editing:DaVinci Resolve]]. Hardware choices for DaVinci resolve is a subject for a small book (which needs updating every 6 months), but I've summarised my notes under [[Video Editing:DaVinci Resolve Specs]]. I'm trying to keep up with my notes on [[:video_editing|Video Editing]] and [[video editing:DaVinci Resolve]]. Hardware choices for DaVinci resolve is a subject for a small book (which needs updating every 6 months), but I've summarised my notes under [[Video Editing:DaVinci Resolve Specs]].
 +
 +===== Summary =====
 +
 +My questions were:
 +
 +> Can I use cloud computing to run DaVinci Resolve?
 +> At what point does it become cheaper to buy a new laptop for "editing on the go" in comparison to using cloud computing?
 +
 +This came from the fact that I had an older (but not that old) laptop which could no-longer keep up with running DaVinci resolve (at least reasonably). I didn't need to upgrade it for any productivity outside of running DaVinci Resolve.
 +
 +Laptop prices showed that a laptop with an Nvidia card that would run DaVinci Resolve confidently for a few years would cost about £3,000 If I went with Apple, then the new M1 chip brings the costs down. The Macbook Air which comes in at just over £1,000 (Or just under £1,500 for a more powerful Macbook Pro with the M1 chip).
 +
 +After doing some numbers (just for DaVinci Resolve), I've calculated (at least for UK prices) that a £1,000 laptop used 10 days a year over a 5 year lifetime works out at £20 a day. Worst case scenario is a £3,000 laptop used for 5 days a year over a 3 year lifetime, which averages out at £200 a day. That's a lot of variance!
 +
 +> If I can find a way of working which comes to less than £20 ($27.36) a day then I'm on par with my cheapest solution for my predicted usage. 
 +
 +This can be achieved by using one of:
 +  * ''g4dn.2xlarge'' - [[https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/pp/prodview-xrrke4dwueqv6|NVIDIA Gaming PC - Windows Server 2019]]
 +  * ''g4dn.4xlarge'' - [[https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/pp/prodview-zzy5tef4cq6sg|DaVinci Resolve 17 Studio]]
  
 ===== Note ===== ===== Note =====
  
 This looks at using powerful windows virtual machines in the cloud, they will run both versions of DaVinci Resolve (Free and Studio). However studio will be able to use more of the fancy GPU features. Warning from personal experience, getting a dongle to work remotely is hard/impossible (I couldn't do it) and I've been unable to test with a licence key (so much for the dongle for when I'm working without internet). This looks at using powerful windows virtual machines in the cloud, they will run both versions of DaVinci Resolve (Free and Studio). However studio will be able to use more of the fancy GPU features. Warning from personal experience, getting a dongle to work remotely is hard/impossible (I couldn't do it) and I've been unable to test with a licence key (so much for the dongle for when I'm working without internet).
 +
 +This mostly looks at two EC2 instances:
 +  * [[https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/pp/prodview-xrrke4dwueqv6|NVIDIA Gaming PC - Windows Server 2019]]
 +  * [[https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/pp/prodview-zzy5tef4cq6sg|DaVinci Resolve 17 Studio]] - New as of June 2021 (I couldn't find much extra information on this, [[https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/pp/prodview-zzy5tef4cq6sg|WayBackMachine]] first found the page on June 8th 2021).
  
 ===== Scenario ===== ===== Scenario =====
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 To compare, I looked at the EC2 prices based on the Paris region: To compare, I looked at the EC2 prices based on the Paris region:
 +
 +[[https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/pp/prodview-xrrke4dwueqv6|NVIDIA Gaming PC - Windows Server 2019]]:
 ^              Model|  g4dn.xlarge  |  g4dn.2xlarge  |  g4dn.4xlarge  | ^              Model|  g4dn.xlarge  |  g4dn.2xlarge  |  g4dn.4xlarge  |
 ^              Cores|  4            |  8              16            | ^              Cores|  4            |  8              16            |
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 Using the 16 core machine for 12 hours (marathon day), I'm keeping (just) below the $27.36/£20 a day price I'm aiming for, although tax and data storage might push it over. So, instead to remain cost effective I'm better either using it for a shorter period of time or dropping down to a smaller machine. Fortunately using cloud resources makes this scaling up and down easy. Using the 16 core machine for 12 hours (marathon day), I'm keeping (just) below the $27.36/£20 a day price I'm aiming for, although tax and data storage might push it over. So, instead to remain cost effective I'm better either using it for a shorter period of time or dropping down to a smaller machine. Fortunately using cloud resources makes this scaling up and down easy.
 +
 +[[https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/pp/prodview-zzy5tef4cq6sg|DaVinci Resolve 17 Studio]]:
 +^              Model|  g4dn.xlarge  |  g4dn.2xlarge  |  g4dn.4xlarge  |  g4dn.8xlarge  |
 +^              Cores|  N/A          |  N/A            16            |  32            |
 +^        Memory (GB)|  N/A          |  N/A            64            |  128           |
 +^    Hour Cost (USD)|  N/A          |  N/A            1.409          2.546         |
 +^   8 Hour Day (USD)|  N/A          |  N/A            11.272        |  20.368        |
 +^  10 Hour Day (USD)|  N/A          |  N/A            14.09          25.46         |
 +^  12 Hour Day (USD)|  N/A          |  N/A            16.908        |  30.552        |
 +
 +Using the 16 core machine for 12 hours (marathon day), I'm keeping well below the $27.36/£20 a day price I'm aiming for. I could go up to the more powerful instance for shorter bursts of productivity, if the requirement was there.
  
 When you stop (turn off) the virtual machine, you stop paying the prices above. Instead you only pay for the storage: When you stop (turn off) the virtual machine, you stop paying the prices above. Instead you only pay for the storage:
  • video_editing/davinci_resolve_in_the_cloud.txt
  • Last modified: 2021/11/22 09:55
  • by david