Thanks for your help. I am now using the Sony FX-30. And I'll be the first to say I have a lot to learn. I believe the camera supports all those settings. I goofed around with 10 bit....thinking 10 bit is better than 8. But the MP4 wasn't recognized by any windows tools, so I changed to 8 bit. But I recognize that I'm just naïve.

@DIYMark

Hi

IMHO the minimum you need to do is upgrade the Nvidia graphics card graphics card, the Intel CPU has a UHD 630 iGPU and as a minimum I would recommend a RTX2060 minimum, which is capable of handling the 4K UHD video from the Sony camera.

I am also editing 4K UHD 50fps HEVC 10 bit video, from my DJI sports cam, this a much more demanding format and works fine on both my systems, no proxy files required!

See my signature for the full PC and Laptop specs.

Do be aware that if you are making Blu-ray discs, then the RTX series do not support encoding of the video to the standard BD interlaceed format.

HTH

John EB
Forum Moderator

Hello,

1. About the software

Video PRO X should be able to process the following recording formats from your camera.

XAVC HS 4K] 59.94p/50p/23.98p 100 Mbps 4:2:2 10 bit MPEG-H HEVC / H.265, XAVC HS 4K 59.94p/50p 75 Mbps 4:2:0 10 bit MPEG-H HEVC / H.265, Mbps 4:2:0 10 Bit MPEG-H HEVC / H.265, XAVC HS 4K 23.98p 100 Mbit/s 4:2:0 10 Bit MPEG-H HEVC / H.265, 23.98p 50 Mbit/s 4:2:0 10 bit MPEG-H HEVC / H.265, XAVC HS 4K 23.98p 30 Mbit/s 4:2:0 10 bit MPEG-H HEVC / H.265, Bit MPEG-H HEVC / H.265, XAVC HS 4K 119.88p/100p 200 Mbps 4:2:0 10-bit MPEG-H HEVC / H.265

For the following recording formats, you would need an additional Intra Codec Pack for approximately €50-60.

XAVC S-I 4K] 300 Mbit/s 4:2:2 10 bit MPEG-4 AVC / H.264, XAVC S-I 4K 25p 250 Mbit/s 4:2:2 10 bit MPEG-4 AVC / H.264, H.264, [XAVC S-I HD] 4:2:2 10 bit MPEG-4 AVC / H.264, XAVC S-I HD 25p 93 Mbit/s 4:2:2 10 bit MPEG-4 AVC / H.264,

2. About the hardware:
If you want to use the XAVCS-I formats then will this is only supported with hardware acceleration by the current NVidia RTX 50XX series.

XAVC HS with 10-bit 4:2:2 is also supported by INTEL ARC graphics cards with hardware acceleration.

For 10-bit 4:2:0, you can use Nvidia graphics cards from the 20XX series or Intel Arc A750 / A770 / A580 / B580.

I'm not familiar with AMD graphics cards.
But 10-bit 4:2:2 isn't supported by the new AMD cards either.

So, if I owned such a professional camera, I would definitely get a computer with at least the following requirements.

CPU = Intel Core Ultra 7-265K
Graphics card = NVidia RTX 5060 TI (16 GB) or 5070 TI
RAM = at least 32 GB

Further links:

https://www.intel.de/content/www/de/de/support/articles/000098345/graphics.html#primary-content

https://www.pugetsystems.com/blog/2025/01/21/nvidia-geforce-rtx-50-series-features-for-content-creators/#NVENC_and_NVDEC_4_2_2_Chroma_Subsampling_Support

@Marc-Goder

Hi.

While I agree with @Marc-Goder on the assessment of required pc components if you want to use the highest available video settings on your camera you have to bear in mind that such increments in quality not only get less noticeable in quality step wise for the difference in price that you pay for the privilege, but that most people viewing your content will not have monitors capable of playing back the resolution and dynamic range your files show.

Marc forgot to mention that you would need a monitor that was good enough to be able to reproduce the editing alterations so you could accurately edit such files. Such a system IMHO would be insanely pricey compared to the outlay spent on the camera gear. Not only would you need the specs Marc outlined but also enough supporting NVMe drives of sufficient size to be able to do more than a few dozen video projects.

600Mb/s video content needs very high transfer and processing speeds even before you get into the decoding and encoding of such files and need to add transitions or other possible effects.

Also bear in mind the maximum video quality you can at present upload to any video sharing platform is YouTube and the specs for that can be found here.

Also although the camera can record 4 audio channels you can only mix the audio down to stereo.

Marc is correct that you really need VPX Pro for this if you want to use those higher resolution / contrast ratio files but you could upgrade at a lesser price than from buying new.

You are also only really only going to benefit from using such files if you are using the best Sony optics with your camera. Resolution and perceived quality is not just about the file type or sensor size but the quality of the optics and skill of the editing.

So really what I am asking is what are your expectations and hopeful use from buying and using such a camera body?

Please don't get Marc or me wrong, We are not criticising any choices made here and trying to help but how far down the rabbit hole are you prepared to go?

Ray.

Thanks so much for the in-depth response. My target audience is YouTube. So squeezing everything out of my camera is not my intention. I've been mostly fine with HD resolution. It's been an interesting road that brought to this point. I am a carpenter and cabinet maker, and about a decade ago I started posting on YT at the prompting of my son (Gen Z). It started with capturing using my phone. Then I bought a camera, which grew into building a dedicated editing PC, carbon fiber tripods, lighting, and b roll cameras. Most recently I was unhappy with the quality of 1080 when I needed to crop something in post. So the journey continues into the 4k world with this new Sony camera.

I had no intention of becoming any sort of photographer or videographer. But it has been great fun along the way and I continue to learn more about the tools and the industry. You are absolutely right about the rabbit hole. More than once I've started the descent and seen how dark it is down there and did a U turn. My ambitions are frequently larger than my wallet. Once again I took a big bite and now having trouble swallowing it. I love the resolution this camera produces and I can crop to my heart's content and the results look great. But my current PC configuration just can't keep up.

I'm now thinking just trying some more RAM (32 GB), which is inexpensive and see how much it helps. Maybe the next step is to buy a 3000 series video card. At least before a new motherboard and CPU which is much more of a cost commitment. At least I could use the better video card if I have to upgrade the CPU. A bigger SSD could also help. Any thoughts you guys have about this approach is greatly appreciated.

Mark

@DIYMark

Hi Mark.

Then the specs @johnebaker suggested should suffice and I would recommend sticking to using H264 and you could record at 4K and should be able to edit with no problems. I would also suggest sticking to using only two audio channels. I'm running the nvidia 3060 12GB and can edit 4K at 100Mb/s with no problems. Unless you intend to really get into doing a lot with some of the bundled third party effects then 32 GB of ram should suffice. I actually get to use up to 24 GB of motherboard ram as well as 8 to 10GB of the nvidia vram quite frequently but I am a heavy third party effects user. I would say that VPX on my machine runs slightly better than MMS and has finer control over things like colour grading but see how you get on with MMS.

Personally I would avoid using H265 (HEVC) (If you have that option) for now at least, as it is more computing intensive and has no real advantage quality wise over H264 (MP4). The only difference of consequence is H264 files are larger for the same quality of output as the compression codec is older but at the same time less computer hardware hungry so runs more smoothly on machines with older tech on board.

If you can use NVME drives yes then go for them. 32 GB of ram is a good idea. Make sure you get two 16GB sticks as ram really needs to be run in pairs of sticks. Do not be tempted to run them with your present ram as the timings will most probably be different even if the ram is similar.

You can also get plug in boards for NVME drives is your motherboard doesn't have any slots as long as your motherboard has a spare short or long PCIe slot.

Your current CPU as @johnebaker said has an Intel inboard HD 630 that can be used in conjunction with another graphics card. Together they work better than just relying on the nvidia card you may get. You may have to go into the bios to get both to work at once.

[Edit]

One last thing.

Some newer GPU cards can be cheaper than older GPU cards due to the crazy situation going on at present. It's worth looking at what is out there. Any questions on specific cards please ask back here.

Ray.

Then the specs @johnebaker suggested should be sufficient and I would recommend sticking to using H264 and you could record at 4K and should be able to edit with no problems. I would also suggest sticking to using only two audio channels. I'm running the nvidia 3060 12GB and can edit 4K at 100Mb/s with no problems.

But neither Video ProX and certainly not Video DeLuxe can process AVCHD (H264) 10 bit 4:2:0 / 10 bit 4:2:2 without an intra codec pack.

Only HEVC (H265) or AV1 10 Bit 4:2:0 / 10 Bit 4:2:2 is supported by Magix.

The possibilities offered by HEVC (H265) 10-bit 4:2:0 alone are so great that I actually don't want to work with 8-bit 4:2:0 anymore.

Many recordings that I couldn't use before could have been saved with 10-bit 4:2:0.

I'm not talking about HDR+ with its great colors, but rather about the post-processing possibilities when you can't change much about the recording situation and the conditions are poor. 10-bit simply gives you much more security and flexibility.

However, since Magix Video Pro X and Vegas aren't as well-optimized for the GPU as, for example, DaVinci Resolve or Premiere, Magix products also require a lot of CPU power.

@DIYMark

After Reading both of the replies from @Marc-Goder more carefully and looking at your cameras' recoding formats more closely, I see that MMS would not be a viable answer and VPX could still be somewhat limiting. However, Vegas Pro would be usable with just an additional graphics card as previously mentioned as well as the SSD and ram upgrades already mentioned.

Marc is correct that there is no real H264 alternative for editing and was my mistake for not looking at the cameras recording options more closely. And while Vegas would work it would also benefit a lot from a CPU upgrade to at least a series 10 Intel CPU.

This is sometimes the penalty for upgrading to higher capable recording equipment. The supporting hardware for editing is often more expensive than the outlay for the recording equipment. I still think a better monitor if your current one is more than a few years old would be a good idea. It is harder to edit well if the resolution of the files is higher than that you can objectively look at.

Ray.