Laptop for vfx and video editing

John Terebetsky

Hello, I'm starting to get into video editing and vfx for film.  What would you recommend as a quality laptop for under 2000$ for doing that, and still be able to run blender, dragonframe, photoshop, premiere elements?  Thanks!

Chris Ellerby

Hi John,

Finding a good deal on a laptop can be a bit tricky, but your $2k budget should be able to get something good.  For applications like video editing and photoshop you'll want as much ram as you can afford, at least 16gig, if not 32.    For blender and 3D work a good video card is key.

I've been using MacBook Pro laptops for years (and using blender, photoshop, after effects, etc.), but the trouble there is the cost.  Apple does not have very budget friendly pricing.   A few years back I got a Razer pro laptop for 3D and VR work that turned out to be a big disappointment.  They had a high price, promised big, but delivered very poorly made hardware.

In terms of resources Blender will be the most demanding, so I would use that as your target spec.

Here are some laptop recommendation lists for Blender.  They are a good starting point for research.  I'm always a bit dubious about product lists unless I know the site, as often they are thrown together to get affiliate sales, but they can help see what's out there.

https://laptopsgeek.com/best-laptop-for-blender/
https://tekadvisor.ca/laptops/which/run/blender-3d
https://tekadvisor.ca/laptops/which/at-least/run/blender-3d

Here's a list of supported GPUs (video cards) for Blender, which may help in the search
https://code.blender.org/2019/04/supported-gpus-in-blender-2-80/


Also, I'm not sure if you are familiar with Andrew Price (aka Blender Guru https://www.youtube.com/user/AndrewPPrice ) but he has this twitter post that may help a bit.  And if you are interested in blender I highly recommend his YouTube content.

https://twitter.com/andrewpprice/status/1038551826876887040?lang=en

Hope that helps!

/Chris

Bigsalebro

Finding a good deal on a laptop can be a bit tricky, but your $ 2k budget should be able to get something good. For applications like video editing and Photoshop you can take as much RAM as you want, at least 16gig, if not 32. A good video card is prime for Blender and 3D work.

I've been using a MacBook Pro laptop for years (and after Blender, Photoshop, Effects, etc.), but the problem is there. Apple does not have a very budget-friendly price. A few years ago I got a Razor Pro laptop for 3D and VR work which was a big disappointment. They had a high price, promised big, but delivered very poor hardware.

Blender will be the most sought after in terms of resources, so I will use it as your target device.

Here are some laptop recommendation lists for Blender. They are a good starting point for research. I am always a little skeptical about product lists until I find the site, as they are often thrown together to get affiliate sales, but they can help to see what is out there.
https://bigsalebro.com/9-best-laptops-for-gta-2021-bigsalebro/
https://bigsalebro.com/best-hackintosh-laptops-2021-bigsalebro/
https://bigsalebro.com/best-laptops-for-teachers-2021-bigsalebro/

MariaSmith

Currently, I'm using Microsoft Surface Book 2  for graphic designing and video editing. Recently I completed my project for client website is based on lawnmower he requires to make a video having some animation, and its result should be in 4K. I completed this project by using this machine, and the client was happy with my work

John Terebetsky

Thanks wish I checked back sooner,  I bought an asus proart studio-book 17”.  16 gb with 1tb ssd. Getting blender sometime soon,  thanks!

Chris Ellerby

No worries, hope your adventures with blender go well!  Please feel free to share your work/progress with us here.

/Chris

John Terebetsky

Thanks everyone!  I’m also going to try photoscanning and making a character that way.  I bought a asus 1tb studio book pro a few months ago and I am learning blender as we speak!

fadi_badie

great thread, I have the same budget and also dont know what laptop to get. thx.

Fares Alenezi

I had the same budget a while ago and I got the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14. It has a powerful processor and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, which should handle softs like Blender, Dragonframe, Photoshop, and Premiere Elements smoothly. Also note it's really important to know how to screen record on windows 10 with audio, there are some handy guides online that can help with that.