---
title: 'I Started Using Editing Codecs and it Changed My Life!'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=RVTKDZF4n4k'
video_id: 'RVTKDZF4n4k'
date: 2026-06-14
duration_sec: 405
---

# I Started Using Editing Codecs and it Changed My Life!

> Source: [I Started Using Editing Codecs and it Changed My Life!](https://youtube.com/watch?v=RVTKDZF4n4k)

## Summary

The video explains why h.264 is a poor editing codec due to its heavy compression and reliance on previous frames, and introduces DNxHD as a superior alternative for smoother editing. The creator shares personal experience and practical advice on using editing codecs.

### Key Points

- **Problem with h.264** [0:00] — h.264 is heavily compressed, designed for viewing, not editing. It becomes choppy with many cuts, color grades, and effects.
- **What is a codec?** [0:35] — Codec stands for encode/decode, a compression algorithm. Without compression, files would be too large (e.g., 21.6 GB per minute for 1080p60).
- **Why h.264 is hard to edit** [1:43] — h.264 uses inter-frame compression, requiring previous frames to decode current frames. This causes performance issues with complex edits.
- **Hardware acceleration limitations** [2:44] — NVIDIA GPUs have NVENC for h.264 acceleration, but free DaVinci Resolve lacks it. Premiere Pro has it but is paid. Hardware acceleration still struggles with large projects.
- **Proxies vs editing codecs** [3:38] — Proxies re-render footage at lower resolution/bitrate but are still h.264. The creator dislikes proxies and recommends editing codecs like DNxHD.
- **DNxHD benefits** [4:04] — DNxHD stores each frame independently (intra-frame), making editing smooth. No hardware acceleration, but time cost is offset by better performance.
- **Storage cost of DNxHD** [5:10] — DNxHD uses ~3 GB per minute (180 GB/hour). For dual-camera setups, double that. Recommended to use a fast SSD (e.g., 1 TB M.2).

### Conclusion

Using an editing codec like DNxHD significantly improves editing performance and project stability, despite higher storage and time costs. For those unable to use it, h.264 proxies are a fallback.

## Transcript

I dropped h.264 Like a Rock now I edit
with fire codex sexy kodaks and okay
maybe that maybe I got carried away
since forever creators have been wanting
to take an SD card out of their camera
put it in their computer and immediately
start editing while it is the dream
h.264 is heavily compressed it's meant
to be a viewing codec not an editing
codec so it might start out fine but
once you have a hundred Cuts color
grades Graphics animations things start
to get choppy and hard to edit so let's
see alternative first let me explain
what a codec actually is the word Kodak
is an amalgamation of encode and decode
it's simply a compression algorithm
applied to a file then whatever you're
viewing the video on or editing knows
what the compression algorithm is and
uncompresses it in order to present it
to the viewer without compression files
would be unwieldy they'd be too large to
be distributed on the internet on media
like this here's some quick math as to
why each pixel stores color in three
bytes a 1920x1080 screen is 2 million
seventy three thousand six hundred
pixels with three bytes per pixel that's
six million two hundred and twenty
thousand eight hundred bytes that's
0.006 gigabytes for a single frame that
doesn't sound too bad now multiply that
by 60 frames per second now multiply
that by 60 seconds in a minute and
you're sitting at 21.6 gigabytes per
minute not so great anymore a lot of
cameras including the one I'm using
right now will record by default into
h.264 some may come with other options
but mine doesn't even recording software
like OBS will by default record to h.264
h264 is great for viewing media it's a
strong compression that also gives you a
pretty decent looking image but that
strong compression is exactly what makes
it hard to edit for every frame that's
pulled up the computer has to decode
that compression to show you the frame
but because of the way h.264 works it
also needs pre previous frames in order
to build the current frame because every
frame doesn't store every single Pixel
especially if there's no changes that's
why if you're ever watching a football
game and you see confetti rapidly fall
everywhere the image stability just
falls apart so why the hate for h.264 if
you have a relatively decent computer
h.264 probably won't give you any
trouble but given enough effects and
cuts h.264 will start to become a little
bit on the sluggish side now I have
watched someone take h.265 footage from
a Sony a7s3 which is very hard footage
to edit and throw it into an M1 Max
MacBook Pro that was also a five
thousand dollar computer and most of you
are Gamers so you're probably not
editing on Macs anyway today we're going
to talk about PCS Nvidia gpus do come
with a built-in h264 encoder decoder
called in bank this is what is known as
Hardware acceleration the GPU basically
has a bunch of parts inside that make it
easy to work with this kind of footage
when you get a big enough project still
find hardware acceleration still kind of
struggles a bit if you're using the free
version of DaVinci Resolve you do not
get access to Hardware acceleration now
I do think the studio version is money
well spent but I also understand that
that is 300 and it is a lot of money if
you're using Premiere Pro you do have
access to Hardware acceleration but
Premiere Pro is not free so for the most
part unless you're willing to pay some
money you're not getting access to
Hardware acceleration anyway we also all
know about the memes regarding Premiere
Pro and how it crashes all the time but
I will say once you start using an
actual editing codec I find that it
doesn't really crash at all what are
editing codecs proxies work by
re-rendering the footage that you have
at a smaller resolution and a lower bit
rate
typically becomes significantly easier
to edit with then you just have to
remember to turn on the proxies while
you're editing and to turn them off
while you're exporting otherwise your
export looks like garbage I personally
do not like proxies I find they're kind
of a two-step forward one step back kind
of deal there's still h.264 it's still
not an editing codec so let's talk about
dnxhd dnxhd was developed by Avid it's
meant to be an editing and a
presentation codec while I'll be calling
this dnxhd keep in mind that that covers
resolutions up to 1080 and then after
that the codec uses dnxhr dnxhd is easy
for a computer to edit because each
individual frame is stored with all of
its data intact with no need to
reference previous frames this means the
computer just grabs reads the frame and
displays it and you're done there is a
storage and a Time cost to using the NX
HD and those costs are broken down like
this the time cost is this there's no
Hardware acceleration for dnxhd if you
watch my video on how record videos like
Markiplier you're going to have a double
wide video that you're going to split
into two parts if you're going to be
rendering anyway you may as well try
rendering out to dnxhd unless you're
trying to turn around some super fast
project on a tight deadline you probably
have time to spare I highly recommend
setting a project up to do some prep
work let it render go get a snack take a
nap get some water come here
self-care take care of yourself because
each individual frame is stored there is
a storage cost to this as well you're
looking at around three gigabytes per
minute and so for an hour of footage
you're looking at around 180 gigabytes
if you're a gamer doing the double wide
method that I just mentioned if you've
got two files so we're doubling up so
you're at about 360 gigs for an hour
this is where I suggest if you're an
Editor to invests in an editing Drive I
personally have an additional M2 one
terabyte SSD in my PC that I use just
for storing projects that I'm currently
working on that's a little Overkill
because that reads and rides at about
3000 megabytes per second according to
an article by Larry Jordan you only need
about 400 megabytes of read and write
speed in order to successfully edit a
1080p project and I have a link to that
article down below if you want to read
more secondly I'm a big fan of Samsung
t7 ssds but they're also a little bit on
the pricier and Overkill side based on
the comments I have read on my other
videos a lot of people here use the free
version of DaVinci so Hardware
acceleration is for the most part out if
you can spare the storage space and the
time I highly recommend giving dnxhd a
try on a big project at least once you
will be surprised at just how much
better your project is maintained and
performs when using a proper editing
codec if you can't swing those then h264
proxies are probably your next bet I
just don't I just personally don't like
them now that you're smart on codex
you're going to go over here and watch
this video on how to make cool vertical
videos so you can get lots of views on
Tech talk and have a good one foreign