After offering a first test of the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s powered by the dashing Snapdragon Elite, we wanted to know what this durable chip built on an ARM architecture was worth… We therefore found a video editing program that could take advantage of its new capabilities “neural”, in this case the CapCut application.
This editing software, available for free in a lighter version, was born in China in the wake of TikTok. After taking its first steps on smartphones, CapCut is now available on many platforms from Windows to MacOS through mobile applications. In total, it is now used by some 300 million people around the world.
An ideal start-up
With just a few clicks, the application is installed on different devices. We tested it on a Pixel 9 Pro XL, a powerful Intel MacBook Pro 2020 and this Lenovo ThinkPad T14s. In all cases, we were impressed by the speed and effectiveness of this simple and fun program.
A preview possibility allows you to instantly see the different video effects applied. We see that clipping the main subject and applying effects work wonderfully, at least in preview mode. The wealth of possibilities, especially in the promotional mode paying 7 francs per month, impressed us.
Complete software
The integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) seems most successful. It is thus possible in a few seconds to transcribe the commentary of a video into subtitles in the original language and in another language. The transcription required only slight editing in French. I deliberately left a few typos… I did not revise the English.
From adding an audio track, stickers, effects or transition, everything is done for simple and intuitive use. In short, the enlightened amateur will find what he is looking for. Even if it will not be able to go as far as on Adobe Premiere Pro, for example, it will be able to sink with pleasure into possible “creative deliriums”, as in the video below, deliberately overloaded with various effects to increase the complexity of the project…
Encoding takes time
Indeed, a video project that incorporates a large amount of visual effects, transitions and other creative elements requires more time to be finalized and saved. The 4K export of the sequence below, for example, took more than nine minutes on the Lenovo Snapdragon compared to around twenty on the latest MacBook equipped with an Intel Core i7 processor also boosted, like the Lenovo, by 32 GB of RAM.
I am obviously looking forward to continuing this test soon on a MacBook Pro equipped with an M4 Pro chip. In the meantime, I can only note the effectiveness of this Snapdragon Elite on a model not necessarily dedicated to video editing. In any case, video creation, even with modern tools, remains time-consuming.
The question of storage
To compare the efficiency of these different platforms and transfer the content necessary for this assembly, I used the CapCut cloud which can be personalized to, in principle, automate cloud synchronization. Not only do you have to take precautions to ensure that this goes well, but the GB limit in the paid version is limiting.
As precautions to take, it is a good idea to clearly designate an output directory to find the final file of its assembly after encoding. At the end of the export, the possibility of automatically generating a portrait version is nice. Too bad the possibility of creating shorts is limited by subtitle problems (the originals remain).
A double positive result
In the end, I must first admit that CapCut, whose Pro version costs 10 francs per month or 100 francs annually, is software whose power and simplicity appealed to me. And it is clear that by using it more regularly, we must be able to push our creative limits even further, despite limits intended to push the credit card out.
Then, as for the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s under Snapdragon Elite, we can only be delighted to see applications optimized for ARM, like CapCut capable of working at the speed of light. It is clear that the combination of innovative software with latest generation chips optimized for AI-type tasks is making sparks. Let’s stay attentive…
Xavier Studer
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