Jump to content

Imac Prooooooooo......


Samuel Berger

Recommended Posts

Yeah that was the recommended configuration from Blackmagic themselves for Resolve/Fusion. Like I said, long term goal. For now the 1080 Ti is all I'm getting. It will probably solve my Resolve issues. I only edit in Resolve, I don't use FCP or Premiere, etc. Really no point for the kind of thing I want to make.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am very surprised to learn that two GPUs actually causes Resolve to SLOW down. It's annoying. Their manual actually says to disconnect the second GPU if you have one. This would likely mean that it would be better to use Resolve on a different PC than the one I use for Maya, Nuke and After Effects. It might finally drive me to switching to Premiere for editing. But I looove Resolve...when it works.

 

 

Personally I can only reiterate that you can run exactly the same software on a much more cost-effective workstation by using almost anything other than a Mac.

 

Are you including the 5K retina display in that configuration? Just wondering. I went to Dell to price a Z8 workstation and when I configured it almost the same as the iMac Pro it actually cost more even without the display. Also let's not forget ProRes. Clients seem to almost always demand ProRes.

 

 

Is there a reason you need a computer that powerful? Would it not be more advisable to spend that money on upgraded film equipment? It just seems like its overkill for anything short of high-end CPU-based rendering servers.

 

I hate to overcomplicate things, but the way BMD has it right now, I might have to split all my tasks among two different computers.

 

Philip Bloom built a very interesting system for 4K editing, which he details here:

 

http://philipbloom.net/blog/makingtheswitch/

 

 

He makes very interesting points. But what he has there is not at all cheap and not really that much cheaper than the iMac Pro.

Edited by Samuel Berger
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think the more-than-1-GPU issue is really that much of an issue. My PC has two 1080ti's in it, and I use Resolve 15 exclusively now - moving only to after effects for motion graphics. To test their theory, I rendered out the same project twice - once with both my 1080ti's in, and once by pulling one out. The test included a standard TIFF export of a 4:00 min CinemaDNG raw material at 4k -and- rendering of a 3d composite from within Fusion (which is now built into Resolve).

 

My results:

 

1 GPU 2 GPU

Standard 1 m 3 s 41 s

VFX Render GPU 12m 4s 6 m 32 s

 

In both cases, the dual 1080's almost halved the render time, and I never experienced any hiccups from the software when running 2 cards.

 

Now, I'm not saying that there might not be problems - but in my real-world testing, I have no ran across them. It sounds to me as if these 'problems' might be theoretical, or could potentially be a problem with some hardware combination.

 

As such, don't get too bent out of shape right now thinking you'll need more than one system. I use one systems for everything - Resolve, AE, Blender, Daz3D, and other non-film related things.

 

PS) If you're looking for a budget grading monitor, the best option is going with a Flanders Scientific or a BenQ. The BenQ PV270 is currently $800, and has 100% Rec 709, 93% P3 color - is true 10-bits - and is a dream to work with. Yes it requires a probe to be fully workable, which sets you back about $250, but it's a lot better deal than some of the grading monitors. I don't know much about Mac screens, but are they REALLY that color accurate?

 

I just caution you from spending $10,000 on an a computer, when a $3,000 computer will do the same thing. I feel money could be spent better.

Edited by Landon D. Parks
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

I've never heard of an issue running 2 GPU's before. You can't run them in SLI, that's maybe what people are thinking about? Most of the Mac based Davinci bays I work with at facilities are running 2 GPU's or more.

 

In terms of the iMac pro, it's too much money, WAY too much money. Being a 100% Apple person myself, I feel the struggle, it's real.

 

I'm debating building a hackintosh using intel hardware that is compatible with the Mac OS. It would be expensive, but less than buying an iMac Pro. I budgeted around $5k total for everything but storage, which is a lot less money. Plus you can get double proc's, which is what I want. Right now I haven't done enough research to find which MBL's work, but there are a few out there, but it's a crap shoot because there are so many and they go in and out of production seemingly within weeks lol. So it's a rough market.... but hackintosh is the way to go for sure and have an older backup machine (which I already have) incase something happens.

 

Running windows for me at least, is 100% out of the question.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

If you're going to go to the lengths of running OSX on generic hardware, I really don't see the objection to Windows. It is at least designed and intended to work that way. Hacking OSX onto a non-Apple platform can work well but it is an approach which will create considerably more snagging than just building a Windows workstation.

 

Considering the core software (Adobe, Resolve, etc) is practically identical on both platforms it's hard to understand this choice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A couple years ago I needed to get a computer for color grading. I wanted to stay on Mac, but the trashcan was expensive and limited so I went with an HP z820 and Windows. There was a bit of learning curve for Windows, but it works of course. Not such a big deal really.

 

I did win an Nvidia p6000 graphics card at NAB, but I think it's overkill for me. If someone wants to buy it send me a message :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

Mac OS has some very important features, the biggest for me is the instant preview of ALL file types. As a professional editor, I use that function every day, all day. I can't use a program to manage media when I've got literally 100's external drives coming from various sources and I need to quickly preview all files without opening up any applications. I need to quickly plug drives in, check to see if files are on them, preview quickly and then copy or eject the media.

 

The second big thing is integration with my mobile devices. I absolutely hate web browser access to personal things. So google and microsoft cloud services are out of the question as neither has app-based integration. Apple's cloud service works so well with all of my devices, it's 100% instant. This plays a huge role when working on one system and having that info shared on all systems. I also use drop box for online media and the integration with dropbox is very seamless, it works really well.

 

Finally the OS's ability to work with all of the major professional codec's in 64 bit with very efficient multi-threading is huge. The industry is still Pro Res, a lot of times from camera original to deliverable. My bay is capable of reading and writing all of the commercial formats in 64 bit multi-threaded capacity with no special plugins that go bad over OS updates.

 

Honestly, if you use one of the standard editing platforms; Avid, Premiere, Final Cut X or DaVinci, there are ZERO benefits to Windows, only detractors such as everyone and their mom trying to attack your machine non stop. A problem that just doesn't exist on Mac OS. I don't have to worry about what media I bring into my computer, what word files to or not to open, what fonts may have issues, etc... It all works and none of it will infect my computer ever, without relying on 3rd party software.

 

Where SOME Hackintoshes are a bitch to setup initially, there are some configs which are so close to the apple products, the driver support is flawless.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

HP is possibly the most expensive option, probably on a par with Apple.

 

People who want to save a bit of cash might look at Lenovo. Honestly, it's all made out of the same stuff...

 

I've just priced a DIY build like Philip Bloom's, using the same parts, and came up to about $5000 because I decided to add 128GB of RAM instead of the 64 he used. This doesn't include an iMac quality display. Earlier when I priced an HP build, it was just insanely expensive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

Yea anything with the Xeon processors is expensive.

 

Honestly they aren't the best for media anyway... i7 and i9 are the only proc's with built-in engines for decoding and encoding MPEG files, they are WAY faster at dealing with web-based media. Xeon's struggle with it sadly.

 

A 18 core i9 will work better with media then a 14 core Xeon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Where SOME Hackintoshes are a bitch to setup initially, there are some configs which are so close to the apple products, the driver support is flawless.

 

Ironically, my current PC started life as a Hackintosh, with parts specifically chosen to run OSX. But it kept breaking every time there was an update and I started using it less and less as a Hackintosh until I removed the dual booting altogether.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

Ya can't run updates... ya basically gotta run that system and when the next system comes out, ya gotta then upgrade on another drive. It's a bit of trouble, but again if you use intel components, it's not AS bad. There is a list on the hackintosh website on what built-in drivers work with what hardware.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd chime in and say the one thing to keep in mind with a mac is that its got a solid warranty that allows you to throw it back at them and get it fixed reasonably fast. Their Joint Venture accounts are a mixed bag, but can speed up a repair to inside 24 hours (though you can buy like when you need the repair done, so doesnt need to be a pre planned expense).

 

I actually really enjoy building computers, but for work machines Im all about the macs or the z840s because of said warranties.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ultimately I feel that if I'm to run Mac OS I might as well be on an actual Mac.

 

Most of my issues were traced to my video card. It just didn't want to run Resolve. I ordered a GTX 1080 Ti and I'm hoping that will be the end of it, but it's only been a couple of weeks since I "upgraded" from Windows 7 to Windows Sad Trombone 10 and it has not been a happy transition.

 

Windows 10 is buggy as heck. The only good thing about it is that it allows me to export from Resolve into H.264 (??????????? Really??? That's a good thing????) without the "Failed to render the video frame" error from before.

 

If I could downgrade back to Windows 7 I would. But now it's been way too much work.

 

If the NVidia card doesn't solve my issues...then it's time to switch to Mac. Which will be a terrible time to do it, because the new Mac Pro is coming out next year. Oooooh yeah, I forgot, it's going to cost $50,000 for the base model. Never mind.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

I'd chime in and say the one thing to keep in mind with a mac is that its got a solid warranty that allows you to throw it back at them and get it fixed reasonably fast. Their Joint Venture accounts are a mixed bag, but can speed up a repair to inside 24 hours (though you can buy like when you need the repair done, so doesnt need to be a pre planned expense).

 

I actually really enjoy building computers, but for work machines Im all about the macs or the z840s because of said warranties.

My approach to this is that I want something I can fix myself, which is always going to be the fastest way to a repair.

 

I fully understand that isn't for everyone, though. I have always encouraged people who want a computer to get something they can have repaired locally, if they don't want to DIY. Some of the places that do Macs will also do PCs, which is probably a good bet. Return-to-manufacturer warranty is generally going to be too slow for most people, I fear.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

I highly recommend having a BOOTABLE FULL COPY of the operating system drive with all the programs installed made on a external drive so that if the mac has problems booting up or for example autoupdates something and refuses to work correctly after that, you can always boot up from the external drive and continue working and resolve the problems (for example a broken internal hard drive of the mac) later when you really have time for it.

 

And if your mac goes to repair center you can usually boot another mac from that same external osx copy and continue working without much problems other than maybe incompatible gpu drivers. the mac does not normally need to even be the same model for the external to work.

 

then when your original mac comes back repaired (and probably the internal hdd wiped and osx reinstalled because that is the way all the computer repair services seem to work) you can just copy your external osx copy back to the replaced internal drive and you will thus avoid reinstalling the programs and may save even couple of days of work :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

I'm shooting on a C100 1080 footage and I want to buy a Mac...perhaps I'll move to 4k at some point in the next couple years but my interests are drama psychological and not really action or heavy fx...but I want things to go smoothly and fast. 

 

Also wanna have Logic on the Mac for my musical work (violinist & composer)

 

Suggestions for fast, smooth and open for heavier needs in the future?

 

Happy holidaze and happy New year too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Still editing feature films on my 12 year old Mac Book Pro laptop 17 inch.  Running FCP 7.

Works perfectly well, no need to upgrade anything.  I added a solid state drive for faster speeds, and replaced the drive.  Other than that, pretty cheap running over 12 years.  No idea why people are obsessed with upgrading computers?  They can last a lot longer than people think.

R,

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member
7 hours ago, Richard Boddington said:

Still editing feature films on my 12 year old Mac Book Pro laptop 17 inch.  Running FCP 7.

Works perfectly well, no need to upgrade anything.  I added a solid state drive for faster speeds, and replaced the drive.  Other than that, pretty cheap running over 12 years.  No idea why people are obsessed with upgrading computers?  They can last a lot longer than people think.

I have have 5,1 Mac Pro tower, completely upgraded with the best hardware possible for the machine and it's still too slow for 4k editing. I edit in full res because I don't like to do offline and then online, that process wastes so much time and I can deliver a finished looking piece to clients without having to leave the program. So yea, you need a pretty fast computer to do that. I have a 16" MBP and will be getting an EGPU for most of my work. I'm also going to invest in a new Mac Pro soon. 

For 1080p editing, ya don't need much at all. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you're going to do your own on line in 4K, then yeah, my system won't cut it (excuse the pun.)

I use a different out of house system for colour and on-line,. always have done.

R,

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member
11 hours ago, Richard Boddington said:

If you're going to do your own on line in 4K, then yeah, my system won't cut it (excuse the pun.)

I use a different out of house system for colour and on-line,. always have done.

The only thing I don't do in-house is the audio work. I enjoy coloring and when you're a freelancer, having a wide array of skills is extremely valuable. If you wore more hats, I'm afraid you may not even be able to stand up anymore lol ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...