Ray Trace on new Mac Pros

So, we've been researching new gear for a workplace I'm at and they're happy to get the highest spec of everything on a new Mac Pro (if we can actually get on the back order list) but one of our motion graphics guys has found reviews that indicate that we won't be able to use Ray Trace 3D in Ae because the Mac Pros only ship with AMD cards, not nVidas.

We use ray trace a lot at the moment in some series graphics to bend backgrounds into 3D spaces that shift over time, and have a new series starting that will need them too, to create 3D flyovers.

Apparently the highest spec iMacs could handle the job because they have nVidia options. So are we doing the right thing spending $14k on the MacPro or should we just pump for several $3k iMacs? We will also be shooting a series next year in 4K.

Would love to hear that I'm wrong about the MacPros.

Nope. They are right. The Mac Pros use AMD FirePro cards. Ray Tracer uses CUDA or software. And at the moment there are no Nvidia cards for the new Mac Pro as they don't fit.

Best to get a PC. GPU is much cheaper that way. Downside is you don't get Prores. But you can use DNXHD OP1A MXF.



www.strypesinpost.com

Ah. Dammit.

Time for a Hackintosh Jude...



For instant answers to more than one hundred common FCP questions, check out the LAFCPUG FAQ Wiki here : [www.lafcpug.org]

I know! I'm getting very close here at home. Of course I can't trust someone else's business to one though.

I'm thinking of getting the new Mac Pro. I don't really have a need to use the Ray Trace 3D in AE. I'm big think is what would be the best processor to order with it without spending too much money. I'm wondering it the 3.7GHz quad-core would be enough for working in FCPX 10.1, Motion 5, Premiere Pro CC, After Effects CC, Speedgrade CC and DaVinci Resolve 11 lite?? Or should I step up to the 3.5GHz 6 quad-core?? I'm probably going to stay with the, Dual AMD FirePro D300 GPUs with 2GB of GDDR5 VRAM each.

Any thought?

What's the main thing you need it to be able to do well, Russ? I've seen a bunch of specs where it shows that in some cases it's not that much of a bump from the iMacs, and in other cases where it's really worth it.

Here's some reviews
[www.youtube.com]
[www.macworld.com]
[www.zdnet.com]

I had that situation recently. I ended up going for an iMac. CPU performance between the base end MacPro vs an iMac is almost identical. The Mac Pros have very fast GPU but it's a custom mount and currently not user customizable and you cannot attach additional GPUs via Thunderbolt. Also, as Jude pointed out early in the thread, MacPro uses only AMD GPUS. So based on what I needed it for, I went with an iMac due to cost. The situation would be considerably different if I needed to do work a lot with 4K raw.



www.strypesinpost.com

I am seriously thinking of ordering parts for a Hackintosh soon - so once I go ahead will write up a breakdown.

To give you an overview though.


Dual 8 Core E5-2687W v2 3.4GHz (4GHz Turbo) - 16 cores total - 32 Threads
64GB RAM (initially - then upgrading to 256GB)
7 PCIe 3.0 slots which will accommodate my RAID cards and Blackmagic card and have space for one other.
Blu-ray Burner (for the odd occasion I want to watch a BR or Burn one for a client)

Two Temporary Nvidia GTX780 3GB GPUs

Waiting on the TITIAN Z to come out then will sell or give away one of the 780s or if I win the lottery run two Titan Zs

[blogs.nvidia.com]

Unfortunately no Thunderbolt on this setup - but TB and TB2 is totally overrated and as Gerard mentioned you can't use it for GPU - even if you could its too slow compared to PCI 3.0.



For instant answers to more than one hundred common FCP questions, check out the LAFCPUG FAQ Wiki here : [www.lafcpug.org]

Thanks, Jude for those link to the reviews, It was most helpful. It seems I do a lot of rendering of video footage and AE projects. I'm not considering the iMacs as all. I was looking into a used 8 core Mac Pro. So comparing those to the new Mac Pro, the new one is pretty powerful side by side over the the older Mac Pros. I'm coming from a Mac Pro 1,1. So the any of the new Mac Pros and iMacs are a big step up for me. The only thing I'm afraid of with buying a used Mac Pro is that it could have some problems that would be costly. Last week I ordered a Mac Pro 4,1 eight core through gainsaver.com and they tried pulling a bate-and-switch on me.

Will be cool to see how you go Ben - I'm happy to experiment at home, especially if I can get a better result for less money.

Russ - personally I don't think it's a good idea to buy old tech. It's already outdated for current workflows, really. You're better off jumping forward as far as funds allow, I think. Completely up to the individual though.

We will be doing 4k in the near future at the job I am researching for, so I'll still recommend the MacPro for them AND an iMac for the graphics work, which is annoying, but I'm with Strypes on anyone not having to do 4K - the iMac seems a better deal right now.

If you need to do 4K then you will need 6GB or more per GPU and a lot of RAM if you want to use DaVinci Resolve well - the top of the line GPUs in the Mac Pro are really worth the upgrade cost especially as the PC versions (AMD FirePro W9000) retail around $3k to $4k each.



For instant answers to more than one hundred common FCP questions, check out the LAFCPUG FAQ Wiki here : [www.lafcpug.org]

Jude Cotter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Russ - personally I don't think it's a good idea
> to buy old tech. It's already outdated for current
> workflows, really. You're better off jumping
> forward as far as funds allow, I think. Completely
> up to the individual though.


I usually put it against a cost assessment and functionality vs tech adoption if I'm buying it for work, whether it is old tech or new tech. The reason I decided on the iMac was because I wanted a video IO over ThB and USB3 storage. That versus re-fitting an old Mac Pro with modern parts versus getting a new MacPro. If you want to work feasibly with 4K on a new Mac Pro, you'd go with a higher end Mac Pro, not because it is cost efficient, but because the iMac with a single non workstation class GFX card would be a bit underpowered for such work. I could have gone with upgrading an old MacPro, but the hassle of finding and ordering in a PC graphics card and not being sure if it will work in 2 years with OS upgrades worked against that decision.

The MacPro isn't actually expensive as Ben pointed out, but it doesn't support CUDA, and I'm not a big fan of the custom mount required for a GPU upgrade, the choice of internal storage, the lack of PCIe nor the ECC RAM used.



www.strypesinpost.com

Okay I just ordered a Refurbished (2012) Mac Pro 3.33GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon from the Apple store. It pretty much has the same Apple warranty as a buying a new one. We were just afraid of buying a used Mac from those online stores. They all had a lot of bad reviews. Didn't want to take a chance. I don't think I can go wrong buying it from Apple…