Return-Path: Received: from imr-da03.mx.aol.com ([205.188.105.145] verified) by media-motion.tv (CommuniGate Pro SMTP 4.2.10) with ESMTP id 4606211 for AE-List@media-motion.tv; Wed, 25 Jan 2012 03:56:04 +0100 Received: from mtaout-da04.r1000.mx.aol.com (mtaout-da04.r1000.mx.aol.com [172.29.51.132]) by imr-da03.mx.aol.com (8.14.1/8.14.1) with ESMTP id q0P31Uvd003948 for ; Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:01:30 -0500 Received: from [192.168.1.33] (pool-71-105-103-245.lsanca.dsl-w.verizon.net [71.105.103.245]) by mtaout-da04.r1000.mx.aol.com (MUA/Third Party Client Interface) with ESMTPA id 62DA2E0000F5; Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:01:27 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: [AE] The Future of the Mac Pro in Video Post Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v1251.1) Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="Apple-Mail=_596A4DA3-E803-46F3-8064-D90ABE06F648" From: Tim Sassoon In-Reply-To: Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:01:15 -0800 Cc: Tim Sassoon Message-Id: <95C5DCFC-0C77-4C9C-A949-F62D4FCCD0BD@aol.com> References: To: "After Effects Mail List" X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.1251.1) x-aol-global-disposition: G DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=mx.aol.com; s=20110426; t=1327460490; bh=v0L+IwRBiXf1ytWFG+FYnHd21eIhUdHpwUa05hGPOyk=; h=From:To:Subject:Message-Id:Date:Mime-Version:Content-Type; b=k0KgFrQ4+FXcdft9tujmwh/0Uf6BqFIUPbkzaGRiQcpj5tTgMHpwZwRiPUVwhuBVI z2QaQv4gW5oqot8na7EIal6QKVYZb7ZLDPjAzwcAcXlPRN++/1JjzXeN7oHBK91PVc sb7XnB92PS4Xyem+ULAJz85owU6VMriM+VKOUvEU= X-AOL-SCOLL-SCORE: 0:2:431757760:93952408 X-AOL-SCOLL-URL_COUNT: 0 x-aol-sid: 3039ac1d33844f1f70875c05 X-AOL-IP: 71.105.103.245 --Apple-Mail=_596A4DA3-E803-46F3-8064-D90ABE06F648 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii I've done 2K+ comps on an 840AV running system 7 or 8 something and AE3 = and 256 MB RAM. We would've KILLED for a present-day Mac Mini. Probably = would've boasted that it was faster than an Indigo2 Extreme. If you get = the server version, it'll have more disk space internally than a = Fridge-sized SGI Challenge server would've had, and certainly faster = Ethernet. And Thunderbolt would be how much faster than HiPPI? Tim Sassoon SFD Santa Monica, CA On Jan 24, 2012, at 6:46 PM, Greg Balint wrote: > Can a dual core Mac mini run on both cores? Doesn't that bog the = system down to a stand-still? Considering a while ago when I had a dual = core pc and could only run one core in AE Mp settings, does deadline = just run a streamlined OS completely just for rendering? >=20 > Also, today's 12 core systems are 12 faster cores, with smaller = architecture and faster busses and better memory controllers. 12 cores = in one box vs 8 cores split up across core 2 duos would be no contest. = The 12 core would probably beat it by 2x the speed, even though it only = has 1/3 more processors.=20 >=20 > I like the idea of having a dedicated farm for rendering though. That = would be a nice alternative to faster renders; the fact that you could = continue to work on a dedicated station while your renders to off and = finish on the network.=20 >=20 >=20 > On this small topic, I know it's been asked before, but does anyone = have an idea if there are good modern AE benchmark project files out = there that stress the Mp setup and RAM and can be measured by speed of = render? I'd love to have statistics like Cinebench provides and 3dfluff = archives at cbscores.com=20 >=20 > Maybe we can put one together as a list, and make sure we find = processor intensive plugin actions, then have a second render that = relies more on RAM (time /echo effects maybe?) >=20 >=20 > ////Greg Balint > ///Art Director / Motion Graphics Designer > delRAZOR.com/ >=20 > On Jan 24, 2012, at 9:20 PM, "Chris Zwar" wrote: >=20 >> On Tue, Jan 24, 2012 at 12:49 PM, Jim Lang = wrote: >>> Does AE work decently on a mini? >>=20 >> From: Teddy Gage [mailto:teddygage@gmail.com] >> I think it depends on your definition of "decently," and of course, = the >> project. Could you mock up a few quick titles? Sure. Would you be = able to >> render a 1080p project with 5 million+ particles and a mess of 3D = layers >> and depth of field? probably not. >>=20 >>=20 >> Actually I respectfully disagree. Mac Minis come with a dual-core i5 = (i5 is what's in an iMac), if you give them enough ram they'll run After = Effects just fine. My home machine is an iMac that's just over 3 years = old, it has 4gb ram and a Core 2 Duo in it. It runs AE v5 without any = problems and I've done a lot of high end jobs with it - it's less = powerful than a current mac mini and is due to be replaced but it can = still do anything I want it to (just slowly). >>=20 >> Here's a thought experiment: >>=20 >> If you were to buy a high-end, 12-core Mac Pro and stick 24 GB ram in = it, the Apple Store will happily charge you $6000 for it. >>=20 >> For the same $6000, you could buy a 27" quad-core iMac with 16GB ram, = and 4 dual-core Mac Minis with 8GB ram. If you use the change to buy = Deadline network rendering software, you've got yourself a nice iMac = workstation and a 4 machine render farm. With dual cores and 8 GB ram, = each mac mini can have 2 instances of AE render running at the same = time, so you've got 8 render engines at your disposal. >>=20 >> Would such a setup be faster than a single 12-core Mac Pro? I don't = know. But it's worth thinking about... >>=20 >>=20 >> -Chris >>=20 >>=20 >>=20 >>=20 >> +---End of message---+ >> To unsubscribe send any message to >>=20 >=20 > +---End of message---+ > To unsubscribe send any message to --Apple-Mail=_596A4DA3-E803-46F3-8064-D90ABE06F648 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii I've = done 2K+ comps on an 840AV running system 7 or 8 something and AE3 and = 256 MB RAM. We would've KILLED for a present-day Mac Mini. Probably = would've boasted that it was faster than an Indigo2 Extreme. If you get = the server version, it'll have more disk space internally than a = Fridge-sized SGI Challenge server would've had, and certainly faster = Ethernet. And Thunderbolt would be how much faster than = HiPPI?


Tim = Sassoon
SFD
Santa Monica, CA

On Jan 24, 2012, at 6:46 PM, Greg Balint wrote:

Can a = dual core Mac mini run on both cores? Doesn't that bog the system down = to a stand-still?  Considering a while ago when I had a dual core = pc and could only run one core in AE Mp settings, does deadline just run = a streamlined OS completely just for rendering?

Also, today's 12 = core systems are 12 faster cores, with smaller architecture and faster = busses and better memory controllers.  12 cores in one box vs 8 = cores split up across core 2 duos would be no contest. The 12 core would = probably beat it by 2x the speed, even though it only has 1/3 more = processors.

I like the idea of having a dedicated farm for = rendering though. That would be a nice alternative to faster renders; = the fact that you could continue to work on a dedicated station while = your renders to off and finish on the network.


On this small = topic, I know it's been asked before, but does anyone have an idea if = there are good modern AE benchmark project files out there that stress = the Mp setup and RAM and can be measured by speed of render?  I'd = love to have statistics like Cinebench provides and 3dfluff archives at = cbscores.com

Maybe we can = put one together as a list, and make sure we find processor intensive = plugin actions, then have a second render that relies more on RAM (time = /echo effects maybe?)


////Greg Balint
///Art Director / = Motion Graphics Designer
delRAZOR.com/

On Jan 24, 2012, = at 9:20 PM, "Chris Zwar" <chris@chriszwar.com> = wrote:

On Tue, Jan 24, 2012 at 12:49 = PM, Jim Lang <james.c.lang@gmail.com> = wrote:
Does AE work decently on a = mini?

From: Teddy = Gage [mailto:teddygage@gmail.com]
I think it depends on your definition of "decently," and = of course, the
project. Could = you mock up a few quick titles? Sure. Would you be able = to
render a 1080p project with = 5 million+ particles and a mess of 3D layers
and depth of field? probably = not.


Actually I = respectfully disagree.  Mac Minis come with a dual-core i5 (i5 is = what's in an iMac), if you give them enough ram they'll run After = Effects just fine.  My home machine is an iMac that's just over 3 = years old, it has 4gb ram and a Core 2 Duo in it.  It runs AE v5 = without any problems and I've done a lot of high end jobs with it - it's = less powerful than a current mac mini and is due to be replaced but it = can still do anything I want it to (just = slowly).

Here's a = thought experiment:

If you were to = buy a high-end, 12-core Mac Pro and stick 24 GB ram in it, the Apple = Store will happily charge you $6000 for it.

For the same = $6000, you could buy a 27" quad-core iMac with 16GB ram, and 4 dual-core = Mac Minis with 8GB ram.  If you use the change to buy Deadline = network rendering software, you've got yourself a nice iMac workstation = and a 4 machine render farm.  With dual cores and 8 GB ram, each = mac mini can have 2 instances of AE render running at the same time, so = you've got 8 render engines at your = disposal.

Would such a = setup be faster than a single 12-core Mac Pro?  I don't know. =  But it's worth thinking about...


-Chris




+---End of = message---+
To unsubscribe = send any message to = <ae-list-off@media-motion.tv>


+---End of message---+
To = unsubscribe send any message to = <ae-list-off@media-motion.tv>

=
= --Apple-Mail=_596A4DA3-E803-46F3-8064-D90ABE06F648--