iMac or Mac Pro for Raven footage

[Paco Ibarra]

Just got my MacBook Pro

Just got my MacBook Pro

I just ordered a top of the line MacBook Pro Retina Display with the highest specs possible on the Mac Store and been wondering if it'll handle well the 4.5k R3D files the Raven will make. Hope it does, I'm trying to keep it as clean and empty as possible. Anybody that might have an idea about this?

 

[Kevin D'Haeze]

I just ordered a top of the line MacBook Pro Retina Display with the highest specs possible on the Mac Store and been wondering if it'll handle well the 4.5k R3D files the Raven will make. Hope it does, I'm trying to keep it as clean and empty as possible. Anybody that might have an idea about this?

It depends on what you mean by "handle well". What software platforms (editing, VFX) are you planning on using? What kind of media drive are you going to be using? They all can have an influence on performance.

I personally use Avid Media Composer for editing. The beauty is that I can transcode R3D (or whatever other format) into the Avid codec, which is super efficient for editing purposes. A laptop can easily handle this codec with multiple streams, and if I wanted to, I can stash hours of footage on a portable drive or even the internal drive. Then, when the edit gets locked down, I just link back to the original R3D files for color/finishing.

 

[Darryl Harris]

I just ordered a top of the line MacBook Pro Retina Display with the highest specs possible on the Mac Store and been wondering if it'll handle well the 4.5k R3D files the Raven will make. Hope it does, I'm trying to keep it as clean and empty as possible. Anybody that might have an idea about this?

Would you mind elaborating on the specs? And also, if you don't mind what were the overall cost of the upgrades from base price? I'm thinking of going for the new MacBook Pro as well (if not waiting for the rumored 2016 MacBook Pro in spring) and I have the same question as you for if the MacBook can handle my Raven 4K and 4.5K HFR R3Ds and which NLE would be best.

 

[ignition]

Only handling intermittent post on 4-6k footage but have just jumped up to the fully specced iMac w/Raid 5 for most work. Been using a 2014 top end MacBook Pro up until now and performance is relatively ok but overheating proved to be one of the biggest issues and I've toasted the MacBook to shutdown a few times! The iMac will likely have some similar issues given form factor but hopefully not so extreme.. Think you have to keep the heat management issue in mind as the heat management design of the Mac Pro proper is one of the mitigating factors that targets those Macs for brutal high end work.

 

[Kevin D'Haeze]

Only handling intermittent post on 4-6k footage but have just jumped up to the fully specced iMac w/Raid 5 for most work. Been using a 2014 top end MacBook Pro up until now and performance is relatively ok but overheating proved to be one of the biggest issues and I've toasted the MacBook to shutdown a few times! The iMac will likely have some similar issues given form factor but hopefully not so extreme.. Think you have to keep the heat management issue in mind as the heat management design of the Mac Pro proper is one of the mitigating factors that targets those Macs for brutal high end work.

Not to discredit what you're saying, but you can work with Red footage on just about any recent system... MacBook, iMac, Mac Pro... if you are able to embrace the idea of working with transcoded "proxy" footage that is more efficient... with the end goal of linking back to the original raw footage in the finishing process. While it's nice to have the beefiest system to work on material, not having said machine shouldn't be reason to think you can't join in the Red ecosystem in the post production world.

 

[Andy_Johnson]

Only handling intermittent post on 4-6k footage but have just jumped up to the fully specced iMac w/Raid 5 for most work. Been using a 2014 top end MacBook Pro up until now and performance is relatively ok but overheating proved to be one of the biggest issues and I've toasted the MacBook to shutdown a few times! The iMac will likely have some similar issues given form factor but hopefully not so extreme.. Think you have to keep the heat management issue in mind as the heat management design of the Mac Pro proper is one of the mitigating factors that targets those Macs for brutal high end work.

I've heard about this as well and looked a lot into it. Turns out if you just run a software fan utility when you're utilizing resources heavily, you'll be more than comfortable temperature-wise.

 

[Patrick Grossien]

4K is no real challenge anymore. The higher end current MacBookPro, iMac and probably even miniMacs should be totally capable. I used to cut R3D on older Macbook pros with 8GB RAM and 512GB VRAM and it totally worked. I wish I knew how the IrisPro Graphics truly perform though.
Anything 5K+ is a different story.

That said: if I'd be buying new, I wouldn't get anything below 2GB dedicated VRAM and 16GB RAM because it makes more sense for 4K and up - and 2Gb VRAM is suggested by RCX if I'm not mistaken.

The MacPro makes sense if you need more RAM and VRAM. I would get an 8core with min. 32GB RAM and the D700s. (You can definitely also get the 6core but the 8core is the sweet spot I'd say). Of course we have no clue when and if the can will be updated. I'm sure we will have a new MacPro coming, but it could always be that the design would be different again.

 

[Demetri Zuev]

I'd upgrade to a new PC. CUDA with Nvidia cards helps a lot when handling r3d's. And even a super powerful PC will cost 20-30% less than a Mac with an AMD card.

 

[Daniel Reed]

Point a Big box fan set on low w/ a dimmer dialed down to slow the blades even further.
Pushes a lot of air, creates less noise, keeps the temps low, allows the cpu to remain at full speed, and prevents overheating crashing problems.

for laptops, close the lid and put it in a stand and cool the "bottom".
for iMacs, point it at the backside.
for old MPs just open the side line and point it inside.

I've heard about this as well and looked a lot into it. Turns out if you just run a software fan utility when you're utilizing resources heavily, you'll be more than comfortable temperature-wise.

 

[Darryl Harris]

4K is no real challenge anymore. The higher end current MacBookPro, iMac and probably even miniMacs should be totally capable. I used to cut R3D on older Macbook pros with 8GB RAM and 512GB VRAM and it totally worked. I wish I knew how the IrisPro Graphics truly perform though.
Anything 5K+ is a different story.

Thanks for the info, nice to hear. I plan on moving up to 5K work in the near future though. I think I'll commit to a MacBook and play with different work flows. Maybe edit R3Ds natively for smaller stuff and for bigger stuff especially with a 5k timeline, I'll use proxies.

 

[Sergio Perez]

Quick 2 cents on this:

Have the current top of the line iMac and used a top of the line, completely maxed out Mac Pro in a demanding quick return job. The imac needed the Rocket X to work smoothly with 2 layers of Dragon footage. The Mac Pro didn't need any rocket and worked flawlessly. Much, much faster.

If you need very quick returns or use lots of effects above 4K, the Mac Pro is definitely worth the money. Also it has more thunderbolt ports.

The iMac is a great offline or Director's machine. Can do online too, but accept the CPU, GPU and port limitations limitations.

Have a couple of friends having issues with Resolve and the Mac Pro- big ones, so if you work on Resolve, beware!

Since I use my iMac mainly for small projects or offline work that is later mastered in post houses, its perfect. And for photography, due to the amazing screen, its one of the best propositions in terms of price and performance.

EDIT- also forgot to mention I'm mainly a final Cut Pro X, Logic X and very occasionally After effects guy, so experiences may vary depending on software!

 

[Anthony Berenato Jr]

Have the current top of the line iMac and used a top of the line, completely maxed out Mac Pro in a demanding quick return job. The imac needed the Rocket X to work smoothly with 2 layers of Dragon footage. The Mac Pro didn't need any rocket and worked flawlessly. Much, much faster.

I think the thread starter was looking at the top of the line iMac versus the lowest of the low Mac Pros. I don't think anyone would disagree that the maxed out Mac Pro would be a buttery dream, but between the two being looked at... The Skylake 5K iMac performs in balance with the lowest end 2013 Mac Pro, with the addition of the 5K display.

You're right though, got a Rocket-X on mine and it's working rather smoothly. Hopefully will continue to chug along until the next major sensor upgrade.

 

[Andy_Johnson]

I think the thread starter was looking at the top of the line iMac versus the lowest of the low Mac Pros. I don't think anyone would disagree that the maxed out Mac Pro would be a buttery dream, but between the two being looked at... The Skylake 5K iMac performs in balance with the lowest end 2013 Mac Pro, with the addition of the 5K display.

Correct - a maxed out Mac Pro, although very desirable, is... slightly out of the price range

Sounds like the iMac can really hold its own, especially now that the specs in it have nearly passed the Mac Pro in aging components alone (thanks Moore's Law).
It's also nice the M395X option has 4GB of VRAM.

 

[Andy_Johnson]

For anyone curious or wondering, I ended up with the 27" 5k iMac with the following: 4GHz i7, M395X 4GB, 256GB SSD, (RAM to be upgraded on my own, because Apple RAM is expensive ).

Although I don't have the cylindrical Mac Pro to compare it to, this thing screams. I blazed through 4k h.264 (no R3D files to play with until my Raven gets here). Although it wasn't RAW, the difference in performance/render times/frame rates was staggering compared to my other "hackintosh". If you are in the same boat as me, and until they update the 2013 Mac Pro, the iMac is a powerhouse capable of great, great things. Oh and the screen... :thumbup1:

 

[Kevin D'Haeze]

Congrats, Andy! Sounds like a winner.

 

[Blair S. Paulsen]

Good choice. Until they refresh the cylinders the iMac is the best bang for the buck in their lineup.

Cheers - #19

 

[Adam Griffith]

I just dropped the hammer on the 5K iMac myself.

4Ghz i7, M395X 4GB, 1TB SSD, 64GB RAM (OWC). I shoot 6K with the Epic Dragon so I'll report back my findings. My current system (late 2012 27" iMac) is struggling due to only 2GB GPU RAM, Can't render out using OpenCL or CUDA - forced to use CPU only which makes export an overnight job while I sleep.

The reason I chose iMac over the Mac Pro:

The MacPro is VERY overdue for a makeover, I'm sure we'll see something by mid 2016 - if we don't then I've made the right choice.
IF the new MacPro comes out then I'd consider buying it and selling off my 5K iMac as the iMac has excellent re-sale value when compared to the MacPro.

If I chose the MacPro now then I wouldn't be able to recover the $ when I sold it to upgrade to the new one.

I'll report back when it arrives from Apple in a week or so. It will also be interesting to see if it can run my 4K display with ease too (LG 31" 31MU97)

Andy - have you done a Hard Drive speed test on the new Apply SSD? These things are insane! 1163MB/s Write and 1840MB/s Read! Makes my Thunderbolt 2 RAID (Lacie 5Big) look lame

 

[Kevin D'Haeze]

It would be great to see an update to the "trashcan" Mac Pro. Definitely getting long in the tooth. I was on the fence with the iMac 5K, and almost pulled the trigger. However, I ended up reconfiguring my old gray Mac Pro tower and I think I'll get several more years out of it. Its a 12-core, 3.33gHz, and I added a 980Ti graphics card with 6GB of RAM, DreamColor 4K monitor (thing of beauty!), and fast SAS RAID. It really screams now. Crazy that I can update my old Mac Pro far easier than the new ones, and make it faster too.

Now we all need a nice new Red camera to show up and make these computers "get to work".

 

[Andy_Johnson]

I just dropped the hammer on the 5K iMac myself.

4Ghz i7, M395X 4GB, 1TB SSD, 64GB RAM (OWC). I shoot 6K with the Epic Dragon so I'll report back my findings. My current system (late 2012 27" iMac) is struggling due to only 2GB GPU RAM, Can't render out using OpenCL or CUDA - forced to use CPU only which makes export an overnight job while I sleep.

The reason I chose iMac over the Mac Pro:

The MacPro is VERY overdue for a makeover, I'm sure we'll see something by mid 2016 - if we don't then I've made the right choice.
IF the new MacPro comes out then I'd consider buying it and selling off my 5K iMac as the iMac has excellent re-sale value when compared to the MacPro.

If I chose the MacPro now then I wouldn't be able to recover the $ when I sold it to upgrade to the new one.

I'll report back when it arrives from Apple in a week or so. It will also be interesting to see if it can run my 4K display with ease too (LG 31" 31MU97)

Andy - have you done a Hard Drive speed test on the new Apply SSD? These things are insane! 1163MB/s Write and 1840MB/s Read! Makes my Thunderbolt 2 RAID (Lacie 5Big) look lame

The SSD is so fast! I was stoked when they announced the new drives. Sounds like we have the same setup (you have more RAM, at the moment). The ~8-10 second boot time never gets old haha.

 

[Cameron McKinlay]

Great Purchase!!! I am considering jumping to the iMacs after a refresh. That 5k screen is a beauty! I wish I didnt buy my MP Trashcan because I later found out thats exactly what it is. A piece of garbage. It is quite possibly the worst computer Apple has ever made. It can barely handle single stream 1080p RAW from the Blackmagic pocket camera. Disappointing waste of $8000