New Mac Pro

[Filip Vandoorne]

some speed tests in Resolve 10.1.5 on the new macpro's in 10.9.2 :
6core vs 12core, both D700-64GB RAM
RAW files on 350MB/s disk = no limits in acces speed.
RED Epic 5KWS 25fps 7:1

6core :
1/4debayer to HD ProRes Proxy @42fps

12core :
1/4 debayer export to HD ProRes proxy @70fps
1/2good debayer export to HD ProRes HQ @36fps
1/2 prem debayer export to HD ProRes HQ @25fps
full debayer @22fps to HD ProRes 444 @25fps

-- although both machines have the same disk, graphics card ( D700)
the 12core is a bit faster than we expected, regarding processorspeed and the number of cores
6x3.5 = 21'GhzCores' and the 12x2.7 = 32.4'GhzCores', this would be 1,54 times faster,
but in this test, the 12core was 1,67 times faster

The 12core is the machine to go for : you can do a high quality HD screen debayer in realtime

to compare the new machines :
retina macbookpro 2,6 i7
GT659 1MB
1/4 debayer @20fps export to HD ProRes proxy
1/2good debayer @12fps export to HD ProRes HQ
1/2 prem debayer @7fps export to HD ProRes HQ
which fits nice the calculations : 2.6x4 = 10.4'GhzCores'

This leads me to think that the GPU cards are not really used to the maximum in the calculations,
and that we might expect beter preformance if RED of Blackmagic can optimise more for GPU

test with new iMac i7 full option + 8core macpro 2013 will follow

 

[Eric Bowen]

Keep in mind a single CPU cant push 2x those cards to their limit right now as the GPU acceleration is implemented. It may be some time down the GPU acceleration evolution/R&D before that changes significantly. The GPU's are not the bottleneck right now. The CPU's and ram are along with the applications scheduling and caching models.

 

[Hubert Grieco]

Thank you, the 6 core d700 how fps in half good and half premium please?
the rmbp is the first version 650m 1GB?

 

[paul schefz]

having serious monitor wake issues with my 24" 4k dell on nmp 8 core under 10.9.4.....i also have a 13HD cintiq attached (via hdmi) and the dell sometimes does not even come to life after restart....sometimes unplugging/replugging gives me a half image, which goes away after 10-15 sec....
anyone else having this issue?

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

so how will be the first to try yosemite?

I downloaded it yesterday, but haven't installed it on any system yet. I'm going to put it on my 2012 MBPr, but I need to do a full backup here in a bit when I get a chance and I'm going to put it on its own partition. I played with Xcode 6 a lot yesterday and pretty much all night. Wrote a calculator app entirely in Swift. Kinda like Swift… Actually, I like it a lot. This is going to make a huge impact on the dev community and rapid development practices. It has most of the elements of a high-level scripting system, but it generates insanely optimized code on the fly. Too bad Xcode 6 keeps crashing…

I'll see how 10.10 goes on the MBPr and I may try it on a Mac Pro. I've already heard some initial comments that it's pretty nice. I'm betting Apple has been using more resources on it than the 10.9.x seeds.

having serious monitor wake issues with my 24" 4k dell on nmp 8 core under 10.9.4.....i also have a 13HD cintiq attached (via hdmi) and the dell sometimes does not even come to life after restart....sometimes unplugging/replugging gives me a half image, which goes away after 10-15 sec....
anyone else having this issue?

Can't comment on the Cintiq. Dell 24" issues do seem worse than on 10.9.3, if it's possible. Used to be if I left the system for some time, it wouldn't wake the monitor properly. Now it's like it just won't wake it at all without a power cycle. The half-image has to do with the MST mode for DP 1.2 4K 60Hz. If you drop the display back to v1.1 and 4K @ 30Hz, all these problems go away. Report the bugs to Apple… Although, they obviously aren't listening and this is one of their flagship supported 4K monitors. I think I'm going to just say "screw it" and I'm moving on to 10.10 for testing. I have a feeling that the Apple OSX team felt the same way about 10.9.

 

[Eric Santiago]

Jeff will you be making an App that acts as REDMOTE

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Jeff will you be making an App that acts as REDMOTE

No. Seems others already have that covered.

I am working on a REDLINK app, but I'm not very far along. Really I just have it sketched out on paper. It's something I want for myself and I may put it in the app store as well and see how it goes. Hopefully I'll have something more to say about it in the not too distant future.

 

[Eric Santiago]

No. Seems others already have that covered.

I am working on a REDLINK app, but I'm not very far along. Really I just have it sketched out on paper. It's something I want for myself and I may put it in the app store as well and see how it goes. Hopefully I'll have something more to say about it in the not too distant future.

Okay that sounds exciting, cant wait

 

[Antony Newman]

Great news on swift.

AJ

 

[paul schefz]

I downloaded it yesterday, but haven't installed it on any system yet. I'm going to put it on my 2012 MBPr, but I need to do a full backup here in a bit when I get a chance and I'm going to put it on its own partition. I played with Xcode 6 a lot yesterday and pretty much all night. Wrote a calculator app entirely in Swift. Kinda like Swift… Actually, I like it a lot. This is going to make a huge impact on the dev community and rapid development practices. It has most of the elements of a high-level scripting system, but it generates insanely optimized code on the fly. Too bad Xcode 6 keeps crashing…

I'll see how 10.10 goes on the MBPr and I may try it on a Mac Pro. I've already heard some initial comments that it's pretty nice. I'm betting Apple has been using more resources on it than the 10.9.x seeds.



Can't comment on the Cintiq. Dell 24" issues do seem worse than on 10.9.3, if it's possible. Used to be if I left the system for some time, it wouldn't wake the monitor properly. Now it's like it just won't wake it at all without a power cycle. The half-image has to do with the MST mode for DP 1.2 4K 60Hz. If you drop the display back to v1.1 and 4K @ 30Hz, all these problems go away. Report the bugs to Apple… Although, they obviously aren't listening and this is one of their flagship supported 4K monitors. I think I'm going to just say "screw it" and I'm moving on to 10.10 for testing. I have a feeling that the Apple OSX team felt the same way about 10.9.

yeah, i can't believe that either....i know it's not the monitor because the cintiq is fine...i am looking forward to 10.10 as well...as long as fcpx runs on it, i am happy.....
10.9.4 does not seem to like 4k and something does not seem right with the GPUs or how they are used (or not used)...
looking forward to hearing your 10.10 experiences...

 

[Robert Bluemke]

Does anyone know if thunderbolt networking has gotten to a good enough place that I can use my MbPR as the front end for a new Mac Pro? I'd love to have this be my travel DIT if it's stable enough and reliable enough in the field. I'm not looking to create a render farm, just do a screen share from the Mac Pro to the MbPR. Thanks.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

yeah, i can't believe that either....i know it's not the monitor because the cintiq is fine...i am looking forward to 10.10 as well...as long as fcpx runs on it, i am happy.....
10.9.4 does not seem to like 4k and something does not seem right with the GPUs or how they are used (or not used)...
looking forward to hearing your 10.10 experiences...

Initial report on 10.10... FCPX is locked from running on it. But we can circumvent that by going into the package and loading the executable directly. So you can't launch from the app bundle reference or dock icon. I haven not gone through enough of it to see why Apple has locked it.

I don't recommend 10.10 right now if you haven't installed it. Wait for later official beta seeds that should be coming in a few weeks. Seems to be some memory allocation funkiness and general sluggishness we often see with early previews or betas. Overall the look is more consistent and also in line with iOS. The 3 dot window control of maximize, minimize and close has gone totally flat and has an eerie Windows 8 feel to it. Not as boring or retro as Win8, but bleh... Most everything else looks pretty nice, though. I'll probably be running "dark mode" once it gets enabled, but it's not in the preview.

10.10 is up and running on my MBPr and I'll play with it there. Not even going to put it on a nMP in its current form.

Does anyone know if thunderbolt networking has gotten to a good enough place that I can use my MbPR as the front end for a new Mac Pro? I'd love to have this be my travel DIT if it's stable enough and reliable enough in the field. I'm not looking to create a render farm, just do a screen share from the Mac Pro to the MbPR. Thanks.

Thunderbolt networking only works over Thunderbolt 2, so if it's a 2012 MBPr, it's not going to work. And with 10.9.3, TB networking seems to work about 90%. Still has some glitches.

 

[paul schefz]

Initial report on 10.10... FCPX is locked from running on it. But we can circumvent that by going into the package and loading the executable directly. So you can't launch from the app bundle reference or dock icon. I haven not gone through enough of it to see why Apple has locked it.

I don't recommend 10.10 right now if you haven't installed it. Wait for later official beta seeds that should be coming in a few weeks. Seems to be some memory allocation funkiness and general sluggishness we often see with early previews or betas. Overall the look is more consistent and also in line with iOS. The 3 dot window control of maximize, minimize and close has gone totally flat and has an eerie Windows 8 feel to it. Not as boring or retro as Win8, but bleh... Most everything else looks pretty nice, though. I'll probably be running "dark mode" once it gets enabled, but it's not in the preview.

10.10 is up and running on my MBPr and I'll play with it there. Not even going to put it on a nMP in its current form.



Thunderbolt networking only works over Thunderbolt 2, so if it's a 2012 MBPr, it's not going to work. And with 10.9.3, TB networking seems to work about 90%. Still has some glitches.

thanks for the heads up....i was going to wait for a later beta anyway....not in a real hurry...would just like to get the dell and fcpx working smoothly...right now!

wasn't aware that TB networking requires TB2? that is a major pain....not a single imac has TB2 as of right now! and imacs are everywhere

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

You can bridge two Macs over Thunderbolt in OSX, even Thunderbolt v1, but performance is really erratic and choppy. The official Intel spec for actual Thunderbolt networking requires Thunderbolt 2 and will work with both Mac and Windows systems and provides a dedicated and properly synced 10Gbps connection with the option to bond two of those connections on the same or different TB ports for 20Gbps total.

 

[Scott Brown]

Hey Scott, I'm using the ultra studio 4k on my nMP. Using it with resolve, finalcutx and nuke. Works fantastic!! Haven't used it for capture, only playback,

Thanks for this - how's the noise from the fan on the Ultrastudio 4K unit? Noise seems to be the only minor complaint I'm hearing so far.

Best wishes

Scott

 

[Robert Bluemke]

You can bridge two Macs over Thunderbolt in OSX, even Thunderbolt v1, but performance is really erratic and choppy. The official Intel spec for actual Thunderbolt networking requires Thunderbolt 2 and will work with both Mac and Windows systems and provides a dedicated and properly synced 10Gbps connection with the option to bond two of those connections on the same or different TB ports for 20Gbps total.

Thanks for the info Jeff, much appreciated.

 

[Patrick Grossien]

damn, the Xcode 6 download isn't available anymore. or at least not at the moment?! hnmmm.. or I need to fully enroll.. it doesn't really show up..

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

damn, the Xcode 6 download isn't available anymore. or at least not at the moment?! hnmmm.. or I need to fully enroll.. it doesn't really show up..

You have to be a paid member of the iOS or Mac developer program to get all the beta access.

FWIW, I was having a lot of stability issues with Xcode 6 under 10.9.3 (minimum requirement). Moving to 10.10 seems to have fixed all that for now and Xcode 6 is running very well. 10.10 is a different story. On the MBPr (2012 model at least) I have to disable the automatic graphics switching otherwise the OS windows move sluggishly with the translucency. There seems to be some memory allocation and management weirdness on 10.10, but being the first beta preview, that's normal and it could just be all the debug code present in the release. Apple has completely re-engineered the network stack and I'm having issues with it re-initiating WiFi when the computer wakes up or transitions from one network to another. I have not bothered to even try Premiere CC or Resolve on 10.10… FCPX is locked out from running, but we can get around that. It seems to work OK, so not sure why Apple has locked it. They have also locked iMovie, Logic Pro and Aperture.

 

[Scott Brown]

For info...just got our Ultrastudio 4K from BMD for our nMP and if you are after peace and tranquility, give this a miss...it is a noisy little b*gger!

Think we'll be returning this and seeking a quieter alternative.

Scott

 

[Patrick Grossien]

Thanks, Jeff! I guess I'll stick to the book for the moment then for now but swift is really interesting although It's apple only.