R3D + Afterburner

[Blair Thornton]

I wonder if Apple is allowing RED to use the Afterburner card with their REDraw codec?

My guess, only the FIREchief knows ?

 

[Antony Newman]

For RED to commit to porting their code to Metal ... it seems reasonable to assume it would be to both leverage balancing the processing load over multiple (4) GPUs, and for a new Metal API to (inline) request the Afterburner process the R3D in GPU memory.

If there is no Afterburner functionality for R3D and Apple & Red are working hand in hand to ensure that 8K ProResRaw workflow works seamlessly - there would be no reason for (a likely expedited) porting of REDs code base to support Metal.

AJ

 

[jake blackstone]

For RED to commit to porting their code to Metal ... it seems reasonable to assume it would be to both leverage balancing the processing load over multiple (4) GPUs, and for a new Metal API to (inline) request the Afterburner process the R3D in GPU memory.

If there is no Afterburner functionality for R3D and Apple & Red are working hand in hand to ensure that 8K ProResRaw workflow works seamlessly - there would be no reason for (a likely expedited) porting of REDs code base to support Metal.

AJ

That's funny statement in light of Apple working on invalidating Redcode IP. There is zero proprietary code that's used in R3D, it's simple JPEG2000 compression using Bayered image and Apple doesn't need Red's help with ProresRAW implementation.

 

[Antony Newman]

(My limited understanding) Apple’s Pro workflow team concluded that 4K/8K video editing was one of the most demanding computational loads - necessitating working with 3rd parties to streamline their offerings / reduce resource contentions.

My post above was speculating the reason that Red would be porting their code base to Metal, given that they already have one fork in their code base with real-time performance using Nvidia GPU’s, and that creating and supporting yet another (Metal 2 based) fork would introduce additional risk, and ongoing support.

Even if Apples workflow team had earmarked specific 3rd parties to be collaborated with, or even incentivised, to port their code base to Metal 2, their would’t explain the expediting of Reds porting to Metal to coincide with the release of the modular Mac Pro.

Apple already had a tuned HDL (Hardware Description Language) for ProRes processing from a third party; Red already created HDL for Redcodes in the Rocket & RRX.

If the Afterburner has space in the FPGA - my guess is that Apple will indeed absorb and offer R3D processing using a Metal 2 API.

- -

On a separate tack : Apple have hooks in iOS13 for AR products. If these hit the market mid-2020 - Apple would need to have challenged / licensed / patented all associated IP - or open themselves up to future litigation (eg from Trolls that had themselves found a weakness in the IP stack). Apples challenging of REDs IP in the courts could be seen as due diligence prior to Apple selling products that incorporate real-time compressed codecs.

AJ

 

[andrewhake]

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019...react-to-the-new-mac-pro-and-pro-display-xdr/

"Red Digital Cinema
“Apple’s new hardware will bring a mind-blowing level of performance to Metal-accelerated, proxy-free R3D workflows in Final Cut Pro X that editors truly have never seen before. We are very excited to bring a Metal-optimized version of R3D in September.” — Jarred Land, president, Red Digital Cinema"

Was already made clear in the press release, as well as the keynote.

September has passed yes, but hopefully Red with have an updated R3D plugin soon.

 

[Misha Engel]

Meanwhile AMD will release it's new threadripper(s) and 16core Ryzen next month and NLE's are still not implementing the NVidia solution.

 

[DJ Meyer]

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019...react-to-the-new-mac-pro-and-pro-display-xdr/

"Red Digital Cinema
“Apple’s new hardware will bring a mind-blowing level of performance to Metal-accelerated, proxy-free R3D workflows in Final Cut Pro X that editors truly have never seen before. We are very excited to bring a Metal-optimized version of R3D in September.” — Jarred Land, president, Red Digital Cinema"

Was already made clear in the press release, as well as the keynote.

September has passed yes, but hopefully Red with have an updated R3D plugin soon.

It was made clear that they will do Metal acceleration but not necessarily anything about the Afterburner card.

 

[Rodrigo Violante]

Do we have any update if RED will support afterburner? It will be nice add-on

 

[jake blackstone]

Do we have any update if RED will support afterburner? It will be nice add-on

Only Apple can answer this question (it's their hardware, not Red's) and Apple traditionally is extremely secretive about their future roadmap. Additionally, Apple is a public company, which means they must be extremely careful what they disclose to the public...