MP 7,1 Mac Pro 8.1 - WHAT IF...

[maikerukun]

Not delusional. I'm not running a business here I'm having fun in a thread I started lol. Literally saying anything I want is fine because this is my thread lol. It's the WHAT IF thread and I will daydream as I see fit on it. If you have a problem with that start a new thread. But if you're going to be here, then let people daydream, imagine, and speculate to their hearts content lol ❤️

 

[maikerukun]

Not delusional. I'm not running a business here I'm having fun in a thread I started lol. Literally saying anything I want is fine because this is my thread lol. It's the WHAT IF thread and I will daydream as I see fit on it. If you have a problem with that start a new thread. But if you're going to be here, then let people daydream, imagine, and speculate to their hearts content lol ❤️

Ps - I'm not being mean here. Feel free to challenge what I or anyone says, but don't call it a problem. Nothing is a problem here. Everyone is free to dream and speculate

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

Btw any reports on your new M2max MacBook Pro?

 

[maikerukun]

Btw any reports on your new M2max MacBook Pro?

It’s been fantastic so far! I know people keep saying M2 is a stopgap but I’ll be honest, the thing flies. Absolutely worth the update if you happen to have the opportunity to do so.

That said, M3 should be wonderful if it makes another 33% improvement over this, let alone 50%+!

The ONLY barrier right now I’m finding in Cinema 4D…and this is a HUGE problem actually…96 gig ram Limitation. That’s simply not going to allow me to load scenes that are as big as I need them to be. I need at least 192 gigs of ram in this thing. That’s my hope for M3 Max. if they get it to that realm this really is gonna be a portable beast of a machine.

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

It’s been fantastic so far! I know people keep saying M2 is a stopgap but I’ll be honest, the thing flies. Absolutely worth the update if you happen to have the opportunity to do so.

That said, M3 should be wonderful if it makes another 33% improvement over this, let alone 50%+!

The ONLY barrier right now I’m finding in Cinema 4D…and this is a HUGE problem actually…96 gig ram Limitation. That’s simply not going to allow me to load scenes that are as big as I need them to be. I need at least 192 gigs of ram in this thing. That’s my hope for M3 Max. if they get it to that realm this really is gonna be a portable beast of a machine.

Glad you’re liking it!

Your needs are greater than mine, processing-wise. I’m going to probably hold off until they can get an air with 8tb of storage, or a mbp with 16tb of storage and/or faceid camera on it.

 

[vinegarshots]

It’s been fantastic so far! I know people keep saying M2 is a stopgap but I’ll be honest, the thing flies. Absolutely worth the update if you happen to have the opportunity to do so.

That said, M3 should be wonderful if it makes another 33% improvement over this, let alone 50%+!

The ONLY barrier right now I’m finding in Cinema 4D…and this is a HUGE problem actually…96 gig ram Limitation. That’s simply not going to allow me to load scenes that are as big as I need them to be. I need at least 192 gigs of ram in this thing. That’s my hope for M3 Max. if they get it to that realm this really is gonna be a portable beast of a machine.

How in the world are you even using 96GB of ram in C4D? I have to admit, it’s a little hard to take you seriously when you post stuff like this. The 3D work on your website is pretty basic…nothing that would get close to needing 192 gigs of ram… 🤔

 

[AndreeOnline]

It’s been fantastic so far! I know people keep saying M2 is a stopgap but I’ll be honest, the thing flies.

Honestly, I don't know why people would call it a stop-gap or a bump. It's a solid increase in speed.
I see you are mainly in C4D (I was too—used to be my favorite software for many years!), but for us Blender users the increase is even greater with the M2 than the average numbers indicate.

That said, M3 should be wonderful if it makes another 33% improvement over this, let alone 50%+!

It will be interesting to see what 3nm brings, but I wouldn't personally expect towards 50%.

Then again, maybe it's jsut because it's so nice to be pleasantly surprised. Nah, I don't think so.

 

[jmho]

It’s been fantastic so far! I know people keep saying M2 is a stopgap but I’ll be honest, the thing flies. Absolutely worth the update if you happen to have the opportunity to do so.

This is where I hope the Mac Pro helps out. I want to be able to upgrade every generation, because as a developer it's the newest features of each generation that really excite me, but the thought of having to buy an almost identical computer just to get a new chip really just makes it feel like I'd be setting money on fire, and I'm not quite that rich yet

If the Mac Pro does end up just being a big Mac Studio where you can replace the SoC and I can go from M2 Ultra to M3 Ultra to M4 Ultra every year for say ~$3k a pop I'll be very happy.

(Also funny that macOS / Safari autocomplete wants to capitalise "Big Mac" in "a big Mac Studio". How do I contact the front page to tell them I've found evidence that the new Mac Pro will have a secret burger module? )

 

[maikerukun]

Glad you’re liking it!

Your needs are greater than mine, processing-wise. I’m going to probably hold off until they can get an air with 8tb of storage, or a mbp with 16tb of storage and/or faceid camera on it.

Ooooh an AIR with specs like that will absolutely destroy the marketplace. Air is already their top selling MacBook. Would be crazy with those specs.

 

[maikerukun]

How in the world are you even using 96GB of ram in C4D? I have to admit, it’s a little hard to take you seriously when you post stuff like this. The 3D work on your website is pretty basic…nothing that would get close to needing 192 gigs of ram… 🤔

😂😂😂 I only post what I’m allowed to based on the NDA’s I sign from the companies I work with “usually internal work for med companies, bio med companies, prototypes for new product designs, and films that are still being sold”.

I have to admit tho, it’s a little hard to take you seriously when all of your posts are just you telling people how “not powerful” Apple stuff is compared to a 4090, etc…🤔

But I’ll let you have your pessimistic, mostly attention seeking fun❤️. After all this is the What if thread, so you might as well wonder what it would be like if I actually cared what you did or didn’t believe 😂✨

 

[maikerukun]

Honestly, I don't know why people would call it a stop-gap or a bump. It's a solid increase in speed.
I see you are mainly in C4D (I was too—used to be my favorite software for many years!), but for us Blender users the increase is even greater with the M2 than the average numbers indicate.


It will be interesting to see what 3nm brings, but I wouldn't personally expect towards 50%.

Then again, maybe it's jsut because it's so nice to be pleasantly surprised. Nah, I don't think so.

Question for you, as an ex C4D user, is Blender worth hopping on? I see a ton of awesome add-ons and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit slight jealousy from time to time 😂

 

[maikerukun]

This is where I hope the Mac Pro helps out. I want to be able to upgrade every generation, because as a developer it's the newest features of each generation that really excite me, but the thought of having to buy an almost identical computer just to get a new chip really just makes it feel like I'd be setting money on fire, and I'm not quite that rich yet

If the Mac Pro does end up just being a big Mac Studio where you can replace the SoC and I can go from M2 Ultra to M3 Ultra to M4 Ultra every year for say ~$3k a pop I'll be very happy.

(Also funny that macOS / Safari autocomplete wants to capitalise "Big Mac" in "a big Mac Studio". How do I contact the front page to tell them I've found evidence that the new Mac Pro will have a secret burger module? )

I understand completely and in fact wouldn’t even be mad at this. As long as it starts on a level matching the current specced out Mac Pro 7.1. And thanks to you I want a Big Mac Pro 😂😂😂😂🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤

 

[maikerukun]

Honestly, I don't know why people would call it a stop-gap or a bump. It's a solid increase in speed.
I see you are mainly in C4D (I was too—used to be my favorite software for many years!), but for us Blender users the increase is even greater with the M2 than the average numbers indicate.


It will be interesting to see what 3nm brings, but I wouldn't personally expect towards 50%.

Then again, maybe it's jsut because it's so nice to be pleasantly surprised. Nah, I don't think so.

And I agree, M2 is certainly not a stop gap IMO. 33% is a significant jump by any definition I would say.

 

[AndreeOnline]

Question for you, as an ex C4D user, is Blender worth hopping on?

I think it depends a bit on how tied down you are to C4D. I think I started tapering off my usage around R21. I liked C4D in combination with Maxwell and Arnold render engines and X-Particles.

I really loved opening up Cinema 4D as it was always easy on the eyes and felt friendly to work with. But too many small things started to add up, including costs of extension.

I tried Blender a couple of times before 2.80 but was pretty appalled. Felt very differnt at the time. But I guess it was partly user error by expecting things to work the way I wanted or was used to (turning the world around the map if you will). And coming from C4D the Blender UI was... lacking.

But Blender shifted gears around 2.80 and at some point it was pretty clear to me that I wanted to skate to where the puck is going to be. Blender has been great for a while, but it isn't even close to its potential. The thing I've realised for myself is that I can't see anything stopping it mid to long-term. The developers have finite resources but they are just relentlessly tackling one thing at the time.
Once that was clear to me, I kind of made the jump reasoning: rather sooner than later.

For people starting out with 3D, the rocommendation is clear: don't even look at anything else. The only exception would be someone who is set on something like a production pipeline and they need to use Maya or Houdini, or if they are already connected.

I should probably also admit that I do favor companies like Blackmagic Design and Blender that make their software available to anyone, but I wouldn't use them for that reason alone. They need to be great nonetheless.

If your roots run deep in C4D maybe you should stick to it as your main software while you keep an eye on Blender. At some point you might see that 'one thing' that makes you want to run it in parallell. And then jump when it feels right.

It's cheap, afterall 😊

 

[maikerukun]

I think it depends a bit on how tied down you are to C4D. I think I started tapering off my usage around R21. I liked C4D in combination with Maxwell and Arnold render engines and X-Particles.

I really loved opening up Cinema 4D as it was always easy on the eyes and felt friendly to work with. But too many small things started to add up, including costs of extension.

I tried Blender a couple of times before 2.80 but was pretty appalled. Felt very differnt at the time. But I guess it was partly user error by expecting things to work the way I wanted or was used to (turning the world around the map if you will). And coming from C4D the Blender UI was... lacking.

But Blender shifted gears around 2.80 and at some point it was pretty clear to me that I wanted to skate to where the puck is going to be. Blender has been great for a while, but it isn't even close to its potential. The thing I've realised for myself is that I can't see anything stopping it mid to long-term. The developers have finite resources but they are just relentlessly tackling one thing at the time.
Once that was clear to me, I kind of made the jump reasoning: rather sooner than later.

For people starting out with 3D, the rocommendation is clear: don't even look at anything else. The only exception would be someone who is set on something like a production pipeline and they need to use Maya or Houdini, or if they are already connected.

I should probably also admit that I do favor companies like Blackmagic Design and Blender that make their software available to anyone, but I wouldn't use them for that reason alone. They need to be great nonetheless.

If your roots run deep in C4D maybe you should stick to it as your main software while you keep an eye on Blender. At some point you might see that 'one thing' that makes you want to run it in parallell. And then jump when it feels right.

It's cheap, afterall 😊

Thanks! That's a very in depth analysis and great reasons that helped me to understand the perspective of users who switch. I am definitely tempted to have a go at it on empty afternoons when I'm just catching up on Netflix lol. It sits there in my menu bar just staring at me lol.

Granted, my current pipeline is receiving plates from the studio, prepping my colorspace, doing my CG in C4D, compositing over in AE, coloring the plates in Resolve "I always provide Alpha plates as well so that's usually a step even if they don't request it", so quite frankly, as a generalist there isn't anything stopping me from using Blender or Maya or anything else in my pipeline as I tend to sell my services as a package 1 stop shop kind of deal...and I'm sure Blender at this point is easily production ready.

But the thing that tends to peak my interest is that insane suite of plugins that seem to just make things soooooo much easier lol. I'm in love with mograph and always will be but damn if ya'll don't have some fairly insane plugins lol.

 

[maikerukun]

Another bit of information that may influence what's happening with the Mac Pro moving forward...they have recently revisited the idea of purchasing either RED or Black Magic...both scenarios present very new opportunities for them based around what they are doing with their hardware moving forward. Obviously these are just talks, but the fact that they are open talks says something...

 

[PineappleCake]

Another bit of information that may influence what's happening with the Mac Pro moving forward...they have recently revisited the idea of purchasing either RED or Black Magic...both scenarios present very new opportunities for them based around what they are doing with their hardware moving forward. Obviously these are just talks, but the fact that they are open talks says something...

I don't want Apple to purchase Black Magic. Reslove is an excellent product and Apple would likely worsen it on other platforms if they buy them.

 

[maikerukun]

I don't want Apple to purchase Black Magic. Reslove is an excellent product and Apple would likely worsen it on other platforms if they buy them.

Hmmm, if you don't mind, elaborate. What features do you feel Apple would worsen? I have both Black Magic cameras as well as RED cameras, I use Resolve for coloring and their editing tools frankly are eerily similar to FCPX.

So I'm curious what you feel they would do? In my opinion, if they were to purchase Resolve, it would strictly be to absorb and include their codecs and coloring tools into FCPX native, and I think it would be similar on the RED side.

Where is your mind on that? I'm interested to hear the concerns of a purchase like that from your perspective.

 

[PineappleCake]

Hmmm, if you don't mind, elaborate. What features do you feel Apple would worsen? I have both Black Magic cameras as well as RED cameras, I use Resolve for coloring and their editing tools frankly are eerily similar to FCPX.

So I'm curious what you feel they would do? In my opinion, if they were to purchase Resolve, it would strictly be to absorb and include their codecs and coloring tools into FCPX native, and I think it would be similar on the RED side.

Where is your mind on that? I'm interested to hear the concerns of a purchase like that from your perspective.

What I meant was Apple would likely stop updating Reslove on Windows and Linux. (Does Apple even make Linux apps?) and then slowly remove support completely from these platforms.

This happened when Apple brought Dark Sky and primephonic but on Android.

That is why I want Apple to never buy Black Magic.

 

[jujoje]

If the Mac Pro does end up just being a big Mac Studio where you can replace the SoC and I can go from M2 Ultra to M3 Ultra to M4 Ultra every year for say ~$3k a pop I'll be very happy.

That'd be my dream as well (and by and large all the modularity I'd need). Ideally you'd be able to keep the old SoC effectively building up a rack of Mac Studios. Doubt it would happen, but being able to upgrade just the SoC would be sweet.

What I meant was Apple would likely stop updating Reslove on Windows and Linux. (Does Apple even make Linux apps?) and then slowly remove support completely from these platforms.

Wouldn't a better point of comparison be Shake? From what I recall they supported Windows and Linux, until they eventually discontinued the product across all three platforms. Thinking about it, not sure that's any more reassuring...

 

[PineappleCake]

That'd be my dream as well (and by and large all the modularity I'd need). Ideally you'd be able to keep the old SoC effectively building up a rack of Mac Studios. Doubt it would happen, but being able to upgrade just the SoC would be sweet.



Wouldn't a better point of comparison be Shake? From what I recall they supported Windows and Linux, until they eventually discontinued the product across all three platforms. Thinking about it, not sure that's any more reassuring...

Ahh Shake. Another one bites the dust. Well did ages ago.

Apple should never buy Black Magic, if it did it would be death blow to the industry. Not everyone can afford a high end Mac, so having Resolve on Windows/Linux is very important.

 

[mattspace]

Hmmm, if you don't mind, elaborate. What features do you feel Apple would worsen? I have both Black Magic cameras as well as RED cameras, I use Resolve for coloring and their editing tools frankly are eerily similar to FCPX.

So I'm curious what you feel they would do? In my opinion, if they were to purchase Resolve, it would strictly be to absorb and include their codecs and coloring tools into FCPX native, and I think it would be similar on the RED side.

Remember when Apple bought Shake - one of the leading VFX workflow apps, responsible for IIRC all the compositing on Lord of The Rings, and it went on to become an industry-dominating platform...

Oh wait, no, what Apple did is cancel the non-MacOS versions, hoping platform exclusivity would encourage users to buy Macs, and then another app came up on Linux / Windows replacing it entirely within about 6 months, because no one is going to dump their chosen hardware platforms to get "Pro" software from the toy company. Shake disappeared, becoming just depreciated scraps of Motion and FCP's codebase.

Apple is where purchased technologies go to die.

As soon as the founders get their stock vestment, they cash out of Apple, and there's no one left to advocate for their tech, and someone else comes up with their own idea that gets political backing.

That's Apple's big problem - there's no internal tech strategy. Everything in the company survives on the willingness of individuals to work on it. Aperture, and iBooks Author being prime examples - both Pro apps for their respective fields, both vastly superior to third party alternatives, and both died because Apple couldn't find anyone internally who was willing to own and drive the projects.

The only reason for Apple to buy RED, is for their raw video patents, because RED is going after anyone using PRORES RAW in camera. Similar for Black Magic - their products have been great, except the BlackMagic eGPU, which was an overpriced, stupid product, and more or less designed by / at the direction of Apple.

Apple would ruin either of them.

 

[maikerukun]

What I meant was Apple would likely stop updating Reslove on Windows and Linux. (Does Apple even make Linux apps?) and then slowly remove support completely from these platforms.

This happened when Apple brought Dark Sky and primephonic but on Android.

That is why I want Apple to never buy Black Magic.

Ahhhhh I see. Okay that makes sense. But that said, I think they're far more likely to leave alone the business model as is and just integrate different tools into their software/hardware structure...similar to what happened when they bought Beats by Dre.

 

[maikerukun]

That'd be my dream as well (and by and large all the modularity I'd need). Ideally you'd be able to keep the old SoC effectively building up a rack of Mac Studios. Doubt it would happen, but being able to upgrade just the SoC would be sweet.



Wouldn't a better point of comparison be Shake? From what I recall they supported Windows and Linux, until they eventually discontinued the product across all three platforms. Thinking about it, not sure that's any more reassuring...

Mmmmmm good point.

 

[maikerukun]

Remember when Apple bought Shake - one of the leading VFX workflow apps, responsible for IIRC all the compositing on Lord of The Rings, and it went on to become an industry-dominating platform...

Oh wait, no, what Apple did is cancel the non-MacOS versions, hoping platform exclusivity would encourage users to buy Macs, and then another app came up on Linux / Windows replacing it entirely within about 6 months, because no one is going to dump their chosen hardware platforms to get "Pro" software from the toy company. Shake disappeared, becoming just depreciated scraps of Motion and FCP's codebase.

Apple is where purchased technologies go to die.

As soon as the founders get their stock vestment, they cash out of Apple, and there's no one left to advocate for their tech, and someone else comes up with their own idea that gets political backing.

That's Apple's big problem - there's no internal tech strategy. Everything in the company survives on the willingness of individuals to work on it. Aperture, and iBooks Author being prime examples - both Pro apps for their respective fields, both vastly superior to third party alternatives, and both died because Apple couldn't find anyone internally who was willing to own and drive the projects.

The only reason for Apple to buy RED, is for their raw video patents, because RED is going after anyone using PRORES RAW in camera. Similar for Black Magic - their products have been great, except the BlackMagic eGPU, which was an overpriced, stupid product, and more or less designed by / at the direction of Apple.

Apple would ruin either of them.

Hmmm, very valid points. I remember Shake was used for Peter Jackson's King Kong as well. And they used it on Mac to do it...sad what happened after that

But you are right...no denying that these companies get bought up and disappear...but I do think certain companies get purchased and left to their own devices for the most part. Beats by Dre being an example.