MP 7,1 Still waiting patiently for people to post the Afterburner benefits/use with Adobe software

[bxs]

Subject: Still waiting patiently for people to post the Afterburner benefits/use with Adobe software

We have the Afterburner (AB) as part of our order (16-core model) that is supposed to deliver Feb 7-13 2020. We are anxious to know the benefits this will provided for our Adobe software.

We know that Adobe is aware of the AB and maybe they will at some time update their software to make good/better use of the AB.... but just curious to know if there will be any immediate benefits for us to enjoy.

Thanks for any insights you can provide.

 

[bwinter88]

Subject: Still waiting patiently for people to post the Afterburner benefits/use with Adobe software

We have the Afterburner (AB) as part of our order (16-core model) that is supposed to deliver Feb 7-13 2020. We are anxious to know the benefits this will provided for our Adobe software.

We know that Adobe is aware of the AB and maybe they will at some time update their software to make good/better use of the AB.... but just curious to know if there will be any immediate benefits for us to enjoy.

Thanks for any insights you can provide.

Adobe has no special implementation for Afterburner at this time. That said, the Afterburner card does accelerate ProRes/RAW codec for playback. It won't be as fast as FCPX, which has special optimizations for Afterburner. If you don't use FCPX, the initial gains will be minimal.

I wish Apple waited or tried harder to get other companies to utilize the Afterburner card before releasing it. More initial users means more enthusiasm of companies and programmers to pick it up and start integrating it into their software, and it would have been a lot more attractive to people if it had advertised Premiere, Resolve, or some other acceleration.

 

[ActionableMango]

We know that Adobe is aware of the AB and maybe they will at some time update their software to make good/better use of the AB.... but just curious to know if there will be any immediate benefits for us to enjoy.

Man I've been burned so many times buying something based on future promises for an update. I hope this works out for you.

 

[defjam]

I wish Apple waited or tried harder to get other companies to utilize the Afterburner card before releasing it. More initial users means more enthusiasm of companies and programmers to pick it up and start integrating it into their software, and it would have been a lot more attractive to people if it had advertised Premiere, Resolve, or some other acceleration.

Due to the stagnation of the Mac Pro over the past few years if I were a developer I'd be very hesitant to develop any code that was unique to Mac Pro specific options. Once Apple demonstrates a commitment to the Mac Pro and its options then I would consider supporting such options.

 

[chfilm]

I sincerely hope that adobe will embrace this card. They would be stupid AF if they didn’t. I saw the performance gains in FCPX yesterday and It blew my mind. I was expecting it to be fast but I’ve never seen a timeline this smooth, and definitely not with 6K footage!

It’s a shame that premiere in general isn’t very well optimized for MacOS and the entire interface is laggy per se, but still I hope it could get better if at least the footage is gonna run more smoothly.
I’m personally gonna try to convince some clients again to let me do some projects in FCP now that I have the new machine (without afterburner at home). It seems the latest version of final cut was clearly written with the Mac Pro in mind, something no other editing software can claim right now.
Maybe daVinci was also optimized but that’s it.

Check out the UI difference Premiere vs FCP on my 16 core. No afterburner:

IMG_2187.mov

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

 

[bxs]

defjam:

What in your opinion constitutes Apple's demonstrated commitment to the Mac Pro ?

I offer you some history, that IMO does show Apple's commitment to the Mac Pro model.

The first Mac Pro was launched in Aug 6, 2006; known as the Power Mac G5. This model followed the 2003's PowerPC-based Power Mac G5. Even the Apple's Power Macintosh hails back to 1994 and continued until 2006 when the first Mac Pro was introduced. The Mac Pro then continued to be offered in various forms up to today late 2019. That is a span of some 25 years. Granted, there have been periods between the different model launches the last being very long; 2013 to now late 2019 or some 6 years. I think this last 6 year period caused many people to not be convinced Apple was committed to the Mac Pro line of computers, and for good reason due to the lapse of time without Apple revealing what they were doing. However, after Apple admitted in 2017 that the Cylinder Mac Pro launched late 2013 was not able to keep up with the technologies, it did promise it would totally redesign the Mac Pro to deal with this issue. In April 2018 Apple did confirm it was indeed working on a redesigned Mac Pro to be released in 2019. We now have the new 2019 Mac Pro some two and half years after Apple made the promise in 2017. This new Mac Pro is offered as a stand-alone tower design and a rack mounted version, an d is built in China but assembled in USA/Austin TX, and was visited by Trump in Nov 2019 (see attached photo Op). The iFixit gives this new 2019 Mac Pro a repair score of 9/10.

IMO the stretch of time from 1994 to 2019 (25 yrs) with Apple supporting the Mac Pro constitutes its commitment to the Mac Pro line of computers.

Could have Apple moved faster for releasing newer Mac Pro models... possibly, and due to Apple's secretiveness about its R&D this has hindered and promoted people like yourself to think Apple was not committed to the high-end Mac Pro line of computers.

The Mac Pro does not sell in the millions as does Apple's other products such as the iPhone, but IMO the Mac Pro serves Apple as being a 'halo' product if nothing else. 'Halo' products, such as the Volvo R auto design, are a means to promote a companies other product lines and can help them secure a loyal customer base. The 'halo' product may not be a 'money maker' for a company, but it has or can have enormous impacts on customers loyalty and commitment to their products.

I do agree that Apple's secretiveness over it's R&D wrt the Mac Pro does give rise to peoples' view like you've expressed. It's an outcome of companies (and countries for that matter) wanting to be competitive with the fast moving technology advances.

Cheers....

 

[defjam]

defjam:

What in your opinion constitutes Apple's demonstrated commitment to the Mac Pro ?

Not failing to update it at all for almost six years. The 6,1 Mac Pro saw no updates, none, zero, zilch. Not because it wasn't possible (the E-5 v3 and v4 series could have easily been added to it along with TB3 and upgraded GPUs) but rather because Apple "designed themselves into a thermal corner" which is, IMO, a laughable reason for not upgrading it.

I offer you some history, that IMO does show Apple's commitment to the Mac Pro model.

IMO the stretch of time from 1994 to 2019 (25 yrs) with Apple supporting the Mac Pro constitutes its commitment to the Mac Pro line of computers.

IMO the stretch of time is from 1994 until 2013 then it ended. Not a single update until late 2019. That's where the lack of commitment appears. The release of the 2019 is a good start but we'll have to wait and see if they do any updates to it (or upgrades). Until then how do we know Apple won't let it rot on the vine like they did with the 6,1?

 

[bxs]

Not failing to update it at all for almost six years. The 6,1 Mac Pro saw no updates, none, zero, zilch. Not because it wasn't possible (the E-5 v3 and v4 series could have easily been added to it along with TB3 and upgraded GPUs) but rather because Apple "designed themselves into a thermal corner" which is, IMO, a laughable reason for not upgrading it.

I offer you some history, that IMO does show Apple's commitment to the Mac Pro model.


IMO the stretch of time is from 1994 until 2013 then it ended. Not a single update until late 2019. That's where the lack of commitment appears. The release of the 2019 is a good start but we'll have to wait and see if they do any updates to it (or upgrades). Until then how do we know Apple won't let it rot on the vine like they did with the 6,1?

Yes, we will now wait and see. If 3rd party vendors step up and offer upgrades that's a big plus, regardless of Apple stepping in to do same. However, I agree that if Apple also provides periodic and timely updates that would also be great. We can hope, right ?

 

[defjam]

Yes, we will now wait and see. If 3rd party vendors step up and offer upgrades that's a big plus, regardless of Apple stepping in to do same. However, I agree that if Apple also provides periodic and timely updates that would also be great. We can hope, right ?

I have to disagree about the regardless part of your statement. I think it is critical for Apple to offer updates to the Mac Pro. If not it will die on the vine just like the 6,1 did. At least the 2019 Mac Pro has the ability to fit third party cards. However the problem then shifts to software support.

 

[bxs]

Fair enough.... the benefit of Apple making and offering the upgrades will be they stand behind and support their upgrades, and show their commitment to the MP7,1 model line. So please accept my removal of "regardless". ?

 

[defjam]

Fair enough.... the benefit of Apple making and offering the upgrades will be they stand behind and support their upgrades, and show their commitment to the MP7,1 model line. So please accept my removal of "regardless". ?

Don't get me wrong about the 2019 Mac Pro, I think it's an excellent showing for Apple. However the AB card is very specific to it and ProRes thus limiting its market. If I were a third party developer with a product that could use it I would be investigating it. But I would have to be cautious based on Apple's recent past history.

 

[bxs]

Yes, I can understand that cautiousness, but at the same time do hope Adobe will see the support of the AB being a useful thing to do for their customer base using the MP7,1.

 

[linuxcooldude]

I sincerely hope that adobe will embrace this card. They would be stupid AF if they didn’t. I saw the performance gains in FCPX yesterday and It blew my mind. I was expecting it to be fast but I’ve never seen a timeline this smooth, and definitely not with 6K footage!

Not only that, you can add up to three Afterburner cards for even faster performance, or possibly more multiple multicam timelines.
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Not failing to update it at all for almost six years. The 6,1 Mac Pro saw no updates, none, zero, zilch. Not because it wasn't possible (the E-5 v3 and v4 series could have easily been added to it along with TB3 and upgraded GPUs) but rather because Apple "designed themselves into a thermal corner" which is, IMO, a laughable reason for not upgrading it.

I offer you some history, that IMO does show Apple's commitment to the Mac Pro model.


IMO the stretch of time is from 1994 until 2013 then it ended. Not a single update until late 2019. That's where the lack of commitment appears. The release of the 2019 is a good start but we'll have to wait and see if they do any updates to it (or upgrades). Until then how do we know Apple won't let it rot on the vine like they did with the 6,1?

It has seen substantial software updates that have increased performance over the years for the 2013 Mac Pro. Latest being Metal 2 engine support for FCPX, Motion and Compressor. I have a 2013 Mac Pro.

 

[defjam]

Yes, I can understand that cautiousness, but at the same time do hope Adobe will see the support of the AB being a useful thing to do for their customer base using the MP7,1.

I'm hoping all third parties fully embrace the 2019 Mac Pro.
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It has seen substantial software updates that have increased performance over the years for the 2013 Mac Pro. Latest being Metal 2 engine support for FCPX, Motion and Compressor. I have a 2013 Mac Pro.

The 2013 Mac Pro has seen none, zero, zip, zilch updates.

 

[bxs]

I'm hoping all third parties fully embrace the 2019 Mac Pro.
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The 2013 Mac Pro has seen none, zero, zip, zilch updates.

linuxcooldude was referring to software such as macOS major and minor releases and not hardware.

 

[linuxcooldude]

I'm hoping all third parties fully embrace the 2019 Mac Pro.
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The 2013 Mac Pro has seen none, zero, zip, zilch updates.

Hardware updates, no. Software updates, yes. Ive seen my 2015 Mac Pro increase in performence over the last 5 years because of software updates that still made it relivent today. Obviously, if you need expandability or other, maybe not so much.
Now that the 2019 Mac Pro is out, it will slowly lose that and eventually lose updates as it becomes obsolete.

 

[defjam]

linuxcooldude was referring to software such as macOS major and minor releases and not hardware.

I am aware he was referring to software. I, OTOH, was referring to the 2013 Mac Pro.
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Hardware updates, no.

Isn't that what I said?

 

[deconstruct60]

Not a direction indication but .... indications there may be deeper synergies over time.

Apple Releases ProRes RAW Beta for Windows

Apple today released ProRes RAW for Windows in a beta capacity (via Mark Gurman), with the software designed to allow ProRes RAW and ProRes RAW HQ...

www.macrumors.com

Basically everything in the Windows application list at this point is made by Adobe.

"..
Compatible Applications
• Adobe After Effects (Beta)
• Adobe Media Encocder (Beta)
• Adobe Premiere (Beta)
• Adobe Premiere Rush (Beta)
..."

seems doubtful Adobe would keep that all cooped up on the Windows side. If Adobe can use Apple libraries on both platforms then Apple can do the delegation to Afterburner as necessary. ( I wouldn't hold my breath on Windows + Afterburner combo being supported though. )

 

[jinnyman]

Why should any 3rd party commit their resources in? Apple is not providing a clear roadmap to them even.
What'd happen when Apple finally do switch to ARM?

FCP people will keep enjoying it (hopefully) as Apple put their resources to make sure FCP runs well on Mac. They will probably do that for ARM as well.

 

[H. Flower]

A new update to adobe released today, and no mention of after burner.

did anyone upgrade? Anyone seeing any performance increases?

 

[blackie36]

...I do now see betas available on the Mac versions of Premiere, After Effects, Rush, Audition, Media Encoder and Character Animator.

No word on what has been updated / enabled and I don't have an afterburner to test.

 

[bsbeamer]

did anyone upgrade? Anyone seeing any performance increases?

Generally speaking, the Adobe updates released yesterday were basically for Team Projects and Camera RAW updates. Some feature improvements and fixes, but not the typical NAB style release for video software. Wait until next week or early May for the NAB online demos. Hearing there may be a video "sneaks" sort of thing in the works.

 

[Varmann]

I would stretch the professional Mac line back to the beast Mac IIfx in 1990.

But providing roadmaps and upgrade security (both often much more important than raw power to companies and developers) for that sector has for long been a weak point with Apple.

Apple have a history of providing new products and technologies for the "professional sector" with no roadmap or upgrades, just to be abandoned later: AU/X, Xserver, Aperture, 6.1 (and many others)

As a developer I would be very reluctant into making investments into Apples professional niche.
Apple has a great track record of upgrades in other areas (iMac and iPhone) as well as huge chest of money. It is very easy to see this as a half-hearted and uninterested approach (from the management) to the professional sector.