MP All Models Video Editors / Motion Graphics Artists, what are we thinking?

[H. Flower]

I have a 16 core 2019 Mac Pro with 192 gigs of memory and the W5700X MPX module. I also have a 8 TB nvme Sonnet card and AJA video card.

I edit in Premiere (trying to move to Resolve), After Effects and some light Cinema 4D.

From everything I've read so far, the only thing the new Mac Pro will kneecap is 3d Rendering in C4D, Maya, and 3dMax because of lack of GPU upgrades, although for what I do, the onboard GPU is probably sufficient.

I really like having the large, super fast RAID storage, so I just don't think the Mac Studio is for me yet. Plus, I plan on getting a new Black Magic card for video I/O for Resolve. Finally, I really like the beauty of the Mac Pro....I consider it a work of art, as opposed to the Studio.

The 2X CPU performance is intriguing, although I suppose I should wait for Adobe and Resolve benchmarks over the next couple weeks. The big question is, as always, is with Adobe: will their software take advantage of the hardware, or create a bottleneck, as it traditionally has? I'm really wanting to see major gains in After Effects.

Anyways, if you're an editor, what are your thoughts? Are you gonna pull the trigger or wait to see if they release a version of this with more RAM?

 

[PowerMike G5]

I have a similar machine setup, but with the RX 6800XT and the Afterburner. I mainly use Premiere too and it works pretty well.

I too appreciate the build of the Mac Pro and make good use of the PCIe slots (7 of the 8 are filled in my machine).

I would think for the software you mention above that this new Mac Pro would be noticeably faster, primarily due to all the new media engine hardware encoders/decoders.

I notice that Premiere and Media Encoder take advantage of them in my M1 Max MBP, and they encode/decode accelerated formats quite fast. ProRes encodes definitely seem faster than on my Mac Pro. So I'd imagine once Adobe optimizes better for the newer media engine in the M2 Ultra, that we'd see a noticeable increase in timeline performance and exports.

 

[H. Flower]

Interesting.

Do you think you'll upgrade to this machine?

 

[SDAVE]

I would suggest a M2 Max/Ultra Mac Studio for editors.

Wouldn't touch the Mac Pro 2023, lets see how the M3 version is next year.

 

[avro707]

have a 16 core 2019 Mac Pro with 192 gigs of memory and the W5700X MPX module. I also have a 8 TB nvme Sonnet card and AJA video card.

What about a GPU upgrade?

There are some W6800 Duos starting to be available cheaper.

I have Premiere 2023 or whatever Adobe calls the latest version and it is fast enough on W6800X MPX module.

 

[Yebubbleman]

I have a 16 core 2019 Mac Pro with 192 gigs of memory and the W5700X MPX module. I also have a 8 TB nvme Sonnet card and AJA video card.

I edit in Premiere (trying to move to Resolve), After Effects and some light Cinema 4D.

From everything I've read so far, the only thing the new Mac Pro will kneecap is 3d Rendering in C4D, Maya, and 3dMax because of lack of GPU upgrades, although for what I do, the onboard GPU is probably sufficient.

I really like having the large, super fast RAID storage, so I just don't think the Mac Studio is for me yet. Plus, I plan on getting a new Black Magic card for video I/O for Resolve. Finally, I really like the beauty of the Mac Pro....I consider it a work of art, as opposed to the Studio.

The 2X CPU performance is intriguing, although I suppose I should wait for Adobe and Resolve benchmarks over the next couple weeks. The big question is, as always, is with Adobe: will their software take advantage of the hardware, or create a bottleneck, as it traditionally has? I'm really wanting to see major gains in After Effects.

Anyways, if you're an editor, what are your thoughts? Are you gonna pull the trigger or wait to see if they release a version of this with more RAM?

From the sound of it, the 2023 Mac Pro will blow your 2019 Mac Pro out of the water. I'm unsure about higher-end MPX module configurations (and Apple has been selective about which ones they compare the M2 Ultra to), but it sounds like the M2 Ultra will best the W5700X; the 24-core (16P+8E) CPU will best the 16-core Xeon; and you're not inhibited by RAM since you currently have the 2023 Mac Pro's maximum RAM in your 2019 Mac Pro. If you had zero need/intention to upgrade the video card in your existing Mac Pro, the new one won't kneecap at all.

I would suggest a M2 Max/Ultra Mac Studio for editors.

Wouldn't touch the Mac Pro 2023, lets see how the M3 version is next year.

The OP has an AJA card, a Sonnet card, and is planning on getting a Black Magic card. The Sonnet card ought to run fine enough from a Thunderbolt breakout box, but the others are likely ill-advised to run in that fashion. Therefore any Mac Studio is not the optimal solution here.

But yes, in situations where PCIe cards are not in play, a Mac Studio is way more cost-effective.

 

[PowerMike G5]

Interesting.

Do you think you'll upgrade to this machine?

I don't know. Probably leaning towards no.

I like the idea of all the power efficiency of this new Mac Pro (especially as I start integrating Topaz Video AI more which can render for hours).

But I'm already editing a lot of 4K projects that the 7,1 handles fine. Especially in ProRes, where the Afterburner already hardware decodes everything and the CPU/GPU are even more free for effects and such.

 

[SDAVE]

Seems like 2024 Mac Pro is going to be a beast.

2023 is just to kick Intel out of the picture completely.