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People in industry keep commenting in threads like this how they’ve jumped ship to Windows because they have work to get done and need the power now. Other loya

People in industry keep commenting in threads like this how they’ve jumped ship to Windows because they have work to get done and need the power now. Other loyal Mac fans can’t belive this and downvote these comments or try to ask for specifics. I’m telling you it’s happening, even in indie shops (source: close friend runs a shop that does big name TV spots and commercials). Adobe Premier isn’t that different on Windows. Most people aren’t Apple fans such as myself. These people need CPU/GPU perf like now because deadlines. So they send someone to Fry’s and get going. Yah a Mac would be nice but they have work to do.

wlesieutre 9y ago
Coworker who does 3d and video content here has an old Mac Pro tower with an aftermarket GPU (remember when you could upgrade those?), his next computer will be Windows. Apple might have had an edge back in the day thanks to QuickTime, but Premier, After Effects, 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, all these things are basically equivalent across platforms. Except for the fact that on Windows they can run faster on cheaper hardware.
- rbanffy 9y ago
  What happened to rendering farms? When I did 3D (3D Studio DOS, long time ago) I had a couple beefy rendering slaves. My desktop was not even the fastest machine on the group - it just happened to have a better graphics card (a Matrox one IIRC). If I had to do it now, I'd have an iMac on my desk (because the screen is so incredibly awesome) and a bunch of Dells (or custom built) boxes on a rack at the other end of a fat pipe).
  - wlesieutre 9y ago
    I'm sure render farms are great, but if a single modern computer would be fast enough, why bother? He also does just as much photography and 2D advertising work, which as far as I know wouldn't benefit from one.
    - rbanffy 9y ago
      I would say even the 8-core one is pretty much fast enough for mostly anything 2D you can throw at it and a buy-and-forget option for the next couple years. Also, keep in mind even Apple thinks this is a stopgap computer - they still mentioned the future modular MacPro on the last event.
      - wlesieutre 9y ago
        I'm sure the 8-core iMac Pro is a great computer but it's also a $5000 computer. I'm glad they're getting back to a modular Mac Pro, but people have been bailing for years and are continuing to bail while said computer doesn't exist yet. $5000 for a stopgap computer without an upgradable GPU just strikes me as insane. There are external GPU docks, but if I'm paying $3000-$5000 for a computer I'd rather it just have 3-4 PCIe slots.
        rbanffy 9y ago
        The GPU that comes with this machine costs about US$ 1000. The CPU seems to be an 8-core E7 for the lower end model, which is slightly north of USD 1200. With 32 GB of RAM and a 5K 27 inch best-in-class monitor and a reasonable amount of PCIe flash storage, the USD 5K is not bad at all. A cutting edge GPU costs about that and, if you are serious about having the top-performer you should count on spending that much in gear every year. Things could be different if you didn't need the screen (I need the pixel count, but not so much the density and color precision, for instance) and would prefer the cash to be invested in memory (32 is enough for me now, but I'd get 64 or 128 for a machine that has to be usable 5 years from now).
        wlesieutre 9y ago
        I don't disagree about any of the specs, but when next year rolls around I'd rather be able to upgrade my GPU and add more RAM, not replace the whole thing including an best-in-class 5K display just because it's all glued together. I'll also point out that the iMac used to be able to be plugged in as a display (target display mode), but the iMac Pro isn't listed on the compatible models page. For whatever reason, they dropped that feature after the 2014 models and decided not to reintroduce it. Once you're no longer using it as your primary workstation, that gorgeous 5K panel is going up on Ebay or wherever along with the rest of the computer. If you want to spend your money efficiently, I have a hard time believing that's a better deal than a workstation and monitor from Dell or similar. http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/06/15/2017-4k-5k-imacs-wont-support-target-display-mode-despite-thunderbolt-3 http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/06/15/2017-4k-5k-imacs-w...
  - thinkythought 9y ago
    I looked into this recently and a lot of apps mentioned here, like premiere, don't even support offloaded rendering now Yes, seriously
    - rbanffy 9y ago
      > Yes, seriously With all the cloud offerings available, this is very fucked up. I can pretty summon a Top 500 cluster in minutes and can't use it to render my 30-second spot in 8K HDR for downscaling into broadcast...

wlesieutre 9y ago

Coworker who does 3d and video content here has an old Mac Pro tower with an aftermarket GPU (remember when you could upgrade those?), his next computer will be Windows. Apple might have had an edge back in the day thanks to QuickTime, but Premier, After Effects, 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, all these things are basically equivalent across platforms. Except for the fact that on Windows they can run faster on cheaper hardware.

rbanffy 9y ago
What happened to rendering farms? When I did 3D (3D Studio DOS, long time ago) I had a couple beefy rendering slaves. My desktop was not even the fastest machine on the group - it just happened to have a better graphics card (a Matrox one IIRC). If I had to do it now, I'd have an iMac on my desk (because the screen is so incredibly awesome) and a bunch of Dells (or custom built) boxes on a rack at the other end of a fat pipe).
- wlesieutre 9y ago
  I'm sure render farms are great, but if a single modern computer would be fast enough, why bother? He also does just as much photography and 2D advertising work, which as far as I know wouldn't benefit from one.
  - rbanffy 9y ago
    I would say even the 8-core one is pretty much fast enough for mostly anything 2D you can throw at it and a buy-and-forget option for the next couple years. Also, keep in mind even Apple thinks this is a stopgap computer - they still mentioned the future modular MacPro on the last event.
    - wlesieutre 9y ago
      I'm sure the 8-core iMac Pro is a great computer but it's also a $5000 computer. I'm glad they're getting back to a modular Mac Pro, but people have been bailing for years and are continuing to bail while said computer doesn't exist yet. $5000 for a stopgap computer without an upgradable GPU just strikes me as insane. There are external GPU docks, but if I'm paying $3000-$5000 for a computer I'd rather it just have 3-4 PCIe slots.
      - rbanffy 9y ago
        The GPU that comes with this machine costs about US$ 1000. The CPU seems to be an 8-core E7 for the lower end model, which is slightly north of USD 1200. With 32 GB of RAM and a 5K 27 inch best-in-class monitor and a reasonable amount of PCIe flash storage, the USD 5K is not bad at all. A cutting edge GPU costs about that and, if you are serious about having the top-performer you should count on spending that much in gear every year. Things could be different if you didn't need the screen (I need the pixel count, but not so much the density and color precision, for instance) and would prefer the cash to be invested in memory (32 is enough for me now, but I'd get 64 or 128 for a machine that has to be usable 5 years from now).
        wlesieutre 9y ago
        I don't disagree about any of the specs, but when next year rolls around I'd rather be able to upgrade my GPU and add more RAM, not replace the whole thing including an best-in-class 5K display just because it's all glued together. I'll also point out that the iMac used to be able to be plugged in as a display (target display mode), but the iMac Pro isn't listed on the compatible models page. For whatever reason, they dropped that feature after the 2014 models and decided not to reintroduce it. Once you're no longer using it as your primary workstation, that gorgeous 5K panel is going up on Ebay or wherever along with the rest of the computer. If you want to spend your money efficiently, I have a hard time believing that's a better deal than a workstation and monitor from Dell or similar. http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/06/15/2017-4k-5k-imacs-wont-support-target-display-mode-despite-thunderbolt-3 http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/06/15/2017-4k-5k-imacs-w...
- thinkythought 9y ago
  I looked into this recently and a lot of apps mentioned here, like premiere, don't even support offloaded rendering now Yes, seriously
  - rbanffy 9y ago
    > Yes, seriously With all the cloud offerings available, this is very fucked up. I can pretty summon a Top 500 cluster in minutes and can't use it to render my 30-second spot in 8K HDR for downscaling into broadcast...