Compare two operating systems for After Effect

[Anna90207]

Hi, folks.

I have a quite expensive piece of machine at my work place, which is just ridiculously slow when I want to render anything in AE, even Adobe Premiere is not working as fast as it should.

The operative system, which I am using is:

Windows 10 PRO

Intel Xenon(R) CPU E5-2630v3 2.40 GHZ

RAM 32. GB

64-bit x64 based processor.

It seems like the system should operate fast! But it is not.

On the other hand I was thinking of buying newest IMAC with Retina 5 k.

4.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.2GHz  

• 32GB 1867MHz DDR3 SDRAM - four 8GB
• 2TB Fusion Drive 
• AMD Radeon R9 M395X with 4GB video memory

My question to you:

Is there a problem with the system that I am currently working on and maybe there is a possibility to configure it to higher/faster performance?

How much difference would I see when working on films or after effect if I would invest 3.5 grand on new Imac?

[Nexahs1138]

What codec are you using for exports?

Have you checked your preferences to see how much dedicated RAM is being allocated to Premiere and AE?

Have you purged your image cache?

Also, if you're using AE, I'd suggest getting Media Encoder as that will give you better export options as AE no longer has a compressor for exports.

[Rick Gerard]

Fast rendering when it comes to compositing (After Effects, Fusion, any other compositing and motion graphics app) or 3D work (C4D, 3DS MAX, Blender or any other 3D app) is a completely different proposition than rendering video out of a Non Linear Editor (Premiere Pro, Final Cut, Resolve). Compositing, motion graphics and 3D always takes a lot longer to render because there is a lot more calculating going on.

Incredibly slow rendering from AE can be a result of a completely normal workflow, it just depends on what you are doing in your comp. I routinely have compositions that take several minutes a frame to render at 4K. My design limit for rendering is about 7 minutes a frame. I also often have compositions that render several frames per minute. Again, it depends on what's going on in the comp.

Rendering from Premiere Pro can also be slow if you are rendering to MPEG (h.264) and there's a lot of compressing going on. Premiere Pro uses the Adobe Media encoder.

Rendering speed can also be effected by the format used in your original footage as well as the frame size and frame rate. Without details it's impossible to figure out if there is a bottleneck in your production process that is caused by improper configuration or a less than optimal setup.

Switching to a Mac won't necessarily solve your problem. For many operations right now a properly configured Windows box is faster than the available Macs but that could change and change significantly with the next release. The only thing you buy with a Mac is the best customer service, warranty and reliability in the hardware industry. Mac haters will argue but I use both, have owned the best windows machines you can buy, and my Macs have always been more reliable, required less maintenance, are repaired quicker and cost less to maintain than my Windows machines. For sheer power, right now, you can't beat a Windows box, for value and total cost of operation you have to carefully analyze your workflow and the way you run your business. Sorry, there are no easy answers to any of the questions your post is asking. For my business, if the next generation Mac's don't completely abandon professional users I'll go with Mac again, but I would not buy a new one now unless there was no other option because we are in the middle of a development cycle and their current offerings, even the latest Mac Book Pro's are behind the current technology. Apple is pretty careful when it comes to announcements but it doesn't look like there will be a new Mac Pro until as late as 2018 or at least the last quarter of this year.

I didn't expect this post to go on this long, but there's one more think I should say. No matter what system you are running, trying to have the fastest and best machine for the job is a goal that can only be met and held for a few short months. Every time there is a chance in hardware things either get better or worse for folks that require tremendous calculating and processing power to efficiently do their jobs (like motion graphics artists). Every time there is a change in the software, and that can happen several times a year, there is a change that can easily nearly kill a system that was running nearly perfectly before the update. My suggestion, make sure there are no bottlenecks in your system and that it is configured as well as it can be for the kind of work that you do. Optimize your workflow as much as possible by using the right kind of assets and rendering the right kind of deliverables, and then be patient with new purchases. If you really want to see if your machine is slow you need to find some performance tests that use similar workflows and run a couple of test renders. Check your results against other machines, and then make your the best business decision you can. There is no one perfect machine for all AE work. There never has been and I don't think there ever will be.

[Anna90207]

This is really interesting.

I didn't want to make impression that I compare Mac and Window in overall. There have been thousands discussion about it. I was rather thinking of these two mentioned systems and exact specifications.

Every time there is a change in the software, and that can happen several times a year, there is a change that can easily nearly kill a system that was running nearly perfectly before the update. My suggestion, make sure there are no bottlenecks in your system and that it is configured as well as it can be for the kind of work that you do.

What did you mean by this? Are you trying to say that the system can be destroyed because of using After Effect or any other software, which requires big renders?

[Anna90207]

Nexahs1138  wrote

What codec are you using for exports?

Have you checked your preferences to see how much dedicated RAM is being allocated to Premiere and AE?

Have you purged your image cache?

Also, if you're using AE, I'd suggest getting Media Encoder as that will give you better export options as AE no longer has a compressor for exports.

Yes, I've tried everything and all the setting are correct. I also use Media Encoder sometimes. But, I don't don't why I can't change Media Cache destination folder.

[Mike_Abbott · Accepted solution]

The fundamental issue is that your current system is based on an inappropriate CPU (processor) for this type of software.

Xeon processors are designed to work in parallel on multi-socket motherboards, however they run at relatively low 'clock speeds'.

After Effects doesn't use this type of multi-processor power, but works much faster with a single CPU running at a higher clock speed - such as a i7 type processor.

You just need a more appropriate processor for the job.
This is not a Mac / Windows issue. The Mac you mention above has an appropriate processor, but you could also specify a Windows box with the same type of processor. Either would be fine.

[Anna90207]

Hi, Mike.

Exactly, that's what I am trying to get. I don't want to discuss wherever mac or Window is better but I am trying to figure out is there an issue with the; system, memory ,monitor or anything else is not suitable for the job that I want to do.

I am not doing a big special effects. At the moment mainly using ready templates to animate pictures. But, in close future I want to switch to animations for adverts, which requires a lot of speed specially if I want to see it in real time.

Thanks

[Rick Gerard]

What I meant about software updates fouling things up is just that simple. Sometimes a system that is working perfectly fine will fail completely after an update. Sometimes it will slow way down. Sometimes it will speedway up. Some versions AE will run faster and be more stable on a Mac, with other versions Windows machines take the checkered flag.  My point is there is no perfect system that will be a perfect system for the next four or five years. Since Mac started using Intel processors,  they have been by far the most productive and least expensive machines in my stable by a large margin.  That came very close to changing with the introduction of the trashcan Mac pro, and I don't know how long it will last. New Mac pros were just announced but you won't be able to see anything or get your hands on one until December.

My best advice is to carefully check the minimum system requirements, do your research,  check available benchmarks, consider all of the software or you may be using, the customer service and warranty offered by the manufacturers, the IT costs associated with the operating system, the susceptibility to viruses and malware, and then throw all of that into your calculations before you make your next purchase.  Personally I am holding on to what I have until at least next year because it is not costing me a significant amount to keep running and I making all of my deadlines.  If I were forced into a purchase decision right now it would probably be a used Mac that matches machines I have that are working well today, but I would still do the research and could very well end up with a new Windows machine. The bottom line for me is not what will it cost me today, but what will it cost me over the next three or four years.