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dradeke
dradeke
Participating Frequently
November 25, 2009
Question

Technology Sneek Peek: Adobe® Mercury Playback Engine

  • November 25, 2009
  • 19 replies
  • 134049 views

Hi guys,

Been working on this blog post for what seems like forever.  I hope you enjoy it.  Please be sure to post comments there and not here...or at least if appropriate post in both places. 😉

http://blogs.adobe.com/genesisproject/2009/11/technology_sneek_peek_adobe_me.html#more

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Dennis

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      tclark513
      tclark513
      Known Participant
      December 3, 2009

      I went back to watch the video again and noticed that Dave was getting a yellow render bar above the clips he was inserting into the sequence.  Shouldn't there be no color bar at all if he is using the correct sequence preset?  I thought you only get the color render bars if effects are added or something changed the original clip.  Maybe the new engine works differently.

      Colin Brougham
      Colin Brougham
      Participating Frequently
      December 3, 2009

      A yellow bar (at least in CS4) means that a clip in a timeline probably doesn't need to be rendered to play back smoothly and in real time, but it will need to be rendered on export to a device or file. I don't think you're seeing anything different here, at least in general practice--even with all those clips stacked, you still get real-time performance, but on export to any type of destination, the sequence will have to be "cooked". If there was only one clip in the timeline, there probably wouldn't be a colored bar at all, but since he created a multiple-clip composite, that has to be rendered at some point in the process.

      tclark513
      tclark513
      Known Participant
      December 3, 2009

      Colin Brougham wrote:

      A yellow bar (at least in CS4) means that a clip in a timeline probably doesn't need to be rendered to play back smoothly and in real time, but it will need to be rendered on export to a device or file. I don't think you're seeing anything different here, at least in general practice--even with all those clips stacked, you still get real-time performance, but on export to any type of destination, the sequence will have to be "cooked". If there was only one clip in the timeline, there probably wouldn't be a colored bar at all, but since he created a multiple-clip composite, that has to be rendered at some point in the process.

      There were a few times where he only used one clip and it was still yellow.  I know that is not how it works in CS4 with just adding a clip to a sequence with the right preset.  No bar at all until something changes.

      M
      medeamajic
      Participating Frequently
      December 2, 2009

      I hope Adobe will let out a little information about when CS5 will be ready. I woud like to know if Cuda will work with an Nvidia 9400GT?

      More info is weclomed.

      dradeke
      dradekeAuthor
      Participating Frequently
      December 2, 2009

      Outside of the cards I've mentioned in the blog post, you should expect nothing older than those cards to be supported.  Newer cards will be announced as we get closer to something definite.

      Dennis

      P
      pebalsamo
      Participating Frequently
      December 2, 2009

      Thanks for the sneak peak...  This is great news.  I posted about it in a HMC-150 forum.  My fellow AVCHD editors will be happy to see this...

      http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?p=1828789#post1828789

      Phil

      PaulieDC
      PaulieDC
      Inspiring
      December 2, 2009

      YAHOO!!!

      FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY!!

      For pete's sake, why didn't somebody tell me about this sooner!! lol!!

      ahem... ok... settling down...

      Hey Harm/Jim/Hunt, aren't us DSLR newcomers just weird?   I'm one happy weirdo though! Fine, $400 for a GTX285, no big deal, what's another few hundred bucks, that's not even half of a 24-70mm lens. I tell ya, if it works like dave showed in that demo, I'm ready.

      Dennis, thanks for the sneak peek!

      Paulie

      tclark513
      tclark513
      Known Participant
      December 1, 2009

      Did you guys notice some of the new features?  He was exporting straight from Premiere.  There is a button at the bottom if you want to send it to the render que.

      RDA972
      RDA972
      Participating Frequently
      December 2, 2009

      tclark513 wrote:

      Did you guys notice some of the new features?  He was exporting straight from Premiere.  There is a button at the bottom if you want to send it to the render que.

      There are also new presets for DSLR cameras and Sony XDCAM HD 4.2.2, not to mention Export to FCP.

      Wow, this looks very, very promising. Dennis, this is not so much a sneak peek as an eye-opener.

      PS. I have my credit card ready.

      dradeke
      dradekeAuthor
      Participating Frequently
      December 1, 2009

      Hi guys,

      Dave Helmly has done a video demonstrating the Mercury Playback Engine in action - you definitely want to watch this.

      http://tv.adobe.com/watch/davtechtable/sneak-peek-at-the-new-adobe-mercury-playback-engine-technology/

      shooternz
      shooternz
      Legend
      December 1, 2009

      Outstanding development. I cant wait to get my hands on it.

      Eric Addison
      Eric Addison
      Participating Frequently
      December 2, 2009

      dradeke wrote:

      Premiere Pro has always been professional, it's just suffered from a perception problem.  However, I think that is changing now.  As for stability, the fact that we're 64-bit only has thus far proven to give us a huge boost in overall stability.  As for targeting the high-end user, I think we're always going to be focused on making the very best product for the largest number of people. We all benefit when that is our goal. ;-)

      Dennis

      As much as I am an Adobe fan boy; I cant go along with that.  The list of feature films produced on PPRO is about 3 long vs hundreds for FCP and of course thousands for Avid.   PPRO to date has had significant stability problems.  It can not handle long form projects, it has always teetered on the fulcrum of consumer vs pro decisions with consumer typically winning.  Yes; there is a perception problem with PPRO, but the bad rep is based on bad performance.   I am thrilled to see the future leaning towards pro features.  It is about time.


      dradeke wrote:

      Premiere Pro has always been professional, it's just suffered from a perception problem.

      Curt Wrigley wrote:


      As much as I am an Adobe fan boy; I cant go along with that.  The list of feature films produced on PPRO is about 3 long vs hundreds for FCP and of course thousands for Avid.

      I don't know if it's fair to say that because it hasn't been used as the primary NLE on many feature films, it's not truly professional. It has been used as a supporting tool on features, and while I think the list of features is actually longer then 3, I will agree that it's not a long list. But many people work outside Hollywood and use Premiere Pro in their business - they cut everything from weddings to corporate work to commercials.They as just as professional, and so is their work.

      You'll get no arguement from me about Premiere Pro's perception problem - that is something Adobe has too overcome (and I think they are), and Curt, you're right...long form programs have not been Premiere Pro's strong suit - more like its weakest. I think Adobe is now heading in the right direction with Premiere Pro, and I am really excited about where it's going.

      Without a doubt, this past decade saw the rise of FCP...who's to say the next decade won't see the rise of Premiere Pro? I've found that most non-Adobe editors love what they cut with, and don't really feel like switching. They know their tools, and have developed a comfort level with them. Many also look down on Premiere Pro for it's faults of the past and present. It will take some compelling feature, something really big and industry changing to make FCP and Avid users say, "I want that". Time will tell if this new Mercury Playback Engine proves to be just that thing. I, personally, think that it will.

      M
      medeamajic
      Participating Frequently
      November 26, 2009

      That Mercury is awesome! I can not wait for PP CS5. Please post more info about the Mercury technology.

      dradeke
      dradekeAuthor
      Participating Frequently
      November 26, 2009

      My request is that you spread the word folks about the blog entry and tell others.  If you have a voice in the creative community, please use it to get the info out there.

      I hope that everyone has a wonderful thankful Thanksgiving!

      Bill Gehrke
      Bill Gehrke
      Inspiring
      November 26, 2009

      Dennis, this is great news.  Are you by any chance also running CS4 on your HP XW9400? If so I would sure like to see the PPBM4 results from this 12-core AMD system.  We are severely lacking AMD representation on the benchmarks results page.

      I am guessing that I may have to start all over with my hardware benchmarking when CS5 is released.  Right now it can test CPU and disk system performance, but not GPU, because currently Premiere is almost completely insensitive to GPU performance

      Eric Addison
      Eric Addison
      Participating Frequently
      November 26, 2009

      I'm really hoping this is part of CS5 - it's very exciting technology. My only question - what will my FCP editor friends use now as the excuse on why they still think FCP is better...

      E
      excited_Genie16B8
      Legend
      November 26, 2009

      Wrong choices will always find a way to be justified.

      shooternz
      shooternz
      Legend
      November 26, 2009

      You will be fine Jim.  Stick with Tape based DV and your ATI Graphics Card.  Why would you need anything else?

      Panansonic , Adobe...Apple...whoever...Jim can do it better it seems ( Hire him as a consultant in how not to do it)

      the_wine_snob
      the_wine_snob
      Inspiring
      November 26, 2009

      Dennis,

      Thank you for this. I might just hold off on my new workstation for a bit more, to see what comes of this, and to also help me decide on the GPU. I've been using an older Quadro FX4500 for some years, and it's been fine. Until now, I was thinking about going with a newer one, but now might upgrade that choice, if there is going to be a good reason. Obviously, Quadros are not something that one picks up for 6 mos., until something newer comes out.

      You've gotten me to thinking, and thanks for that.

      Hunt

      shooternz
      shooternz
      Legend
      November 25, 2009

      What an exciting prospect.

      Bring it on...SOON PLEASE.

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