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Hi, I'm wondering if anyone cares to share the maximum number of HD their Catalyst machine can run. Please share your Mac Pro Specs as well.
Here's mine:
2009 single 2.9GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon "Nehalem" processor
8Gb ram
ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB
256GB SSD OCZ
Max Layers of HD1080p: 2 Layers
Is this what I should expect out of my Quad Core machine or is there something that I didn't do right to get more layers?
What codec and frame rate are you using?
Hugh
With some AIC 'stock content' at 1920x1080 25fps and an OCZ Vertex SSD, I have been able to run 3-4 layers on pretty much any Mac Pro with updated graphics card from 2007-2010
However, It all depends upon the content codec and frame rate....
Simon
Hi Simon,
do you mean you are able to run 3-4 layers of AIC 1080p content on either quad core or 8 core machine?
Yes - but it depends upon the content, codec and frame rate, SSD, Graphics card, OS, hardware revision
(...if the sun is shining... whether the day of the week has a W in it...)
Seriously: - there can be a lot of factors that affect performance - this is why no-one commits to actual results.
You have to test with the system you have available and as close to the real content as possible.
I;ve achieved these results on my stock of MacPros (ranging from 2007-2010) with my HD stock content... it will probably differ slightly on yours
S
Now, all makes sense to me now. Thanks Simon.
We have some quad cores - with ATI 1900 ( Tiger ) and some eight cores with 8800 ( leopard ) Strangly, but the Tiger can run 4 layers of 1080p AIC and the Eight cores, 3 layers... sometimes 4.
Just as an example,... we had a event wich the movies are BLACK and WHITE, and we achived 5 layers of 1080p... so all depends on the content.
with 2009 macs you should be able to get 6-8 layers of 1080p with AIC codecQuote:
Originally Posted by foxrider
i get 6-8 layers on my 2009 8 core 2.26Ghz mac with AIC 1080p 25fps
2009 macs with 10.6.x are significantly faster than 2008 with 10.5.x
around 20-40% faster
with 10.6.x more cores have improved performance - more cores are better.
10.6.x and 2009 macs are significantly faster than the ones beforeQuote:
Originally Posted by Gian
the processors are hyperthreaded - meaning the cores are split in 2- and 8 cores appears as 16 processes-
and 10.6.x uses all the cores to playback movies - it splits playback properly across all available processors
even on low end 2009 machine i get 6-8 layers
for most layers you need to use apple intermediate codec-Quote:
Originally Posted by foxrider
for best quality people use apple pro res ( which comes in 5 flavours )
depends on what people want-
there is significant performance difference between codecs - and data rates
the jpeg algorithms used in most codecs are sensitive to data rate of the movie-Quote:
Originally Posted by Gian
the more information in a frame - the higher the data rate - the longer it takes to decode.
black and white movies usually have lower data rates - so can be decompressed faster
each frame in a movie ( in most movie files ) has different amounts of information - and decompress time varies throughout movie playback-
so its not dependant on the weather - its dependant on the movie data rates - and this varies on the type of images.
and everyones images are different.
I've never got more than 4 layers of AIC at 1080p 25fps on ANY MacPro... not even the same spec as you quoted.Quote:
Originally Posted by samsc
How do you manage to get 6-8 layers on 2009/2010 MacPros?
S
suggest you run test G on your systems and send charts.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr_P
and we can check the spec of the machines you have-
there isnt much mystery to performance - every machine is different
using test G on a folder full of the same file type - image and codec - with different movies
i didnt optimise or use latest hardware - i like to test on older systems - so this is not optimised to get best performance.
2009 mac pro 2.26GHz 8 core 10.6.4 GT120 - ssd
tests with gt120 ( which isnt great and is not recommended ) - on old mtron ssd - 1920x1080 output
first file is range of codecs from photojpeg to prores
second file shows 1080p AIC 6-7 layers - 30 different aic files
third file 20 layers 720x576 AIC
---
performance tests are not in show context and every machine needs to be tested by end users
this is only a general indicator not a specification
Hi Richard, is it possible that you provide some test files in different resolutions so that I can test my machine with the similar files that you use and compare.Quote:
Originally Posted by samsc
Can you comment on quad cores machines and 8 cores machine. Will the 8 cores machines be able to run more layers than the quad cores since you mention that 10.6.x uses all cores.
the point is that all content is different - so you have to use your own files.Quote:
Originally Posted by foxrider
or what you have access to.
cores arent important unless you have a lot of layers.
the order of importance is
1. codec for file -
2. ssd
3. cpu and graphics card
In a 2009:
8 core 2.26
8GB RAM
OCZ 250GB
1920x1080 x 2
Using AIC AND general After Effects content I have seen:
4 layers on out 1 and 4 layers on out 2 at 25FPS (8 total layers) no FX
3 layers on out 1 and 3 layers on out 2 at 30FPS (6 total layers) no FX
I have tried the same thing however, with the same size content but content that is much more vibrantly colored and complex (like HD footage of nature) that caused frame drop.