After Effects CC 2017 Mac Pro vs PC Performance

After Effects CC 2017 Mac Pro vs PC Performance

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Always look at history when reading hardware article. Some of the content in this article is likely to be out of date, as written on March 30, 2017. For the latest information, see the latest articles.

Table of contents:

Introduction

Test the setting

RAM Preview - Standard Projects

RAM Preview - GPU Heavy Projects

Submission of final - standard projects

Final submission - GPU heavy projects

Affiliate Movement

conclusion

After effects of workstations

Introduction

If you are thinking of moving an After Effects station from a Mac to your computer, it is likely to do so for one of the following three reasons:

The most powerful capabilities available on PC (integrated video capture options, VR headset support, hardware upgrades, etc.)

Low cost PC workstations

High performance of the modern computer workstation

In this article we will be specifically in number 3 - studying how Mac Pro compares (late 2013) in one of After Effects' workstations. This system is designed based on our extensive testing of After Effects and represents a great value (priced just over half the cost of your Mac Pro) as well as providing excellent performance in After Effects.

There is a wide range of tasks that we can test, but in this article we will specifically consider the RAM preview performance, final submission (export), and motion tracking. If you do not want to look at diagrams and data graphs, we also have a summary of this article available on Youtube:

Test the setting

To learn how to compare your current Mac Pro to a modern workstation, we'll test the following systems:

Mac Pro (late 2013) Puget Systems Workstation

CPU Intel Xeon E5-2697 v2

(2.7-3.5 GHz) Core Core i7 6900K 3.2GHz

(3.5-4 GHz) 8 Core

RAM 4x DDR3-1866 16GB ECC

(64 GB total) 4x DDR4-2400 32GB ECC Reg.

(128 GB total)

GPU 2X AMD FirePro D700 6GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX

Hard Drive 1TB PCIe-based Storage Flash Samsung 960 Pro 1TB M.2 PCI-E x4 NVMe SSD

OS MacOS Sierra Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

After Effects CC 2017.1

The system cost $ 9,399 $ 5,633

Starting with your Mac Pro, we'll use the best options available now including Core 12, 64 GB DDR3, and Dual D700. Since After Effects is able to use a GPU with OpenCL or Metal, we decided to test both to see if there is a significant difference in performance.

The PC workstation that we will use is a typical configuration that we sell for After Effects using the Intel Core i7 6900K and GeForce GTX 1080 8GB video card and 128 GB of DDR4 memory. This system comes with almost 60% of the cost of your Mac Pro, so it should be a great indicator of what kind of performance you can expect while reducing the cost of the workstation itself. Even if you have a large budget, editing $ 4,000 can open up a number of possibilities, including upgrading multiple workstations at the same time, upgrading monitors and other peripherals, increasing internal storage (not an option on a Mac) Pro), or taking a beautiful holiday to Hawaii.

One thing we want to point out is that although each of these workstations is used for one drive, this is not actually what we usually recommend to our customers. As part of our storage test, we found that using at least one drive configuration with cache on a secondary drive could have a significant impact on performance. However, since your Mac Pro is capable of owning only one internal drive, we chose to match this limit on your computer workstation to ensure that we do not overly prefer the PC.

In order to accurately measure the two work stations, we tested with both standard animation projects as well as working with 4K video files using heavy GPU-accelerated effects such as Lumetri Color. In addition, we have tested motion tracking with both 1080p and 4K footage. This will not test everything that can be done at all in After Effects, but by testing a variety of projects from different sources, we hope to find a number of directions That will help show performance difference between Mac Pro and PC workstation.

The projects we used (with their source) are:

Enterprise standard source length

Template People

(1920x1080) ~ 12.8 seconds

(30 fps - 384 frames) BlueFX

Grunge tires

(1920x1080) ~ 19.9 seconds

(24 fps - 469 frames) Free AE templates

Fiber particles

(960 x 360) ~ 8 seconds

(24 frames per second - 191 frames) Video CoPilot

Simple rings

(1920 × 1080) ~ 6.3 seconds

(24 fps - 150 frames) AE templates are free

Subscribers 5K

(1920x1080) ~ 10.2 seconds

(30 FPS - 307 frames) FX Channel House

Enterprise heavy GPU source length test effects

4K ProRes 4444 clip 16.5 seconds

(23.976 FPS - 395 snapshot) transcoded from R3D sample files

EPIC DRAGON 4K HD (3840x2160)

-Lumetri color correction

- Blurred camouflage

-sharpening

Track Source Source Length

H.264 1080p clip

4K ProRes 4444

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How to create a USB drive to restore Windows 10

How to create a USB drive to restore Windows 10

All you need to know about this dynamic tool.

You never know when you will need a Windows recovery drive to restore your system to an authentic state, so the time to create one is now - and it is very easy.

The recovery drive is similar to the media that you receive if you purchased a system that was previously created. Again in the day, the PC will be shipped using a CD or DVD that includes a picture of the system when leaving the factory. If your computer's operating system is set aside, you can easily restore it to the way things were on the first day (although you will lose all data and applications created later). At present, manufacturers usually place a picture of the system since it left the factory on a hidden part of the main drive.

The Windows recovery disk supports this idea. In addition to allowing you to reinstall Windows, it includes many troubleshooting tools, which can be life-saving if the system is not running.

Some of these tools have been used to be part of the operating system. If the computer fails to boot, you are presented with a list that allows you to try to boot in safe mode, or use the Last Known Good Configuration. This is no longer the case with Windows 10. Now you need these tools to reside on a separate device and a bootable USB drive, and everyone running Windows must keep one in a safe place that holds the "Emergency" flag.

Create the recovery drive

You can easily create a retrieval engine by using the tool included with Windows 10.

Here's how to create one and what it can give you.

First, get an 8 GB to 16 GB USB drive and insert it into an open USB port on your computer. Then, go to the Windows Control Panel (right-click the Windows icon is the easiest way) and type a recovery drive in the search bar. The manual way to go to System and Security> Security and Maintenance> Recovery will be.

Windows 10 Recovery Drive Create Recovery Drive

You may need to enter an administrator password to go further. In the resulting dialog box, check the box labeled Backup System Files to Recovery Drive.

When you create the recovery drive, you must boot from it to use it. The performance of the computer differs from the USB device depending on the age of the computer and the motherboard, but you can typically press one of the F keys during boot to access the boot selection window. From there, you can select the USB drive you are using, and you should continue to boot from the recovery drive.

When successfully quitting, you'll see a screen that displays the Troubleshoot option. Click it, you will see the following: Recover from drive, advanced options (maybe restore factory image, if available).

Drive Recovery Main Menu

What you'll see when you boot from the recovery drive, allowing you to either repair or reinstall Windows completely.

The first option lets you reinstall Windows. Note that you will lose all your data and installed apps. This is a clean installation of Windows, not a restore from backup or something along these lines. This is the nuclear option, in other words.

The second option, called Advanced Options, lets you repair your Windows installation in several ways and directs you to the following list:

Advanced Options

Advanced options offer quite a few useful tools to repair and repair your computer.

The Advanced Options menu lets you do the following:

System Restore: Use this to reset your computer to a happier time, when things are working normally. This does not affect your data, but it affects installed programs because it replaces the registry with an earlier version.

Recovering system images: If you have used the Windows 10 photo backup utility, this is where you can use it. You can restore the computer image at the time that you created the image, which includes all the data and programs installed at that time.

Fix Startup Problems: This is a type of "black box" in that it tries to fix any problem that prevents the system from booting, but it does not tell you what to do or, if it succeeds, what the problem is. This is the first thing you should try, because it is faster and less penetrated.

Command Prompt: This can be useful for a wide range of tricks and tactics, especially running the SFC / Scannow command to check and repair damaged system files. We all know that a command prompt is a wizard toolkit, and if you know what you are doing, the possibilities are almost endless.

Returning to the previous structure: Although vaguely worded, this allows you to restore your computer to the previous Windows architecture, which means that before any update converts everything into a pear shape.

As you can see, it is very helpful to have one of these recovery drives at hand. Do yourself a favor and get one now. If you cannot create a recovery disc in Windows 10 for some reason, we also have some suggestions for that interface.

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How to Use Restore from USB Tools and Recovery Drive (2018 or later)

How to Use Restore from USB Tools and Recovery Drive (2018 or later)

Introduction

From within Windows

Unable to access Windows

When your SSD / HDD dies

If you need to reinstall your Windows system to the state it originally had when it was received, we have a guide for you!

For Windows 10 systems that were ordered in 2017 or earlier, use this guide: How to use the Restore from USB tools and recovery drive

For Windows 7 systems with recovery DVDs, use this guide: How to restore using Windows 7 System Image Recovery

Starting mid-December 2017, we changed the way Windows is handled here in Puget Systems. Our new procedures are faster and lead to a more disciplined industry experience, as well as more secure and standardized backup and restore methods. For this reason, the system reset process has changed. This guide guides you through how to reset your system to factory settings. Please note that this will delete everything and reset the system as it was when it was shipped to you, with drivers and courtesy programs. Be sure to copy any data you care about first!

There are two different versions of this guide: one if the systems are capable of booting in Windows, and others for systems that are no longer able to boot to Windows - but where the same primary drive still works. If your system has a failed primary drive, either of these methods will not work. In this case, you will need to replace the drive and perform a new installation of Windows.

From within Windows

Use these steps when you have access to the Windows desktop environment after copying any data you care about to a different physical drive (not just a secondary partition on the same drive!):

Step 1:

Press the windows key or click the Start menu, type "reset" and select "Reset this PC".

Step 2:

On the next screen, select Restart Now under Advanced Startup.

Step 3:

This will quickly restart the system and bring you to the next screen where you want to select "Troubleshooting."

The fourth step:

Here you will choose the option "Puget Systems".

Step Five:

You will now select the disk you want to restore. Be careful here where data will be cleared from the selected disk. If you are unsure of your choice, please contact our support department before continuing.

To continue, click Restore and then Yes.

Step 6:

Accept the license agreement.

Step 7:

Press OK. "This step may take some time to complete, so please be patient.

Step 8:

When you're finished, you'll see this prompt:

Click "OK" and the system will restart.

Step Nine:

The system will restart again to the Advanced Startup screen.

Just click "Continue" and your system will start normally, after restoring factory settings that were originally shipped.

Unable to access Windows

If you are not able to access the Windows desktop environment, but the same drive is fine and the restore data is still intact, the following steps will allow you to restore the operating system and programs to factory conditions. This will erase all the data on the drive, so make sure you copy any data you care about to another physical drive (not just a secondary partition on the same drive!):

Step 1:

When the system is shut down, connect the USB drive of Puget Systems Tools to one of the USB ports on the computer.

Step 2:

Operating system while holding down the "F8" key. This will interrupt the normal boot process and take you to the list of introductory devices on the motherboard.

Step 3:

Once you access the list of boot devices, use the up and down arrow keys to select UEFI: Kingston Data Traveler.

Press "Enter" key to boot from the Puget Tools drive, which will provide access to the Windows restore process.

The fourth step:

You will now select the disk you want to restore. Be careful here where data will be cleared from the selected disk. If you are unsure of your choice, please contact our support department before continuing. To continue, click Restore and then Yes.

Step Five:

Accept the license agreement

Step 6:

Press OK. "This step may take some time to complete, so please be patient.

Step 7:

When you're finished, you'll see this prompt:

Click "OK" and the system will restart.

Step 8:

The system will restart again to the Advanced Startup screen.

Just click "Continue" and your system will start normally, after restoring factory settings that were originally shipped.

When your SSD / HDD dies

If the drive on which Windows is installed ("primary drive") has actually failed, or the drive portion on which the restore image was saved has been corrupted, the only option is to reinstall Windows. If a failed drive is present, it must also be replaced before you do so. We strongly recommend that you contact the support department before proceeding with something like this until you do so.

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Set up your new iPhone XS the right way

Set up your new iPhone XS the right way

For many people, iPhone XS will be radically different from previous iPhones. However, iPhone setup has not changed much. However, while you may find yourself on a familiar floor, there are still a lot of small things to do before you launch your new phone for the first time (or soon thereafter). Let's take a look at how to set up the new iPhone XS in the right way.

Prepare iPhone XS the right way

With iPhone XS, you'll be able to take advantage of Apple's automatic setup program. If you're coming from an old iPhone without Face ID, you'll find that the Touch ID has disappeared. (This means that you will only have to save one face, instead of several fingers.)


If you're using a serial upgrade tool, and you're coming from an old iPhone X, nothing will change. But you'll still need to upgrade the same way.

Restore from backup of your old iPhone

icloud backup iOS 10 iOS 11
Backup on iCloud manual is easy.
The picture is: Worship Mac
You're likely to restore your new iPhone from a backup of your current iPhone. If so, you only need to do two things:

Make sure that you have a recent backup.
Use Apple's new automatic setup feature to get started.
Number 1 is as simple as going to the iCloud settings on your iPhone and checking for a fresh automatic backup. If not, do one manually. Go to Settings> Your Name> iCloud> iCloud Backup and tap Back Up Now. Wait until it ends.

Automatic setup for iPhone XS

For number 2, Auto Setup allows you to copy your Apple ID settings and home Wi-Fi settings from another device, just by bringing them closer.

If your old iPhone (or iPad) is already running iOS 11 or iOS 12, just put the devices next to each other. Then follow the prompts to avoid having to write your Apple ID and Wi-Fi passwords. This makes the iPhone's initial setup smoother.

Set up a new iPhone XS from scratch
The guide below assumes that you are setting up your new iPhone from scratch. If you do not want to do so, you'll definitely want to see the instructions for backing up your previous iPhone with an encrypted backup in iTunes. Even if you back up your new iPhone, you'll still need to run this list to make sure you're getting the most out of your device.

IPhone Setup: The Basics

Re-download only the apps you need - this app is necessary. We all have so many apps on the iPhone that we do not use. This is the main reason we prepared a clean, to be honest. Click the App Store app and make sure you're signed in to your Apple account. (Click on a small head icon on the Updates panel to see which account you're signed in to.) Only bleed the apps you've used in the past six months. Or be bold: just download the things you use every day. We are willing to bet to be very few.

Do Not Disturb is a basic setting for any iPhone.
Do Not Disturb is a basic setting for any iPhone.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre / Mac worship
Setting Do not Disturb - If you're like the rest of us, you're constantly receiving notifications, iMessages and other types of distractions on your iPhone. Set the Do Not Disturb setting in the Settings app (located in the second section at the bottom of the page, under Notifications and Control Center). You will need to schedule times when you need not to be disturbed.

You can switch to On and set the times when you want to keep notifications off your face. Try 10 pm to 7 am if you can. PRO Tip: Allow some things if there is an emergency: Enable Allow connections from Favorites, and change the recurring calls to On. IOS 12 also lets you turn on the "Do Not Disturb" feature in Bedtime, which ignores all alerts, and even hides them from the lock screen so you do not get harassed when picking up your phone to check the time.

Customize your iPhone setting

Go retro with your ringtone - set your iPhone ringtone to something no one else will have these days: Xylophone. Press Settings, then tap Sounds. Swipe all the way down the menu and click on Classic. You will switch to a list of all sounds from the original iPhone, including Xylophone, which seems to me like something of law and order. There is nothing more distinctive. Since no one else is using this old and polyphonic ringing tone, you'll hear a ringtone for your iPhone right away.

What about those old tunes? If you purchase from iTunes, it will be easy to restore. Better yet, why not make your ring tones using the free Garage Band application? You can start from scratch, or use any song in your music library.

It is easier to find it when you have more than one device on the network.
It is easier to find it when you have more than one device on the network.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre / Mac worship
Change the name of the iPhone - when using a connected service.

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