Hello -

I'm doing some research. . .

I very recently purchased/upgraded to a used Early 2009 Mac Pro (2.26 Ghz, 8-Core). I did this for the extra cores, for future expandability and because it was very affordable. I'm just getting it ready to move my software programs from my older Mac Pro (Early 2006, version 1,1) to the newer used one. This includes the Final Cut Pro Studio as well as the Logic Pro Studio programs which I own.

I'm interested in possibly taking advantage of the rather huge discount provided provided by Adobe to current Final Cut Pro users. I own older versions of Adobe's Photoshop and Illustrator, so I'm already somewhat familiar with a couple of the programs that comes with Adobe's newer Production Suite 5.5. I readily use Photoshop to prepare photos for use within Final Cut Pro. To my very modest satisfaction, I've even created simple graphics from within Illustrator that I've also used in Final Cut Pro.

A little more background. . .

At present, I'm still "only" working in standard definition. Haven't progressed up to the hi-def video world yet. I'm not a professional by any means. But, I do a fair amount of video-taping & editing for work-related projects. These video-taped in-services are presented either by DVD or a specially converted internet-based video file. (By the way, I'm a full-time ICU nurse. I was given the "task" of video-taping educational in-services which are viewed by us night nurses and other "off shift" staff. During the past 3+ years, I've video-taped about 35 in-services.) My video cameras: Canon's GL2 and Panasonics AG-DVX100B. Other equipment owned and frequently used to capture the video are the FS-4Pro and FS-H200Pro, both by Focus Enhancements.

Now the questions. . .

My newer Mac Pro (Early 2009) currently has a relatively new ATI Radeon HD 5770 video card. I've read the "compatability list" of video-cards that Adobe recommends for its Production Suite. It seems that all of the video cards on that list are manufactured by NVIDIA (a.k.a. PNY??). It seems that the video cards on that lists greatly helps with some of the functions within Premiere Pro and After Effects. This is fine. My questions are: 1) Are any of these "compatable" video-cards **Absolutely Essential** to run Premiere Pro and After Effects? 2) If it is **Not** essential to use any of these "compatable" video-cards, what loss of function might I expect without them? 3) If it is not essential to have these, can I use, instead, the ATI Radeon HD 5770 video card that's currently installed on the Early 2009 Mac Pro? 4) Given the information that I've provided so far, what problems (if any) might I expect should I use (just) the ATI Radeon HD 5770 video card with the Adobe Creative Production Suite 5.5, (keeping in mind that I'm still working with standard definition video)??

Thank you in advance for your time and thoughtful response.

Respectfully,

Ed (Ted)

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/adobe-creative-suite/498173-cs5-5-ati-compatibility.html

The supported cards help speed up rendering and give instant previews. However if you are still in SD land, I wouldn't be worrying as things will be very fast anyway.

Even with HD, the performance doesn't seem any worse than FCP if you don't have a supported card. I have a Mac Pro with a Quadro and it works very well. But if I load a project into my laptop Premiere is still perfectly usable. It's just not as fast at some things. But no slower than it is in FCP.

Adam -

Thank you for the link. That thread answered most of my questions. Curious, though, is there a way to have real time playback of clips with effects without the video card based acceleration?? For example, in Motion, there's a "RAM Preview" (I forget the actual name of the function). It is my understanding that it basically uses the computer's own RAM to store a clip with more complex effects in order to play it back in real time. If a similar function is provided then purchasing the "CS5.5" seems like a more plausable option for me right now. Of course, when I have the (much) extra $$$$, I can, at a later date, purcahse a video card that's listed on the compatability list.

Marcus -

Thank you for your reply. (I see you posted your response as I was writing my response to Adam. LOL!)

I'll probably be working in standard definition for a while. It meets my needs. (Also, I just too freakin' chicken to dive into high definition right now! LOL!) So, the cross-grade offer that Adobe is offering seems like a more plausable option for me. I'll get the most updated version to Photoshop and Illistrator as well as get (what seems to be quite utilized and respected) After Effects. Then, someday, I'll make a brave move towards high-definition. That may also be a good time to upgrade the video-card.

Thank you both. :)

Hey Ed--

I'm not a Mac guy so I'm completely useless to you in this regard. Sorry, wish I could be of some help.

Adam - That link you share provided useful information. And, you took the time to address my question. You were very helpful. :)

Ted

Ed, a CUDA enabled video card like the compatible NVIDIA Quadro and GTX285 cards are not essential. Premiere and AE just roll over to software rendering when a recognized CUDA based card is not in the machine. As stated, you are in SD land still. Your rendering will still be very fast even for event style (read: long) videos which it sounds like you would be handling. There are a lot of short tutorials on Adobe TV on both Premiere and AE. I suggest you watch them. There is a specific one relating to using CUDA based video cards.

Andrew -

What you shared is what I need to know. I've done more "surfing" in an attempt to gather more info on the subject. It seems I can upgrade my newer Early 2009 Mac Pro as needed, but that its current configuration (which is pretty powerful at present) should serve me well if I cross-grade to the CS5.5 Production software.

Well. . . I still have my Final Cut Studio. Will be migrating it to the new computer over the next couple of days along with my other programs on the older Mac Pro. While doing the big "migration" I think I'll just go ahead and purchase the CS5.5 Production Suite cross-grade.

Thank you Andrew and all. You're collective input is appreciated and well taken.

Just one note about HD editing. On modern hardware it really isn't as scary as you think. I started doing HD five years ago when everything was slow and a pain.

But now it's fairly seamless if you choose the right camera solution. For me going back to interlaced SD is a pain. HD isn't.

Don't want to drag this off-topic but thought I'd mention it.

I agree with your approach. The Adobe cross-grade offer (along with the AVID one) is excellent if you are an FCP user. There are used NVIDIA Quadro cards for Mac Pro's available as well but you have just bought a machine and now buying CS5.5 Production Premium. Waiting on other purchases is prudent in my view.

We have two 2008 dual quad 2.8GHz Mac Pros & have just started using Premiere Pro. For one machine I sourced a used GTX 285 that is CUDA enabled while the other has an ATI Radeon HD 5770. We are editing in H.264 MPEG4 files from Canon DSLRs & MXF files from Canon XF105/305 & I see no difference in performance between the two machines although we have so far done relatively simple edits. I suspect that with dual CPU Mac Pros that there are plenty of spare CPU cores available to do software rendering so the lack of hardware rendering on the graphics card is not going to be important.

We have two 2008 dual quad 2.8GHz Mac Pros & have just started using Premiere Pro. For one machine I sourced a used GTX 285 that is CUDA enabled while the other has an ATI Radeon HD 5770. We are editing in H.264 MPEG4 files from Canon DSLRs & MXF files from Canon XF105/305 & I see no difference in performance between the two machines although we have so far done relatively simple edits. I suspect that with dual CPU Mac Pros that there are plenty of spare CPU cores available to do software rendering so the lack of hardware rendering on the graphics card is not going to be important.
The day you start to add filters to the video you will see the difference. For example, use the RGB Curves and color correct the clips on the timeline. Now you will see the difference between the GPU Acceleration and the Software renderer when you export the timeline.

I did a test a couple of days ago with RGB Curves on all clips. The timeline is 36 minutes long:
- GPU Acceleration: It took 51 minutes to export
- Software renderer: It took +9 hours to export

12 core machine with a Quadro 5000, Windows 7.