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358 Views 8 Replies Latest reply: Feb 19, 2010 1:23 PM by JAH33 RSS
JAH33 Calculating status...
JAH33
3 posts since
Feb 18, 2010
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Feb 18, 2010 7:38 PM

Buying a New Machine for After Effects

Can anyone give me some advice on what system to get for an After Effects, Maya and Photoshop user.

I am looking at Dell's and HP's and I would like to know what level of processors, how much ram and what kind

of video card etc. I would like to get a fast and reliable system without going overboard.

  • Todd_Kopriva Adobe Employee
    Todd_Kopriva
    7,249 posts since
    Apr 16, 2007
    Currently Being Moderated
    1. Feb 19, 2010 12:18 AM (in response to JAH33)
    Re: Buying a New Machine for After Effects

    64-bit operating system, lots of RAM.

     

    Don't worry about the video card for the sake of After Effects; the difference between a stock video card and an expensive video card is not really relevant to After Effects.

  • Mylenium Community Professional
    Mylenium
    15,752 posts since
    Oct 26, 2006
    Currently Being Moderated
    2. Feb 19, 2010 12:18 AM (in response to JAH33)
    Re: Buying a New Machine for After Effects

    Based on such rather generic information, nobody will be able to advise. This will boil down to the usual, but unhelpful "Buy the fastest system you can get for the money." What budget were you thinking of? What do you actually do in Maya? how complex and heavy are your scenes? What images do you treat in Photoshop? What do you use AE for? do you need this for work or just for hobby? Aside from this, you can find much better answers to your questions on sites like Tom's Hardware or ZDNet that regularly test and benchmark computers.

     

    Mylenium

  • Jan Maarten de Wit Calculating status...
    Jan Maarten de Wit
    5 posts since
    Feb 19, 2010
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    3. Feb 19, 2010 7:23 AM (in response to JAH33)
    Re: Buying a New Machine for After Effects

    I was also looking for an new system to work on with After Effects and Maya but my choice is clear.

    Imac Quadcore i7 with 8 gig of ram. Is as fast as my Mac Pro3,1 @ work and more stable than a Windows based system.

     

    Just spend a a little more bucks and buy a Apple. ;-P

     

    ---

     

    www.janmaartendewit.com

  • TynanW Calculating status...
    TynanW
    49 posts since
    Jan 11, 2010
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    4. Feb 19, 2010 7:54 AM (in response to Jan Maarten de Wit)
    Re: Buying a New Machine for After Effects

    I am with Jan Maarten de Wit here - I got a iMac Quadcore i7 with 8Gb of ram - my main uses are After Effects / Logic Audio / Cinema4D and Photoshop.

     

    Definitely recommended - very very fast (blows my old G5 out of the water) - unbelievably clear and massive 16:9 screen and absolutely silent !

  • JAH33 User
    JAH33
    3 posts since
    Feb 18, 2010
    Currently Being Moderated
    5. Feb 19, 2010 10:13 AM (in response to Mylenium)
    Re: Buying a New Machine for After Effects

    Thanks for the info. To let you know, I have worked with AE for years doing corporate and commercial work. The system I am on now is just getting old. (dual Zeon 2.40ghz with 2 GB of RAM, NVIDIA Quadro FX 500) My projects can get complex. The last job I did was in about 2.5 minutes long and took 3 hours to render. Lots of footage and several large photos to deal with. Many precomps and lots of effects. The RAM previews take up all my time. They are very slow. Also, my MAYA projects can get fairly complex too. Lots of textures and raytracing. My renders vary from approx. 1 minute to 40 minutes per frame. More and more my clients are asking for HD and my machine just can't take it. I feel like I spend my whole life waiting for renders, so I am thinking of spending 3 to 4k on a new system.(more if I need to)

  • Mylenium Community Professional
    Mylenium
    15,752 posts since
    Oct 26, 2006
    Currently Being Moderated
    6. Feb 19, 2010 1:01 PM (in response to JAH33)
    Re: Buying a New Machine for After Effects

    Mmh, for 3-4 K you can get pretty much a HP Z-600 or one of Dell's Precision T7500. Don't bother with the E-series quads, get an X-series Xeon or, if you are really willing to spend a lot, a W-series. Throw in at least 12GB of RAM. The default 6GB is way too little. 24GB is even better, but going beyond that is probably not improving things further. Graphics will largely depend on your Maya needs. AE itself is pretty sparsely using OpenGL, so a lower-end Quadro or even a normal GeForce or ATI card will do.

     

    Mylenium

  • Mylenium Community Professional
    Mylenium
    15,752 posts since
    Oct 26, 2006
    Currently Being Moderated
    7. Feb 19, 2010 1:05 PM (in response to Jan Maarten de Wit)
    Re: Buying a New Machine for After Effects
    more stable than a Windows based system.

     

    No platform wars, please. Windows systems can be rock solid, it's just that many users do not understand how to manage them (which is of course partly the fault of the weird default settings). On the other hand, I know a million ways to blow Macs just as easily out of the water. Everything else is perception and personal preference.

     

    Mylenium

  • JAH33 User
    JAH33
    3 posts since
    Feb 18, 2010
    Currently Being Moderated
    8. Feb 19, 2010 1:23 PM (in response to Mylenium)
    Re: Buying a New Machine for After Effects

    Thank you very much for the reply.This helps.

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