shooter Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 M3 Max with 14 vs 16 CPU cores too, but I wonder if that GPU difference will make any of a big gap for 12k footage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatstoomuchjam Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 There are a lot of asterisks and "it depends" in any answer to that, but overall, I'd say that if you're spending $4k on a MBP (which updating from the base RAM and SSD would do), if you plan to edit 12k, it might be worth the extra $300 to jump to the bigger chip. It partly depends on how many effects/how much noise reduction, etc. I'd also say that if you're like most people, if you're gonna spend $4k on a laptop, you're going to want it to last for a while. You might factor that in too. Speaking for myself, I bought the lower of the M2 Max chips in my MBP and it's just barely enough to handle 8k Canon raw in Resolve and once I add noise reduction to the clips that need it, export times get pretty slow (like 40 minutes for a 15 minute short). Would having the system be 30% faster help a lot? Not really. 30 minutes to export the clips wouldn't be life changing. You might also consider whether M4 is coming soon - M2 was released in June 2022 and M3 in October 2023. If the M4 is coming, it'll probably have about a 10-15% speed boost over M3 - that or you might be able to get a nice deal on an M3 at that time. Depends on when you're planning to start shooting 12k, I suppose. 😁 kye 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kye Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 Further to what @eatstoomuchjam said, I think there are only three types of performance: it can't play ungraded footage realtime (ie, you can't edit with it) it can play footage realtime but can't do it with a heavy grade (ie, you can do some colour grading realtime) it can play footage realtime with a heavy grade (ie, it's reliable and you can colour grade live in front of a client) The spec required for level 2 should be researchable and BM would have made this pretty efficient I would imagine. The spec for level 3 is a "how long is a piece of string" question, depending on a ton of variables including timeline resolution and only you can answer it, but if you're going to be doing lots of heavy things like NR and spatial treatments on a 4K timeline then you're probably well into Ultra / Studio territory. eatstoomuchjam and andrgl 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emanuel Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 I think the intention of the OP wondering is about how crucial 33% of an increase of the number of GPU cores is, though... Just sayin' :- ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kye Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 1 hour ago, Emanuel said: I think the intention of the OP wondering is about how crucial 33% of an increase of the number of GPU cores is, though... Just sayin' :- ) Sure, but crucial for what? If it's the difference between being able to play realtime with a LUT for editing purposes or not then it's probably a critical amount, but that will depend on the timeline resolution. If you want to colour grade then some things need to be done at full timeline resolution and some things don't. Grading in front of clients is a specific need that some have and some don't have. If you're only grading with simple adjustments then that is very very different to doing intensive tasks like NR or any of the AI things. So, "critical" really depends on the application. For typing on these forums, I'd say no, but everything else is a question mark.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emanuel Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 True. I think the point is to exactly realise what such difference actually means... in resolution numbers, as for instance : ) What one allows and the other one instead :- ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kye Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 28 minutes ago, Emanuel said: True. I think the point is to exactly realise what such difference actually means... in resolution numbers, as for instance : ) What one allows and the other one instead :- ) It would be great to be able to give a straight answer, but there are too many variables. Even something like the SSD option of the Mac model chosen might mean that it can or cannot do something. Going to Resolve, there are literally dozens of variables involved. Even if it's just 12K footage on a 4K timeline with a LUT - will Resolve be using Linear or Tetrahedral interpolation for the LUT? This matters as it's extra processing power required, etc. eatstoomuchjam 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephen Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 Here is an answer from a pro colorist / editor. It will give you a perspective and a cool tip how to edit any footage on a not very powerful computer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olvTKnLJCJc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTes9KkwmME According to another of his videos, 12K BRAW is so well optimized that it can play without a problem on a Macbook Pro 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ShXVTiGD80 sanveer and kye 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatstoomuchjam Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 The above is exactly why I say there are asterisks and "it depends" in the answer. Will either computer be able to play back 12K braw in Resolve without dropping frames? As long as the storage is fast enough, absolutely. Will it be able to play back in Premiere without dropping frames? 🤷♂️ FCP? 🤷♂️ As I said before, my M2 Max (the weaker version) w/ 64GB is just able to play back 8K raw from my R5 in Resolve. If I put on a grade where I tweak a few raw options, add FilmConvert Nitrate, and tweak some curves/color warper stuff afterward, I still get 23.98 on it as long as I'm not doing anything else in the background. Canon raw is a nightmare codec in terms of performance. Braw is easier. One other thing to consider is that I'm sure that the local Apple store (if there is one) has some M3 Max models on the showroom floor. If you're nice about it, they might be willing to at least put FCP on one (or let you download Resolve) to load a sample project file and some footage. Since the UM12K has been out for a long time, I'm sure some nice reviewer/youtuber has put some raw files online for you to download. You could just give it a try with one of your sample grades to understand if it performs as needed. kye 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kye Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 3 hours ago, eatstoomuchjam said: Since the UM12K has been out for a long time, I'm sure some nice reviewer/youtuber has put some raw files online for you to download. BM has sample files for download. They're on these pages under the "Generation 5 Color Science" heading (different files are available for download on each page): https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicursacine https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicursaminipro eatstoomuchjam 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanveer Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 Apparently the 50GPU is going to being far more drastic improvements. Maybe you could make do with a 30GPU and then directly move to the 50GPU when it releases later this'll year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatstoomuchjam Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 The only way to upgrade the GPU on a MBP is to buy a new MBP for another $4k. Not the best plan unless you're independently wealthy - and if so, then you might as well just spend the extra $300 for the better chip now. 😃 kye 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kye Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 6 hours ago, eatstoomuchjam said: The only way to upgrade the GPU on a MBP is to buy a new MBP for another $4k. Not the best plan unless you're independently wealthy - and if so, then you might as well just spend the extra $300 for the better chip now. 😃 Absolutely. I'm exclusively a MBP user because of portability requirements, but as my 2020 Intel-based MBP is able to edit the files I have, lately I've been investing in extras that live outside the MBP and therefore don't need to get re-purchased every time I upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Matthews Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 I wouldn't buy a Mac right now. I'd wait until after June if possible. I think there will be new M4 macs, most likely a new Mac Studio, Mini, MacBook Pro, and maybe a new iMac. Or, if you do get the "older" model, get it at a reduced price. kye 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Matthews Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 This video outlines what to expect from those new M4 chips. Yes, the new iPad has the fastest single core production chip. I'm fairly certain the new M4 high-end macs will handle multiple simultaneous streams of 12k. I'd go for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danyyyel Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 What a waste of space, I mean I have a Z9, I always use 4k mode and zero sharpening because it is already too detailed. Once I had the misfortune of using the 4k from 8k output on older people, that thing was so hard to blur the skin as it was so detailed. What is the use of using such resolution then to put all types softening filters. eatstoomuchjam 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emanuel Posted May 10 Share Posted May 10 Large format printing work... from video? ; ) Needs vary accordingly different users and purposes for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emanuel Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kye Posted Friday at 02:37 AM Share Posted Friday at 02:37 AM This is a good video summary where they tested various aspects to see what mattered.. However, as someone who actually uses Resolve on a low-end machine where I hit the limitations of it all the time, the two biggest points were: Different parts of Resolve (Edit page, Colour page, Fusion) use different aspects of the computer (CPU, GPU, RAM) Once your machine can edit smoothly on the footage / codec / timeline settings you have, getting a better spec only improves render times but doesn't impact your experience of using it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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