Adobe After Effects - Video Card Selection -> Unsure

Author

Video Card Selection -> Unsure

CanonOnly30D@adobeforums.com

2006-12-06, 8:14 pm

Hey guys... I work with PP2, AE7, Photoshop and sometimes 3ds Max and am building a new computer and am having difficulty deciding which video card would suit me best.

I have read that the Quadro FX cards are far superior to the standard gaming cards like the 7950GT.. is this right? I see they also came out with the 8800GTS and GTX versions, how do these new cards compare to the Quadro FX 1500 for the applications I am
working with?(I don't play any games)

The Quadro FX 1500 is about the most I can spend for a video card... so I am trying to budget myself and make the right selection on one of these cards. Any suggestions or advice on a selection would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Navarro_Parker@adobeforums.com

2006-12-06, 8:14 pm

I would only consider Quadro or ATI Fire cards if you are doing CAD (because of the high-precision) or need stereo displays.

Since none of these apps normally use OpenGL for final render, a fast card will only accelerate previews with AE7 and Max. Having a lot of graphics memory is also helpful when previewing huge muli-megabyte textures or layers. Also 2D acceleration for Phot
oshop peaked years ago with AGP.

I would save my money and buy the fastest gaming card I could with either 256 or 512MB of memory.

CanonOnly30D@adobeforums.com

2006-12-06, 8:14 pm

Hey Navarro, Thanks for taking your time to help me out with this. I am intrigued as to your recommendation to buy the gaming card instead. I have lots of people telling me to get the Quadro for my needs, but very few people like yourself telling me to go
with the gaming card for the very reasons you mention.

Could you perhaps elaborate a little more on why I should go with the gaming card as opposed to a quadro for video editting in PP and AE7? Now I also do some minor 3ds Max stuff, so I'd like to utilize the video card for that as well. But primarily it wil
l be a video editting card. I am still a bit confused with this statement you made and was hoping you could reword it a bit so I can be sure I understand what you are saying:

"Since none of these apps normally use OpenGL for final render, a fast card will only accelerate previews with AE7 and Max. Having a lot of graphics memory is also helpful when previewing huge muli-megabyte textures or layers. Also 2D acceleration for Pho
toshop peaked years ago with AGP."

Thanks a bunch Navarro, I look forward to hearing from you.

Navarro_Parker@adobeforums.com

2006-12-06, 8:14 pm

Hey Canon, AFIAK, Premiere Pro does not accelerate effects using the GPU. Some applications (like Apple Motion) have software hooks that use the GPU as a super fast co-processor for effects. It's able to offload effects to the GPU to so your computer's CP
U can work on other tasks.

On the AfterEffects side, AE normally uses OpenGL to speed up your interaction while you are building your comps and moving layers around. But when you do a final render (Make Movie), AE doesn't use the graphics processor at all. Now AE6/7 does have the o
ption to do final renders with OpenGL, but I haven't talked to a single person who actually uses it. (A few weeks, ago I asked the people here, and no one said they used OpenGL for final renders.)

The same goes for Max (and Maya). Fast graphics cards only speed up your interaction with 3D objects, lights, and textures while you build your scene. But at final render, the graphics card is completely ignored. Like AE7, modern 3D apps give you the *opt
ion* of using OpenGL for final render (but again, I don't know anyone who actually uses it).

Most workstaton graphics cards (like the Nvidia Quattro or ATI Fire) are usally $1000 more than their gaming counterparts. Personally, I don't think you get $1000 of additional performance benefit in a pro level card. And to be honest, I don't own any of
these cards, so I'm only going off what I've read on the interwebs and what I've heard secondhand. So take everything with a grain of salt. :)

My best advice is to buy both cards, test drive them, and make up your own mind. (And make sure the place you buy them from has a liberal return policy!)

David_Wigforss@adobeforums.com

2006-12-06, 8:14 pm

Realize that only Nvidia has a Dx10 card out now (8800). And it's $600... Any other card you buy will be outdated when Vista comes out in 2 months... So if you really need a card now, I wouldn't spend more than $100-$200....