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Adobe on Mac & PC
Is anybody on this forum using CS 6 on both a Mac and a PC interchangeably? Either a MacPro and a PC laptop or a HP workstation and a MacBook Pro? I understand the issues with hard drive compatibility, but there are ways around that issue (EXfat?) Are there any other gotcha’s?
I’m considering moving from FCPX to CS Next if it is as good as it appears to be, not because I’m unhappy with X (I love it!) but because:
1. One of my clients is PC only (mocks Apple users), and we both desire to be on common ground.
2. I like how the CS programs work together.
3. I like the ability to buy a laptop that is better than a MacBook Pro, for half the price.
I’d love to hear you thoughts.don walker
texarkana, texasJohn 3:16
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7 Replies
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Yes, I use Macs and PCs together all the time. I’ve got both Mac and HP workstations and laptops. Creative Suite is really cross-platform — it pretty much just works.
[Don Walker] “I understand the issues with hard drive compatibility, but there are ways around that issue (EXfat?)”
You could use exFAT, but that won’t help you with client drives. I use and recommend MacDrive from MediaFour to let PCs read & write Mac drives, and Tuxera NTFS to let Macs read & write PC drives.
With these apps installed, I can plug in any hard drive to any machine in my shop without caring what format it is.
[Don Walker] “Are there any other gotcha’s? “
You have to learn to use your pinky on a PC for the control key where you would use your thumb on the Mac for command.
Be aware of cross-platform path issues and re-linking in Premiere. I generally keep all my assets within a single project folder, and copy/sync the entire project folder from a Mac to a PC or vice versa to avoid relinking drama. (And please note that relinking is greatly improved in the next version of Premiere.)
Treat a problem on a PC the same way you would treat a problem on a Mac — Google it or ask around the COW.
Don’t try to drive your PC as if it were a Mac. While they do mostly work the same, they have subtle operational differences. Get a feel for them, embrace them and vive la différence.
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events -
In addition to Walter’s comments, you have to be careful with the characters in your filenames. Characters that are valid in Mac filenames might be invalid in PC filenames and vice versa.
Bill Stephan
Senior Editor/DVD Author
USA Studios
New York City -
As far as your PC client who mocks Apple users (I’m a PC user myself, but have used Macs in the past, and have many clients who are Mac only), maybe kiddingly suggest to them that if they hate Macs that much, they could buy you a PC. They’ll shut up pretty quickly.
As a PC user who delivers assets to Mac users on a regular basis, there are a few codec issues here and there (ProRes 4:2:2 not always showing up properly in AE or PPro – if I remember right, it was an HDV issue), and a fonts issue now and then, but other than that, it’s seamless. Pound for pound, you can get more bang for your buck out of a PC, and in terms of workstations, there’s currently nothing on the Mac side at all that even closely competes with the HP, Dell, and Lenovo workstations…
And Walter’s right about the drive formats issues – there are many ways to inexpensively skin that cat…I generally just use Dropbox or SoShare (soshareit.com), and all drive issues are gone. Now it’s just timeframe and format issues, which are generally non-existent.
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
[Joseph W. Bourke] “ProRes 4:2:2 not always showing up properly in AE or PPro – if I remember right, it was an HDV issue”
ProRes works well in CS5.5/CS6 — and if it’s not for you, let’s talk — but some other FCP-specific codecs can be troublesome. Purchasing calibrated{Q} XD Decode [link] will let you read FCP-captured/encoded XDCAM or HDV QuickTime movies.
It’s worth noting that there is no direct ProRes encode via QuickTime on Windows — although there are some open-source tools which work pretty well.
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events -
[Walter Soyka] “It’s worth noting that there is no direct ProRes encode via QuickTime on Windows — although there are some open-source tools which work pretty well.”
So, does it make sense to create master files as DNxHD for maximum compatibility?
don walker
texarkana, texasJohn 3:16
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Right, Walter –
That jogged my memory, and I went back to the projects in which I had experienced problems. The editor on the project was sending me video clips, and wasn’t always on top of what was being sent. As I remember, when I was sent HDV QT movies, I would get a white screen in AE or PPro, with the audio just fine. In VLC player, I could see the video, but that didn’t help me in the Adobe realm.
Looking back at the project, the problem file in one case was xdvf 4:2:0 YUV, which lists in VLC info as MPEG-1/2. This was either straight from the camera, or output from FCP7 – I wasn’t told. The producer, who knows his stuff, finally had him send me 4:2:2 YUV, which opened in both AE and PPro just fine. Sorry about the confusion.
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
[Don Walker] “So, does it make sense to create master files as DNxHD for maximum compatibility?”
The next version of Premiere Pro has support for DNxHD in MXF built-in [link]. I’d consider doing mastering HD this way going forward, and I think this will become a bigger deal in the coming years for standardized interoperability across systems.
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events
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