AE 7.0 vs AE CS3 performance on a PowerPC Mac

[Kevin Camp]

it pretty much comes down to the number of processing cores and the amount of ram you have. cs3 can use all available cores for rendering and up to 3gb per core (1gb per core recommended). ae7 does have some multiprocessing effects, but on for the most part it only uses one core.

so if you have a dual core g5 and 4gb of ram, you should see some improvements in render times, if you have a 4-core and 4-8gb or ram you will definitely see some gains in render and preview times.

however, from what i hear, you may be better off with nucleo pro (gridironsoftware.com) and ae7. not only will it give you multiprocessing with lighter ram requirements, but it adds other functions like background render and background ram previews that render continuously render as you work, saving time on previews. you can also use nucleo pro with cs3 when you upgrade to the macpro.

if you are looking for something to help you right now, nucleo pro may be a good way to go… definitely better than buying more ram (if needed) for a machine that you may not use in 6 months… but you will definitely want cs3 when you upgrade to a macpro and cs3 runs pretty well on our g5, although i’m happier on when using cs3 on our macpro.

i don’t think you are making the ‘wrong’ decision either way, but i might lean just a bit to the nucleo pro side, then upgrade everything with the new macpro.

Kevin Camp
Senior Designer
KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW

[Nico Jones]

I’m kind of in the same situation….

I’m on a G5, not quite in a position to get a new mac pro yet. I’m not really after more performance, but I really want to use the new features in CS3.

I guess my question would be – is CS3 any slower on a G5 than AE7 is on a G5?

cheeerz

Nico J BB

[Terry Coolidge]

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for the good information. Although now you’ve introduced a new element to the equation. I thought I would follow-up with a couple of bits of information.

I have a dual 2.7GHz G5 with 4GB of RAM. I already have Nucleo… but not Nucleo Pro. When rendering, I am able to more fully utilize the two processors already because of Nucleo. I had already intended to purchase Nucleo Pro when upgrading to an 8-core machine, but maybe I will now consider purchasing Nucleo Pro before upgrading to CS3. Would that still be your recommendation given these details?

I will eventually be buying both Nucleo Pro and CS3 as well as upgrading my hardware. But the hardware step may need to come later than any software purchases. I’m mainly just trying to determine what makes sense right now. I may be able to swing things so I can get both Nucleo Pro and CS3 now, but my curiosity right now is about whether I should think of one as more helpful than the other with my current configuration. Ideally I would buy both, as it definitely sounds like this will be an improvement over how I am currently working. But if I had to choose one vs. the other right now, which seems more helpful? New features (and performance improvements?) of CS3, or workflow/performance improvements associated with Nucleo Pro?

Thanks again for your input. Much appreciated.

– Terry

[Steve Roberts]

Tests:

https://www.xlr8yourmac.com/feedback/aftereffects_CS3_vs_AEv7.html

https://www.barefeats.com/octopro4.html

[Kevin Camp]

well, if you already have nucleo for ae7, then, imho, you have the second greatest feature of cs3, multiprocessing (the first being macintel native)…

what are the other features that you feel you really need in cs3?

Kevin Camp
Senior Designer
KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW

[Terry Coolidge]

Shape layers and per-character 3D are two CS3 that come to mind right away. Also the interaction between AE CS3’s 3D space and the Vanishing Point “filter” in Photoshop CS3 Extended. But this is where I defer to folks with more experience. What’s the opinion? If performance is better AND there are new features, then there doesn’t seem to be much of a debate. But my main question was about CS3 performance on a G5 (PowerPC) vs. AE 7.0.

[Kevin Camp]

i’ve had good performance with cs3 on the dual g5 that i’m currently working on. i had been using cs3 on a 4-core macpro for a while, performance was better (obviously), but i’d also say that cs3 on the macpro just seems to work a little better… less hangs and fewer crashes.

on the g5 it seems to be a bit less stable, and when it does crash you need to open the activity monitor and make sure that all the aeselflink applications also close out, otherwise you can end up with double the number of render engines and losing available resources. i had not seen that problem on the macpro. of course, you may see fewer problems using nucleo pro.

so if you want the new features, i don’t see any real issues with upgrading to cs3 on a g5 now vs. later on a macpro.

Kevin Camp
Senior Designer
KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW

[Julie Chalhoub]

This says I’m replying, but rather I am asking. . .what is the difference between AE 7.0 and CS3? I was told they were the same when I purchased my upgrade to the rest of CS 3 (I already had AE 7.0). Am I missing some important plug ins and such? I had just attempted a tutorial which incorporated Photoshop CS3 Vanishing Point and AE CS3. It didn’t work for me as I didn’t have the same Photoshop interface for exporting (not sure why). Curious to find out if the versions I have are not truly the professional versions. Thoughts?

[Terry Coolidge]

Here’s the short answer:

AE CS3 is actually AE version 8. You’re one version behind if you’re using AE 7.

Here’s the longer answer:

AE didn’t join the CS “family” until this most recent version. AE had previously been on its own track that was outside of the Creative Suite grouping. Adobe started including After Effects as part of a “suite” when they relaunched Premiere and established the Adobe Production Suite even though none of those were really considered Creative Suite applications. With CS3, all of the video production apps have been folded in under the CS moniker.

[Julie Chalhoub]

Thanks for your quick response to this. Would you believe that Adobe told me that 7.0 was the same as CS3? Isn’t that great. Anyway, I do appreciate the help.