After Effects better on PC or MAC?

[Erik Waluska]

Search “PC and MAC” in the forums and in Google. There are already plenty of discussions out there on this subject.

[Todd Kopriva]

https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/2/968375

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Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
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If a page of After Effects Help answers your question, please consider rating it. If you have a tip, technique, or link to share—or if there is something that you’d like to see added or improved—please leave a comment.

[Steve Roberts]

I’ve used AE on both platforms, and the user experience was identical to me, except for the cmd/ctrl key thing.

AE is very processor-dependent. On a faster machine, AE runs faster.
Drive speed is relevant when accessing frames, but as the composition gets more complex, drive speed’s role in the speed equation is reduced.
OpenGL performance is irrelevant. It’s not good on both platforms, so most people switch it off.
Nit-picking system configs for speed gains is just that to me: nit-picking.

AE is not the reason to pick one platform over another. If you want a specific 3D app or video editing app or you’re really used to one operating system, then those are good reasons to pick one platform over another.

Personally, I now use macs because for me, I’m faster using them outside of AE.
Inside AE, it’s all the same to me.
That’s just my opinion — you may be faster on Windows outside of AE, and that’s cool.

[Jimmy Brunger]

I think one way to look at it could be – if you’re budget is tight and you only use Adobe products then maybe a DIY PC tower is your best bet.

If you need to use FCP or Color/Motion, etc – then buy a Mac.

If you want maximum performance and have a good budget and like Windows, but ability to upgrade processors, etc later on *cheaply* then buy a PC.

If you have a healthy budget and want maximum flexibility – buy a Mac and a copy of Windows to run on it aswell.

EASY!

[Steve Roberts]

Yeah … it’s become less “my platform vs. your platform” and more “different horses for different courses”.

At least among us pros, anyway. 😉

[David Bogie]

Reviewing piff’s history of iquiries on apple.com, I suggest you all stick to your deeply held, totally unreasonable personal convictions and to avoid attempting to use objective criteria in your answers.

bogiesan

[Steve Roberts]

Oh yeah?

[Steve Roberts]

Ah, yes … “contretemps”. Thanks for the laugh, man. 🙂

[Todd Kopriva]

> OpenGL is useless? Even with $2600 Quadro card? I really hope not. I have heard this before though, so please explain.

Don’t use OpenGL for final renders.

Do use it for accelerating rendering during interactions.

Maybe use it for rendering previews. (I don’t, unless I’m working with a lot of 3D layers.)

See “Render with OpenGL” for information about enabling and disabling OpenGL rendering for final renders and previews, and for information about what things the OpenGL renderer can and can’t handle.

See “Preview modes” for information about OpenGL acceleration of rendering during interactions. That is what I leave on.

———————————————————————————————————
Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the ‘T’ back in ‘RTFM’ : After Effects Help on the Web
———————————————————————————————————
If a page of After Effects Help answers your question, please consider rating it. If you have a tip, technique, or link to share—or if there is something that you’d like to see added or improved—please leave a comment.

[Jimmy Brunger]

Another thing to throw in (and may not be relevant for Windows 7 if it’s now more secure?) but when I used to run an edit/vfx PC on Win XP at my old job it got so riddled with bugs and viruses that I had to wipe it, start again and not connect it to the internet AT ALL after that. I had AVC, McAfee, etc. to no avail!

Like I said, this may have improved with Win7, but I’ve not had one bug on my Mac in the last 2 years (touch wood!)

Something to maybe consider if you want a professional 24/7 working machine.