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After Effects CS 6 Workstation
Just about his time last year, I made a post about purchasing a workstation for After Effects. I received lots of great advice, but for a number of reasons, I did not go through with the buy. I have been hobbling along with my work laptop, which is a pretty bad situation. Thus …I am ready to buy!
For the most part I make rather short videos, but rely heavily on After Effects. I also use Premiere and Photoshop. I have been researching and know the basics. (After Effects likes lots of RAM…minimum 2 gigs per CPU, multiple drives are needed, and you need to have a system that is balanced …GPU, CPU, HDs, etc.)
It appears from what I can find online that you should have a system the following drives:
-system drive (SSD)
-RAID drives for media
-export drive (SSD)
-With the Global Performance Cache it seems that another separate SSD is needed for the Cache?I have been looking at the Z820 as it appears to have a pretty good reputation, but will do some comparison shopping with Dell etc. I do not want to build my own system, but, as I get an educational discount, will load my own software. I am thinking of somewhere in the $4,000 to $5,000 price range.
Any tips and/or resources would be most appreciated. I have done a pretty good job searching for information online, but if anyone has advise, please pass it along.
In addition, any suggestions on getting ahold of a good salesperson would also be appreciated. I simply have not had good luck on this account. After a couple emails back and forth with people I often find they are often not that knowledgeable. As I am particularly interested in HP, if anyone has any suggested contacts, please let me know.
Thanks
Brian -
30 Replies
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Try these:
I got my money’s worth though from a Dell XPS H2C though- still have it after 5 years and with an updated card I am still doing work on it.
The Alienware I use at work is not bad- the newer ones have better specs.Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
Senior VFX Artist -
Thanks Ted I will check these out! Always good to have a number of possibilities.
Brian
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[Brian Betz] “-system drive (SSD)
-RAID drives for media
-export drive (SSD)
-With the Global Performance Cache it seems that another separate SSD is needed for the Cache?”I don’t think an SSD is needed for your export drive. It could be a regular mechanical drive, or you could export directly to your media RAID (I do).
I do advise an SSD for the global performance cache, and an SSD for the system can be quite nice, too.
Also new since last year: the GPU matters in Ae. If you’re going to use CS6’s new ray-tracing renderer, you really want a CUDA-enabled NVIDIA GPU (see the official supported list here [link]).
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 -
Thanks Walter,
That is very helpful! Great idea just to export to the RAID. With SSD being a bit less expensive than what they once were it would make sense to have the system and, it appears, one for the cache is also beneficial.
I guess I will need to price out a CUDA-enabled NVIDIA GPU. This is my “once in a very long time” purchase…the last workstation I bought myself was a Polywell around 2004, which has long since been retired. I would hate to skimp on a feature and later wished I wouldn’t have.
Thanks again.
Brian
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Brian, I purchased the TOTL Z820 last July and I have been very impressed with its performance with CS6.
Tom Daigon
PrP / After Effects Editor
http://www.hdshotsandcuts.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxPrG3WUyz8
(Best viewed at 1080P and full screen)
HP Z820 Dual 2687
64GB ram
Dulce DQg2 16TB raid -
That’s great news Tom as it is exactly what I am looking to use my new workstation for…thanks!
Brian
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Brina, the only things that I added to supercharge it for use with CS6 was the Nvidia PNY GTX 570 (I got the workstation with the cheapest graphics card available and substituted this one) and the Dulce raid for read/write speeds of about 1000MB/sec. Those are important enhancements for the Mercury Playback engine that powers CS6.
Tom Daigon
PrP / After Effects Editor
http://www.hdshotsandcuts.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxPrG3WUyz8
(Best viewed at 1080P and full screen)
HP Z820 Dual 2687
64GB ram
Dulce DQg2 16TB raid -
Thanks again Tom. I specked out a system last year and remember that the graphics card was one item I was going back and forth on….but yes I’ve heard that Mercury Playback is an important issue.
I would like to just get everything from HP and swap parts our latter on down the road, but may go your route, if it will save considerable money. The ideal situation would be first get a workstation that is good to go from day one. Hopefully when I’ll get someone at HP who is fairly knowledgeable.
Brian
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Dont rely on HP being reliable on knowing what you need for an editing workstation. That has not been my experience. Get their cheapest card and replace with your own, otherwise your will pay a lot for a card that does not perform as well. FYI.
Tom Daigon
PrP / After Effects Editor
http://www.hdshotsandcuts.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxPrG3WUyz8
(Best viewed at 1080P and full screen)
HP Z820 Dual 2687
64GB ram
Dulce DQg2 16TB raid -
That’s some good advice from Tom.
If you want an HP and want to talk to someone in sales who knows video, find a good VAR that deals HP — maybe ProMAX or DV411.
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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