Media Composer version 2018.12 & 2012 Mac Pro

[Shane Ross]

[Dennis Lisonbee] “How many 2012 Mac Pro’s are still in use and how many are being used as Media Composer workstations?”

Thousands. And older MacPros as well. The company I’m at has a dozen. I know of another production house that has 100+ Avid workstations…all older than 2012. That cheese grater MacPro is still in use by hundreds of companies. Mainly due to cost of upgrading…and the fact that we work offline 14:1 or DNx36 and don’t need the horsepower. So while the company I am at has been on top of updates…it will stop at 2012.11, until they upgrade many machines. WE have been slowly, but it’s tough to invest in a 4 year old Tube Pro that still commands full price.

[Dennis Lisonbee] “it is a sad day as the 2012 Mac Pro is one of the best computers ever built.”

And also 7 years old…ANCIENT in computer age. It works GREAT with older software, and even up to Avid MC 2012.9. But the thing is, if you want to stay current with software, eventually you are going to need to upgrade your hardware.

[Dennis Lisonbee] “Unfortunately, Apple decided it was not financially wise to create computers that were so well built and upgradable so they went to a non-upgradable trashcan.”

It is rumored that they will release an upgradable, modular MacPro this year…later this year. But what Apple means by modular and upgradable doesn’t mean what it used to anymore. FCX is their tool of choice, and it runs great on iMacs and MacBook Pros and has over 2 million users…and the number of people who need a modular MacPro is pretty small in comparison, so for many years, they didn’t make one. I don’t expect the one they release to be any good…not getting my hopes up. All they care about is thin thin THIN! anymore.

Shane
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[Dennis Lisonbee]

I wonder how many Avid users are starting to look at DaVinci Resolve as a replacement for Avid?

Talkin’ bout film is like dancing about architecture.

[Oliver Peters]

All old machines (which are no longer sold by Apple) aren’t listed. But the 2012 MPs should work. There are users who have done the upgrade on those machines and it works fine. Maybe you need to update the OS.

– Oliver

Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com

[Dennis Lisonbee]

Thank you for your response. My system has been upgraded and works well with all the software I use. I am running the latest version of High Sierra and will upgrade to Mojave at some point in the future. Media Composer 2018.12 freezes while booting when it starts loading the avid titler plugin. Reverting back to 2018.11 Media Composer is solid. Of course, there could be some other reason Media Composer 2018.12 freezes during the boot cycle on my computer. We would like to know if anyone is successfully using 2018.12 on their 2012 Mac Pro Towers or if others have this same problem.

2012 Mac Pro
2 x 3.33 GHz 6-Core
64 Gig Ram
High Sierra
Nvidia GTX 980 with the latest drivers
SSD System Drive
USB 3

Talkin’ bout film is like dancing about architecture.

[John Pale]

2010 Mac Pro
2 x 2.93 GHz 6-Core
32 Gig Ram
Mojave 10.14.2
AMD Radeon RX 580 Pulse 8192 MB
NvME/SSD WD Black System Drive

Avid Media Composer (Symphony Option) 2018.12

Boots up and works just fine so far, including the new Titler.

[Dennis Lisonbee]

John – Thanks for your response. This would suggest the GTX 980 nVidia driver or another conflict that is causing the boot crash. Troubleshooting time for me.

Talkin’ bout film is like dancing about architecture.

[John Pale]

I agree. If you have another another display card to pop in there that does not require the Nvidia Web driver, I’d give that a go.

Note: I sold my Nvidia card and switched to AMD recently, as I got tired of waiting for Nvidia Mojave compatible drivers.