The eternal graphics card question

[Vince Becquiot]

Hi Carlos,

[Carlos Niño] “First, I thought that Nvidia Quadro cards were oriented torwards 3D and CAD applications (Maya, Solidworks, etc) and that video editing and photo applications required another type of graphics cards. “

They mostly are, however new formats are taking advantage of the GPU for rendering. It’s still a very new process and your mileage will vary. Quadro FX are also recommended to run in combination with AJA cads for example, which also take advantage of the GPU to process video.

The final reason is compatibility and stability. The Quadro FX series are tested more thoroughly than other cards, both by Adobe and Nvidia.

[Carlos Niño] “An second; if graphics cards are important dor video editing, then how can a 4000$ Mac Pro use a simple Nvidia GT120 and be productive? “

Again, you will probably get close to those performances on a $3000.00 PC, but remember that if you work with FCP, you’ll most likely be working with just one format, and that’s Prores, which was specifically designed for editing. Try bringing an AVI in 🙂

AVID does a bit of the same thing, but like FCP requires strict system configuration (and expensive ones).

Premiere on the other hand will take in about anything, and not ask you to render / convert most of the time. I prefer the Premiere workflow myself, but that may mean a few workarounds at times.

Vince Becquiot

Kaptis Studios
San Francisco – Bay Area

[James Barr]

Workstation cards (like Quadro from NVIDIA and FireGL from ATI) are only worth it if you have some specific reason for needing virtually guaranteed reliability in terms of the software driver, and better/easier tech support in the event that you have a problem. That’s all you’re paying for over a regular 3D graphics card.

A side note about the Mac, you’ll get better performance for less money by going with a PC. Always.