Workstation for After Effects

[David Johnson]

Those specs are very similar to the Z800 I use so I can tell you first-hand that it makes a stellar AE machine (and also handles PP, PS and everything else I run very well). I never thought I’d hear myself say something like that since I’d been dead set against using pre-fab machines (i.e., HP, Dell, Compaq) for most of my career (and for good reason), but I must admit that HP knocked it out the park with the Z series. Not only will you be thoroughly impressed with the performance, but take a look inside the box … the workmanship has come a very long way.

And, you are correct that, as far as AE is concerned, the graphics card is indeed the right place to shave a little cost.

I’m just thinking out loud here so this is not a slight against the machine, but am I the only one who finds it weird that they market the chassis as “89% Efficient”? Maybe it’s just the marketing guy in me, but it seems that encourages people to ask themselves why am I paying all this money for something that is 11% inefficient out of the gate!? lol

[Brian Betz]

Thanks so much David. I have heard many people say great things about the Z800. The last workstation I bought was many years ago and I pretty much speced every last piece of it out and let the company know what I wanted down to the detail. There has been much in the way of change and improvement. Nevertheless, in some respects has gotten more complex.

I’m thinking that the hard drives will be better off without RAID and just have the three drives.

Thanks again!

Brian

[Walter Soyka]

Looks good, Brian.

You’re right that After Effects won’t benefit from the Quadro 4000 — but some GPU-accelerated third-party effects will.

Premiere Pro would also benefit — if you’ll be using it much, see Dennis Radeke’s blog post about why you might want that Quadro 4000 [link] after all.

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

[Brian Betz]

Thanks Walter for the input and link! I am now tempted by the Quadro 4000! I will have see how my budget works out on this, but overall the system does seem to be a the right on for my interests.

Just so I am clear on the drive configuration. With the three drives, as listed above, would it be best to leave as non RAID?

Thanks!
Brian

[David Johnson]

Glad to help, Brian.

[Brian Betz] “I’m thinking that the hard drives will be better off without RAID and just have the three drives.”

From a performance standpoint, yes, you are correct that separate drives for system, read and write is best. That said, it depends on the rest of your setup … keep in mind that it’s best to also have a backup of some sort. That could be an external RAID or a series of regular drives with automated backup software or a backup tape system.

By the way, Walter makes a great point that, while GPU doesn’t make much difference to AE itself, it does matter to the other stuff you may use or decide to use later.

[Brian Betz]

Thanks David! Yes I am really paranoid on back up, I plan on automated software to an external hard drive. The Quadro 4000 is tempting me, but I may have to cut costs somewhere. The sales person suggested possibly going with the Quadro 2000. Trying to keep the costs down a bit….and I could pop in a graphics card later on , if I decided to beef up a bit. I guess it is always a balancing act between cost and performance! Thanks again!
Brian

[Walter Soyka]

[Brian Betz] “Just so I am clear on the drive configuration. With the three drives, as listed above, would it be best to leave as non RAID?”

I think so. I have an HP Z800 in my office with three separate drives: one for the OS and applications, one for source media, and one for renders.

If you want a RAID, you might consider adding an external 4-, 6-, or 8-drive RAID 5 or RAID 6 system later. Just remember (as you noted above) that RAID is not backup.

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

[Brian Betz]

Thanks Walter…just trying to wrap my brain around all of this. Yes I might add external RAID later on… From all accounts I have heard the Z800 makes a really fantastic workstation and it appears the set-up I have is pretty balanced…I just have to give the Quadro 4000 some consideration…possibly downgrade to 2000 for the budget.

Brian

[Tudor “ted” jelescu]

One more bit of advice- as Walter mentioned AE may not directly benefit from a better GPU, BUT, if you plan to use 3rd party plugins like FreeForm Pro and ShapeShifter AE, then I would highly recommend one. I would be dead if I tried some of my projects on a cheap card and having a better one will help. Plus CUDA technology for Premiere Pro makes editing a pleasure.

Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
Senior VFX Artist

[Brian Betz]

Thanks Ted….looks like there are some pretty good reasons to go with the better graphics card.

Brian