Apple has announced the availability of three new graphic card modules for the Intel Mac Pro.
Well this is interesting, just as everyone was looking ahead to maybe an Apple Silicon Mac Pro, three new graphics card modules have been announced. You can buy them with the machine or as an upgrade.
These will be of interest to anybody running GPU intensive applications such as Final Cut Pro of course!
The new modules are based on AMD’s next-generation graphics processor — the Radeon Pro W6000-Series GPU — and comes in three variants, the Radeon Pro W6800X MPX Module, Radeon Pro W6800X Duo MPX Module and the Radeon Pro W6900X MPX Module.
- Mac Pro supports two MPX Modules and when populated with two W6800X Duo cards delivers an immense 60 teraflops of graphics performance and 128GB of memory.
- These GPUs also features Infinity Fabric Link, now allowing up to 4 GPUs (two Duo modules) to connect at 84GB/s per link in each direction (168GB/s bi-directional bandwidth) – 5x faster than the PCIe bus.
- The Radeon Pro W6000-series MPX Modules each feature 4 additional Thunderbolt 3 ports and an HDMI 2 port, so as users add more graphics, they also get more connectivity with up to 12 Thunderbolt 3 ports.
- These new GPUs replace the AMD Vega II MPX Modules available with Mac Pro today and will be offered both as configure-to-order options for new Mac Pro orders as well as kits for existing customers looking to add more GPU performance to their Mac Pro.
- The new GPU cards for Mac Pro will supercharge pro workflows like never before, delivering huge gains in performance across a variety of pro apps, including:
- Up to 84% faster performance when running Octane X.
- Up to 26% increase in frame rate when doing realtime 3D interaction in Maxon Cinema 4D.
- Up to 23% faster performance when using DaVinci Resolve.
- The new graphics modules will be sold both as a configure to order option when purchasing a new Mac Pro or as standalone kits for existing Mac Pro customers who would like to upgrade.
- The AMD Radeon Pro Vega II MPX Module and AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo MPX Module will no longer be available as a configurable option but will remain available as a standalone kit to existing customers.
You might also want to check out the new Mac Pro White Paper that was published today.
I am the Editor-in-Chief of FCP.co and have run the website since its inception ten years ago.
I have also worked as a broadcast and corporate editor for over 30 years, starting on one inch tape, working through many formats, right up to today's NLEs.
Under the name Idustrial Revolution, I have written and sold plugins for Final Cut Pro for 13 years.
I was made a Freeman of Lichfield through The Worshipful Company of Smiths (established 1601). Though I haven't yet tried to herd a flock of sheep through the city centre!
Current Editing
2020 has been busy, the beginning of the year was finishing off a new property series (cut on FCP) for Channel 4 called The Great House Giveaway. I also designed and built the majority of the graphics as Motion templates. It has been a great success and the shows grabbed more viewers in the 4pm weekday slot than any previous strand. It has been recommissioned by C4 for 60 episodes, including prime-time versions and five themed programmes. The shows have also been nominated for a 2021 BAFTA.
Although both were postponed to later in the year, I worked again on ITV's coverage of the Tour de France and La Vuelta. 2020 was my 25th year of editing the TdF and my 20th year as lead editor. The Tour was the first broadcast show to adopt FCPX working for multiple editors on shared storage.
BBC's Snooker has played a big part in my life, I've been editing tournament coverage since 1997. I'm proud to be part of a very creative team that has pioneered many new ideas and workflows that are now industry standard in sports' production. This is currently an Adobe Premiere edit.
Covid cancelled some of the regular corporate events that I edit such as trade shows & events. I was lucky however to edit, from home, on projects for Amazon Kindle, Amazon Black Friday, Mastercard and very proud to have helped local charitable trust Kendall & Wall secure lottery funding.
As for software, my weapon of choice is Final Cut Pro and Motion, but I also have a good knowledge and broadcast credits with Adobe Premiere Pro, MOGRT design and Photoshop.
Plugin Design & Development
I'm the creative force behind Idustrial Revolution, one of the oldest Final Cut Pro plugin developers. It hosts a range of commercial and free plugins on the site. One free plugin was downloaded over a thousand times within 24 hours of release.
I also take on custom work, whether it is adapting an existing plugin for a special use or designing new plugins for clients from scratch. Having a good knowledge of editing allows me to build-in flexibility and more importantly, usability.
FCP.co
Now in its 10th year and 4th redesign, running FCP.co has given me knowledge on how to run a large CMS- you are currently reading my bio from the database! Although it sounds corny, I am pretty well up on social media trends & techniques, especially in the video sector. The recent Covid restrictions has enabled live FCP.co shows online. This involves managing a Zoom Webinar through Restream.io to YouTube and Facebook.
The Future
I'm always open to new ideas and opportunities, so please get in touch at editor (at) fcp.co. I've judged film competitions, presented workflow techniques to international audiences and come up with ideas for TV shows and software programs!
