Apples to Apples II: Dualies and Droolies
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With Discreet Combustion 2, we encounter another program that's highly tuned for dual processors and takes excellent advantage of the latest hardware, despite the fact that it was released long before the current lineup and Mac OS X 10.2. The tests in Combustion combined raw 2D processing power with OpenGL, as well as 3D compositing, 16-bit color and particles.
The tests were conducted as follows:
- Test 1: Five layers of video in 3D, with the top layer rotating on the X, Y and Z axes. The opacity of the topmost layer changed over time.
- Test 2: Particles involving two explosions and shooting smoke from the default libraries, though modified in scale, zoom and velocity. The particles were applied as operators to the footage.
- Test 3: Two 3D layers with a variety of effects applied, including Oil Paint, Lens Flare, Add Noise, Crumple (particularly processor-intensive), Discreet Color Corrector and Motion Blur.
- Test 4: A 2D layer test in 16-bit color with one layer of footage and the following effects: Gaussian Blur, Ripple Pro, Find Edges and Discreet CC Curves.
- Test 5: Essentially a mix of all of the above. The comp was 16-bit with a 3D footage layer, particles (which are only 8-bit in Combustion 2), 16-bit text and effects. The 3D layer was rotated on all axes and warped with a Pinch filter. It also used Add Grain and Discreet CC Curves. The text was animated over time for position and color and used the Luminosity draw mode.
Combustion 2 Tests | ||||||
(All results listed in seconds.) | ||||||
Dual 1.25 GHz | Dual 1 GHz | Dual 867 MHz | Dual 1 GHz | Dual 1 GHz Old Model Running OS X 10.1.4 | Single 933 MHz | |
Test 1 | 151 | 181 | 202 | 205 | 230 | 346 |
Test 2 | 292 | 360 | 415 | 374 | 408 | 495 |
Test 3 | 800 | 977 | 1,155 | 1,038 | 981 | 1,701 |
Test 4 | 179 | 218 | 253 | 240 | 263 | 439 |
Test 5 | 619 | 755 | 881 | 782 | 808 | 1,299 |
Totals | 2,041 | 2,491 | 2,906 | 2,639 | 2,690 | 4,280 |
The tests in Adobe After Effects 5.5 measured 2D and 3D rendering performance, effects and screen redraw. After Effects is only marginally aware of a second processor in a dual-processor Mac, and so we see smaller differences here between the single-processor 933 MHz G4 and the dual-processor models. The tests went as follows:- Test 1: A 10-pixel Gaussian blur applied to a video clip at 720 x 480.
- Test 2: Two 3D layers, the top layer rotating on the X, Y and Z axes with opacity varied over time.
- Test 3: Text and color correction on a 2D layer, including Brightness & Contrast; Channel Mixer; Color Balance; Color Stabilizer; Curves; Hue/Saturation; Levels; Posterize; and Basic Text, varying the size and tracking of the text over the course of the footage.
- Test 4: Effects and functions across multiple layers, including an adjustment layer and a still. The still had caustics applied, while the adjustment layer used Advanced Lightning with a high degree of complexity. The footage, sandwiched in the middle, included a Color Difference Key, a heavy Mesh Warp, Iris Wipe and Curves.
- Test 5: Two solids, both functioning in 3D space. Both rotated on the Y axis, but did so at different rates. The top layer included Fractal Noise, Depth of Field and Fog 3D. The bottom layer use Fractal Noise, Vector paint, Glow, Scatter, Strobe Light and Depth of Field. On top of it, I used a custom camera.
After Effects 5.5 Tests | ||||||
(All results listed in seconds.) | ||||||
Dual 1.25 GHz | Dual 1 GHz | Dual 867 MHz | Dual 1 GHz | Dual 1 GHz Old Model Running OS X 10.1.4 | Single 933 MHz | |
Test 1 | 147 | 182 | 212 | 197 | 220 | 247 |
Test 2 | 192 | 230 | 269 | 249 | 219 | 306 |
Test 3 | 100 | 120 | 144 | 123 | 139 | 187 |
Test 4 | 1,511 | 1,885 | 2,173 | 1,901 | 2,205 | 2,380 |
Test 5 | 2,354 | 2,917 | 3,365 | 2,959 | 3,012 | 3,490 |
Totals | 4,304 | 5,334 | 6,133 | 5,429 | 5,795 | 6,610 |
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