Final Consensus: Does FCP use all 8 cores? at DVinfo.net

Lloyd Ubshura · February 19th, 2010, 11:05 AM

I've been reading for 5 hours and seem no closer to knowing the "truth." Do the current versions of FCP and Color take advantage of all 8 (or 4) cores of the newer Mac Pros?

I'm not talking about rending 8 different projects, but does FCP use all 8 cores to render and work on 1 single project?

Mathieu Ghekiere · February 19th, 2010, 11:20 AM

No.

If I'm not mistaken, the only program that does that within Final Cut Studio is Compressor, but I'm not completely sure.

Andy Mees · February 19th, 2010, 10:01 PM

Does FCP use all 8 cores to render and work on 1 single project?

No.

Nigel Barker · February 20th, 2010, 02:02 AM

My understanding is that FCP can use all four cores of a single physical CPU.

Robert Lane · February 20th, 2010, 08:45 AM

Actually until the next iteration of FCS is released (that is, assuming Jobs hasn't put a hold on development after firing 40 of it's developers recently) and *hopefully* unleashes all the 64-bit code in Snow Leopard on the suite there probably isn't a "yes or no" answer to anyone's system; it's going to depend on whether or not you have SL and the assets Grand Central Dispatch is allowed to allocate.

If you want to find out *exactly* which CPU cores are being used at any given time, install the Developer Tools available on your OS install disk and run the "Instruments" app. In there is a utility that can monitor all CPU core activity and even make a report on the usage.

NOTE: Instruments and the Developer tools are very deep code-wrangling apps; be careful goofing around with these tools and if you're not sure what they do or how to use them, the general rule is "don't do it". (there are instructions included for every app and operation)

February 19th, 2010, 11:05 AM	#1
Lloyd Ubshura Major Player Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 204	Final Consensus: Does FCP use all 8 cores? I've been reading for 5 hours and seem no closer to knowing the "truth." Do the current versions of FCP and Color take advantage of all 8 (or 4) cores of the newer Mac Pros? I'm not talking about rending 8 different projects, but does FCP use all 8 cores to render and work on 1 single project?

February 19th, 2010, 11:20 AM	#2
Mathieu Ghekiere Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Belgium Posts: 2,195	No. If I'm not mistaken, the only program that does that within Final Cut Studio is Compressor, but I'm not completely sure. __________________ http://productionsofthe3rdkind.com http://pr3k.com

February 20th, 2010, 08:45 AM	#5
Robert Lane Go Go Godzilla Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ USA Posts: 2,823 Images: 15	Your performance may vary Actually until the next iteration of FCS is released (that is, assuming Jobs hasn't put a hold on development after firing 40 of it's developers recently) and hopefully unleashes all the 64-bit code in Snow Leopard on the suite there probably isn't a "yes or no" answer to anyone's system; it's going to depend on whether or not you have SL and the assets Grand Central Dispatch is allowed to allocate. If you want to find out exactly which CPU cores are being used at any given time, install the Developer Tools available on your OS install disk and run the "Instruments" app. In there is a utility that can monitor all CPU core activity and even make a report on the usage. NOTE: Instruments and the Developer tools are very deep code-wrangling apps; be careful goofing around with these tools and if you're not sure what they do or how to use them, the general rule is "don't do it". (there are instructions included for every app and operation) Attached Thumbnails

February 19th, 2010, 10:01 PM	#3
Andy Mees Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Posts: 645	Does FCP use all 8 cores to render and work on 1 single project? No.

February 20th, 2010, 02:02 AM	#4
Nigel Barker Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Posts: 3,531	My understanding is that FCP can use all four cores of a single physical CPU.