Hey folks,

We currently have a Smoke Advanced running on old hardware from early 2008.

We just have one and it’s not in huge demand, so I’ve found it hard to justify updates in the past. But it is getting busier now and I’ve been asked to look into ‘upgrading’ to the new Smoke on a Mac.

I’m currently checking out demos etc but I was interested in some inpartial views.

Sounds like 2013 version will be pretty good, so far I’ve only found details on the Mac version, will there be an Advanced 2013?

Although we have old hardware I imagine Macs will still be slower in some regards.

I also wonder if the Mac product is meant more for the back room or non-attend sessions. Can it really cut it in an edit suite?

I’ve been told we’re looking at about £20,000 to bring our hardware up to date. If we do this, is there a future in it? Is it all going to be Flame Premium and Smokes on Macs in a few years?

So basically, I’m interested in which direction other facilities are going for and whether anyone has any insight into either plugging £20,000 into our current system or wipping it out and sticking a Mac in instead.

Any thoughts?

YES!!! you definately must get rid of your smoke advanced and get a brand new smac2013.
i mean at the moment you have the most advanced and most interactive compositing and online sysem on the planet, but in the moment the new smac comes out your system is only crap without an update.
i guess in to month it is not even good enough to do a simple a over b anymore.

but the good news is you can upgrade for FREE !!!

give me your crappy smoke on linux and i pay for what ever mac you like with the new smac software.
how does that sound?
feel free to leave a message

Autodesk’s current products are Flame and Flame Premium on Linux and Smoke on OSX.  I too have a Smoke Advanced on an HP 9400.  When it comes time to upgrade, I imagine that we will go to Mac.  It’s the same toolsets.... ConnectFX is BatchFX.

I don;t think I can get eh Flame Premium subscription past the bean counters.

Brian Mulligan
[The Area Smoke Forum Assistant]
WTHR-TV
Indianapolis, IN, USA
SMOKE 2013.2.2 HP9400/FX5800 | HP z800/FX5800 | & now Smoke 2013 SP2 on MBP
[Twitter @bkmeditor] | Check out the Smoke Blog on PremiumBeat.com |

Thanks Brian,

I’ve heard some different stories here in the UK. I’ve heard 2013 will be on Linux and Mac and the Linux will probably have a few extra features.

Also heard that it may just be Flame Premium in the future.

A Smoke freelancer has told me none of the post houses here are replacing the Linux machines in their suites as the Macs cannot compete with the speed.

I’m really hoping our guys will update our current hardware. I guess that’s the best route for us.

Thanks for your response.

oh you are in the uk - then i can pick up your smoke myself.
you dont even need to ship it.

;-)

Our Smoke Advanced is under subscription so I will be updating the software to 2013 in the next few weeks. I learned through Brian that there are not many changes to SMoke Advanced in the 2013 version. It is still a great unit and Im not in a hurry to begin with the mac until the software/speed and feautures offered substantially outperforms our maxed our HP Linux box....

We have 2 smoke Advanced and 1 Flame.  Last year we traded in our 2 HP9600’s and 1 HP8600 all for 3 Z800’s.  They are great machines.  We have not jumped to flame Premium yet, and Autodesk is still supporting the Flame and Smoke Advanced with subscription software updates.

I guess we are grandfathered-in until Autodesk stops supporting these and forces us to either upgrade to Flame premium, or move to Mac.

We also have 1 smoke on Mac running on a Mac Pro.  It has been my experience that the linux machines are faster than the Mac.

Since the final version of the new 2013 smoke on mac is not out yet, it would be pure conjecture to compare features.  However, if they eliminate all the desktop tools like DESKTOP PAINT from the SmokeMac 2013, then Flame Premium and the grandfathered-in users of Flame and Smoke Advanced may be the only places you will find those tools.

I like our Z800’s.  They are great for handling jobs with really large setups.  But if most of what you will be doing is smaller setups the Smoke on Mac may work for you.

Smoke on Mac was worth it for us just for the ease of getting Prores in and out.

Steve Beecher
Flame Artist
Disney ABC Television

Thanks for all the info guys.

I’m going to try to convince them to upgrade the hardware.

Fingers crossed.

Cheers