-
We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.
Macs any good for graphic arts and 3d modeling?
- Thread starter Abe77
- Start date
Macs have always been at the top of the standard for imaging and 3d art. I personally feel that if you are in need of some imaging get someone on a Mac to do it. The quality shouldnt be any different than one generated on a PC although the time you wait for it may be prolonged if the work is on a PC...😀
Macs generally controlled desktop publishing and graphic design due to their color control/matching/calibration, and available software.
I don't think macs have ever been the benchmark in 3d art though, as most 3d apps are for PC and the hardware for 3d work is more mature on PCs.
I don't think macs have ever been the benchmark in 3d art though, as most 3d apps are for PC and the hardware for 3d work is more mature on PCs.
Scootin159
Diamond Member
<< Macs generally controlled desktop publishing and graphic design due to their color control/matching/calibration, and available software.
I don't think macs have ever been the benchmark in 3d art though, as most 3d apps are for PC and the hardware for 3d work is more mature on PCs. >>
There are plenty of top-quality mac 3D products out there. If it's any good to ya, know that most colleges use mac's for their graphic design labs (and no, it's not because they are cheeper).
Wolfsraider
Diamond Member
macs are considered top of the line in that area
go to any retail store where they seel both pc and mac and ask them what they recommend even for a laptop, you might be suprised😉
go to any retail store where they seel both pc and mac and ask them what they recommend even for a laptop, you might be suprised😉
totally depends on what software you're using...if u're constructing complex 3d animations/images in, say, whatever, u might be better off going w/ x86 and a professional level graphics card (i..e oxygen/wildcat, fireGL, etc.)
if you're developing 2d graphics, most people use photoshop, so your best bet is the Mac...filer performance, among others, is stellar on the mac, not to mention mac OS X is pretty as hell, and there's tons of great software available for the mac...
if you're developing 2d graphics, most people use photoshop, so your best bet is the Mac...filer performance, among others, is stellar on the mac, not to mention mac OS X is pretty as hell, and there's tons of great software available for the mac...
LethalWolfe
Diamond Member
<< Though to be honest, I think it's more personal preference then any particular speed advantage between the two platforms. Having one mouse button kinda bugs me, so I wil never touch one. >>
I hate the one button mouse too. That's why I bought the 4 button, wireless logitech w/scroll wheel. 🙂
Lethal
For 2d graphic design a Mac is still best. Most Photoshop plugin's are Altivec enhanced and will fly on a G4 and I've found the Mac versions of Photoshop to be very stable unlike the Windows versions but YMMV. 3d modeling is very fast on a Mac if you use Lightwave because its the only Altivec enabled 3d modeling program out, although newer builds of Blender might be Altivec enhanced to. IMO x86 based machines are the best choice for 3d modeling work because of the shear number of good modeling apps and low cost of hardware, you could build a nice render farm for next to nothing if you used PC's.
So for 2d work Mac's are best and for 3d work PC's are best.
So for 2d work Mac's are best and for 3d work PC's are best.
BFG10K
Lifer
well, you'd think that a pure risc-based processor would be better at handling floating point...
Not with such a massive clock speed deficit. A high end Northwood or Palomino canes the fastest G4 processor in FP operations and costs 1/3 the price. In fact clock for clock a Palomino would be roughly equal to a G4.
Also Macs are still stuck with PC133 SDRAM.
Not with such a massive clock speed deficit. A high end Northwood or Palomino canes the fastest G4 processor in FP operations and costs 1/3 the price. In fact clock for clock a Palomino would be roughly equal to a G4.
Also Macs are still stuck with PC133 SDRAM.
Macs are strong in 2D and will get by in 3D with packages such as Maya, Lightwave and Electric Image. The x86 platform will give you a lot more options (more program choices) and higher performance rendering at the high-end, especially will multi-processesors.
If you're starting from scratch, definitely go x86. If you already have some high-end G4s, then it depends on what your goals are. You can invest in some Mac 2d and 3d packages, and get the job done. If you want the maximum speed and output per dollar of hardware/software, you still should go x86.
Another issue is whether or not the people working on the machines have Mac-only experience or PC experience or both. If they're Mac only, they would initially be more comfortable and productive on Macs, obviously. But these days, many of the application interfaces are very similar across the 2 platforms, and the only real learning curve should be getting to know the nuances and quirks of the different OS, and maybe different keyboard shortcuts.
Until, recently I worked in a creative production environment full of Mac lovers for a number of years. I never had anything personally against Mac, and I can still work pretty well on Macs, but the last one I owned was in the early 90s. In my office, I always argued for new purchases to move towards PC based systems. Sometimes I won out and sometimes they went with their old favorite, Macs. They never won me over or convinced me that Macs were any better or faster, but I have to say that they did get the job done. The work was weighted towards 2d, but we also did some 3d.
Some people always have an "eeeew" factor when they try to use PCs coming from a Mac-only background. For someone who has worked 12 - 14 hours a day on Mac for years, they get very used to the environment and have all the shortcuts and workarounds down, like a part of their subconscious. Maybe you could liken an artists transition from Mac to PC to a jet fighter pilot trying to move from flying MiGs to F-16s. Certain creative cliques, feel that PC-users are somehow less creative. Of course, if you look at the installed base of PCs in the hands of creative artisits, you'll see that the opposite is true. And really, with so many PC users, you get tons of plug-ins and other user-made add-ons to solve problems and add functionality on the PC.
In the old days, Macs were dominant in the Desktop Publishing and 2D artistic fields. At some point in the 90's, PCs reached parity with Macs, when practically all of the dominant Mac artistic applications reached a comparable level of performance and stability on PCs. Now, PCs clearly surpass Macs in performance, the cost of hardware components is lower, there are more diverse options available and far more commercial software options, not to mention shareware and open source utilites.
For me, there always seems to be one more tool available for x86 machines, that doesn't run on Mac.
If you're starting from scratch, definitely go x86. If you already have some high-end G4s, then it depends on what your goals are. You can invest in some Mac 2d and 3d packages, and get the job done. If you want the maximum speed and output per dollar of hardware/software, you still should go x86.
Another issue is whether or not the people working on the machines have Mac-only experience or PC experience or both. If they're Mac only, they would initially be more comfortable and productive on Macs, obviously. But these days, many of the application interfaces are very similar across the 2 platforms, and the only real learning curve should be getting to know the nuances and quirks of the different OS, and maybe different keyboard shortcuts.
Until, recently I worked in a creative production environment full of Mac lovers for a number of years. I never had anything personally against Mac, and I can still work pretty well on Macs, but the last one I owned was in the early 90s. In my office, I always argued for new purchases to move towards PC based systems. Sometimes I won out and sometimes they went with their old favorite, Macs. They never won me over or convinced me that Macs were any better or faster, but I have to say that they did get the job done. The work was weighted towards 2d, but we also did some 3d.
Some people always have an "eeeew" factor when they try to use PCs coming from a Mac-only background. For someone who has worked 12 - 14 hours a day on Mac for years, they get very used to the environment and have all the shortcuts and workarounds down, like a part of their subconscious. Maybe you could liken an artists transition from Mac to PC to a jet fighter pilot trying to move from flying MiGs to F-16s. Certain creative cliques, feel that PC-users are somehow less creative. Of course, if you look at the installed base of PCs in the hands of creative artisits, you'll see that the opposite is true. And really, with so many PC users, you get tons of plug-ins and other user-made add-ons to solve problems and add functionality on the PC.
In the old days, Macs were dominant in the Desktop Publishing and 2D artistic fields. At some point in the 90's, PCs reached parity with Macs, when practically all of the dominant Mac artistic applications reached a comparable level of performance and stability on PCs. Now, PCs clearly surpass Macs in performance, the cost of hardware components is lower, there are more diverse options available and far more commercial software options, not to mention shareware and open source utilites.
For me, there always seems to be one more tool available for x86 machines, that doesn't run on Mac.
I'm a graphic designer, and if you wanna be serious you GOT TO have a mac.
i'm not familiar with 3d deisgn, but in 2d world mac are at the top..
and supposly in graphic design or computer animation, mac are at top...
think about this...
there is only 'ONE' Mac, no abit, no amd, no intel, no shuttle, no asus, just Mac
only one OS for Mac only, not to worry about asus, amd, intel, shuttle, etc...
and Softwares made 'for' mac, are Espcially for mac, they do not have to worry about compitablity with other mac users because there is only 'one' mac....
therefore these softwares are more optimized if ran on mac......
run a photoshop filter on XP1900, then run the same filter on a 500mac then you'll know what i'm talking about!
so why do i pick AMD.......well i like to play games....and I Need more $$$~~: )
i'm not familiar with 3d deisgn, but in 2d world mac are at the top..
and supposly in graphic design or computer animation, mac are at top...
think about this...
there is only 'ONE' Mac, no abit, no amd, no intel, no shuttle, no asus, just Mac
only one OS for Mac only, not to worry about asus, amd, intel, shuttle, etc...
and Softwares made 'for' mac, are Espcially for mac, they do not have to worry about compitablity with other mac users because there is only 'one' mac....
therefore these softwares are more optimized if ran on mac......
run a photoshop filter on XP1900, then run the same filter on a 500mac then you'll know what i'm talking about!
so why do i pick AMD.......well i like to play games....and I Need more $$$~~: )
<< run a photoshop filter on XP1900, then run the same filter on a 500mac then you'll know what i'm talking about! >>
No, even in the famous photoshop x86 boxes have caught up with the G4's.
The latest version of PS contains optimizations for SSE(Possibly SSE2, dont remember).
Granted there may be a fwe filters where a G4 may beat an AXP or P4, but for each of those, you're likely to find another where the P4/AXP beats the G4.
<< I'm a graphic designer, and if you wanna be serious you GOT TO have a mac.
*snip*
so why do i pick AMD.......well i like to play games....and I Need more $$$~~: ) >>
so, if you have an AMD, where did you come up with this "you GOT TO have a mac" line? i guess you're being sarcastic. if not, please re-read my post.
"I'm a graphic designer, and if you wanna be serious you GOT TO have a mac."
Thats gotta be a joke. I'm a serious graphics designer and have been doing it for years. I moved my previous publishing company (the one i worked for) to the PC platform when QuarkXpress ported to windows. The amount of time it takes to render filters and images on a MAC is only a seconds faster than PC, something no one will notice. But the upkeep and ease of use for the PC is far beyond mac. Plus the fact that we could change out parts and upgrade was a major factor. Plus if cost is a factor, definately get a PC. MAC's are way overpriced.
MACs used to be the only way you were going to do graphic arts, now adays its basically a wash. Both of them perform fast enough and have the same industry standard applications that it really doesnt matter. Plus w/ photoshop you can read Mac saved tiffs and various other files, the same with QUARK. Basically you can work fluidly with other macs and still do the same work and share the same work.
Thats gotta be a joke. I'm a serious graphics designer and have been doing it for years. I moved my previous publishing company (the one i worked for) to the PC platform when QuarkXpress ported to windows. The amount of time it takes to render filters and images on a MAC is only a seconds faster than PC, something no one will notice. But the upkeep and ease of use for the PC is far beyond mac. Plus the fact that we could change out parts and upgrade was a major factor. Plus if cost is a factor, definately get a PC. MAC's are way overpriced.
MACs used to be the only way you were going to do graphic arts, now adays its basically a wash. Both of them perform fast enough and have the same industry standard applications that it really doesnt matter. Plus w/ photoshop you can read Mac saved tiffs and various other files, the same with QUARK. Basically you can work fluidly with other macs and still do the same work and share the same work.
my suggestion is whatever you have now, stick with it... more and more there is very little difference in the actual programs/speed of them between the two platforms... macs are for some people, and not for others... i have grown up using pcs so i'm probably a little biased to them, but at school all we have availible to us in normal situations is macs... i don't have too much problem with it, but they bug me about how certain things work, like switching between programs, and they really can't multitask that well (stupid things like loading 2 webpages at once won't happen - flaw or way mac os works i don't know) anyways i can never full switch over to a mac b/c i'm just used to a pc... and in all reality there is nothing you can do on a mac that can't be done on a pc... certain things might be faster or a little more simply laid out, but nothing that can't be done...
IMO (completely unprofessional as it is) i would go w/ a PC if you use one now... but if you use a mac now i would go w/ that... if you use both i would go w/ whatever you like better...
(note: i seem to be able to crash macs at school more frequently than my pc at home which is almost never, but due to crappy networking at school... another story another time... i tried to leave that feeling out of my opinion here)
Josh
IMO (completely unprofessional as it is) i would go w/ a PC if you use one now... but if you use a mac now i would go w/ that... if you use both i would go w/ whatever you like better...
(note: i seem to be able to crash macs at school more frequently than my pc at home which is almost never, but due to crappy networking at school... another story another time... i tried to leave that feeling out of my opinion here)
Josh
EdipisReks
Platinum Member
SocrPlyr. OS X largely gets rid of the multi-tasking problems. we just got a dual 800 mHz g4 at one of my jobs, and i'm coming to like it a lot, but i would probably get a PC. the Mac is fast at photoshop, and OS X is a nice operating system, but a PC is much more versatile. i've noticed that at the design school at my university (i go to the University of Cincinnati, and the DAAP, which stands for Design, Art, Architecture and Planning, school is world class), a lot or professors use Macs at work, but have PC's at home. At the engineering college (also world class here at UC) PC's absolutely rule the scene when it comes to CAD and 3D design. hope that helps.
--jacob
--jacob
TRENDING THREADS
-
Discussion Zen 5 Speculation (EPYC Turin and Strix Point/Granite Ridge - Ryzen 9000)- Started by DisEnchantment
- Replies: 25K
-
Discussion Intel Meteor, Arrow, Lunar & Panther Lakes + WCL Discussion Threads
- Started by Tigerick
- Replies: 25K
-
Discussion Intel current and future Lakes & Rapids thread- Started by TheF34RChannel
- Replies: 24K
-
-
