Can a mac run everything we need?

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Hi All,

I work in a growing design/engineering firm.. the problem is we are not just graphics and not just engineering products:

as an example these are the programmes we run in order of use.....

1+2. Illustrator + photoshop (available on Mac and PC)
3. 3D Max+Vray(plugin) with Backburner (Only PC)
4. Solidworks (Only PC)

The problem is we use backburner which distributes the rendering for 3d animations.... Ive heard that using parallels with Max is not best as it uses so much memory for complex files..

We keep having the usual problems with PCs running out of memory due to windows rubbish structure.... so we want to slowly introduce Macs

so My questions are:
1. Will 3dmax come ever be out on mac
2. Is there any other 3D programme to distribute rendering through mac and PC platforms using Vray that are up to same standard?

thanks
 
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Macbook 13" 2.13GHz - Intel Core 2 Duo 2GB DDR2 Memory - 160GB HD - NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
Its weird how autodesk owns 3D now. Go to their site. They now own Maya which runs on Mac and PC. They also list Mac compatibility for Inventor, which made me very gitty, but upon closer inspection, the details point you to a boot camp tutorial.

So Maya then, all I know is you can customize the heck out of it. Not nearly as user friendly though. I'm pretty sure there are ways to distribute rendering with that.

As far as parametric modeling goes, yeah, I don't think you'll ever find a robust alternative for Solidworks, Solid Edge, or Inventor on the Mac.

Go here if you wanna dig through some demos to try out.
 
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Hi thanks,

I forgot to mention we use Autocad for planning apllications

Ive only quickly looked at Maya and it looked very complex, mainly aimed at film for doing special effects (not what we do)....

Its a shame 3dMax isnt available tho.. as Solidworks and Autocad could run on parallels ok as not as power hungy...... we could then buy just Adobe suite as an extra.
 
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what would be the benefit in running everything in a virtual system? seems to me like you're still better off using the windows platform
 

cwa107


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what would be the benefit in running everything in a virtual system? seems to me like you're still better off using the windows platform

In my opinion, that's the best way to run Windows. It's completely sandboxed and easily recovered if there's ever a failure, virus or other form of malware. The only time you're at a disadvantage is if you need to run 3D-accelerated software.
 
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Windows keeps clogging as we use it so intense, it usually means once a year we have to wipe it, it keeps crashing also,

the director was fed up of the problems we have had, he uses a mac and never has had software problems so wanted to explore the route of a mac....
 
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The weird thing is Virtual Machines have a tendency to make Windows more stable. I don't know why, it's just true. So, running Windows in something like VirtualBox or parallels might work for you.
 
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ok, I suppose the only way to find out is to buy a mac and find out, I suppose if the worst comes to the worst then we have a very nice looking and expensive PC :)
 

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