3ds Max & Vray on an (i)Mac workflow / ideas / parrallels / bootcamp?

[Roest]

It seems many topics i found related to 3ds Max&Vray on a Mac are dated or with very less information.. the test are very basic and i haven't found a pro saying "it just works". The thing is; i want to buy a computer. I will use it for 3ds max / photoshop / aftereffects / vray. It will be for personal use but also to work on my portfolio. I'm thinking about an Imac 27" 3,4 i7.... also the thunderbolt could be interesting

but i want to hear some experiences from people who works on a IMac / Macpro on a daily basis.
- do u use bootcamp?
- parrallels?
- do you got problems setting it up / failures ?
- what are the pro's & cons?

If i just missed the links worth reading please let me know.
its all about experiences and i don't won't to discuss about "why a mac?" there are enough on the internet

[squeakybadger]

It all works fine through bootcamp, but I found it annoying switching back between windows and osx when not working on 3d stuff.

[Roest]

I can imagine..this means that you work only with windows 7 now?
Parrallels only work with simple scenes i understand.

[squeakybadger]

All pc now, apart from the Mac at home

Parallels work on top of Osx, so you will not get the best speed/ram usage. It is workable though, but I wouldn't do rendering in it!

[lukx]

Roest, wait for Peter Guthrie to answer. He's using apple.

[peterguthrie]

Hey, I'm on holiday! but seeing as Roest asked nicely...

I just use windows on my mac pro via bootcamp. In fact I can't even boot to osx any more as I installed a non osx friendly graphic card. Basically its a windows machine, behaves exactly as any other windows machine 'cept it looks nice.

[Roest]

Thanks for taking the time Peter, I really appreciate
So I see, yeah the looks are great but also how things are organised with less cables, how apple products work with each other, etc..also this new thunderbolt could be quit handy for lots of data transfers between rendernotes.

I think i have to see for myself how I get a good workaround with both OsX & Win7. I'll first using it to build my portfolio and photography, if later on I have to render more powerful scenes I could consider buying a Pc..

Some ideas and possible workarounds:
1\ Work in OsX and use parallels for loading 3ds Max & Vray
pros: Work in a fully OsX environment
cons: could be to slow especially for rendering..

2\ Work in both OsX (PS, AE, normal use) and bootcamp Win7 (3ds Max & Vray) and switch between..
pros: 3ds Max will work like it should, still got OsX for home use and edit photography
cons: annoying to switch between both Os's if your working and use both programs

3\ Work only in bootcamp Win7
pro: workflow like u used to
cons: you lose the features of apple

4\ Work in bootcamp Win7 (3ds max & vray, PS, AE) Home use OsX and also PS
pro: u can make a work environment and a home environment with only the programs u need.
cons: ... have to switch?

if i have another Pc
5\ Work in OsX and use remote desktop to Max
pro: maybe this is ideal ?
cons: i have to buy both

I'll buy one today and it will be delivered about 3 weeks from here. I can do some testing in parallels and bootcamp and share my experiences so everybody who wanted to switch from pc to mac can read.
If there are more people with experience please let me know

Peter i hope your not reading this any more and got yourself tanned in the sun somewhere! i still have to work another 6 hours before my vacation is a fact!
Gr

[lukx]

Holidays? Vacation? what is that ?!

Yeah Apple is nice but can be expensive... But if you want design of mac pro case you can always buy it form ebay for around 200$ and just put inside whatever you want

[Roest]

Yeah if i buy a pc i put it all in a macprocase or i put it in the closet.

[lukx]

that's the spirit !

[ior=0]

Don't be fooled by the Apple PR magic, in the end it is just a tool. If you can afford to by a Mac, the mac OS and mac s/w and then install win7 and win7 software, who am I to stop you spending your hard earned money? But if you do the math, and put all your cash into a windows box, you are going to get much more bang for your buck and more flexibility when it comes to s/w and upgrading. Buy a black case, stick in under your desk no-one will ever see it. Spend the money you saved on two flashy monitors or some rocking speakers...something you'll use and get the benefit from, unless you really need the apple cudos.
just my 2p's worth

[Roest]

thanks for the 2p's
I totally understand. If it was for work i triple think about buying a mac, but for me it's home use, mostly editing photo's, exploring 3d techniques and 3d portfolio work. I has to be descent and powerfull. I'm also not planning to upgrade the next years unless i'm planning to do heavy 3d stuff.
Gr

[Donald2B]

We have both at our office. It definitely sucks supporting both, it's just double the amount of work for me.

The really strange thing is that most of the macs barely even see OSX since most of the time they are in Windows. I think the only reason we are still using OSX is due to document legacy with Pages and Keynote. Other than that almost no one uses OSX. I have even swapped photoshop and illustrator over to the pc side and they prefer the PC for working on the larger photoshop documents.

I am definitely not telling you how to spend your money, but like ior=0 said, you are paying a 25-35% premium. Only to be constantly bouncing between OSes is such a pain in the ass. I've got Linux, XPx64 and Win7x64 all on the same computer and unless I absolutely have to, I am almost always in Win7.

[lukx]

I would only buy Apple if I need laptop ! No one beats their battery life, size and build quality. But for workstation I'm with ior=0.

[flino2004]

my main workstation is a PC with Apple monitor 23" and Apple keyboard so taking about cables... I have the same amount as an Mac has...there is a device to convert a PC to a Mac so you can run Osx.

about Apple laptops, they have a problem, they overheat pretty quick and it causes problems performance wise... they look beautiful, but I want to make money instead to looks cool...For that reason I love my 20lb Alienware laptop!!! super heavy but powerful.

Fernando