3Ds Max and the new Mac Pro

[barmsbarms]

Hi, guys

Am I the only one who is planning to use the 2013 Mac Pro for 3D modeling in 3Ds Max? Because there aren't that may benchmarks and overviews of the software's зуащкьфтсу шт either bootcamp or parallels environment.
Can anyone share their experience?
In your opinion, could the Mac Pro's dual 6Gb GPU's be used in their full capacity under bootcamp or parallels?

Thank you all,
would appreciate feedback on the problem from all 3D artists in the industry)

 

[handsome pete]

I'm sure you're not the only one, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find many 3dsMax focused users opting for the Mac Pro (or any Mac for that matter). That's why you're not finding any benchmarks.

But I'm sure there are some users out there that discipline in many different software packages, so they're probably running Max through bootcamp or parallels. I seem to recall this question coming up before in this forum, so you might want to do a quick search for that.


As for the Mac Pro's dual GPUs, I don't think the software will be able to use both of them. That's just speculation based on what we've seen in other creative software not called FCPX.

 

[barmsbarms]

I check for any mentioning of both 3Ds Max and the new Mac Pro in the news or pretty much all over the web, but there seems to be no interest in these two together. I find it baffling that there are so much talk about how fast this workstation is, but no one attempted to as little as test it for the 3Ds. There are some videos on youtube, but they don't show much.
It is a great deal of money for me, and I am starting to have second thoughts about buying the new Mac Pro.
It's just I hate the thought of switching to a PC, you know what I mean? And buying a PC fot 3DS max and a Mac mini for everything else is ... I don't know how to put it. stupid?)

 

[handsome pete]

I don't find it quite as baffling. After all, Max is a Windows only piece of software. Of course you can run it on a Mac, but I'm sure most designers, production companies, etc. that use it as their primary tool would tend to stick to Windows workstations.

Also, keep in mind that the Mac Pro is still a relatively new machine. There's still a ton of actual OSX software that we have minimal knowledge on regarding performance.

I understand the situation you're in, but if you rely heavily on Max for business and OSX isn't vital to you, then I'd go with a Windows machine. Or if you're really tied to getting a Mac Pro, befriend someone who has one and try to convince them to download the trial for Max and have them do some tests.

 

[barmsbarms]

I guess it is the need vs want matter for me after all. I do not need new Mac Pro for Max but am used to Mac environment and want it. The thing is, there isn't much that of a difference in price between Dell T5610 workstation and the new Mac Pro. So I that's why I was wondering how would Mac Pro run 3Ds Mac in bootcamp mode, essentially being Windows machine. Because I only intend to switch from OSX 3D applications I am used to to more professional ones for interior design purposes.

Thank you for your help, I needed it)

 

[jogl]

Hey - im in the same predicament. I use OSX (and much prefer it to windows) for around 75% of my workload. I then use 3dsMax for the remaining 25%.

I can't face switching to a huge windows box so I just went for the nMPro. Hopefully it'll be OK. I heard some stuff about windows using dual graphics with crossfire but will look into it more.

The guy in the apple store told me you have 14 days to evaluate your machine so im going ot get it, test it, and if its slow take it back and look at other options.

Good luck mate

 

[barmsbarms]

Thanks)
When will yours arrive? Please keep us posted with the results)

 

[thekev]

I guess it is the need vs want matter for me after all. I do not need new Mac Pro for Max but am used to Mac environment and want it. The thing is, there isn't much that of a difference in price between Dell T5610 workstation and the new Mac Pro. So I that's why I was wondering how would Mac Pro run 3Ds Mac in bootcamp mode, essentially being Windows machine. Because I only intend to switch from OSX 3D applications I am used to to more professional ones for interior design purposes.

Thank you for your help, I needed it)

You could always switch to maya, although you might miss some of the spline tools + modifier stack.

 

[jogl]

4-5 weeks! I'm sceptical about not having an nVidia card but lets see...

 

[Redneck1089]

4-5 weeks! I'm sceptical about not having an nVidia card but lets see...

Get a fully loaded 5,1 12 core and put in the biggest most bad mother&^%er of a video card you can find. The trash can is trash.

 

[flat five]

Get a fully loaded 5,1 12 core and put in the biggest most bad mother&^%er of a video card you can find. The trash can is trash.

hey redneck,
i think the forum is about computers, not swamp buggies

 

[barmsbarms]

Something else about bootcamp. Will Windows see both GPUs and use their resources in full? I mean are there drivers in bootcamp and in the latest Parallels to ensure that?

About Maya. I understand it is also used for interior design. How it is at that? What it uses for renderings and how demanding are they? I have nothing to compare with V-Ray I use.

 

[handsome pete]

Something else about bootcamp. Will Windows see both GPUs and use their resources in full? I mean are there drivers in bootcamp and in the latest Parallels to ensure that?

About Maya. I understand it is also used for interior design. How it is at that? What it uses for renderings and how demanding are they? I have nothing to compare with V-Ray I use.

Windows does recognize both GPUs, but as for utilizing them, wouldn't that be up to the software itself?

As for Maya, it should be fine for interior design, but what specific tools are you look for? For example, what is it that Max does that you'd like Maya to do? I primarily use Maya for VFX and animation, but I've done a few personal design projects for some renovations on my home. The renderers that come with Maya are the standard Maya software and hardware renderers, as well as Mental Ray. V-Ray can be used, but purchased separately.

 

[jogl]

Some would say Maya is much more powerful than Max. If you can be bothred to learn it you'll definitely be able to get great quality visuals from it!

It's quite expensive though AFAIK

 

[Redneck1089]

hey redneck,
i think the forum is about computers, not swamp buggies

Sad way of trying to draw my screen name into this. Next time try using incest, guns rights, Republicans, etc., by relating them into a joke. You might have more success.

 

[flat five]

Sad way of trying to draw my screen name into this. Next time try using incest, guns rights, Republicans, etc., by relating them into a joke. You might have more success.

why? those are all stereotypical redneck jokes too.. they wouldn't be any better than my muddin' joke.

idk, maybe you're right.. maybe a loaded to the gills 12core mac with a 572big-block gpu IS the best choice for someone wanting to use 3ds max.. and that the trash can really is trash.

do you use max? are you speaking from experience?

 

[jogl]

i'm not an expert, but it seems silly buying something that's already outdated?
support for the fire pro cards will surely increase....guess its a gamble though!

 

[flat five]

i'm not an expert, but it seems silly buying something that's already outdated?
support for the fire pro cards will surely increase....guess its a gamble though!

ha.. i thought you were talking about 3ds max at first..

but the nmp is not already outdated.. it's in its infancy.. to think otherwise is just silly.

 

[handsome pete]

ha.. i thought you were talking about 3ds max at first..

but the nmp is not already outdated.. it's in its infancy.. to think otherwise is just silly.

He's talking about the innards, which is somewhat debatable. At least where the GPUs are concerned. And the fact that you're locked in to certain cards only adds more apprehension where 3D modeling/animation software is concerned.

 

[thekev]

Something else about bootcamp. Will Windows see both GPUs and use their resources in full? I mean are there drivers in bootcamp and in the latest Parallels to ensure that?

About Maya. I understand it is also used for interior design. How it is at that? What it uses for renderings and how demanding are they? I have nothing to compare with V-Ray I use.

I was partly kidding. I assumed that you might have to deal with Autocad or Revit files that are not necesarily ready to render without modification. In that regard maya's toolset is considerably different. You don't have a modifier stack. You just have construction history, which isn't as robust for making adjustments. Vertex tweaks can easily break it, causing the need to delete history, which is similar to collapsing the modifier stack. Maya and 3ds max can use most of the same renderers. Both ship with mental ray by default. That you're using vray means you or your company purchased a separate license for it. It's not part of 3ds max. Max is published by autodesk. Vray is published by chaos group. V-ray is definitely less quirky. Anyway you could go with something like maya + vray on OSX if you wanted to go that route. I don't know how much modeling you have to do there, but the spline tools arguably aren't as fast as those in vray. I actually thought of trying to write a nicer set, but that API is annoying and I'm terrible at writing plugins.

 

[prowlmedia]

Get a fully loaded 5,1 12 core and put in the biggest most bad mother&^%er of a video card you can find. The trash can is trash.

Well the only comparable one to the D700 available for mac is the Quadro 4500 and that costs $2500 and none of the other massive benefits of the nMP. Power consumption, speed, Actual use compared to the old version is insane.

I've got max running in parallels just fine. But you do get better performance under bootcamp.

BUT dear god I hate max and it's Modal pop up windows and arcane interface. It's horrible to use compared to C4D, Maya or Modo. It's

 

[flat five]

He's talking about the innards, which is somewhat debatable. At least where the GPUs are concerned. And the fact that you're locked in to certain cards only adds more apprehension where 3D modeling/animation software is concerned.

yeah, i know what he's talking about.. thing is, in the real world, most people will do some computer research prior to buying.. (talking about people who will be using the computer for things other than email/facebook/etc)..

they make the purchase then quit researching computers and just use them.. and if someone bought a nmp today for 3D modeling, they're going to be perfectly fine --in fact, better off than most other people using the same applications-- for at least the next 5-6 years.. (they could generally go longer but they're going to start losing software support at that point)

the nmp nor it's gpus are 'outdated'.. only at places like this are they deemed such

 

[jogl]

Sorry guys I should have quoted, i was referencing Redneck1089's comment about buying an old style mac pro!

 

[flat five]

oh. right.
I see what you were saying now.

my reading comprehension hasn't been on point this week.

 

[thekev]

Well the only comparable one to the D700 available for mac is the Quadro 4500 and that costs $2500 and none of the other massive benefits of the nMP. Power consumption, speed, Actual use compared to the old version is insane.

I've got max running in parallels just fine. But you do get better performance under bootcamp.

BUT dear god I hate max and it's Modal pop up windows and arcane interface. It's horrible to use compared to C4D, Maya or Modo. It's

I do too. It's just that apparently for people who may have to reconstruct interiors in a 3d modeling app, some of their tools may be a little faster than the quirky spline extrusions in modo or maya. I am making the assumption that the OP uses them and has used them for some time. Other than that yeah it's like a trip back to the 1990s in some ways.