iMac code duo for EGD?

[designtemple]

Howdy, I am new to this forum and have been reading some threads about the new iMacs and also some about designers and their macs here. A little background...when I started working about 10 years ago, I had always worked at design firms using macs (of course); even though I had always owned a PC at home for mostly reasons of economy. The last 4 years, I have been working at an architectural firm and have been using PCs even for work. so I have been out of the mac loop for a while.

With the release of the new iMacs, it has renewed my interest and I am considering purchasing one in the near future. My work in environmental graphic design (EGD)sees me using Illustrator, some Photoshop, some InDesign and the Cadtools plug-in. I know what they are like in the mac environment circa 2001.

So I will start off with my question...considering all the above, would you think I would be "happy" with an iMac? Let me know if I can clarify more about my usage/need/want questions.

thanks in advance

 

[ATD]

Howdy, I am new to this forum and have been reading some threads about the new iMacs and also some about designers and their macs here. A little background...when I started working about 10 years ago, I had always worked at design firms using macs (of course); even though I had always owned a PC at home for mostly reasons of economy. The last 4 years, I have been working at an architectural firm and have been using PCs even for work. so I have been out of the mac loop for a while.

With the release of the new iMacs, it has renewed my interest and I am considering purchasing one in the near future. My work in environmental graphic design (EGD)sees me using Illustrator, some Photoshop, some InDesign and the Cadtools plug-in. I know what they are like in the mac environment circa 2001.

So I will start off with my question...considering all the above, would you think I would be "happy" with an iMac? Let me know if I can clarify more about my usage/need/want questions.

thanks in advance

Are those Cadtools going to work on a Mac? Are you using any 3D software?

 

[designtemple]

yeah cadtools actually originated for the mac platform...www.hotdoor.com makes them...and i probably won't do any 3D stuff

guess i should calrify that i am looking to get the mac for home and will probably use it for freelance stuff which includes print work as well...

 

[Blue Velvet]

Let me know if I can clarify more about my usage/need/want questions.

Please do.

For any designer that relies on their Mac for a living I would always unhesitatingly recommend a PowerMac because of its muscle, connectivity, serviceability, upgradability and longevity. You also have a choice of monitors...

I couldn't bear the thought of buying a Mac that I couldn't open except to put RAM in.

Print designer: Dual 2.5G5 with 2.5gb RAM at work, dual 1.42 G4 with 2gb RAM at home...

 

[ATD]

I was just asking because AutoCAD and 3D Studio Max (the architectural renderer of choice) are not Mac programs. As far as graphics, the Mac is the right place to be. It's a little soon to tell just how smooth the next 6 months to a year will be for the new Mac platform with the change over. I would wait just a little while until the new Macs are out and see how fast Adobe steps up CS to the new hardware. I sure they will work on the new Macs at this point but nobody knows how well until they are rewritten. I'm sure you would be very happy with an iMac but if you are pushing around really big files/workloads you would even happier with a tower (I would call them a Power Mac but the new towers will have a new name). I have a Quad, I don't see much difference with small apps or work loads over my Dual, but when I push it with large PS files (500MB+) and Maya renders it pushes pass my Dual at more than double the speed. These new iMacs look very promising for most work loads, I could only guess how much better the towers are going to be. Since you have not touched a Mac since 2001 you may not have worked in OSX. If thats the case, you are going love it.

 

[designtemple]

Please do.

okay, let's see...in no particular order what i end up doing at home on my current pc setup:

1. design work
- mostly illustrator, some photoshop, some indesign, very light web stuff (don't intend to do any 3D stuff)
- max. file size around 150mb

2. music
- mostly fl studio, some ableton, some wave editor (though fl is not on mac; maybe time to get reason )
- more of a leisure-hobbyist than a serious hobbyist

3. everyday stuff
- email, web surfing, blogging, downloading tunes etc; the usual...
- syncing w/ nokia 6682, dell axim x50v

wow....now that i am actually typing this out, i realize that i actually don't do too much on my machine at home...that's funny to see...i am running a home built cheap amd athlon@1.39ghz w/ 512mb ram from 5 years ago! i seem to be fairly satisfied...

though at the same time, i wish mac had an "answer" of sorts if you will to window's media center...that's actually what i would like to begin to do; getting everything into one computing unit...

BV i totally know what u mean about recommending nothing but the "best"...though it seems i might not need a workhorse at home like i thot i did...for now at least...

I was just asking because AutoCAD and 3D Studio Max (the architectural renderer of choice) are not Mac programs.

ATD, very nice folio.

yeah, i use some CAD at work, but don't use 3D studio max...would love to get back into some 3D later on since my background was industrial design so that might inform my hardware needs for now...

i have had brushes w/ OSX but definitely not enough to have gotten to know it...u r right its been a while and it seems really different from OS 9; my last known mac OS...

 

[ATD]

People tend to keep there Macs longer than PCs so it's always good advice to buy the best you can even if it's beyond current needs. The Mac/Intel towers will more than likely be the last of the upgrades at the end of this year so that's tough call. There is nothing wrong with the current lineup, I got a Quad knowing full well the Intel Macs were coming soon. Because people keep there Macs longer they get supported longer. I tend to want to push my computers as fast and as hard as they can go so I'm buying new computers all the time (I have 3 Duals and a Quad). Some of the music stuff can get heavy handed with cards and interfaces, a tower might be a better bet if you go beyond being a leisure-hobbyist.

It seems we are always needing more than we think we need at the moment you get a computer. I had about 400 GB of hard drive on my Dual 2.0 at work. It was starting to fill up a bit so when I got the Quad last month, I went for 1.5 TB. A week after I got the Quad my client called with a new project and wanted to give me a "few" photos to start with. I said "Sure, just put them up on the ftp site and I'll download them". He said "No... you REALLY don't want to do that". I said "Ok, I'll pick up the disks" and he said "Tell you what, I'll send over a drive, just download them and send it back" I though at first he was trying to save himself a few minutes by doing that. I mounted the drive and found he had sent me 400 GB of photos! When I called him he told me that drive was just the first half and there are a lot more coming! The project started as 10 very high res images (500+ MB PS files) that had to be done in a a week, I told him thats a lot of work but I can make the deadline, no problem . He called me back an hour later and said the deadline is now 3 and half days...

it was nice that I had the Quad, it would have been a crash and burn on the Dual. I'm not sure how I'm going to archive this stuff when I'm done. Enough is never enough.

 

[ATD]

ATD, very nice folio.

thanks

yeah, i use some CAD at work, but don't use 3D studio max...would love to get back into some 3D later on since my background was industrial design so that might inform my hardware needs for now...

If you are thinking about getting back into 3D, don't even think twice about an iMac. Even fully loaded PCs or Macs still have a hard time with it.

 

[shrimpdesign]

Hey there designtemple. I recently purchased a new Intel iMac and I am a graphic designer (student). I use Photoshop a lot and I plan on using it just fine on my Intel iMac. I've heard a lot of user reports with Photoshop on the new Intel iMac.

Since Photoshop is not Universal Binary, it runs under Rosetta. From what I hear, as long as you put more RAM in than the standard, Photoshop runs fast enough. The next version of Adobe's software will be Universal Binary, and will come out later this year. I figure I can wait for CS3. The user reports often compare applications runing under Rosetta to running the program on a 1Ghz G4. I suspect it'd be closer to a G5 with enough RAM ...

I'm not too worried about programs running slower in Rosetta. Since Apple is transitioning all Macs to Intel processors in a year, application developers are going to get their apps Universal quickly.

 

[designtemple]

Since Photoshop is not Universal Binary, it runs under Rosetta. From what I hear, as long as you put more RAM in than the standard, Photoshop runs fast enough. The next version of Adobe's software will be Universal Binary, and will come out later this year. I figure I can wait for CS3. The user reports often compare applications runing under Rosetta to running the program on a 1Ghz G4. I suspect it'd be closer to a G5 with enough RAM ...

SD...so how's photoshop working out on your new imac for u? how about running other graphic apps under rosetta?

i am now thinking about getting a laptop instead...macbook pro...the hiccup i am having is with the UB issue =( thoughts?

 

[radiantm3]

SD...so how's photoshop working out on your new imac for u? how about running other graphic apps under rosetta?

i am now thinking about getting a laptop instead...macbook pro...the hiccup i am having is with the UB issue =( thoughts?

I definitely don't have any issues running photoshop or illustrator on my macbook pro. It's not blazing fast, but it's very usable. Definitely worth the purchase especially knowing that these apps will speed up a lot in the spring with CS3. It will definitely be quite a bit faster than on your athlon machine.

 

[designtemple]

It's not blazing fast, but it's very usable. Definitely worth the purchase especially knowing that these apps will speed up a lot in the spring with CS3. It will definitely be quite a bit faster than on your athlon machine.

hmm...hearing that, makes me feel better...so obviously u r running AI and PSD through rosette?

CS3 is coming out in spring? i hadn;t realize that...should i purchase the MBP now or wait till after Macworld? and after CS3 is realeased?