Hi guys, do you know if there were ever any 3D CAD Programs such as Rhino3D or Solidworks available for Macs for the classic OS? Which ones were the most popular ones?
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3D CAD Programs for Mac OS 9 / Classic
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Strata 3D is what I used to use in the early 00s under OS9.
Strata 3D - Macintosh Repository
Strata 3D is a three dimensional scene modeling, animation and rendering studio for PowerMacs. Since 3D.COM servers are not in operation anymore,...
www.macintoshrepository.org
Ashlar Vellum's Cobalt was/is probably the most powerful solid 3D modeller for OS 9.2.2. It is very capable and can render outstanding screen images. It was without a doubt far superior to the other CAD packages, and it is very quick to learn. Most of what is available, even on the PC side, started in the work that Ashlar did.
I can't stand to post an answer here: In the early 2000s the following 3D programs have been state of the art:
form-Z, BoA, Bryce 3d, Maya, MetaCreations Ray Dream 3D, Ray Dream Studio, Poser, Cinema 4D XL, Carrara Studio. Always depending on what you like to do, modelling, constructing, animating, … Of course there have several more "not so popular"/older (from the late 90ies)/more simple programs been in existence.
I'd go that far to state that back than Mac OS 9 was the platform for 3D. And many of these programs are still good enough for many many tasks, and are highly professional.
form-Z, BoA, Bryce 3d, Maya, MetaCreations Ray Dream 3D, Ray Dream Studio, Poser, Cinema 4D XL, Carrara Studio. Always depending on what you like to do, modelling, constructing, animating, … Of course there have several more "not so popular"/older (from the late 90ies)/more simple programs been in existence.
I'd go that far to state that back than Mac OS 9 was the platform for 3D. And many of these programs are still good enough for many many tasks, and are highly professional.
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Seconding form-Z here — though, being dependent on a proprietary dongle key to run, it was not exactly easy to access or affordable to purchase, lest one was fortunate enough to be working somewhere which had a multiple-key site licence.
Same here !
And back in 2015 I installed Strata on a Ti 1Ghz for test with 15 years old files I still had.
Posted here , if of some interest :
3d on a PowerBook
Note , since then, the very last very version running on OS9 (V.3.8) is on the Mac garden :
Strata-3dPro-3.8
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