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Macworld 2012: Autodesk Inventor Fusion for Mac Coming
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One man's meat, is another's poison. Let's not start a "which 3D App is better than the other" bun fight here.
In fact, 3ds Max is undisputedly the most popular all-purpose 3D Application today. Followed by Maya, then Cinema 4D. So why wouldn't we want all three of these on the Mac?
3dsMax on Mac
3dsMax is the last chain keeping VFX artists on Windows, not to mention architects & all other design professions. As i see it, the market potential is great.
The interface would not have to be the same. To bring 3dsMax to Mac, it needs to be written from scratch, same as AutoCad for Mac, which indicates they are very likely to restructure the interface. Which as you pointed out,is long overdue
3dsMax is the last chain keeping VFX artists on Windows, not to mention architects & all other design professions. As i see it, the market potential is great.
Autodesk Inventor includes the ability to rotate sketched profiles of objects around 3D axises, as well as the ability to "sweep," create coils, loft between two coplanar profiles, (useful for making an object with a rectangular base and a circular top) and pretty much anything in between.
The free version of Google Sketchup is only able to do extrusions, and only additive extrusions at that AFAIK. Inventor can extrude in addition to the features I mentioned above, and can also perform boolean union, difference and intersection operations on solids generated using any method. This makes Inventor a million times more powerful than Sketchup IMHO.
Inventor also includes some stress, shear and aerodynamic simulations on objects which almost nobody is ever going to use unless they're a) a mechanical engineer and b) working on a part/mechanism whose failure-free operation is critical.
So in the end you get what you pay for, you're just discounting the stuff you're never going to use and then claiming that Inventor is overpriced. (It isn't as long as people are still buying it.)
The interface would not have to be the same. To bring 3dsMax to Mac, it needs to be written from scratch, same as AutoCad for Mac, which indicates they are very likely to restructure the interface. Which as you pointed out,is long overdue
3dsMax is the last chain keeping VFX artists on Windows, not to mention architects & all other design professions. As i see it, the market potential is great.
If they change the interrface there will be a whole lot of people angry and not bother with it.the main reason I want max is because of its workflow with other software I use AND its interface. I don't to be forced to learn a whole new interface.
If that was the case why not just use maya, modo, silo blender, cinema 4d etc.
The interface has t say the same, or very similar just polished and more up to date.
Revit! Revit! Revit! Seriously, about 8 of 10 students at my architecture school use macs. Then they all have to switch to windows for revit and 3ds for rendering. Surely autodesk must be aware that so many students are using a different platform than there software is made for, and won't that follow through into the industry?
Well, I've never had any issues, and neither have several other people I've worked with in the past. We're all running it on top spec i7 iMac's though, I've never tried it on (I don't want to say lesser, but it's the only work that fits here) hardware.
Ken Pimentel from Autodesk has dropped some huge hints that Autodesk is working on a version of 3ds max for OSX. This is one such example, check out his blog post, particularly the end of the fourth paragraph.
http://area.autodesk.com/blogs/ken/...obe_ae_interop_render_passes_activeshade_iray
http://area.autodesk.com/blogs/ken/...obe_ae_interop_render_passes_activeshade_iray
I'll sing along for a second there...
Revit revit revit!!!
I cannot understand that Autodesk cannot see the potential with Revit on the Mac platform!?? Unbelivable!
http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/AutoCAD-for-Mac/bd-p/520
Approx. every 10th post is about AutoCAD crashing.
3d intensive programs like 3ds max do not perform well in virtualization. If your serious about max you should be running it natively.
for all the naysayers on the future of the Mac Pro, thanks for your input.
I just ordered 6 more older models (meaning most recent offerings).
We have a total of 24 at work and will keep them going till the last one drops
I believe
It's funny that you call new models "older" since all Mac Pro hardware is so old it's decrepit. Why spend money on ancient, overpriced Mac Pros when for a third of the price you can get the latest and fastest PC hardware and run Hackintoshes? I guess it sucks if your company gets it nickers in a knot over Apple EULAs.
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How can Windows in a virtual machine use more memory than on hardware given that they're running exactly the same hardware? Unless you're running 32 bit Windows in your virtual machine and 64 bit on the hardware.
I'd interpret what he means is that when run in a VM you have the RAM consumption of two operating systems, rather than just one.
Virtual machines will only use as much ram as you allocate to them. If you're using a VM to run something as heavy as Max, then giving it 14GB out of 16GB will be enough to assure both it and the OSX desktop have enough breathing room to run decently. Provided, of course, that you're not running another heavy program natively underneath it.
Radug said:
I certainly hope so. I can't deny that Max is one of the most powerful editors out there. But damn, the UI is so chunkity, I'd almost consider even Blender to be better laid out and more user friendly these days.
The only problem is if they do restructure the interface, how much of it can they change while still keeping it familiar enough to be comfortable to those used to using it? I'd say this is one of the main reasons why Autodesk hasn't done it yet.
They could get away with a total revamp for CAD because, comparatively, it's a bit more minimalist. Max is a big fat huge beast with way too many knobs, buttons, and redundant features. But it's also quite a few peoples favorite big fat huge beast. You can't swap out and change too much without risking alienating them.
Have one for me. I quit drinking 19 years ago.
Maybe new Macs will be out before my 20th.
The only really good interface that can properly replace a complicated user interface like 3ds max is the ribbon ui. While some may not like it, after they adjust they end up liking it better. I am a big believer in the ribbon ui. I used office 2007 pretty soon after it came out and the adjustment period is pretty short and it makes the advanced options much more obvious to the user than the previous menu system did. There is a very good chance that this may happen as many autodesk programs have been in fact ribbonized in the past few years. Also doesn't hurt that the ribbon UI is much more touch friendly than the menu/toolbar ui.
No 3D software still
They only have 3D Studio Max for PC, so we are left with Cinema 4D which is overpriced.
They only have 3D Studio Max for PC, so we are left with Cinema 4D which is overpriced.
I've downloaded fusion, it's pretty good. I've been using solid works for years but intend to switch if I can. It's the only reason I have to endure windows.
The benefit is in the seamless nature of mac os. Designing nice products on windows does not feel nice!
The benefit is in the seamless nature of mac os. Designing nice products on windows does not feel nice!
With you on this one. Used to hate the ribbon UI but after experiencing it in Revit, I changed my mind
Now i keep AutoCad in ribbon mode as well. Have you seen the Windows 8 blog ? They're implementing ribbon in Windows Explorer...it's a mess. Goes to show that not everything is ribbon material.
OH MY GOD ! Finally ! AutoCAD was a game-changer for the education and business industry on the Mac, but this one is another game-changer for sure.
Now other companies, bring SolidWorks and CATIA for mechanical design.
And Simio and Arena for simulation.
And Apple, make a godly iWork for once.
If all of the above is respected, there will be a massive switch in the world of engineering business, from Windows to Mac. But all of the above can take several years, sadly.
Now other companies, bring SolidWorks and CATIA for mechanical design.
And Simio and Arena for simulation.
And Apple, make a godly iWork for once.
If all of the above is respected, there will be a massive switch in the world of engineering business, from Windows to Mac. But all of the above can take several years, sadly.
They've already made strides towards just that with the Graphite toolset. The only problem with it, at least for the moment, is that the ribbon scheme has been crammed in underneath the old Max interface. So instead of streamlining the UI, it just made things even more cramped and crowded in there.
Truthfully, I'd say the one thing Max needs the most is a little whittling. You've got more modern editors that can do everything Max can do, and do it faster and easier (at least as far as pure modeling goes), yet only have a fraction of the toolset. Having a small selection of powerful, multipurpose tools is a helluva lot better than having 15,000 modifiers that do just one specific action. When it comes to that, you don't even need a ribbon interface. Just a clean layout.
Eh, I don't think there'll be a massive switch or exodus or anything. You'll just be more likely to see Macs around in places they haven't been before.