Recommendations which Mac to buy for VFX (After Effects) & CG (Maya/C4D)

[mabok]

Any pro users care to share their thoughts or recommend me whether iMac or Macbook Pro capable to work on After Effects and C4D smoothly? Aside from a Mac Pro.

Or does it requires any upgrading parts? RAM must be 32GB? GPU? Processors must be i7? Must be SSD? How about working on external, does it affect any performance?

 

[MacStu09]

Any pro users care to share their thoughts or recommend me whether iMac or Macbook Pro capable to work on After Effects and C4D smoothly? Aside from a Mac Pro.

Or does it requires any upgrading parts? RAM must be 32GB? GPU? Processors must be i7? Must be SSD? How about working on external, does it affect any performance?

Honestly, it depends on how capable you need it to be. If you do the bare minimum, either will be fine. If you do in depth work, as much as you may not want to hear it, avoid Apple.

Keep using a mac for most of your personal stuff/other work, but buy an HP Z for After Effects. Not even the new Mac Pro is competitive in AE and C4D projects. And there's no way anyone can recommend the iMac or Macbook Pro, which both have fairly low end mobile graphics. And you can't upgrade graphics on ANY current Apple computer. You'll save money, and have a MUCH more capable machine. I still use a macbook pro for personal stuff every day, but my professional work has all been switching to PC, and it's night and day how much more efficient a well-equipped PC proves to be.

 

[thats all folks]

Keep using a mac for most of your personal stuff/other work, but buy an HP Z

have to agree. no currently shipping Mac is ideal for CG work. wouldn't be surprised if Autodesk and Maxon are looking into dropping Mac support.

but your post also makes me think your are a novice to this? maybe better to first learn the software (which can be done on any relatively modern system with a decent amount of RAM) and it's technical needs, and then decide whether an expensive system (and what it should ideally be) is worth it?

 

[mabok]

have to agree. no currently shipping Mac is ideal for CG work. wouldn't be surprised if Autodesk and Maxon are looking into dropping Mac support.

but your post also makes me think your are a novice to this? maybe better to first learn the software (which can be done on any relatively modern system with a decent amount of RAM) and it's technical needs, and then decide whether an expensive system (and what it should ideally be) is worth it?

I'm using a Macbook Pro 15'' (late 2011) for my personal. Used to use it as my freelance work during my first purchase... as time goes by It's time to use it as a personal use only.
While in my workplace I'm using a Mac Pro (before the trash can) for work related... mostly on Photoshop, After Effects, FCP...

Wanting to upgrade my Macbook Pro so I can do my work at home or freelance... so it's either a new Macbook Pro or waiting for an upcoming iMac...

Just want to know how's the experience so far especially for After Effects and C4D.. before I can decide which machine to go for.

 

[mabok]

have to agree. no currently shipping Mac is ideal for CG work. wouldn't be surprised if Autodesk and Maxon are looking into dropping Mac support.

but your post also makes me think your are a novice to this? maybe better to first learn the software (which can be done on any relatively modern system with a decent amount of RAM) and it's technical needs, and then decide whether an expensive system (and what it should ideally be) is worth it?

Thank you for the suggestion. I'll take a look on HP Z for further knowledge.

 

[thats all folks]

Thank you for the suggestion. I'll take a look on HP Z for further knowledge.

yah. if you want Apple, the iMac is going to give you a lot more (and more for your money) than the MacBook Pro. the HP Z series workstations are one way to go. but if you are up for it, building your own Windows box could be a lot cheaper. using a CPU like the 6 core i7-6850K would be the start of something beautiful. plus then you also have the ability to put in any graphics card you want.