Mac Book Pro and 3ds Max, Part 1
It rolled up to my desk in a gleaming coat of armor. There it was, three of them actually, stretched out before me. Three, totally smokin’ Mac Book Pro’s. Their sole purpose was for the 3Dguru to prod and poke them violate them with a very dirty WindowsXP CD and make them mine. I did that immediately…” (right-click image to view larger version)
So I plan on sharing this trist with you, my valuable reader. So here’s the plan. In a series of 3 or so entries over the next 30 days I will bring you along as I evaluate this Mac Book Pro (and two others) for my, um, master. The very serious purpose for this evaluation is to see exactly how well 3ds Max works on this platform and whether its a commerically viable production ready platform for 3ds Max.
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First the details:
Mac 3d Max
- Mac Book Pro 15.4″ screen
- 2ghz, 2GB ram, intel dual core
- ATI x1600,256MB
- 60gb hard drive
First impressions, its a damn sexy box. Having been a Msoftie for years, it had been ages since I really used a Mac OS. OSX looks great and seemingly runs OK. The iLife suite is big time fun… but focus… this is production box….
Now, the Bootcamp/XP Install,
Its was easy-peezy. No really. If you’ve installed XP or 2K and have ever made a dual boot jobbie, you’re good. There are some instructions that Apple wisely recommends you read. The language in it is a little frightening acutally, but I think this is meant to scare off the Apple punks who think they can get around the command line. Posers. But I did read them since, sadly, I don’t get to keep these boxes, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to screw something up that would come out of my paycheck.
Next, install Bootcamp on the box. Bootcamp isn’t some mystical OS transmogrifier. Its basically like Partition Magic on the PC. Big woop. So set the size of the partition.
Convert video to mp4 mac. Insert your XP CD, reboot and you are off…
At this point is the only tricky part because you want to make sure you don’t install XP over OSX, so take my word for it, RTFM here. (its a short paragraph and there are pictures… you’ll be OK)
Once the install is done, use the driver CD created during the Bootcamp business (again RTFM) and viola, PC on a Mac. Yes I have glossed over some stuff. Yes there are somethings you want to think about during install. So again, this is not a definitive how-to, only my observations of the process.
It took about an hour to go from Mac only to OSxXP. Once in XP, the installation of apps is just like any other– so far. I have installed 3ds Max (which I am now jokingly calling 3ds Macs) Mind Mangager, Firefox, ZBrush, and Artrage. I will install shortly Premiere, Photoshop, and others… I have also installed my Wacom Tablet.
Networking the XP side was a snap-so far. Wireless at home is working great.
The best news so far is that the display drivers on the XP side are the real-deal ATI drivers. I am running 3ds Max in DirectX Mode and all is well.
Check back later for more posts.
Editor’s note: Here are the links to the 1st three parts of the MBP + 3dsMax experience.
Part 2, Part 3
If that is a Windows app with no OS X equivalent, then you need to run Windows.
RunWindows on Intel Macs
There are presently several alternatives for running Windows on Intel Macs. Here is a list of the primary options in the market place.
- Apple Boot Camp software. Boot Camp enables you to boot the computer into OS X or Windows. (Free because it comes with OS X. You must own a legitimate Windows Full Retail Installer.)
- Parallels Desktop for Mac. Parallels is a software virtualization that enables running Windows concurrently with OS X.
- VM Fusion.VM Fusion is software virtualization that enables running Windows concurrently with OS X.
- CrossOver. Enables running many Windows applications without having to install Windows. The Windows applications can run concurrently with OS X.
- VirtualBox. Open Source freeware virtual machine such as VM Fusion and Parallels that was developed by Solaris. (Free because it comes with OS X. You must own a legitimate Windows Full Retail Installer.)
- Veertu. A new entry from Open Source utilizing native virtualization. It’s a fast and secure way to run VMs on the Mac.
- Veertu Desktop is supported on Mac models of early/mid-2011 or later running Yosemite 10.10 or later.
Parallels, VM Fusion, VirtualBox, and Veertu can also run other operating systems such as Linux, Unix, OS/2, Solaris, etc. There are performance differences between dual-boot systems and virtualization. The latter tend to be a little slower (not much) and do not provide the video performance of the dual-boot system. A 2015 comparison of Parallels, VM Fusion, and Virtual Box is found at 2015 VM Benchmarks: Parallels 11 vs. Fusion 8 vs. VirtualBox 5. A review of these and other competitors is found in PCMag: The Best Virtualization Software of 2017. Boot Camp is available with Lion and later.
You must also have an internal optical drive for installing Windows. Windows cannot be installed from an external optical drive. Windows must be installed on an internal drive if you use Boot Camp. A license must be purchased for all commercial software and operating system products. Open Source software is free.
Some Boot Camp Articles from Apple Support.
3d Studio Max For Mac Os X Free Download
Boot Camp Support.
Boot Camp 5.1: Frequently Asked Questions.
How to Install Windows using Boot Camp.
Boot Camp Control Panel Users Guide.
Studio 3d Max For Mac Os 10.7
Use Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp.
Use Windows 8.1 on your Mac with Boot Camp.
Install Windows 7 and earlier on your Mac using Boot Camp.
Aug 13, 2017 10:43 PM