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Graphics Businesses Software Apple

Maya for Mac OS X 67

Posted by pudge from the because-macs-are-cooler dept.
drc writes "I http://www.macnn.com/feature.php?id=344noticed on MacNN that 'Maya 4.5 for Mac OS X was announced this morning when Steve Jobs revealed that the Maya update would offer feature parity in OS X when compared to other platforms. Jobs also mentioned that Alias|Wavefront has seen the Mac OS X version of Maya grow to 25% of their total market. I'm suprised that the Mac OS X version has such a market share in such a short period of time."
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Maya for Mac OS X More

Maya for Mac OS X

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  • I don't know anybody who uses maya on mac.
    I do think it will be a viable alternative some day, from what I understand, it is a bit slower still than it is on PCs.

    Most Maya users I know are on SGIs or PCs (Linux or Windows).

    -Tim

    • Re:Maya for Mac (Score:5, Insightful)

      by 2nd Post! ( 213333 ) <gundbear@pacbe l l .net> on Thursday July 18, 2002 @11:53AM (#3908988) Homepage
      Well, you are a sample size of one.

      How many Mac users do you know?

      Given that perhaps they form 4% of the US market but it is claimed they form 25% of Alias customers, that actually means there are more Mac Alias users percentage wise than there are PC Alias users.

      Isn't that funny? If it's true, then it means Alias can grow it's market by helping Apple grow Apple's market. Which is very convenient, I think.
      • have a look at alias|wavefront's gallery

        http://www.aliaswavefront.com/en/WhatWeDo/maya/s ee /gallery/gallery.shtml

        you'll find quite a number of the material from the last year featuring big production companies touting their adoption of macOsX

        ,

      • Re:Maya for Mac (Score:2, Interesting)

        by RemiT ( 182856 )
        Testimony of an OS X Maya user:
        Got Maya running on a dual G4 gig box. It renders lots faster than a 2 GHz Win2K box, for identical models..... Spawning batch render jobs to other G4s in the lab is a straignt shot.

        Making educational videos and VR, so I need a cost effective setup..... Wouldn't try to do these projects on our budget with Win2K, Linux, or SGI boxes (time wasted hardware/software hacking far exceeds Linux/Intel cost savings)....,

        OS X Maya is fast and cost effective, and fits into the integrated digital video/multimedia stream, from Final Cut Pro, through DVD Studio Pro. Gee, and it also goes out on the cluster's OS X QuickTime Streaming Server....

        The point: It sure looks like Apple has a cost-effective environment in OS X that makes high-end, Unix-based visualization/video production a high-speed snap.

        (Memories of the mid-80's and publishing the first scientific jounal produced entirely with DTP [Quark] on a hybrid AT/Mac system.... Remember hearing that DTP MADE the Mac.... The hardware is SO much more bitchin' now....)

        Then there's digital multimedia production: Pretty interesting market, eh?

        OS X: How I got my weekends back.

    • as a Maya on Mac user it is slow, partially because i only have a G4 400 / rage 128 pro. Dont get me wrong this is still a decent setup for 70% of my usage (eg. internet, email, web design, internet, did i mention internet, etc...)

      The other problem is OSX is sluggish with everything! its not A|W's fault its slow. Hopefully 10.2 will clear up the second problem with added speed.

      mow i really wish A|W would port studio tools [aliaswavefront.com] to OSX as well, i much prefer it to Maya, which i only use for modeling anyways.

      • Hopefully 10.2 will clear up the second problem with added speed.

        I went to MacWorld Expo after work on Wednesday and Thursday. At the Apple display all the Macs were running 10.2. I played with a new 17" iMac... 10.2 is FAST. Felt just like OS 9 again... :)

  • surprise? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by jpellino ( 202698 ) on Thursday July 18, 2002 @12:55PM (#3909425)
    I'm suprised that the Mac OS X version has such a market share in such a short period of time."

    A killer app comes out for a killer OS running on just about the sweetest hardware most people are willing to pay for.

    What this really points out is how we've come to expect that mediocity sells and state-of-the-art often goes unnoticed. e.g., pop quiz: Palm or Danger?

  • Well, duh... (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Jobs also mentioned that Alias|Wavefront has seen the Mac OS X version of Maya grow to 25% of their total market. I'm suprised that the Mac OS X version has such a market share in such a short period of time."

    Well, duh... either he's lying, or everybody who's not being forced to upgrade by a new OS isn't upgrading. Windows guys can keep using their old versions, Mac guys really can't. And don't say Classic. It's not funny anymore.

    I know, I know, I love Stevo too. But really, he's the top dog at an aggressive multinational. He's probably lying. We've all caught him "misrepresenting" the truth hundreds of times, and this is probably one of them - it's his job to hype OS X in any way he can. Look at the way he and his lawyers treat people, he's not a nice guy when he's not selling something. Nicer than Billg and monkeyboy, but they've probably never fired somebody for using cheap cologne and "stinking" up the office....

    But we'll forgive him for this lie, just like we forgave him for screwing us with .Mac yesterday, and just like we'll forgive him for putting backdoors in Aqua tomorrow. We've gotta stop being Fanboys; blind faith and adoration is more harmful than sheer hatred. We've got to use our clout as customers to force positive change in Apple. If Steve doesn't hear any complaints about how he does business, he'll assume he's doing everything right. And he's not. Or am I the only one who can admit Apple's not perfect?

    MokMok

    • Re:Well, duh... (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Good comment. I just sent Apple a comment off their website requesting a few improvements and my logic for my requests. It was tasteful, not harsh or angry, and *hopefully* will be implemented (I also mentioned that my wife is dead set on not upgrading until she sees a G5 processor - hopefully Apple will take notice and put the heat on Motorola, or switch to IBM).

      Everyone who knows something Apple is falling down on, please contact them and let your voice be heard. You're the only one who can stop them from becoming another Microsoft, and you're the only one who can explain your point of view.

      Let's flood Apple with "things to do" lists so they can gauge what their customers REALLY want.

      Let's make Apple better.

      Zoober
    • ... I support Apple whole heartedly. I can understand why the .Mac venture began. But, what sickens me, recently, is none of the profit making methods they've been concocting. No, what bothers me is Sherlock 3. Obviously, the idea came from a company who once was a "privileged developer" of Apple's: Karelia [karelia.com]. They made this amazing internet tool, called Watson, which does exactly what Sherlock 3 plans on doing. Apple stole their idea and has not, in any way, compensated them. I admire Apple, up to a point. But, pulling Microsoftian shit on a privileged developer does not bode well for me or for them.

      • Re:Normally... (Score:1, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward
        That right there is my greatest fear: "that the slave would think himself free only to find a stronger set of chains" (to steal from Trent Reznor a bit).

        I am a refugee from Microsoft Monopoly Land. Linux really is great, but has no real corporate support. There are huge gaping holes in app functionality that I can't function without. Even the Mac is a stretch, but one I'm willing to take to get free of M$. But when Apple acts like this (and they often do), I realize how damn stupid they really are, and how clueless they are to what we're looking for in a company to support with our faithfulness, mindshare, and cash. And that's what keeps Apple afloat; Apple users will personally suffer in order to support them. We'll spend more on hardware and software, accept games 2 years after they're dead of old age on the PC, do without industry standard apps, and much much more. We accept this CRAP because there are so many things "right" about Apple. They have the greatest potential to change the computing world of any company out there. We have HOPE and we TRUST them to at least try to respect us and try to do the right thing. I have no such hope or trust for Microsoft.

        But recently, Apple's meager success has gone to their heads. They have the fatally flawed idea that because OS X is cool, and us geeks are open to switching, they can screw us like morons.

        They're wrong.

        Now, more than ever, they have to be good corporate citizens. Now, more than ever, they have to respect their customers and not treat us like cattle they own. The Gnu guys are watching them. Slashdot is watching them. And, believe it or not, we geeks quit Windows more because we dislike the company's BS than because Windows sucks (which it does, but not as badly as people say). In fact, if MS weren't a bunch of greedy corporate soulless lying complete A-holes, I'd be happy running XP right now, and I'd be pricing out IBM ThinkPads instead of PowerBook G4's. It wouldn't bother me a bit. And once Linux gets a GUI that doesn't SUCK, and some CONFIG TOOLS THAT AREN'T FROM HELL, and some APPS BESIDES BROWSERS AND WORDPROCESSORS, I'll be there with bells on. Because, in the end, the Gnu guys are the real good guys. I'm a customer, and I want to know there's no backdoors. I want to have access to the complete source code for everything that's on my system, even if I never use it. I want to be able to share it with my friends without having some billionaire and his monopolistic corporation threaten to have me killed for it.

        And it's THAT EASY to gain or lose market share. And I, for one, intend to let Apple know that my money and I are watching them. And if they screw up too many times or in too big a way, I'm boycotting their stuff the same way I boycotted Microsoft. They might not notice initially, but you're reading this post right now, and my friends will go from hearing raves to hearing bitter resentment, and my webblog will get a new anti-mac slant, and the company I do network administration for won't even consider the XServe. And I'm just one guy. Wait till Doc Searls gets pissed off at Apple. Wait until any of the new-generation of Mac-toting geeks gets pissed off at their corporate collective stupidity.

        Apple should tread lightly on their customer's throats. As quickly as the tide washed in, it can wash out.

        Mattman
        (of the Upper Canada Mattmans)

    • Re:Well, duh... (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Well, duh... either he's lying, or everybody who's not being forced to upgrade by a new OS isn't upgrading. Windows guys can keep using their old versions, Mac guys really can't. And don't say Classic. It's not funny anymore.

      Hello, there is no Classic version of Maya! Every one of those 25% of Maya users must be someone who has never used Maya on their Mac before. Ergo, no one was forced to upgrade. Alias/Wavefront simply tapped into the existing large pool of creative types who wanted to be able to run Maya on the machine they used the most.

  • More paying customers (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Space Coyote ( 413320 ) on Thursday July 18, 2002 @02:42PM (#3910565) Homepage
    In addition to being smarter, I've found that in my experience, my mac using friends are far more likely to actually pay for software than my windows using friends. This may account for the sudden numbers A\W is seeing, and why Adobe and Macromedia continue to see the mac market as being more important that its market share would indicate, despite the fact that just about everybody you know probably has a copy of Photoshop on their desktop somehow. Not a troll, just a thought. :)
    • In addition to being sheep, I've found that in my experience, my mac using acquaintences usually have the same burned copy of Quark 4 and Photoshop. Not a troll, just an observation. :)
  • Apple would increase the memmory bandwidth on the G4 desktops( ie ddr ram ). 64bit PCI on G4's would also be a plus. I'll bet a rack of G4 Xservers would make amazing render servers though.
    • 64bit PCI would be a plus? You're joking, right? Apple have had 64bit PCI for AT LEAST FOUR YEARS - I have two 64bit cards in my machine right now (an ATTO UL3D and a Digital Voodoo D1 Desktop 64AV). Shit, you'll be asking for Apple to introduce gigabit ethernet on the G4 motherboard next...
    • *ahem* [apple.com]

      And I quote:
      Expansion
      • Four open full-length 64-bit, 33MHz PCI slots
      • One AGP 4X slot with graphics card installed


      Memory
      • 256MB or 512MB of PC133 SDRAM
      • Three DIMM slots support up to 1.5GB of PC133 SDRAM using the following:
        128MB or 256MB DIMMs (64-bit-wide, 128-Mbit technology)
        512MB DIMMs (64-bit-wide, 256-Mbit technology)

  • Maya still has greater appeal on non-macs (Score:3, Interesting)

    by quantax ( 12175 ) on Thursday July 18, 2002 @03:37PM (#3911115) Homepage
    I do not see 3D going the same route as video editing & 2D editing, simply because of the current road that most 3D studios are following. Increasingly linux is being used instead of NT or SGIs in these studios. Why? Because they're cheap. No licensing for the OS, great remote administration support, amongst other things. Macs do not succeed at the efficientcy vs money contest anywhere as well as a linux box would. Another issue is that Macintosh has yet to get a highend 3D development card where as the selection is quite large for PC. I am not talking about GF4's here, but about Wildcats, Quadros, Glorias, etc. Only recently did Apple finally get a real GF4 and not the hobbled GF4 MX, and a GF4 is far from a highend 3D development card. I will be surprised if Apple takes over the 3D development market unless they start trying a new strategy.
    • But why? Why is there no high-end 3D development card on the Mac?

      It takes the demand from users of software like Maya to demonstrate a need for such a product, before anybody will invest $$$ in such a card.

      And it takes serious hardware before lots of software developers will jump on the Mac 3D bandwagon.

      Nobody is denying the G4's potential as a platform for rendering - it's just that we have a classic chicken-and-egg problem here.

    • What are you talking about. The GeForce4 card is capable of utterly flattening what you'll find in most modern SGI desktops. The only thing that comes close to 1 billion texels/sec is an Octane2, and they're probably on-par. (I'd take the SGI for better colour fidelity, but still.)

      As for Linux taking over - that is for rendering. 'Rendering' is a giant, noisy wall somewhere in the back where the artists fear to tread. The creative tools necessary for high-end 3D are not, no how, available for Linux. What modeler are you using? GIMP for textures, really? I don't know any graphic artist who would consider it for a nanosecond.

      RenderMan, yes.

      • What are you talking about? Maya has been out for Linux longer then it's been out for Mac. There is also Softimage XSI, which has been out for Linux for a couple of years.

        And companies like ILM and Sony have been moving to Linux for the creation end AND the rendering end.

        If you don't know what you are talking about, don't post.

      • I am sorry but you don't know what you are talking about. A geforce4 can flatten an SGI, and a professional card can do even better, although a geforce 4 makes 3d silky smooth and I don't think better cards are keeping the mac from 3D.

        Second, wake up and realize that ILM, Digital Domain, dreamworks, sony pictures imageworks, and a whole host of others are turning from SGI to Linux, not just for rendering, but for workstations. Maya, Softimage, Houdini, Shake, PRman (Renderman is the standard, not the renderer), Entropy, Mental Ray and (Soon) Nuke are available on Linux. Maybe you don't know a 'graphic artist' who would consider linux, because these are professional 3D artists and professional 3D programmers, not someone gouging the local soccer team for the logo they made in illustrator.

        I think that Mac's can definitly succeed in 3D, but there are alot of things that will have to happen. Apply is playing hardball in the compositing market, and Maya is right there in the Mix, so its getting close. Now all Apple has to do is ACTUALLY MAKE FASTER COMPUTERS than PC's. Not just at running a multi-threaded photoshop filter, they will have to make some dual or quad processor workstations that are beyond G4s and take advantage of the latest RAM to outperform PC's by a good margin before they will see easy adoption.
      • All major 3D modeling and animation packages are available for Linux and have been for at least a year. Rendering too.

        What's with this idea that this or that has to take over or it's considered a failure. How about just provide a functional alternative? A comfortable environment for using the tool you want to use?

        Me, I'm still going to have to wait for this on my Mac because SESI doesn't look like it's porting Houdini anytime soon. I've no interest in Maya so I'll have to keep my AMD boxes around for a while.

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