Macbook good for 3D Modeling?

Parnell · Mar 2009

Sup dudes! Anyone here have a 13" Macbook?

4 GIG version of the 13" Macbook.
160GB HD
2.0 Ghz CPU
Nvidia 9400M

http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MB466LL/A?mco=MTkzOTIzOQ

I figure it should run Zbrush pretty decent as well as Max (running boot-camp).
I'm buying one so I can compile iphone games and also have a laptop (since I don't have one).
Thanks!
B

ironbearxl · Mar 2009

macs are waaaaaay overpriced imo, zbrush should run great on it though.

Unleashed · Mar 2009

you might wanna look at the macbook pros. I dont know about the current graphics but I think the macbooks typically have had the integrated intel crap(pros had radeons like mine, newer ones have geforces)

Snight · Mar 2009

If I'm not mistaken, I don't think Max runs on Mac's OS.

Parnell · Mar 2009

Yup I'd be running bootcamp for that.
I just needed something to compile stuff for the iphone, be able to run ZBrush reasonably well. 3DS Max would run on windows running bootcamp.

I know Macs are PRICEY...but the only way you can legally compile iphone apps is on a mac:)
Thanks!
B

Rick Stirling · Mar 2009

Zbrush 3.12 runs great natively on the mac.

Bootcamp runs max really well too.

Ferg · Mar 2009

I cant offer any advice but I'll be interested to hear how this setup works for ya

Parnell · Mar 2009

Rick does the Nvidia 9400M card run ok?
It doesn't need to be insane just good enough to kick around 1-3 million in Zbrush.
B

Rick Stirling · Mar 2009

Dunno, I've got a desktop.

EarthQuake · Mar 2009

9400m should give you some basic functionality, it wont blow your mind or anything but it should be fine for doodles in zb.

Parnell · Mar 2009

Coolness.
Thanks Quake.
B

Firecracker197 · Mar 2009

Snight wrote: »

If I'm not mistaken, I don't think Max runs on Mac's OS.

Thats why you dont use the mac os

scotths · Mar 2009

I recently got a macbook pro and I have been so happy with it that it's ridiculous. It kicks butt on the dell xps I got two years ago. I mostly use it for Blender and haven't pushed it too hard on high poly models, but I've gone up to about 500k polys without any trouble. The selling point for me was a benchmark comparison I read comparing the graphics performance of the macbook and macbook pro.

http://gizmodo.com/5070561/macbook-vs-macbook-pro-hardcore-graphics-death-match

Scott

EarthQuake · Mar 2009

scotths wrote: »

It kicks butt on the dell xps I got two years ago.

That isnt saying much, i would hope any new PC bought today would kick the butt of a 2 year old rig.

Parnell · Mar 2009

I looked at the differences between the Macbook Pro and Macbook. It's noticeable but mainly for gaming which I don't plan to do. This will be my second rig mainly for compiling iphone code, and having the ability to work portable, albeit not blinding fast, I should be productive on it.
I'll let you know how it works out.
Thanks!
B

Marine · Mar 2009

get this http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=modbookpro and tell us if it's any good

Vitor · Mar 2009

The Modbook Pro is sexy as hell!

Never heard anyone using it thou...

SHEPEIRO · Mar 2009

i got the 15" version, and its great, it has a duel core 2.5 ghz and two gpus an integrated 9400m and a 9600gt for the shizzle, had maya running on it good in osx and getting a copy of xp64 soon to try out a duel OS setup for the other programs i have.

so far i love it, sexy to use, and powerfull, probably not as powerfull pc laptop but they dont have a all in one aluminium casing

shit just realised, the importance of those three letters P R and O to which family mine belongs

Snowfly · Mar 2009

That's the pro though. The basic MB seems like it should be ok for any work that has nothing to do with shaders, and ZB should run pretty ace on it. It's specced higher than my MB Pro from 2006 anyway, and I've been doing ok with max so far.

Parnell · Mar 2009

Thanks Snowfly:)
B

James Edwards · Mar 2009

I don't think the modbook pro is available yet - just pre-orders. The first one that was based off the old macbooks looked pretty good as a tablet pc - 512 levels of pressure, which is more than any other tablet pc I think. The original intuos tablet only had 512 and I used that for years. I heard there were some design glitches with the first modbook model though that had more to do with the conversion than the macbook itself. This new modbook pro looks like it might have fixed all of those and improved on things all around. I'm following this one closely as it looks like the only tablet pc actually worth using for drawing or sculpting. 5k+ though... ouch!

With the options for ssd drive in the macbook pro, plus the option to swap out the dvd drive for another harddrive in the conversion, you could stick two ssd drives in that baby and have a machine with literally no internal moving parts - not to mention a hefty amount of storage. I'd love to use a tablet pc with the new macbook pro specs/options.

Put some 3dcoat, some sketchbook pro 2010, modo or silo and photoshop on there and it's one pimpstacked piece of kit.

Parnell · Mar 2009

UPDATE!!

So i bought and received my macbook last week. I installed bootcamp with Vista 32bit (piece of cake). I loaded up Zbrush, 3DS Max 2009, Adobe Design Premium CS3, MS Office 2007 as well as my wacom drivers. Everything works and runs smoothly. I haven't run any major stress tests but as a quick test I was easily able to load up my 2 mil mesh in Zbrush and spin it around no sweat. 3DS Max seemed to run ok too however I didn't do any major rendering or realtime direct X stuff. Just typical modeling of below 100k models. Photoshop does just fine loading up and working on 1200x1600 files. Office ran fine, and my Wacom drivers for my Graphire (hey it's small and perfect for travel) worked great. Battery life tends to be around 2-2.5 hours running a bunch of shit. (IM, firefox, photoshop) all at the same time with full brightness. I dropped into 'power saver' mode which bumped it closer to 2.5 hours. Vista tends to run a little more power hungry than OSX so I imagine it'll get better battery life with that OS.

So there you go.
I'll post further updates if I have any more info.
B

Macbook Unibody
CPU 2.0ghz
4gb DDR3
250 gb HD
Nvidia 9400M

Justin Meisse · Mar 2009

modeling_man wrote: »

Battery life tends to be around 2-2.5 hours running a bunch of shit. (IM, firefox, photoshop) all at the same time with full brightness. I dropped into 'power saver' mode which bumped it closer to 2.5 hours. Vista tends to run a little more power hungry than OSX so I imagine it'll get better battery life with that OS.

waitaminute, they advertise 8 hours on a single charge is that only on the 17" macbook pro? 2.5 hours is still nothing to sneeze at. How's the heat, the next laptop I purchase will be used on the top of my lap.

Parnell · Mar 2009

Ya that's only on the 17" macbook pro.
They advertise around 5 hours for the older batteries, running Mac OSX and doing moderate internet surfing and word processing.
2.5 hours for hardcore modeling, listening to music, IM, and internet on Vista (an operating system that's pretty shitty for laptops) all at the same time isn't terrible.
My hope is to get it up to 3 hours with tweaking the power saver stuff.
B

thomasp · Mar 2009

well if you happen to try out shaders in max (and that marmoset-viewer perhaps?

) on your macbook, please feed back on how it performs.

i was looking at picking up one of the new minis (with the same 9400m gfx-chipset) as my next desktop PC for light 3d work since i don't wanna have a big machine around anymore.

Rick Stirling · Mar 2009

You can run Photoshop, Zbrush and Firefox all in OSX, that *MIGHT* help with the power.

Blaizer · Mar 2009

and modo

Rick Stirling · Mar 2009

and Silo!

Macbook good for 3D Modeling?

Replies