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Question for in the industry animators

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Question for in the industry animators

Im debating if i should go mac.. I've heard more studios use macs then pcs.. Im about to start up college and im going to get a laptop so i can ditch my room mate and go somewhere in the library to work/ study. Just need to know which is used more out there in the field. Thanks ^_^

:::The Taco Has Spoken:::

3D or Flash?

For 3D PC is the way to go. I don't know of any studio that has a 3D pipeline that runs on Macs.

cheers,
~D

I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy [i]-Tom Waits
[/i]

Mac users never gave me a REAL reasol to use it. They always end up saying that it looks cute and the operating system is easy to use.

They also say it's better to work with graphics, but none of them have ever gave me a decent explanation for that. It used to be true, back in 1984, but not anymore.

Put your hands on the biggest AMD with fltascreen you can get and be happy :) Windows XP a must.

one trouble people who are used to pc or macs is the mice once you get used to one system swiching can confuse you and make your work much more dificult.

now if you are a pc user commonly then get a pc i feal that the reaction time on a pc can be much nicer but for rendering you are going to want a seperate computer to do that for you.

as for 2d animation what was mentioned above will be great but currently i own a Custom built pc (made it myself as all of my computers) it runs on a

2.1 ghz AMD Althlon XP 2800+ "barton"
ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe (has a built in sound card and is plenty fast)
Saphire Radeon 9600 Atlantis 256mb ddr
1 gig (512x2) ddr ram

and that is the basis of your computer, now you throw in a dvd burner a case and a couple hard drives (gonna need them) and this will be around $650.00 usda

Now this is perfect for any flash animator and toon boom works well in this also i havent had any lag what so ever in any of my animations even when i am working with 2 Flash projects with multiple colors and images.

but the big thing you will need to wory about is your monitor at my angle i had little to spend on it cause im a poor student but even as poor as i was i got a 17" monitor with max res of 1280x1024 which is kind of small for a serious animator. so think about it. monitors will run you a hefty bit so look into spending around 400 for a nice wide screen monitor.

i hope you already ahve a tablet :D

thanks for the responses, I currently have a dell p4 2.4 ghz, 256 ram which needs upgraded if i continue to use this, remember this is in 2 years since im taking a trip. I was planning to get a laptop just while im at College transportation would be very nice when i want to ditch a room mate that annoys me. Which already happened this summer =( but i had no laptop hehe. I have two monitors already dual monitor mode it. I still don't know if i should go graphic design or into the 2d/3d animation fields im still debating and have a couple years to do that. My drawing skills are a little flaky but with practice i hope to improve it well enough for the 2d/3d animation. I really like the new macs that i'm seeing and i've seen how they handle video compositing (i think is the word) and really love the cool gadgets they are making . And my dad ($$$$) who buys software if you ask him so i figured since its a mac he would favor me more. On the other side winxp is something ive always had. I do enjoy it but im fearing that microsoft is losing it and linux distros are taking over which is good in some cases. I was just wondering what the, "common" studio provides but i've heard they use a mix from what i've been reading. mac for video editing, pc for anim and modeling and rendering. We'll see maybe the market will have a huge change in the next 2 years ^_^

3D or Flash?

I don't know of any studio that has a 3D pipeline that runs on Macs.

Um....... Pixar ?

http://www.macnn.com/news/23784

I don't know what Disney in Burbank is using now that they switched over entirely to CG , but from the late 80's to 2004 the Animation Dept. (Burbank, Orlando, Paris ) used Macs .

They always end up saying that it looks cute and the operating system is easy to use.

I have never heard anyone say that you ought to use Macs for animation production because they "look cute".

"The OS is easy to use" .

Yes, it is . And that's a bad thing , DP ?

"EustaceScrubb" has left the building

alot of your choice should be based on preference do you think you want to work on the mac interface and with their keybord and mouse or would you rather having a pc with its interface?

Good point, and i didnt know pixar totally converted into macs. Thats way cool for apple.

Yeah i guess what it comes to is the fact that if you like the interface. I think im gonna try a powerbook and keep my dell nearby.

Get a PC

I would recommend an Athalon PC. You get more for your money and many options as far as software are available. Pixar is probably the only Mac animation shop (they are owned by Apple). I've found working with Macs a real hassle.

Get a Mac. They're easy to use.

Get a PC.

They're faster.

Peter Wassink - Digital 2D Animator

Sup Taco,

Stay with the PC. Schools will use Mac's because the get awsome discounts from Apple. Get a Mac if you are going into graphic design or video editing. Go with a PC if you are going into 2D or 3D animation. Almost all studios use PC's for animation. PIXAR has only fully switched to Mac's for their video editing and compositing. Animation is all done on PC's. Dream works uses HP PC's, Disney is on PC's. PDI is on HP PC's. Cartoon Network is on PC's.

It is good to know both, but you will rarely have to work on both in the industry. For personal use, you can get a way faster and more powerful PC for the same money than you would if you went with a Mac. Pluss there are more programs offered for the PC than for the Mac. And most of the main Mac programs, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, etc are all offered on for the PC.

It is up to you.

Aloha,
The Ape

...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."

Alright that gives me more confidence in staying with a pc for my laptop. Im hoping in 2 years that graphic design will go to pc instead of mac. Although im familiar with both os's I just dont want to own both.

I use both.

I'm not in the animation industry, but hope to someday. I use the PC for 3d animation and some compositing.

For me, 8 years in graphic design, the mac is an industry standard. The mac "feels" more intuitive, but that's just my personal preference. I have a G4 laptop 12"... and is very powerful... especially with the latest OSX.

I would agree with the ape... 3d animation, go with PC. Graphic design, go with the mac. But if you have enough casheesh... get both.

b

thanks bobby for that comment, I think i'm gonna go into graphic design seems more realistic to me, and it sounds like getting a job as a an animator is a little hard since alot of it is now being produced in india and foreign countries. But if anything I will have a 2.4 ghz dell for gaming since half life is no show on a mac =( yet...