Mac or PC?
 

I am going to be purchasing a new machine to run 3d animation and editing software on. I am leaning towards the Mac G5. It seems like most jobs I look at want someone with Mac, Final Cut Pro, Shake, and Maya experience...which would obviously lead me in the direction of a Mac, but I know there is a lot more software available for Windows. What do most people here use? And which have they found is more helpful for getting into the industry?

:bgreen:

I use PC, and so far, every studio I've worked at do as well.

Before this thread erupts, let it be known that both PC and Mac work equally effectively and there really is no huge defining reason not to get one over the other, at least, when it comes to Maya's performance.

MAC G5 better if compared to todays PC, you may still want to wait for AMD 64bit chip if you want a PC, but if you'll use compositing softwares that you mentioned i'd stay with MAC, it is much easier to work with and more stable.

Other than cost!

As for the G5 being faster than the fastest PC's. Best to wait for some benchmarking. I think Apple did some of thier own against Intel but disabled hyperthreading? I wonder why. It may be the G5 is going to be the fastest machine around but i have my doubts. As for the Athlon 64, it's out now but you may as welll wait until the software is around to take advantage of it. Also going to be a bit expensive in it's early days.

It's totally your choice though and the decision is really made for you depending on the software you want to use. If you're going to use Shake, then it's mac only unfortunately.

PC...considering that the majority of software is made for PC....at least for a time anyways :p

yeah...this is all what i thought...hmmm....what to do...what to do...well, thanks for the replies...we'll see where my money goes in the next few weeks ;)

I'm running Maya 5 on a PC at home, and the same version on a Mac for my classes. As long as you have a 3 button mouse for your mac there is generally no difference in how the two systems operate. As was mentioned before, what it really comes down to is price. I've been able to build a brand new dual 2.4Ghz Xeon system for about $2000 CND, that's about $1500 USD. Compare that with the price of a 2Ghz dual G5, i think it's about $3000+ USD. So going the PC route, even with workstation-calibre parts is still only about half the price and the same level of performance.

I have never had the need to use a mac. I grew up using a mac/apple but never knew there was better out there til i hit highschool and afterwards never went back to the mac again.