Alias on Mac's

[dschlundt]

I have told various stories that the Autodesk Alias Design works on Mac's, other stories (and Autodesk personel) say it does NOT. I am buying a Apple 27" iMac Desktop Computer. Does it work on this computer?

Thanks

David

[surrair]

Read this: http://download.autodesk.com/us/aliasstudio/qualcharts/alias2011-osx.html

The only Macs that will sucessfully run Alias are Mac Pros and MacBook Pros.

I run it on a MacBook pro, it works great.

[thrash_chrisg]

im running it on my imac just fine... just make sure you have enough RAM intalled

[j-carlton]

I have seen Alias 2010 VERY successfully run on an older Mac Book Pro, one with an Nvidia graphics processor. Not many of you know how stable things were when everything ran on UNIX, the world was a better place (more expensive, yes, but better).  OSX is unix based, which brings us back that wonderful stability.

So, in anticipation of that, I just ordered a new Mac Book Pro (nicknamed Thunderbolt), which now has an AMD Radeon graphics processor. I installed a 30 day trial copy of 2011 to see how things work for myself.

The new laptop is BLAZING fast, it really is like a desktop, shades and spins heavy models with ease. BUT, whenever I try to pick anything in the modeling window (object, component, template, cv etc.) the screen shifts down, within the modeling window frame. It shifts the height of the window title bar, and I get a duplicate bar until the object actually picks, then the window shifts back up. 

It is a simple problem, but would make day to day use of the software a nightmare of frustration.   I have not found a resolution for this. Unless I can figure something out, I will be returning the new Mac Book Pro in a few days, and sticking to an older Windows cut of software. I cannot tell you how much that sucks.

Any advice welcome - I suspect it is something to do with the new GPU interface, but there is no way I know of to adjust the GPU settings on a Mac.

[marc1]

HUH??? THE NEWEST MAC BOOK PRO is not spinning Alias OK...

ANYONE using the new MacBookPro with Radeon video card, CAN YOU CONFIRM Alias performs OK, 

AND/OR mention any significant bugs such as the one related by j-carlton.

J-Carlton, did you find a work-around?

THANKS!

AMD Radeon HD 6490M graphics processor with 256MB of GDDR5 memory on 2.0GHz configuration

or AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics processor with 1GB of GDDR5 memory on 2.2GHz configuration

[BillStephens8231]

Marc,

Here's links to the Mac hardware qualification charts for the last two releases (including v2012 released last week):

http://download.autodesk.com/us/aliasstudio/qualcharts/alias2011-osx.html

http://download.autodesk.com/us/aliasstudio/qualcharts/alias2012-osx.htm

Neither mentions the 6490 or the 6750 card that you've specified.  You may need to get one of the cards listed in order for Alias to function properly.

[j-carlton]

Thanks for the link to the chart. I am familiar with it and find it quite disappointing that Autodesk lists Mac qualifications for "2012" branded software that are out of date in the first quarter of 2011.

There are no more Nvidia cards in the Mac Book Pros.  They only offer the two AMD cards (formerly called ATI), HD 6490M and HD 6750M. Do I like this inflexibility? No, but that's the way it is.

If AD wants to be serious about the portable Mac market, they should get a better grip on that ball.  If they don't want to be serious, and continue to focus on big institutional windows/desktop based clients, I understand, but think that would be very short sighted.

Work-arounds to try: turn off title bar in all view windows, don't use default hardware shade lighting.  This helped, but didn't solve the issues.   If anyone finds anything additional or contrary, I would love to hear it.

Maybe I'll try again in 2013.   

[schowlund]

I don't believe 2013 will help you. The problem lies in the Graphic Card Driver developed by AMD. There has always been problems with the ATI/AMD cards.

Like someone else here says, I am also running Alias on a MBP Pro, older version, with Nvidia, and have no problems at all. But, as long as I don't read specific good news, I will not get an AMD card. Which, for the time being, means no Apple. It sucks!

Did you try turning off the View Cube, reverting back to the old View Panel? Did you try working in Fullscreen Mode? All Anti-aliasing off?

Keep us informed. Thanks!

Erik.

[JPGDesigner]

I'm running 2011 on a new macbook pro and I notice a huge problem of trying to select objects, curves, cv's inside the window and the screen staggers downward and and the selection process becomes totally misaligned and unmanageable.   It's a huge annoyance when trying to select something in a cluster or dismantle an objects made of many pieces.  Is this what you were referring to?  I hope this gets fixed really soon or I just wasted over 3k on a new macbook pro.  It was a knee jerk purchase that I may regret.   Anyone have an idea if 2010 will work better.  I used 2010 on my much older Mac Pro and completely ignored 2011 until I got the new computer.  

J

[schowlund]

2010 will ***NOT*** work better. The problem lies in the driver for your AMD graphics card. The only "solution" is, unfortunately, to buy a computer with an Nvidia card.

I believe the Autodesk guys have talked to AMD, and I believe the AMD do not care.

[JPGDesigner]

BTW Turning off the Title Bar info Helped A LOT so far....I've gotten excited about resolutions in the past, but soon discovered my excitement to be premature... Keeping my fingers crossed for now.

J

[schowlund]

It may also be worth trying to switch to Windows Classic theme as well as working in Full Screen mode. Please give us feedback on this.

Erik.

[j-carlton]

I see Alias 2012 is listed as qualified for the Mac Book Pro Graphics card. The AMD(ATI) HD 6750M.

Does anyone have any runtime with this setup?

If so, have the previous glitches mentioned above actually been resolved in 2012??

http://download.autodesk.com/us/aliasstudio/qualcharts/alias2012-osx.htm

[DiPE]

Alias 2015 happily runs on my iMac 27"

[jojabw]

Hello,

I am currently running Alias Design happily on a 2013 Macbook pro (MBP) 2.7GHz with NVIDIA 650m and it has worked well over the years, but I am thinking of getting a new Mac and want to choose an option that will run Alias well.

I am looking at the following:

- 2017 MBP 3.1GHz with Radeon 560 graphics

- Mac 27" 4.2GHz with Radeon 580 graphics

- Imac Pro 10+ core with Radeon pro 64

I have read that Radeon is not supported but I have also read of Alias running well on the Imac but I'm not sure which year or GPU. I have also looked for info on GPU performance for Alias on Macs but it seems quite scant and especially on the newer MBP and Imac pro. Does anybody have any experience with any of the above machines?

Any help is highly appreciated!

Thanks

James

[bob55]

Just a warning.  If you haven't upgraded to  High Serra, don't.  There is a hang we've found with OSX running with NVidia graphics.  We have not seen problem on Radeon graphics, althought there was one guy on the forums which had a problem. 

[systembolaget]

Alias 2016 and above work well for us on Apple MacBook Pro Retina 15" 2015, but we're using them as Windows 10 machines. The AMD Radeon R9 M370X makes no trouble.