Alias running on M1 Pro! - Just a few problems

[malte.wohlfahrt]

Hey there, 

I’ve been desperately looking for an answer for the ever lasting question of “can I still BUY a Mac after the introduction of Apple’s M1 and STILL use Alias”.

Last week, I finally got my hands on my friend’s 2021 MacBook Pro (M1 Pro).

Within 15-20 min I had installed Parallels (Virtual Machine) which automatically installed Win 11 ARM as well.

Windows worked very well and therefore, the installation of Alias wasn’t a problem either.
I launched Alias and everything was how it’s supposed to be. I then opened a file and could perfectly use the view keys and tools, as well as the different shading modes. I also projected a few curves on the surfaces and built a few SUBDs  cubes. 
Everything was working fine and I was minutes away from buying a MacBook on the Apple website…

Problem 1)

Until I tried using the “marking menu” of the left mouse button because the menu simply wouldn’t open.

Instead, it seamed as the selection rectangle was activated by this key combination.

I connected another mouse and another keyboard to see if those were the source of the problem - but no luck with that either.

Every other marking menu worked fine except from the most important one for me. 

Problem 2)

I thought I’d might be able to find a workaround for this first problem by changing the shortcuts for the marking menus and thereby still be able to get to use the M1 Pro’s power, but that was only until I discovered the second problem:

I wanted to save the project but when I clicked on “Save”, “Save as”, “rapid prototype” or any other kind of saving/export option nothing happened. The icon on the upper left corner flashed real quick every time I clicked on one of the mentioned above options.

Also, importing a User Preference Set wasn’t working either.

Then, I updated 2022.1 to 2022.2 and also tried the 2021 version of Alias but ended up with the same problem.

@AnonymousTeam

I know there is no real support for MacOS anymore and that running Windows on a Virtual Machine can cause problems. 
But because the VM + Win worked so well and Windows 11 ARM perfectly emulated the X64 architecture that Alias needs, I can’t believe that this is a MacOS but rather an ARM-processor problem in general.

Assuming that ARM processor are the future of CPUs, I think this might be worth looking into for you.

Thanks in advance and stay safe

Malte Wohlfahrt

———————————

malte.wohlfahrt@hotmail.com

[sergio_m]

@AutoDeskTeam I am also interested to know if Alias works smoothly on MacBook M1 and if there are any performance downsides compared to a windows PC. 

[malte.wohlfahrt]

Unfortunately, I had to reconsider my plans and go for a Windows setup. 

There was no news to this topic, therefore, I decided to not put any more time into this dilemma. 

I hope there will be a solution for future ARM-powered Windows and Mac systems. 

[m.onasasani62828]

See this may be it helps https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/alias-forum/alias-2019-on-parallels-each-object-has-lines-to-the-cent...epayitonline

[malte.wohlfahrt]

Unfortunately, the person refers to running Alias on an Intel Mac, not ARM (M1)

[82068042]

Problem 1 solved!

Open the 'Preferences...' setting in PD. In 'Mouse Shortcuts', uncheck the box before the 'Secondary click'. Enjoy!

[malte.wohlfahrt]

That's one hell of a trick! Thanks for sharing this. 

This leaves us with one more problem to solve before finally being able to use M1s for Alias. 

[82068042 · Accepted solution]

Problem 2 solved.

Open the 'Configure...' in Windows 11. In the 'Sharing' section, turn off all the file sharing in both 'Share Mac' and 'Share Windows'.  The Alias 'open'/'save' functions should work then.

Enjoy!

[systembolaget]

Very interesting. Does this mean that now Alias runs under macOS with Parallels or are there still some user interface, functionality or speed problems? Reason I'm asking is I may have to transition around 30 users from Windows laptops to the latest MacBook Pros.

[malte.wohlfahrt]

Hi there, 

I haven't had the oppurtunity to try out the two solutions describe above, but it seems like it's running without any problems. 

I have to admit tho, that I find it very weird from AutoDesk to not even comment on this, since it would be a huge win for them without having to do anything. 

Maybe try and contact them directly. There MUST be at someone at Autodesk being in charge of MacOS support.

[82068042]

NO.There is another fatal problem yet.

The highest OpenGL that Mac M1 supported is 4.1. And the PD 17 only supports OpenGL 3.3. But the Alias 2023 requires the OpenGL 4.3. It causes the orientation cub icon abnormal(with split lines like polygon surfaces), and the app constantly flash quitting. Didn't find any way to solve it yet. If anyone can solve, welcome to share.

[malte.wohlfahrt]

I'm sorry to hear that.
When I did my testing with a M1 Pro MacBook Pro, Alias 2023 wasn't out yet.

[systembolaget]

Ok, that's too bad. We are/have transitioned most employees and learners to macOS, and were hoping Parallels might be the solution, as Fusion 360, Maya, Maxwell Render, etc. all run natively under macOS.

[amin.bajrektarevicQ2FBT]

I just tried Alias through Parallels on 14" M1 Pro, and sadly have huge shading problems. Some surfaces are rendered dark (black in  clay shader). With symmetry on, every surface that's normal on one side is black on the other side...

[systembolaget]

That does not sound good. I really hope there will be a solution before I have to transition all desks to macOS equipment. Otherwise, we'll have to swap to Rhino 7, lol.

[erta.]

There is another problem.  I can't manage my canvas image, alias allows me only to get the image but when I try to select object,  I can't select the canvas image. Does anyone know how to fix?

[82068042]

Haha, after I upgrade the Mac OS to the laterst version (Ventura 13.0.1), everthing seems went to perfacet now!

[darnig]

Are you saying that everything works now on Mac?

looking into upgrading right now and this is an important factor

[erta.]

I've done all of the updates, but I still having a problem about surface shader, like usetex and clay. The alias model doesn't have problem, I tried it on another pc and it works correctly. Does anyone know how to fix this problem on M1? 

[82068042]

you are right,  I found have the same problem on shader. Only modeling looks fine.