Maya on 8G Mac Mini

[Anonymous]

I'm wondering if anyone has any information with modelling/animating on the Current 8G Mac Mini's? (Specs located here: https://www.apple.com/ca/mac-mini/specs/)

They're a great price and I need to purchase as soon as possible. Any pros/cons would be greatly appreciated. 

 Thank you.

[sheasley17]

Hi @Anonymous and welcome to the community!

    The specs on these machines are ok except for the graphics card. While I'm sure it could run Maya it may struggle with complex models or animations.

    Let me know if you need any more info!

[sean.heasley]

Posted on my wrong account 

Hi @Anonymous and welcome to the community!

    The specs on these machines are ok except for the graphics card. While I'm sure it could run Maya it may struggle with complex models or animations.

    Let me know if you need any more info!

[Anonymous]

Thanks man! I'm teaching animation at the high school level and I'm slowly building a lab. Currently have 6 mac mini's now with another 6 on the way. Right now the mini's are pretty affordable for my budget, however I don't want to waste my boards money if they're not going to work. How complex is complex? Do you know a ballpark price for a pretty decent machine that would allow more complex files? I hope I don't run into too many issues down the road. 

Thanks again for the welcome!

[sean.heasley]

It all depends on how in depth you will get with the teaching. For some basic intro modeling and animation the Mac Minis should work fine albeit they may be a bit slow at times or have long render times. However if you get into higher poly meshes with animations this is when you may want stronger hardware. For a minimum I would say you want a recent i5 processor or better, at least 4GB of RAM preferably 8GB and a dedicated graphics card with at least 1GB VRAM preferably 2 or more.

This can run you up to anywhere between $500-$800 per machine but there's corners that can be cut and deals to find etc.

However if I'm not mistaken it sounds like you'll be teaching an entry level course to Maya so you should be fine 🙂

[Anonymous]

Hi i am professional animator. plz suggest me which one is better for me .mac mini m1 or intel? which one is best for maya animation?can i use mac mini for  leatest maya version?plz help me.