Best comp for C4D for $12,000?

[Randy Johnson]

I have a loaded G5 with no complaints but pretty much anything from Boxx would be on my wish list.
https://boxxtech.com/

/Randy

[Adam Trachtenberg]

Yep, I’d say an octo core G5 or Boxx would be the best bet, with a good nVidia consumer-level video card, a bunch of RAM, and a 64 bit OS. Add an Apple 30″ Cinema display and you’re good to go. Can probably add two or three more boxes for net rendering with that budget.

[Nicholas Toth]

I agree with Adam, get a loaded octo-core mac, with a decent graphics card and a nice display. A client I work with has loaded out two octos w/32 gigs of ram and there isn’t much burping in the C4d Side. Also, BUY REFURB, you’ll get more for your money from Apple, and get Applecare. Its relatively cheap for a tower and a display.

And I can’t emphasize enough that even the smallest of render farms makes a huge difference. Today I loaded up 5 low end macs and 2 mediocre macs to a Cinema server, and we went from a potential 5/6 hour render on a quad down to 35 minutes. And you can network render to quicktime files, which I like to do in the ‘quick mockup’ process. Its the easiest render farm/server process I’ve ever worked with, because you can literally just drop the Maxon folder onto machines, and run the render client no problem.

Nicholas Toth
Freelance Animator
nicholastoth.com

[Simon Hutchinson]

Thankyou for all your advice. I was wondering whether there would be any issues net rendering using a new Mac Pro octo (intel) as my workstation and my current mac g5 quad (PPC) as a render node?

I seem to remember someone saying there may be issues across different chip sets?

[Randy Johnson]

I dont know about the technical aspects but I have have that situation plus an office full of different PC´s.
So my test renders I run across them all just to see whats happening but you get artifacts and sometimes slightly different positions between the computers frames…so I render the final version off one computer and it seems to work fine. Hopefully someone will give you complete answer.
/randy

[Frank Steffenhagen]

I was wondering why no one mentions things like Apples Xserve. Is Boxx superior in that aspect? Glad if anyone could enlighten me on that one…

Thanks for your time. Cheers

Frank

[Adam Trachtenberg]

As I understand the problems arise because didn’t fpu’s calculate random numbers differently, so you mainly have issues with things like particles and some xpresso setups.

[Shawn Miller]

I have yet to find a better systems integrator/builder than Bold Data Systems (https://www.boldata.com/catalog.cfm/page/workstations).

Their support is top notch and their prices are VERY competitive.

I’m forced to use Dell workstations at work (with C4D, AE CS3, RealFlow, etc)… but I choose to use Bold Data PCs at home. I think you’ll probably find a few satisfied Cow members and leaders who have also had positive experiences with Bold Data.

Thanks,

Shawn

[Sor Socheth]

Whatever system you chose, with that budget, don’t chose mac sys at all.

I’m a freelance. I travel alot and see many big cahoona studios. Most of them are pc oriented. If you don’t believe me ask someone whose in the industry.

There are unlimited specical effect plugs and apps available for pc.

I own both hi end mac and pc clone. mac being my backup purpose.

Keep this in mind: Reg. ECC ram is a must have.
CPU with higher cache is a must have.
GPU graphic card is a must have.
SCSI/Raid is a must have.
Fujitsu keyboard recommended.
Mac 30 in. recommended.

Don’t over look anything or oh its works the same thing. Whats in your computer are your investment. Its good to know a little bit about computer. You can’t depend on the tech all the time.

Sor

Blu-Ray today

[Randy Johnson]

I disagree on the mac statement everywhere i have been is a mixed mac/pc enviroment and if we are talking about an industry standard we most likely would not be in Cinema 4D forum. How many programs and plug Ins are Pc only these days? and there is no reason you cannot boot your Mac with windows too. A mac will give you more options if you need them…personally I have never needed all the options but… and I remain with my suggestion of a Pc but dont rule out a mac for the sake of an industry standard…unless you plan on learning Maya.

/randy