OS thread

After reading a bit and asking some people about the subject, it seems the ''Windows is better than Mac'' fad has already died outside of the internet. I'm looking for the best OS for animation (3D, 2D).

It seems Mac is utter shit for 3D animation, speed and rendering but is actually good for sound production and graphic designing.

I know I'm going to get tons of Linux fanboyism but the real problem about this OS is the multimedia software variety, it's very limited.

Can we have a logical discussion here for once and see the strengths and shits of the three for desktop/laptops?

>Can we have a logical discussion here for once

No.

honestly, on a single-user, home computing basis, it's a matter of personal preference and software availability

macs will obviously suffer for 3D because of issues related to hardware rather than software, Apple has never really gone after that crowd, they're historically god-tier for all things 2D

Nope

something to add though, I don't really imagine Linux is lacking in "multimedia" software, more it's lacking in popular, general-use software for that genre

lots of IRIX software vendors like discreet and softimage/alias/whatever (most of that shit got swallowed up by autodesk) migrated over to Linux when SGI was on its last circle 'round the drain

Install funtoo

Linux lacks Pro Tools and 3D max, two of the most important software programs for sound and 3D.

>the most important software programs for sound and 3D.
and you and I both know that is up to many more agonizingly pointless years of debate

besides, there are nonetheless plenty of other capable nonfree tools available on the platform, including other Autodesk offerings like Maya that "professionals" seem to get by with just fine

Is there a direct replacement for Pro Tools, and what exactly makes macs so good for sound production?

Windows

>Is there a direct replacement for Pro Tools
don't know, like anything else it really depends on what you're doing with it, though if you're using it to its "full extent"? probably not, most of what is available is available because it was grandfathered in from the Unix era, and those systems were not very often used for real high-end audio work outside of maybe SGI and NeXT

>and what exactly makes macs so good for sound production?
probably a lot of the same reasons it is hailed as the end all be all for 2D; it's established. the Macintosh (and ST) kicked PC ass in the '80s and early '90s for sound work, the image stuck, and if I remember right OS X still handles sound a little more effectively under the hood than NT does

There's no true replacement for PT under Linux. Assuming you're talking about the PT HD and not ProTools (formerly PTLE/M-Powered), then you're looking at a DAW with heavy hardware integration and there simply is nothing like that for Linux. Now, going with the stripped down versions you could always go with Tracktion or maybe even EnergyXT. But if you have to be an FOSS-tard about it there's always Ardour.

>finder
>using smiley with carat nose

disgusting

...

yeah I figured, as I said, a lot of the modern Linux professional software base is from the Unix era, and that shit wasn't really used a lot for audio like Macs were

>muh multimedia software
Why does everyone always mention this? Surely not everyone on Sup Forums is a graphic designer who needs photoshop? I don't know a single person who uses it in real life.

Paid winshills grasping at straws to discredit GNU.

>but you don't need that!
you don't need a computer in your home at all, consumer technology is a luxury

besides, computers are tools designed to serve a purpose, and if they don't do what you want, then why the fuck are you wasting your time with them?

I didn't mention 'need' you faggot.

Wait... Yes I did. I didn't mean to mention it.

Yeah, I use clay for my 3D animations, fuck software, fuck technology.

You misunderstand. If people actually use the software, all well and good, but I seriously doubt the amount of people who mention it actually use it, because it's the constant knee-jerk reaction example.

Oh look, paid shills mad at people calling out their bullshit and using more bullshit to try to counter it and horribly failing.

I'm sorry, Microsoft, I don't need your shit OS to edit pictures, videos, music, etc. I may not have the "approved" software that runs on your spyware shit OS, but it fucking works just fine.

Now leave.

If you're doing animation for solely your own entertainment and/or ad a hobby, pick the platform you currently use. If your aim is to be a professional 3d/2d/vfx artist one day, I suggest you go with windows because all the leading 3D software is multi platform, all the adobe software is multi platform, hiudini is multi platform, so in the end it comes down to performance and windows machines have an objectively better price-performance ratio than macs.

But as I said, if you aren't going to be a professional one day, you might as well use linux and blender, which is a really capable tool and linux is a great operating system.

Source: am a professional animator/editor/vfx artist, dual boot linux for everything else other than work and gaming.

Pardon my fuck-awful spelling. I'm still getting used to my phones keyboard. Also, english isn't my native tongue.

Don't forget grandma
«open a terminal and type this:
Sudo apt-get install Solitaire»

She's probably don't know what is a terminal, don't know how to open it, and don't know the root password

I'm actually studying animation, lmao, I do want to go pro. Wikipedia says that most major animation companies use Linux... I'm not sure about that.

don't get me wrong, you have a valid point most of the time, though really, sometimes that professional software does have a feature or two that comes in handy for a given job, or some users simply prefer different interfaces

>SHILL! SHILL!
what the fuck are you even talking about? nowhere in that post was I even mentioning anything to do with software, I'm shitting on your hyper-rational perspective and use case projecting, applying your point to its ultimate conclusion

Why are you replying to yourself and other anons who didn't even talk to you?

Linux has some competent tools, and afaik most of the rendering clusters are linux-based but all the pro software (that is used in all the big houses) is commercial. Houdini, for example, is pretty much the standard tool in all VFX animation and it is proprietary. They do have a free version if you have a win/mac machine and it's quite competent really.

In the end it doesn't matter what tool you pick up and learn if you're REALLY GREAT with it, but realistically, if you want to be a pro and/or want to work in a firm, you really need to learn those industry standard tools, because most of the times they're practically a requirement for many jobs.

The big American film companies do, to varying degrees. I know DreamWorks uses Linux as workstations, but then others might just use it to do massive amounts of rendering and stuff.

But then, those big film studios are only a subset of the entire animation industry, so it might be different in other areas, eg. where they might need/want to have a single platform that supports other software, not just software for animation, and also smaller companies that can't afford to have the staff for 10 Linux / 40 Windows machines compared to 1,000 Linux / 4,000 Windows machines, economy of scale sort of thing.

I just suspect a lot of people who talk about it on Sup Forums don't really use it, they're just those types of people who hoard pirated shit on their computer, "just in case."

...what? that's my post they're replying to

Basically, use whatever you need (except mac) depending on the situation you are working on?

Thought you were the guy complaining about people complaining about Linux's multimedia software limited variety.

From my experience smaller firms usually tend to use windows but there are a few exceptions.

Yeah. I suggest you go with windows as Houdini, After Effects, 3ds max, C4D and all those are on windows. If the firm you end up in uses mac, its highly likely that they still use the same software in which point you already know them anyway.

>most major animation companies use Linux... I'm not sure about that.
They do, mostly on the CG side, since most of those tools like Maya, Softimage (formerly), flame et al. were originally on unices like IRIX and Solaris and later ported over to Linux systems after Intel and Red Hat murdered Unix.

is very right though, small businesses/studios will overwhelmingly be Windows and Mac-dominated, they do the job well enough.

I don't want to sound like fanboyism but after making a lot of research about FOSS tools I found much of the industrial strength tools in the Linux world are a bit different but very well competent.

Take for example VST's, they are very well available if you know were to look. The problem is they come in a different "package", because in the Linux world everything comes as a separate software.

Another example is having a tool that handles pure audio editing like Audacity (also deals with vst), a synthesizer like ZynAddSubFX, a software sampler like Hydrogen, and apart all that, the DAW that would be LMMS. Is not anything like you are use to but often the developers themselves let a very logical integration in the software.