Is Windows Daz Content compatible with Mac?
faisan
Posts: 600
Hi! I do a lot of renders in Iray of Daz Studio, and my brother sugessted me to buy a Macbook, because renders are better and faster in Mac equipment, so I'm considering to buy a Macbook, but all my content is in Windows.
So, I'd like to know if all my Daz content in Windows is compatible with Mac, I mean, if I'd copy the full "My DAZ 3D Library" folder directly to the Mac folder content, my content would be compatible in Mac?
Also, I know the Windows route of the Daz Content is C:/Users/Public access/Public Documents/My DAZ 3D Library. Does Mac have the same route?
And is it true in Mac Books renders are better and faster?
Excuse all my questions but I've never had a Mac, and I'd like to know these details before take a decision.
Thanks!
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Iray renders are fastest with an NVIDIA graphics card, which Macs do not have. So no, renders are not faster on Macs.
This is very much the truth. I switched over from Mac a little less than a year ago after having used only apple for about 10 years, in part because I wanted to enjoy the advantages of IRAY.
That said, while there are a few products that explicitly say "Works only on Windows", the vast majority run fine on both without having to be reinstalled (if you have an external disk).
Ok. Thank you for your replies guys. Then, I'm going to reconsider to move to Mac.
Note the previous replies - Iray is not faster on the Mac, it's limited to CPU on newer machines and will be slower than on a Windows machine with a decent nVidia GPU. If Iray is your main reason then stick with Windows and consider using the money for a GPU upgrade.
Thank you for the advice. I'll keep it in mind.
I'm using a 27" late 2013 iMac. It has a 1 GB nVidia graphics card. I totally admit my system is rather pitiful when it comes to using DAZ Studio. That's why my next computer will be a PC.
I would avoid using a Notebook computer for DAZ Studio. A desktop tower computer gives you much more room for the better GPU, etc.
@taiuri "my brother sugessted me:
I'd probably stop listening to my brother since he hasn't done the researech or paid any attention to the world of Macs/PCs.
I just read another thread of speculations about the new not-out-yet 30-series NVidia cards. The thing's a monster — I don't think it would fit in anything smaller than a tower case.
What requirements would you suggest me my new equipment must have in order to my renders in Iray are better and faster, guys?
We don't know your budget... but imho
GPU: GeForce GTX1660 (or higher) with 6GB (or more) memory. More CUDA cores => faster render. All your 3D scene should fit in GPU's memory, in other case DazStudio will be switched to CPU Render, which is slow.
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600
RAM: 16Gb and more
Thank you for the information. It'll be very useful for me.
You welcome. :)
I am amused that people in this thread thought iMacs don't have nVidia cards! My 2007 IMac had a useless 1/2 GB video card, This 2013 iMac has a 1GB nVidia Card (yeah it doesn't help iRay at all!)
Hi @taiuri !
My two cents. I made the first half of my products with MacBookPro's and everything else works really well on Macs, except rendering. I now have a 2018 MacBook Pro and a Windows laptop with nVidia 1080 card. They both share my dev content folders via dropbox, the content is compatible (some plugins require Win64, though). If I remember right my Win Laptop with the older nVidia 1080 card renders the scenes about 16 times faster than my 2018 MacBook Pro. Iray really needs nVidia.
No one said iMacs never had Nvidia cards. Recent macs don't have them anymore though.
Then I suppose a late 2013 iMac is not considered "recent?!"
I wouldn't consider that "recent", no. 6 years is pretty long when talking about computers.
If you walk into an Apple store, buy the most recent Mac, go home and come back the next day and they ask you which model you own, they'll look at you like "you still have one of those?"...
Just fooling... or maybe not... I don't know... I've own Macs for decades and that exact thing hasn't actually happened to me, but sometimes that's how it feels.
I did once have a Apple Genius tell me a three year old iMac was "old", but in recent years they seem less judgmental... actually this past holiday season I purchased some Apple products and the clerk (iCleck?) admitted he was "more of a PC" person after he couldn't answer a particular question... I stepped back immediately because I expected shiny white iBorg Deathbots to materialize and snatch him away... that and he was wearing a red shirt and in the store's stark white "J.J. Abrams Trek" looking environment, you don't wanna be standing too close to a guy wearing a red shirt and black pants... especially not when there were loads of Klingons in the store as it was. I really gotta stop going to malls on other planets.
If you've only ever used Mac, be prepared for a little culture shock moving to PC. Some simple things are a little different until you get used to them.
As for hardware configuration recommendations, there are lots of theads here with lots of suggestions. I live on a small fixed income and survived quite nicely with used (at least 7 years old) PCs adapted and updated to have hardware adequate for running DAZ Studio except for an IRay capable card. A few months ago though, I finally broke down and decided to get a proper DAZzing computer and looked at the prices of off-the-shelf or commercially pre-built custom models. The price of an adequate system always seemed to bottom out at about $1200 US. I'm an old computer nerd from the '70s so I thought I could save money by building my own system. So I bought my first new computer in 20 years by piecing it together from catalog bought parts per suggestions of an on-line parts compatability website ( https://pcpartpicker.com/ ) I stuck with known brands and tried to get middle or high grade parts. I was successful and finally pieced together a system, when all done (after 4 months), for $1400 US.
So, not necessarily a money or time saver, and it was a risk of failure or damage, but I took my time doing research and assembly. And even after it was functional, I added additional parts weeks or months later to finalize it. In the end though, I'm happy with it.
But for even a non-professional DAZzing machine, like others have said before me, I recommend at least a graphic card with an nVidea 1660 chip and 6GB of graphic memory (what I have). Computer's CPU should have at least 4 or 6 sub-processors. RAM should be at least 16GB. Internal storage should be at least 2TB total. If supported by your motherboard, you should take advantage of the new "M.2 NVMe SSD NAND" solid-state drive technology (so very much faster than spinning hard drives) and get at least a 500GB module of it for the operating system. I have two, a 500GB for the OS and a 1TB for rapid access data, as well as an internal 2TB standard 7200RPM spinning hard drive for backups, and a 4GB external spinning drive for duplicate backup and archive.
Note: "M.2" is physical connector type. "NVMe" is interface data transfer protocol. "SSD" is Solid-State Drive memory storage class. "NAND" (or v-NAND) is particular storage technology. I stuck with known brands like Samsung or Crucial. I used the more expensive Samsung EVO 970 models in my DAZzing machine. But I also have had good experience with the 40% cheaper Crucial MX500 standard 2.5 inch SATA connector SSDs (slower than M.2 NVMe but still several times faster than spinning drives) in my older machines so I would also trust their (also 40% cheaper) M.2 NVMe versions. Regardless of whether your new system has any M.2 sockets, you should have at least one SSD in your system. It makes a big difference in day to day operational speeds. And breathes new life into older machines.
Only if you remember computers with rows of lights and switches on the front panel.
I really love my Mac, but for most 3D tasks a Mac sucks.
For Daz I really recommend a PC.
People, what are you talking about? IRAY needs CUDA cores. If your GPU has no CUDA cores, that means NO IRAY RENDERIG at all. That's why you need NVIDIA GeForce 10 series cards or later (16 series or 20 series). 10 years old NVIDIA cards has no CUDA cores. Only since 2016. GTX, RTX, Ampere... More cores means faster rendering. AMD's RADEON cards has no CUDA's.
MAC or PC content? That question is about software, not content. If Daz Studio works on MAC, all content SHOULD WORK on MAC too. If it's not, that means DS not working on MAC. Who need DS on MAC without content?
If MAC computers has NVIDIA cards with CUDA cores, IRAY rendering should work on them.
I use desktop PC because I can upgrade it easily when I need: change CPU, GPU, add RAM, add second GPU etc. etc.
CUDA cores and a sufficiently recent chip are needed for GPU rendering - CPU rendering is still an option regardless.
No, that means no Iray rendering with the GPU but you can still do Iray renders with the CPU. It's slower but it does work.
According to my experience you need GPU with CUDA anyway. I don't now why, but my CPU can not render in IRAY without GPU.
Maybe we need to talk about what CPUs supports IRAY rendering.
But I'm pretty much sure NO CUDA => NO IRAY
Again, I rendered in CPU mode very often (because of low GPU's memory), but without GPU that was impossible. I will check this one day.
There are lots of people who do Iray renders with computers which don't have NVidia GPU at all. So no, no CUDA doesn't mean no Iray.
In DS? ok, maybe you right. But why I had problems? I need to check this. But look at this
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NVIDIA® Iray® is an intuitive physically based rendering technology that generates photorealistic imagery for interactive and batch rendering workflows. Leveraging AI denoising, CUDA®, NVIDIA OptiX™, and Material Definition Language (MDL), Iray delivers world-class performance and impeccable visuals—in record time—when paired with the newest NVIDIA RTX™-based hardware.
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/design-visualization/iray/
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CUDA® ....
Yes, in DS. And yes, I'm sure, because I'm one of them (though I rarely use Iray, I like 3DL better). No idea why you have problems on your system.
That blurb means it takes advantage of CUDA and Nvidia hardware when available, not that it doesn't work without it.