<p>I'm going to be an incoming visualization and animation major next fall and I can't decide on whether to get a pc or a Mac. </p>
<p>Obviously mac's are considered better for viz majors, but I'm also more comfortable with pcs, though I've used macs and am fine on them. I prefer the pc setup and also use my pc for gaming, which macs aren't as good on. And macs are more expensive than pcs. </p>
<p>So I guess basically is it worth the extra money/worse (in my opinion) operating system for the obvious artistic advantages?</p>
<p>Check with your school. Most schools want everyone on the same system whether it’s Mac or PC.</p>
<p>They leave it up to personal preference.</p>
<p>All the art kids I know use Macs.</p>
<p>One other thought, find out what the “hirers” in your field use. Call an animation studio, a big one. Heck call information and get Pixar’s number. Ask them what they use or recommend. Another thought: your focus should be on what’s best for your choice of study and not what works best for gaming. Yes, Macs are more expensive but they are the industry standard in print and graphics. As for animation, I’m not sure, but I’m with the other poster, most schools want art students to have Macs. I’m not as familiar with FX, it’s possible your equipment will be specific to the industry and not Mac or PC based but I believe Ringling uses Macs and I know they have a fantastic hire record.</p>
<p>As I said, call even some local places if you’re in a small town that hire artists, some design studios or such and ask them what they use. If you spend 4 years working on a PC to find that everyone wants people with MAC experience when it comes to hiring you’re knocking yourself out of the loop right at the start. An employer, no matter how great your portfolio is, is going to not want to train someone on a different system if they don’t have to. And in the real/working world time is money. You need to come prepared. So I would investigate this pretty thoroughly before moving ahead on a PC.</p>
<p>WashU force you to buy their Mac with the software they want you to learn. It is bad, even you have a mac, you have to buy a new one. But that is their some major maybe “design” I do not remember clearly.</p>
<p>I’m RB119’s daughter, We use macs at MCAD, don’t buy one until you know what the school wants you to use, and if you get one in a package. I had a roomie who bought hers beforehand and had to return it because we get macs with the programs already loaded onto them. If you’re allowed to choose, get whatever you’re more comfortable with. Macs are more expensive, but part of that is because Apple is sort of a business cult. Pull one apart and the parts individually are as cheap as a PC’s. As long as you have a good amount of RAM, both computers run a program just as well. I’ve gotten used to, and now highly prefer my mac, but all you’re really buying is the operating system and how the system runs. In my experience, macs are more stable, but macs also hate you trying to get into their insides. You can’t really mod anything, whereas with a PC you could build it entirely from the ground up. Artsmarts has a good idea to call around. Macs are very intuitive though, I don’t think I’ve ever heard about being trained to use them. I suggest separating your gaming from your work computer, animation eats hard drive space quickly as you know, and you don’t want your games to also be eating the same space, unless you’re running everything from externals. If I wasn’t a casual gamer, I’d have my mac for work, and a custom PC for gaming.</p>
<p>Yeah I have a custom pc built from scratch at home but I don’t really want to bring it because it’s big, loud, etc and I don’t think it’d like a dorm room. </p>
<p>As for knowing how to work macs, I’ve already taken classes using macs from the highschool and they’re pretty self-explanatory. My biggest issue is that most of what apple makes tends to be easy to break (ie their iPhones, iPods, etc) when dropped. I realize I shouldnt go around throwing either a pc or Mac laptop but I do have slippery fingers and am clumsy and I just dont want to shell out the extra money on a Mac only to have to buy a new one/get it fixed by the geniuses every year when pcs are easier to fix by yourself and might break less overall. </p>
<p>And I know our program expect each person to buy their own and by the softwares on their own. 
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<p>Again I just don’t know if the extra money is really worth it. I mean, as far as I know everything that runs on a Mac runs on a pc, right? Does anyone know WHY macs are so preferred by the art community?</p>
<p>Well, a lot of art schools highly recommend/force you to using a mac, and most professional, design work seems to also be done on macs. I’m not sure why though.</p>
<p>As for apple products’ durability, I think the only problem is the screens of iPhones/iPod touches shattering for some people. None of my apple products have ever broken, including my macbook, which I’ve dropped at least 5 times, without a case.</p>
<p>I’m not really talking about being able to “use” a Mac, your generation is so computer savy that’s it’s a no-brainer for you guys. I’m referring really to asking people whether they recommend being Mac savvy in terms of animation programs that might be Mac specific. That might not be an issue anymore, the compatibility between Macs and PCs might make all programs workable on either venue. Or perhaps the animation studios use PCs. </p>
<p>But in terms of being competitive in the workplace if there are programs and ways of working that are specific to Mac being used in the workplace then you might want to come out of school very Mac capable. It used to be that animation labs used industry specific computers and that may still be true, I’m out of the loop now. But from what I’ve heard the desktop computers (ie Macs) are used also but I suspect there are still industry specific computers also.</p>
<p>I’m just saying call and find out what they look for when they hire people just out of school. It might not matter but it might and why spend 4 years losing time when you can graduate with the qualifications and background you’ll need at the get go.</p>
<p>Might I add that these sorts of phone calls are very useful. “Cold calls” are something you’ll be doing a lot in order to get work. It’s a great idea to do calls to companies in the industry while you’re still in school and practice being verbally presentable and charming enough to get put through to someone who can supply your information. These are skills you will need 4 years down the road so practice now while the stakes aren’t as high. It’ll make you less nervous when the time comes to look for work. Be upfront with the receptionist, tell them you’re going into FX and want to speak to someone who hires or works with the equipment. That you want to find out whether you’d be better off working with Macs or PCs and thought that the wisest thing would be to talk to someone in the industry. </p>
<p>You might get someone who’s not that inviting or helpful but get used to that. It’s rougher when you’re calling looking for work so it helps to thicken up that skin a bit now. More likely you’ll get someone who’s willing to give you good information. If you’re calling a large company like Pixar it might be best to talk to the people who do the hiring.</p>
<p>Yeah that makes sense. I just don’t want to shell out the extra money lol. I’ll probs call pixar and ask, because that does seem like a good idea (but a pain in the butt lol).</p>
<p>artsmarts wrote: “I believe Ringling uses Macs and I know they have a fantastic hire record.”</p>
<p>Yes, all incoming freshmen at Ringling receive a free (from an anonymous donor, not figured into tuition) fully loaded Mac which is supported/updated by IT pretty often. I would advise the OP to inquire at his program, and if they don’t specify, go with the Mac anyway.</p>