FXhome’s HitFilm has made good strides into film-editing suites on Windows, but has always been a windows-only application. Lots of reasons (I don’t want to get into “PC Rules, Mac Drools” arguments) exist for this, but with modern equipment and Microsoft’s new “features” like Windows8, they acknowledge that it’s time for a Mac version. They’ve been working on it internally and mostly completed the project, but have opened it to kickstarter for a quick community-infusion of excitement (and cash) to finish it off, to the tune of £25,000.
The vast majority of the Mac version will be funded by FXhome. We’ve already invested heavily in the initial R&D. The challenge is in the immediate cost to equip our developers with the essential hardware, development tools, software licenses and test machines needed to create the Mac version.
That’s where we need your help.
This Kickstarter gives us the boost we need right now to accelerate development. It allows us to keep the software affordable and speed up development so that HitFilm Mac comes out this year.
Most people know that Autodesk Maya will run on multiple platforms (Windows, Mac, and Linux), but most people don’t know how to get a single Backburner install rendering across multiple platforms simultaneously. In a new video over at Maya Station he covers how to get Mac & Windows going together.
In this video I explain two key components to get this up and running. The first is setting the correct path to Maya’s render command so both Windows and Mac OS can use the same command when submitting the job. The second task here is to mount a samba drive on Mac OS. In the video I show a simple method of gettng this done but you will loose the mount at reboot. To keep the mount through reboot I suggest you lookingto launchctl command and how to use it.
It’s not a perfect tutorial, a bit fast in places and he trips over a few typos here and there. The steps he takes tho could probably work for getting a Linux machine in the loop as well.
NVidia’s been pretty vocal over the last year with things like Parallel Nsight for Visual Studio and other impressive tools for debugging GPU and CUDA code under Windows, but OSX has been left out. No more is that the case as NVidia just squeaks under the 2010 timeframe with a beta of ‘cuda-gdb’ for OSX.
cuda-gdb works just like gdb, extending existing gdb commands like thread, print, step, etc. to work naturally with GPGPU programming constructs. Additional GPU specific commands like info cuda threads, info cuda warps and info cuda devices, and more provide deeper insight into how your code is being executed on the GPU. cuda-gdb also works great within Emacs and DDD.
Some eagle-eyed forum posters noticed a new product crop up on the Apple Store the other day: The coveted Quadro 4000 for Mac. For only $1,199.95 you got:
256 CUDA cores 2GB of high-speed memory GPU accelerated professional applications DaVinci Resolve, Autodesk Smoke and Mathworks Matlab
Experience native Quadro professional 3D graphics performance when running Windows based applications using Boot Camp
Low-power, single-slot design allowing for up to two cards
Of course, it was an accidental posting on the site and is now removed. You can follow the old (now broken) link here, but I’ve posted a picture of the details from Google’s Cache above.
Looks like it won’t be long before Apple fans can get some warm Fermi goodness in their CS5.
Autodesk has just announced AutoCAD for Mac is now available, after first announcing it back in August. Even more impressive, it’s free for 3 years, if you can live with a little watermark. Otherwise, educational institutions can get it (in a Perpetual license) for only $395.
Students and educators have 2 smart options for getting their hands on AutoCAD for Mac. You can download the software for free* on the Education Community or purchase it with a perpetual license and no watermarks for 90%** off suggested retail price from the Autodesk Store.
Way to go Autodesk! Lots of companies offer educational discounts, but it’s typically through 3rd parties. I’ve never seen anyone offer a “perpetual” license for 90% off.
In a move guaranteed to make millions of Apple fanbois jump up and down with joy, Autodesk has announced that the next version of AutoCAD (2011) will return to the MAC, and even be accompanied by a new version called Autocad WS for the iPad and iPhone.
“The release of AutoCAD for Mac marks the return of professional design and engineering software to the Mac platform and an important convergence of power and design,” said Amar Hanspal, senior vice president, Autodesk Platform Solutions and Emerging Business. “Over 5000 customers have helped develop this product through our beta program and they are delighted to have the choice of a native Mac version of AutoCAD.”
It will support everything the windows version has, and even add in some new features for the new gesture-friendly interfaces Apple has released like the Magic Mouse and the Magic Trackpad.
Autodesk is bringing their premiere CAD design and modeling package back to the Mac after over a decade of being a Windows Exclusive. Many people don’t know that it used to run on Apple hardware, but now they will have the chance to try it again. Images and videos are popping up all around the net showing the new beta version, and the results are promising if not a bit premature.
The provider of the images state that the beta runs quite poorly, but it is the first beta available and there is plenty of time for developers of the application to hone it’s performance. The beta seeding is in 64-bit and present support for Multi-Touch™ gestures.
Are you a Mac Fan that’s had to suffer for AutoCAD? Check out this preliminary video of what you may find yourself doing soon.
All of the Apple-lovers in your life have a reason to be happy today, as this is the Launch Day of Valve Software’s Steam platform for Mac (which we’ve been anxiously awaiting for 3 months!). Not only the game distribution platform, but some of their most popular games. On launch (today) they have Portal, and a 3rd party title named Torchlight. They plan to release new games every Wednesday as they continue to port their library of games to the new platform. But games aren’t the only thing:
In addition to bringing the online functionality of Steam to the Mac, Valve will also make its Steamworks suite of publishing and development tools available on the Mac platform. These include product key authentication, copy protection, auto-updating, social networking, matchmaking, anti-cheat technology, and more. The features and services available in Steamworks are offered free of charge and may be used for both electronic and tangible versions of games.
One of the problems with the new MacBook Pro is that a user could not manually switch back and forth from the Intel HD graphics chip and the Nvidia GeForce GT 330M graphics card. The Intel HD graphics chip could be disabled so that the Nvidia GeForce GT 330M graphics card was the only one running. The problem was that consumed more power, and reduced battery life. Ideally a user should be able to switch back and forth manually. Anandtech has found a possible solution to this with gfxCardStatus, which is currently at version 1.6.1.
With version 1.6 comes the ability to manually change GPUs on the fly, whenever users desire. That’s right, you can manually change from the discrete GT 330M back to the more energy-efficient Intel HD graphics even from applications that otherwise cause an automatic switchover. This is a huge boon to mobile road warriors that want to wring every last minute out of their batteries if need be.
Recently we have talked about Apple’s new MacBook Pro line. What is interesting about the new laptops is that they can switch from Intel’s graphics chips (which are low power and thus are good for long battery life) to Nvidia’s GeForce GT 330M. The Nvidia chip uses more power, which cuts down on battery life, but it is also more powerful in terms of graphics capability. Anandtech has looked at this graphics switching technology, and found some problems with it.
The fact that the new MacBook Pro’s discrete GPU won’t power down if you have an application like Photoshop open flies in the face of this leave-your-apps-open usage model.
In other words, if you leave an application open, even if it is idle and in the background, that is using the Nvidia GPU, then your battery life will suffer. This can occur not only with Photoshop, but also sometimes happens with a web browser like Firefox.
NVidia’s been pretty vocal over the last year with things like Parallel Nsight for Visual Studio and other impressive tools for debugging GPU and CUDA code under Windows, but OSX has been left out. No more is that the case as NVidia just squeaks under the 2010 timeframe with a beta of ‘cuda-gdb’ for OSX.
Autodesk has just announced AutoCAD for Mac is now available, after first announcing it 
In a move guaranteed to make millions of Apple fanbois jump up and down with joy, Autodesk has announced that the next version of AutoCAD (2011) will return to the MAC, and even be accompanied by a new version called Autocad WS for the iPad and iPhone.
All of the Apple-lovers in your life have a reason to be happy today, as this is the Launch Day of Valve Software’s Steam platform for Mac (which we’ve been anxiously awaiting 
VizWorld.com 
Comments