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Forums >> Workflow & Implementation >> Hardware >> Revit on a MacBook Pro with retina display
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Joined: Mon, Mar 26, 2012
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I plan on getting a new computer soon and I'm almost 100% sure I'm getting a 15 inch MBP with retina display.
Here are the specks:
2.4GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
Turbo Boost up to 3.4GHz
8GB 1600MHz memory
256GB flash storage1
Intel HD Graphics 4000
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1GB of GDDR5 memory
Built-in battery (7 hours)2
I need this computer for mostly other things but I would alson like to run revit architecture from time to time.
Does anyone else have the same setup as I would like to get?
I have revit installed on my older iMac, late 2009 if it matters. I run it through parallels. And it actually does ok.
Would it be better to run revit through boot camp? And would I encounter any problems with it?
While I don't use revit much. I do love rendering. And that takes up the most time on my old computer. I spend hours and hours rendering. Would this new
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Joined: Mon, Mar 26, 2012
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Would this new computer help that? Thanks for any help.
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Joined: Sun, Mar 17, 2013
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doesent rendering just take a freakishly long time if you want the best quality?
Depending on how many artificial lights and so on I got I can render a highquality picture in about 2 hours. If I start on the custom, well...lets just say that I can get a good nights sleep before it´s finished rendering...
Dont know, really. I got an ASUS I7 sandy bridge up to 3,2 ghz i think 8 gb memory. with a nvidia geforce GT540M 2GB.
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Joined: Fri, Jun 28, 2013
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Run it in boot camp. By running in boot camp, Windows has access to ALL of yuor system memory and stuff. If you run in parallels, Windows can only access half your ram and processer.
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Alright. Awesome I knew that. Thanks for your help. I just got my MacBook the other day!
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Your quite welcome. I recommend using Windows 8. It uses significantly less RAM and CPU time than Windows 7
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Joined: Mon, Mar 26, 2012
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Alright thanks. Any other tips? Anything could help.
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My other tip is to render through Autodesks Cloud Rendering Service. It will save you DAYS of rendering time.
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As another tip, Revit will render the FULL depth at which you extend the camera view. So that triangle that extends beyond your camera icon is ALL being rendered, regardless of whether or not you have objects in it. If you bring that box as close to the camera icon as possible, WITHOUT cutting out required objects in your scene, you will knock off several minutes PER PASS of rendering time. So a Best Rendering at 1280x720 should be able to save between 4%-5% of rendering time. I know that's not much, but on a 8 hour rendering, it chops 24 minutes roughly. To me, that is a big deal, because I always have a deadline.
Also, turning off lights NOT used in your render scene dramatically improves render time! Use the artificial lighting control box to create settings for on/off of lights. Rendering 117 lights? No, bad idea unless you've got a cloud.
Cloud rendering w/ Autodesk is substaintially faster still. However, pound for pound, the quality just isn't 100% matching as rendering it on your PC or Mac. I notice some materials are very different. Glass is very different. So unless you're a bugger for extreme detail, its definitely the way to go.
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rbcameron2 is correct. Rendering in the cloud does not always get things right. Artifical lighting is an EPIC fail when cloud rendering, however, it makes for GREAT draft renders.
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Hello Davidmonnens,
I plan to buy exactly the same computer, and also run Revit on it.
I plan to install bootcamp to get the full power of the computer running windows (as I actually do an a MacPro).
Did you install it, and do you have any advice about that, or a first improession ?
Especially about the new Retina screen. I read on some forums that this display can cause some problems with softwares not adapted for this resolution. Do you have any issues with this with Revit, or is it just fantastic ?
Thank you for the information you can give me...
Regards,
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I have installed this on my MacBook Pro. There are a few issues with using the retina display compared to non retina macs. Revit 2011 2012 2013 (from what I've heard) has very annoying graphic glitching. It's useable. But it's annoying. I had 2011 installed and it had lots of glitching. I searched around a bit and found that in revit 2014 those issues are gone. So I installed it and that is true. No graphic glitching and I've used it quiet a bit. There's a few more minor issues. A few items are smaller. Such as R (file menu) icon is smaller. And things in the lower menu bar where there are those icons like the detail of the plan. Colors. Teapot for rendering. Light bulb. Those icons are smaller. But you can still see them.
Windows itself sets the display at 2880x1800 which is quiet hard to read fine text. But you can always adjust that.
Overall I am happy with the performance with rendering. Now that's not saying much. I used crappy windows computers at school and then a 2009 iMac with 4 gbs of ram. But this handles rendering well. I am happy with it. But if you have the money I would upgrade the ram to 16 gbs that would help performance as well.
Let me know if you have any other questions. I'll post a few screen shots tomorrow to show you what I mean.
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Thank you very much for your return.
Just a few more questions... If you change the resolution, I suppose that all the issues with the user interface dissapear ? I will use Revit for myself (the issues you described are not important then), but I will also teach Revit in an architecture school. There, I will have to use a aprojector, and so, take the resolution down to 1280x1024. So I suppose that there are no problems in that situation ?
Are you usign Bootcamp ? And what version of windows are you using : 7 or 8 ? Have you seen any difference between the two windows, if you tried both ?
Thanks, DHO
Edited on: Fri, Jul 12, 2013 at 12:42:26 AM
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First i'm running windows 8, i never tried windows 7 because 8 was suggested to me by the people below, and yes i am using bootcamp.
now second I'm not quiet sure what you asking. But let me tell you what I think your looking for. Your saying if you lower the screen resolution the smaller icons will be bigger again? The answer to that is no. There still smaller then normal. I think it's something to do with the retina display. I took a few pictures to show you some of the problems and what it looks like at different resolutions.
Edited on: Fri, Jul 12, 2013 at 8:39:24 AM
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Yes, you perfectly understood what I meant... So the problem is still there at lower resolutions. Anyway, if it is only to have smaller icons, it is really not a problem !
Are you using Windows 7 or 8 ?
And do you have any idea if it is interesting to pay the upgrade for the processor, going from 2.7 to 2.8 ghz ? I will certainly upgrade the Ram to 16 gb, but the procesor, I am not sure if is is so intersting...
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