MAC USERS - DOES CLO UTILISE A.M.D GPU IN 'ACTIVE' WINDOW (FOR SIMULATION ETC)????????
Can any CLO staff answer this please?
I know that V-Ray needs Nvidia for rendering so the Mac's AMD GPU chipset is useless there and we are restricted to the CPU for rendering, but what about the active window?
If CLO does indeed get a realtime boost if using faster graphics cards (apart from rendering) then that is REALLY worth noting in the recommended specs for Mac - it would make a huge noticeable difference in the speed at which garments can be put together and simulated, so indeed a better graphics card in a Mac would absolutely be of some use/purpose.
The reason I ask, is because I noticed Lea stated the following when answering someone's question about his new Macbook pro 15":
GPU; Radeon Pro Vega 20&16 performs better than Radeon Pro 560x but Radeon Pro 560x is also not bad to use CLO.
Hope your CLO traning goes well and enjoy our software!
Have a great day.
Best, Lea.
Therefore, how exactly is CLO utilising the better graphics cards exactly? Can anyone tell me?
Thanks in advance.
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I join your question odellin to Clo's team.
I am a patternmaker and I want to continue on this way so I would like to know what direction it will take in the future.
If I change to a more powerful Mac, if I change to a PC (but I don't like Windows at all) or if in the near future an eGpu can be connected to speed up the Clo process.
Let's hope for a prompt response from the Clo team.
Thank you.
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Hi knitstudium
Jim from Clo team kindly got back to me with a very detailed answer - bad news I'm afraid, but at least we now know for sure.
Put simply, if you're using Clo on a Mac, you are stuck entirely using the CPU - So, for anyone planning on upgrading their Mac, make sure you get one with the best CPU you can afford, and put as much RAM in there as you can afford also.
Here is Jim's answer pasted below:
As you pointed out, AMD graphics card is not available for CLO rendering. This is because CLO uses V-RAY renderer and Nvidia's CUDA acceleration technology. More technically, CLO uses the V-RAY renderer with CUDA acceleration for final rendering, and you can use the "FAST GPU simulate" in simulation mode.
In CLO, AMD GPUs are purely responsible for screen output, and cannot perform any computation or acceleration. Neither garment making nor simulation is possible.
AMD's graphics libraries and APIs are making great progress, but they are still at the level of OpenGL support. Also, all AMD graphics cards on Mac are optimized for Apple's native graphics technology "Metal". In other words, to take advantage of GPU-powered acceleration on Apple Mac devices, CLO software must be completely rewritten with Apple macOS native code.
The external GPU box can be a solution. But please note that, all external boxes for mac are installed AMD graphics card. You will be able to find a Nvidia-installed-box, but they're not available since the macOS Mojave. And the "Intel HD Graphics" which built-in GPU in Intel CPU also makes no sense in CLO. They too are only work for the screen output.
In summary, on all macs, CLO uses only the CPU.
Regards,
JimCLO Tech Support
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Thank you very much. At least now we have a clearer situation.
On the one hand, I understand that for Clo it is complicated to rewrite the program to make it work more properly on the Mac platform, it's a hard and expensive job, but on the other hand, for those of us who have a Mac (which includes many individual users as well as companies) it's bad news.
Buying a Mac with a powerful processor, as well as a lot of RAM, is not within everyone's reach, as it starts at 2000 and 2500 euros and goes on from there.
Anyway, the important thing is that they have answered us and at least clarified the situation.
Thank you very much both to you and to the Clo team.0 -
knitstudium Yes it's very frustrating but I have to blame Apple & Nvidia in this instance. Until these two companies kiss and make up, which is VERY unlikely.....3D modelling is always going to suck on Mac.
Another route/option, might be to use a Mac for working up garments, then have it networked/connected to a PC with a high speed graphics chip for the rendering part. I'm not sure how easy this is or possible, but I'm looking into it now.
If anyone has tips or a set-up like this, I'd love to hear from you!
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@odellin
I have also thought about it, in the sense of using my current laptop mac to do the pattern-making and tailoring work, and having a PC with a powerful NVIDIA card to do the rendering there. It's a mess but at the moment we have few more options.
If we come up with or find out anything new, we'll let you know, thank you.
And the same goes for anyone else who wants to give us their opinion on this subject. That would be great!
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odellin
Simple fact is that macs make up 5-10% off all devices.
Meaning they are far outnumbered in most companies.
And the hell that is security and networking and integrating it into a corporate environment on a Mac is not something most IT guys want to deal with.
Basically the reason I don't do Macs anymore is because time after time again my customers got hacked, infected with virusses and ransomware and numerous customers even had to close down their company.
I'm saying this as a Windows, Apple, Unix certified Engineer
With Apples recent switch to ARM (and they are now also dropping AMD) it will be even worse so I guess time for Windows/Linux/Hackingtosh :D0 -
I ended up admitting defeat and built myself a PC. It's an absolute GEM!
I've been a Mac user for 22 years, so it was a bit of a leap of faith leaving the OS behind. But now I have Windows configured pretty much as I had my Mac...it's really not that different an environment to work in.
I'll continue to use Apple 'gadgets', but as far as using their stuff for actual work...they're gone.
If there's anyone reading this who is a long time Mac user, I'd very much encourage you to dip your toe into building or buying a Windows system. It will open a whole new dimension to you regarding efficiency and 3D modelling options. It's a night and day difference in terms of options and performance.
I can now FINALLY get on with being productive instead of screaming at my computer!
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I don't have time to check/write my P.C build specs right now, but at some point I will create a post in the hope it will advise new users to CLO on what kind of system works well.
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Hello odellin and other users,
As I told you, I had a Macbook Pro from 2015 and it was complicated to handle CLO efficiently, as the Mac was already some years old, I decided a month ago to change my computer and now I have bought a Windows PC; it is a MSI Gaming, i7, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD and NVIDIA RTX 2060.The change of speed has been tremendous, CLO and Marvelous Designer are now fully functional and the renders are very fast compared to my previous Mac, before a simple render was about 17 minutes and now they have gone to 1-3 minutes. As for the render in Blender and C4D, the change has also been spectacular in render speed.
Personally I am very happy with my change. It is also true that I miss the quality of the retina screen of my macbook, which could be solved with an external 2k monitor.
I hope it will be helpful for other users!
Greetings!0 -
Your computer specifications, of course, are higher than mine. Users can get an idea that if with my simpler specifications they are able to handle CLO more efficiently, with your PC they will be assured of more professional work, especially if they want to use other 3D programs for more creative animations.
In this way, users can decide how much to spend, I think my specifications are the minimum to make CLO worth "usable" but everyone should look for what best suits their budget and professional needs.
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Absolutely! I completely agree!
There is really no need at all to spend lots and lots of money to get a machine that will be perfectly great for CLO, and 100% better than most (if not all) Macs.
The reason I went for a higher spec upgrade, is because I also intend to do a lot of artwork processing in 3d environments/landscapes, so when I'm building architecture etc I am going to need the extra power.
I was also interested in seeing just what I could build in comparison to getting a base level Mac pro. What I ended up with, is much cheaper than the Mac and (for 3d tasks) a lot more powerful.
But yes of course, just buy whatever suits your needs & budget!
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dear Odellin
can this box https://www.akitio.com/expansion/node equipped with GeForce GTX TITAN 12gb be a good solution?
it's so frustrating spend5k of laptop to have slow and laggy clo3d ..
thanks
Fabio
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Hi Fabio,
If you are running a Windows laptop with a decent processor and enough ram, then yes that external box plus that card will work fine.
If you're asking me if you can hook it up to a Macbook Pro though, unfortunately the answer is no - that graphics card is Nvidia and is not compatible with Mac.
The only option you have with Apple kit, is to buy the system with the most powerful CPU (i.e the most core power) and put at least 64gb of RAM in it. But this setup will still never be that great for 3D work as it purely relies on CPU power, not dedicated graphics.
If you are dedicated to 3D tools in your workflow, windows machines are really a no brainer. Mac's are just not equipped to handle heavy 3D workloads.
Hope that helps!
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It's disingenuous that Clo claims to support the mac at all. Even with an i9/64G, it's unusable. Not to mention that even after 1.5 years, there's no indication of any M1 support, in spite of their software being in the actual Apple keynote. It's good to know before I make plans, though. I had high hopes for this software, and was willing to dish out the dollars for my organization, but now I don't trust the company at all. I shouldn't have to search through forums to learn that, in spite of a download offered, the mac version isn't usable.
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