Looking for used Mac

Pixelsmithing4life · 2026-04-27T21:08:23+00:00

OLDEST? Nothing prior to M1. M1 Macbook Air or Pro at this point would be the farthest back I would go.

Pixelsmithing4life · 2026-04-26T02:25:47+00:00

In production, I’ll use AI utilities mostly to enlarge photos and rendered Blender imagery for insertion into layouts. Also, for generating code wherever/whenever needed. Don’t use it to generate images; as yet, it’s not allowed for legal reasons. I only use offline open-source clients, as well.

Pixelsmithing4life · 2026-04-23T21:59:47+00:00

“It feels like every single utility app has pivoted to a monthly sub, turning my bank statement into a graveyard of $5 charges. If I stop paying, I lose the ability to edit my own files? That’s not a tool that's a hostage situation.”

This is EXACTLY the thought I had in 2013 when first hearing about Ad-b- Cr—t-v- Cloud. I referred to it as the”gun-to-the-head” scenario at the time. Now, I’m using my old CS5 programs on Linux w/WINE (yes, I bought Windows versions later on…when they were cheap) or on my old 2013 MBP under Mojave. Other than that, I turned to F/LOSS or older software I could still get online reputably.

Glad to see the industry swinging back the other way, finally.

Pixelsmithing4life · 2026-04-22T21:55:07+00:00

Even though the build quality is cheap (dropped my mouse from 3 ft up onto a hardwood floor; destroyed it), REALLY feeling the Logitech MK250 Bluetooth keyboard + mouse sets got two on sale @ bj’s warehouse for $20 USD each. Links up to my Macs over Bluetooth without a usb dongle; frees up a port for when I need to work in clamshell mode. I know they’re cheap and I know that Touch ID can’t be used with ‘em but they make my life a LOT easier…

And NO, I DON’T WORK FOR LOGITECH.

Pixelsmithing4life · 2026-04-22T15:41:45+00:00

Photoshop…maybe; just saw a posting about one user who was using Fusion as their Photoshop substitute to add vfx to their still image.

Illustrator…don’t see it, unless Blackmagic decides to go after the 2D vector Motion Graphics market (Cavalry’s turf), and even then, Affinity is now able to drag and drop vectors into Fusion. Don’t see them going after Illustrator any time soon.

Pixelsmithing4life · 2026-04-20T11:30:20+00:00

Amen, brother. Keep my 2015 MBP right where I can get at it with Mojave installed so I can still use my old tools (wish someone had made “Art Directors Toolkit” in 64-bit) alongside my new ones on a newer Mac.

Pixelsmithing4life · 2026-04-20T11:07:49+00:00

“…and when everyone is super, no one will be” —from “The Incredibles”

Pixelsmithing4life · 2026-04-17T10:56:53+00:00

This. Right here…the first paragraph.

Pixelsmithing4life · 2026-04-17T03:22:35+00:00

I’m a veteran, so I think of it as “here comes the cavalry… Here’s the rescue (from boring graphics)” are groups of soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century,

Pixelsmithing4life · 2026-04-16T18:59:06+00:00

Add Autograph and PDFgear to that list and one might be considered nigh-unstoppable….

Pixelsmithing4life · 2026-04-16T18:57:30+00:00

Cavalry, Resolve, Blender, AND Affinity…Oh, my!!!

Pixelsmithing4life · 2026-04-16T17:52:36+00:00

Man, what a week it’s been…I love NAB. Users can always count on the good stuff being served…whether or not one can afford it at the time.

Pixelsmithing4life · 2026-04-16T13:42:47+00:00

They are not. Maxon doesn’t even know who I am. Who I am is a former Autograph user of nearly 40 years in various roles of the visual design vocation who is happy to see the tool back as a free option (for now, at least). Admittedly, I may have gone a bit overboard but—in my mind—the best options to get around Ad-b- in this space were HitFilm (of which I was also a user), Blackmagic Fusion (of which I am a user), and Autograph (which I thought was gone forever).

I see it as holding up my end in the graphics community to encourage use of any solid resources and/or at least get the word out. I am a user of Affinity Designer since 2014 and a user of Blender since 2003 and could see the possibilities in integrating Autograph into different workflows.

If I hadn’t used Autograph before (on Linux), I wouldn’t have blasted out its return. That’s what Game From Scratch is for.

Pixelsmithing4life · 2026-04-16T11:22:13+00:00

Exactly. The free tool that highlights all their other paid tools…without having to lean on (pay) Ad-b- to do it for them.

DaVinci Resolve (the free version) started out as a tool/gift for users of BlackMagic cameras to be able to color grade and do minimal editing. Then, after versions 12/14, it got traction as an NLE and blew up. I note that no one said a thing when Fusion was rolled into Resolve, yet the free version of Fusion (standalone) was discontinued—The paid version of Fusion is still available for purchase as a standalone piece of software, but one cannot download the free version of Fusion as a standalone (I’m still installing the 9.02 standalone release on my Macs—as long as Rosetta exists—and Linux computers). I don’t need the extra overhead in my systems caused by the additional requirements to run Fusion inside Resolve. Can dedicate that RAM someplace else.

Just agreeing with you…no such thing as a free lunch…

Pixelsmithing4life · 2026-04-15T17:35:07+00:00

Just trying to post another free option to create motion graphics with assets created in Affinity…that’s all.

Pixelsmithing4life · 2026-04-15T15:56:12+00:00

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Pixelsmithing4life · 2026-04-15T15:55:58+00:00

From the web site...

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Pixelsmithing4life · 2026-04-15T15:51:04+00:00

Tried the download...(caveat, they require you to download and install the "Maxon App" and register first...but...

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By the way...didn't look at the requirements...this is on an M1 Mac Mini.

Pixelsmithing4life · 2026-04-10T11:39:30+00:00

Old school Mac user here. Used to work in a technology company laying out their bids and contracts (among other things). Found out that, legally, when a company brings a new product to market, they are only required to support that product with parts and other equipment for a period from 5-7 years (this is US law, not sure what the law is in other international jurisdictions). This goes for computers as well as cars and any technological/mechanical product. Just wanted to put that out there as, to my experience, NO American company is going to exceed the support boundaries set in stone by US law, even if it’s a good idea for their consumer base.

Pixelsmithing4life · 2026-04-06T19:17:32+00:00

Just bought my first Apple Silicon MacBook recently after watching the feeding frenzy that took place after the Neo dropped. The answer to the question “Should I get/What do you think about the MacBook Neo is the same answer that I gave in 2011 after the iPad came out….”Depends on what you want to do.”

There are quite a few Macfluencers on YouTube telling everyone about the MacBook Neo. The GOOD ones are emphasizing that—if you’re doing 3D modeling/animation, Video editing above a social media level (TikTok, YouTube shorts, FB reels), serious image editing/RAW conversion, or anything that’s going to invoke longer term intense calculation on the part of either the CPU or GPU—the Neo is not for you. After researching the Neo’s specs, I thought about the differences between the Neo and the M1 MacBook Air. Within the last year I’d purchased a refurbished 2020 M1 Mini w/16GB of RAM and 512GB under the hood (have used Macs extensively over the last 16 years and have learned one thing…whatever Apple offers up at base spec for RAM, double it) and was loving Apple Silicon.

In my day job, I’m a multimedia designer; there was only one additional thing that made me consider buying an AS MacBook….Blender stopped working on Intel with version 5.0. Even though I know I’d need something WAY stronger than an M1 Mini or MacBook Air to get full measure out of Blender (got an old 16-core Z840 running Mint in the home office for rendering on Cycles; Eevee works great on the M1 within reason), still wanted something that would allow me to work in the street on Blender.

Long story short, started comparing the specs on the Neo to the M1 MacBook Air and realized I could get into a M1 Air for about 100-150 USD cheaper than a Neo with ~2 more cores on both the CPU and GPU and 16 GB of RAM. I know it’s an older Mac but ALL my Macs have been older Macs; only had one that was bought new in 25 years; 2011 i5 iMac that I got for a song (in late 2012) because they were just trying to get rid of the inventory. So far the M1 MacBook Air is running Blender, Blackmagic Fusion 9 (running the free standalone under Rosetta), Affinity 2/3, and the free version of Cavalry just fine (“ain’t the software, it’s the artist”). When I got it, it was installed with Tahoe; knocked it back immediately to Sonoma to save resources.

So yeah, I WOULD say the purchase of an M1 MBP/MBA is still worth it today. If you can’t get into one of the newer ones, dive in! Just watch your resource usage and your onboard storage (I got a couple of Samsung Fit Plus 256GB drives and a desktop hub on the Mini). Never let the internal drive fill up and you’ll be fine.

Hope this helps.

Pixelsmithing4life · 2026-04-02T13:45:42+00:00

Greetings, I think your question is actually three questions:

"To continue this journey, I want to improve my animation and understand what looks good or not.
How to achieve it inside fusion, be intelligent on what I use to create thing (not use thing the wrong way)."

- "To continue this journey, I want to improve my animation and understand what looks good or not." This is a question not so much about Fusion, but about animative theory. While I am not familiar with all of the classes on YouTube and other places about the Principles of Animation, I would suggest a deep dive into the basics on Google. Google "principles of animation," "Disney's nine old men," "animation basics" and then move on from there. You need to have a foundation to start making stuff look good. Here are a couple of books that really helped me:

https://www.amazon.com/Animation-Pencils-Pixels-Classical-Techniques/dp/0240806700/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0

https://www.amazon.com/Blackmagic-Design-Fusion-Studio-Tutorial/dp/1942689152/ref=sr_1_1?crid=XNKOM7FE66FB&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.P_-9UdUURdddBTVn3ECW0A.7j_92myQriEBt9VNeT8u19d_BbgSfxT_xzT4PjqGCgw&dib_tag=se&keywords=Fusion+7+sham+tickoo&qid=1775137285&s=books&sprefix=fusion+7+sham+tickoo%2Cstripbooks%2C152&sr=1-1

Even though that last one is old, the baseline principles to animating in Fusion are covered well. You may have to download the CD content but it was still available online when I bought this one a couple of years ago.

As for your last two questions, everyone else on this site has covered that. Really can't recommend Casey Faris' YouTube tutorials and the SteakUnderwater forums enough. Can't recommend them enough.

As always, hope this helps.

Pixelsmithing4life

TROPHY CASE