#Autodesk Confirms NT 3ds
2 messages in this thread
Paul, as someone who is familiar with SGI/Alias etc, would R5 with a dual
Pen' Motherboard e.g. 2×150 a 300mhz pentium be the equvilant in rendering
speeds, redraw etc to a basic SGI machine, I think the base ones are Onyx's?
Are IPAS routines avalible for the SGI machines like the 3d's
counterparts, is there something like LenZFX/Lumina, IPAS 6 etc?
I have been told that a good 3d's user should only take several weeks
to convert to SGI usage, How long has it taken you to be able to build as well
in 3d's as you do in Alias?
Sorry for all the questions but access to this sort of info' is very
limited when your a new 3d's user 🙂
Greg
Wow Greg, quite a few questions. Here's a stab at them:
1.) R5 under NT should really cook. Considering what the Yost Group
has managed to do with Pharlap and Dos, their NT code should really
fly. As to performance specs Pentium vs R4400. I think the SGI
machines ala Onyx level may be a tad faster due in large part to the
design of the machine itself. Redraw speed on the PC will most likely
still be inferior to a SGI machine due to the fact that SGI designs
their machines from the ground up with Graphic performance as an end
goal.
2.) IPAS routines for the most part don't yet exist for the SGI
machine and quite frankly with most Adesk developers gearing up for
the NT port of their stuff, SGI IPAS code may be a long way off.
3.) You mentioned the time frame it would take a 3DS user to convert
to SGI usage. The first thing they have to learn is IRIX so that they
can move around. This in itself is an uphill battle if you don't
know UNIX. Luckily, I had a fairly vast background in UNIX and IRIX
was a breeze, but I know of a couple of 3DS users who have made the
move to SGI and after a year of struggle, they still get lost trying
to move around IRIX. They tend to call to call up needing help every
month or so.
As to becoming proficient on an SGI based SW package like 3DS, In
general you'll be faced with the same learning curve and time period
that any other package would take. Obviously if you're well adapted
to working in a 3D animation environment, then alot will be similar
in function, but a change in interface will take the average user a
month in itself to get fully adjusted, and after watching a number of
3DS'ers move to SGI based packages, I would say 6 months is a more
reasonable period of time to gain a decent level of proficiency.
Hopefully this helps.
Paul