#Windows and 3D Studio
7 messages in this thread
Where can I find documentation on using 3D Studio R3 with Windows? What are
some of the concerns regarding memory usage, rendering time, etc? Is it
advisable to use 3D Studio with windows? Thanks.
James Franssen
Take a look at the 3DS R3 installation guide p. 95-98.
-Brian
I'm running 3DSR3 under OS/2 2.11, which allows me to run 3DS (two copies) on
the same machine, and I can still run a WinApp if I want to. I'd bet real
money that you can't do that under Windows.
— Doug Azzarito
>>I'm running 3DSR3 under OS/2 2.11<<
Okay.. is this a better setup? Is it faster or slower in rendering time than
just using windows? I did note, on an image rendered through Windows as
opposed to DOS, that through Windows the image rendered almost 2 minutes faster
(DOS = 12 minutes 56 seconds, Windows = 11 minutes 14 seconds) which makes me
wonder why no-one boasts rendering time through Windows. With a 300 frame
animation this could save 10 hours. Seems like everyone would want to render
through Windows, or even OS/2 if this is faster. Anybody?
James Franssen
James,
<< (DOS = 12 minutes 56 seconds, Windows = 11 minutes 14 seconds) which makes
me wonder why no-one boasts rendering time through Windows. With a 300 frame
animation this could save 10 hours. Seems like everyone would want to render
through Windows, or even OS/2 if this is faster. Anybody?>>
The reason I wouldn't want to run 3ds under win or a os/2 configuration is
that half or even some of the memory is set aside for the GUI. Even with a ton
of memory I don't like to give any memory away when 3DS is in action. Sure it
is nice to switch back to your photo editors and illustration pkg. but maybe
someone will write a "Plug-in" for 3DS the combines bitmap and lineart in a
single module sorta like HiresQFX.
Kurt
Kurt, would it be better, though, to render through Windows since it is faster?
I only ran one test, but it seems to be considerably faster through this
method. I can see where constructing would be better through DOS. Also, does
anyone know.. when rendering in Windows, and placing the rendering in the
background, does it still render even when 3DS is opened again to work on a
different file? I cannot test this right now because I am having a problem
opening the background icon without getting an integrity violation, it kills
the rendering and the file becomes corrupt, so until I get help with that
problem I cannot see if it continues to render. Thanks.
James Franssen
Depending on your setup, rendering under OS/2 will be faster than DOS. For one
thing, my render drive is an HPFS drive (the OS/2 High Performance File
System). 3DS gets much faster performance from this drive than from a DOS FAT
drive. I can also have a single LARGE drive, rather than lots of small ones.
HPFS doesn't get wasteful when you use large drives like FAT.
With OS/2 you also get the benefit of virtual memory. I tell 3DS that I have
32M of RAM, even though I only have 20M. OS/2 will use disk-space to replace
the seldom-used RAM, and give more RAM to the programs that need it.
Finally, I can set up a rendering slave. Normally, 3DS expects to see a LAN
with rendering slaves on it, but I can have a foreground 3DS session and a
rendering slave on the same machine. I can kick off a rendering, and go right
back to work while OS/2 renders in the background. This is a great time saver
if you only have one machine.
The BIGGEST reason for running 3DS under OS/2 is the ability to get to your
machine even when it's in the middle of a rendering. I used to HATE being in
the middle of a long batch job when I realized I needed a file off my 3DS
machine. Under OS/2, that's no problem – I can even call Compuserve and read
mail while 3DS renders.
Kurt says he doesn't want to give up ANY memory while 3DS is running. OS/2's
GUI does want a couple meg of RAM, which I can buy for under $100. I think a
second machine would be a bit more expensive! 🙂
— Doug Azzarito