#Winter CES 1995
5 messages in this thread
Judy,
>> The rendering time is much much faster than the equivalent image in 3DS. <<
I don't think so, unless you're talking about the really high end SGI's which
the game companies can't afford, anyway. I wasn't particularly impressed with
the speed of Softimage on a high-end Indy compared to 3d Studio on a 486-66
when I used both last year. Also, you get about 5 Pentium / 3d Studio seats to
1 Indy with Alias. Try customizing your Indy for a reasonable cost – you'll
find peripherals extra expensive.
>> ALso I have heard companies claim that their artists can build images
quicker in Alias and one that are more life like <<
The only thing I can see which might make any difference is the modelling tools
that Alias offers, but they only come into their own when doing certain types
of models. Some of the new IPAS routines (skin, bones etc) come close to the
functionality of NURBS modellers, IMHO. Also, another problem is that Alias
does not encourage 3rd party developers so you won't get interesting "plug-in"
applications offered to cover ones that Alias decided not to include.
I am not sure which SGI machine they have – but I do know a game company that
dropped 3DS for SGI + ALIAS. ALthough I did hear that ALias Crashed a lot. They
were doing some renderings for CES and I was told that some mesh ( I think it
was an army on horseback) took 4 1/2 hours where they knew it would have taken
over night on 3DS – and no they don't know that for a fact – but they believe
it to be true. I think the SGI they have is INDIGO
From my own point of view – I would imagine rendering speed to be improved by
max memory on a P100.
My own thoughts are that inanimate object and certain animate objects can be
made to look equally good on ALias and 3DS. I suspect that Alias may do a
better job with hair and fur – or maybe that still needs to be done with the 2D
art to look good.
Personally I have seen some 2D Fantasy art which I don't think can be equaled
in the 3D world. I am specifically referring to the art which is done for TSR.
Judy
Judy,
>> I think the SGI they have is INDIGO <<
the desktop SGI machine people seem to salivate over is the Indigo 2
Extreme. I was talking to a very knowledgeable Virgin senior
management person today who's familiar with 3ds, Alias, and
Lightwave. He was estimating you'd get roughly 7 Pentium equipped 3d
Studio seats to 1 Alias seat. Those kind of economies can't be
ignored and he seems to see a rosy future for 3ds with more
competition from Lightwave than anything else, although Lightwave
doesn't have the advantage of a huge installed base and a great open
architecture.
>> My own thoughts are that inanimate object and certain animate objects can be
made to look equally good on ALias and 3DS. I suspect that Alias may do a
better job with hair and fur <<
agreed. 3ds just doesn't have hair/fur – although it could if someone set their
mind to it. Actually "scatter.pxp" might be modified to do a pretty good
hair-do, although it wouldn't have the dynamics.
I hope some Ipas writer reads this about hair/fur! That is really needed!
Judy
Judy,
>> I hope some Ipas writer reads this about hair/fur! That is really needed! <<
I'll mention it in the IPAS section and maybe someone will start working on it.