#Which Video Card?
27 messages in this thread
I just purchased a Viper 2 Meg VESA card to go with my 486 66Mhz system. I
have 32 megs installed and a 345 meg SCSI drive with a Chinon CD-ROM. I am new
to Autodesk 3D Studio. Currently upgrading to 3.0. Have I purchased the wrong
video card? Should I focus on other components to make my life with 3D Studio
easier. I also will be taking delivery of a Matrox Illuminator Pro later this
month.
Does anyone have better suggestions at similar price point?
I also have a Fast Video Machine, Panasonic 7750 VTR, 2 Panasonic 1960's, and a
Magni VGA Producer Pro card, Panasonic AG-3 camera. I would be interested to
talk with anyone creating training videos and materials.
Thank You
Mark Powers
Sounds like you've got quite a setup there, Mark. Hope you have fun with it.
My Viper VLB is nothing short of spectacular with 3DSr3, DOS apps, and Windows.
I've owned, tested, and installed many, many cards over the years, and this one
is just fine. The IllPro should be fun, too.
-Alan Iglesias
>> My Viper VLB is nothing short of spectacular with 3DSr3, DOS apps, and
Windows. <<
Ditto, Alan.
I too am using the Viper. IMHO, you made the perfect choice.
Get Liquid Speed, also, Mark. It's fantastic.
Have fun …
|-\\/
I've been using Beta testing Liquid Speed for some time, now, Todd. As you
probably know, the Beta period was over officially last Friday and the product
is now shipping. I agree that the redraws in the Shaper, Lofter, and Editor
being *twice* as fast is just fantastic. Keyframer redraw is faster by 30-40%.
IMHO, this is really a must-have for anyone who deals with large meshes, and a
great convenience for those who don't. I hope everyone who gets it is a pleased
as we are!
-Alan Iglesias
Thanks to everyone responding to my question. I called Matrox to ask them
about the Viper. I was told they could not recommed the Viper, I think due to
the fact that they had not tested the VESA version with the Illuminator Pro.
They did fax me some information their MGA Impression board which has 3MB of
DRAM, 2MB of VRAM and special hardware support for 3d graphics. Has anyone
heard of this board.
I am very new to this area, I am sorry to say I have not heard of Liquid Speed.
Can someone tell me a little more about the product.
Thanks Mark
Alan –
I became a beta later in the game, but was aware that it was released
on Friday. I believe that the code is soild, I found one minor bug
which, I guess, was not remedied, yet, but it was insignificant in the
big picture.
I am so _totally_ pleased that I have no problem reccomending it
all over the place. I'd "><" all of your comments and ditto them,
you put it so eloquently that it's better coming direct.
… and talk about easy to install … yikes, stop me before I get
too carried away <g>
Talk to you soon,
|-\\/
Alan,
Are you using your Viper card with a Targa+ in the same box? I contemplating
getting a Viper (currently have a ET-4000 based card) for speed and greater #
of colors, but, am curious if anyone is using both Targa+ 16/32 and Viper 2 Meg
together. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Larry
Larry –
>> … am curious if anyone is using both Targa+ 16/32 and Viper 2
Meg together. Any thoughts? <<
Yes, on the ASOFT forum, you'll find _virtually_ every hardware config.
Specifically, I am using a Targa+ 16/32 and a Diamond Viper 2Mb in my
machine. Works wonderfully, no complaints, it is one of the few products
that deliver what they advertise (… like 3DSr3). Not to sound like a broken
record here, but please, if you're _serious_ about speed, buy the
recently released Liquid Speed add-on by Vibrant Graphics. I've been beta
testing and am totally satisfied with the speed increase. See messages
here on the forum from such notables as Greg Pyros and Alan Iglesias
regarding their opinions as well, but I have experienced _at least_ a
2x speed increase in the shaper, lofter and editor with the R3/L-S
combo. Perhaps I'm rambling a bit, but it makes quite a bit of difference.
Enjoy …
|-\\/
I'm hoping for a significant improvement just from going from my
ET-4000 to the Viper. Liquid Speed may have to take a back seat to
then NEXT 16 meg of memory…rendering comes first. Glad to hear
that the Targa+ 16/32 and the Diamond Viper can co-exist peacefully.
I just hope the address and interrupt conflicts won't be too bad (I
have 2 sound cards in there as well)
>> Glad to hear that the Targa+ 16/32 and the Diamond Viper can
co-exist peacefully. I just hope the address and interrupt conflicts
won't be too bad (I have 2 sound cards in there as well) <<
Shouldn't be a problem … I have a ProAudioSpectrum 16 in my system
and have no problems. You'll need to look at D000-DFFF (typical Targa
setup) for possible interrupts … Gus Grubba, on the forum here, has
enlightened me about these conflicts. I went from a Cardinal
SnapPlus (ET-4000 based) to a Diamond Viper. You'll be _very_ happy,
trust me … <g>
Now we know Liquid Speed is from Vibrant Graphics. One more peice to
the puzzle. So few to go <g>.
Vibrant Graphics
________________<street address
_______<city ___<state ______<zip
___ ___ ____<Voice #
___ ___ ____<FAX #
Thanks!
Bryce Whiteside
CF/X Image, Inc. at the big red stick animation outpost down south.
I didn't think it was necessary to include that info since Vibrant
includes, in every 3DSr3 box, a flyer with all that info on it.
_But_ since you have asked, here goes …
Vibrant Graphics, Inc.
12741 Research Blvd., Suite 102
Austin, TX USA 78759
Ph : 512.250.1711
FAX: 512.250.5811
800: 800.937.1711
You must be a 3DSr3 user to take advantage of Liquid Speed.
Hope this helps.
|-\\/
As you can see I am not part of the 3DSr3 brethren yet, but am saving
my pennies. I was able to acquire Animator Pro 1.3 in a competitive
upgrade. I have quite a few animation products and accessories. I
hope to acquire 3DSr3 soon because it has seemed to have matured into
a very competitive product with Rel. 3. Maybe Santa will bring it in
his "Liquid" sleigh <BG>.
The reason I ask was I am an independent animation producer/consultant
(no sales, just talent and knowledge) and need to keep up with the
products out there for clients and professional colleagues that ask.
Bryce,
What's the next best thing to upgrading your 3DSR2 to 3DSR3? Getting the
features of R3 for your copy of R2, of course.
Now, you can't get ALL of R3's great features, but ProRes/3DS for 3DS R2 will
give you the following:
* All of the drivers found in 3DS3 * Accelerated 3D Editor, Keyframer, Shaper,
and Lofter * 24-bit, full screen Materials Editor * Color Mapping Icons *
Custom Screen Fonts
And some things you can't get with 3DS R3:
* Big discount on Liquid Speed when you move up to 3DS R3
Send me your name and address, or just call Vibrant Graphics at (800) 937-1711
for more info.
Hope I've been helpful.
Best Regards, Brian Massey Vibrant Graphics, Inc.
>>* Big discount on Liquid Speed when you move up to 3DS R3<<
I am a registered user of Prores 3DS. What are the upgrade details for
Liquid Speed?
Thanks,
David
No, Larry, but everything else is in there!<g> Seriously, it seems as
though TodW as answered your questions. I should think there will be
no problem as long as the Targa and Viper's memory addresses are
mapped differently and properly excluded from memory manager usage,
etc. Let us know how you do,
Thanks…I hope it works 'cause I just ordered the card and expect it
tommorrow. I'll let you know if I encounter any problems.
Just installed a 2meg Viper and find it exhilarating! Works great with Vibrant.
Mark,
I am using the 2meg Viper in 2 of my 486's and they work great with
3DSr3. I am also using the ILL-Pro CND/4M, AG-7750, SoftVTR setup and it
works fine except for a small bug with the ILL-Pro ADI drivers. Matrox is
aware of the problem and are working on a fix.
SSH–Graphic Realities–
Scott,
For what application are you utilizing your equipment? I ordered the 2MB
version of the illuminator, bad choice?
Mark,
We did our benchmarks for our Liquid Speed accelerator on a 486-66Mhz with a
Diamond Viper VLB system. Even on a machine that fast we more than doubled the
performance of the 3D Editor and got the Keyframer animating 1/4 faster. If
you're looking for performance, you should look into Liquid Speed.
Brian Massey Vibrant Graphics, Inc.
Brian
I would like more information on your Liquid Speed product. Is it a
replacement for the Illuminator Pro product.
Thanks Mark
Brian:
Our tests on the beta Liquid Speed showed exactly what you are advertising –
slightly more than double in the 3D editor and 25% in the keyframer. We
tested on more than six different graphics cards, similar results on all of
them!
This is a required utility as far as I am concerned!
Greg Pyros
Greg,
<<Our tests on the beta Liquid Speed showed exactly what you are advertising –
slightly more than double in the 3D editor and 25% in the keyframer.>>
We could have stretched the truth about the performance, but we knew we
couldn't get away with it with guys like you out there <g>. Anyway, with
performance like this who NEEDS to stretch the truth?
Thanks for the verification. Can you post any detailed benchmarks for the
setups you tried, or send them to me? We are always interested in unbiased
third party measurements.
Best Regards, Brian
Brian,
I recently upgraded my graphics card to a 4 meg STB Pegasus (it's a real
screamer: 39 million WinMarks at 1024x768x24 bit) and was wondering if your new
Liquid Speed product supports it? Also, I plan to upgrade to R3 real soon now
and was wondering if the Vibrant drivers in R3 support the Pegasus? If they
don't, what will it take to get Pegasus support?
Gary.
>>Viper…
I thought Diamond told me the Viper doesn't have a VGA passthru which would
make it unusable with the Magni board. Is this wrong???
JKJ
John,
It is possible, I did not even get the card out of the box after reading the
messages and talking with Matrox. However, I would have been using with the
Illuminator Pro card not my Magni card. But, I believe the the Illuminator Pro
also works off the feature connector as well. Someone did leave me a message
that they where using the illuminator with the Viper with little problems?
Maybe there are other methods for connection.
Mark