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Autodesk Multimedia Forum · Hware/OpSys/video

#3D under NT?

11 messages in this thread

#134909From: Karen HootenNov 10, 1994 10:53 AM

Questions: 1) Can 3D Studio run successfully under NT3.5? 2) If so, are there advantages/disadvantages? Thanks in advance for your advice. Karen

#134937From: Jonas Ruikis [ADESK]Nov 10, 1994 1:15 PM

Hi Karen, << 1) Can 3D Studio run successfully under NT3.5? >> Sorry. 3DS does not run under NT. jonas[adesk]

#135377From: Tim WheelerNov 11, 1994 11:37 PM

Jonas, Why doesn't 3DS run under NT? I thought NT supported DOS applications. Another faulty promise on MS's part? Tim

#135439From: Jonas Ruikis [ADESK]Nov 12, 1994 10:52 AM

Hi Tom, This is a repost of a previous related thread. Gary once said… >> 1) Could the 3DS's software architecture ever be in-sync w/ today's >> advanced Intel-based CPUs? If so, when are you planning to do so? Sorry, but I can't comment on future development plans. >> 2) Why do the IPAS architecture limits the Pentium code optimization for 3DS? Because Pentium optimization requires data to be synchronous (byte-aligned) and the Phar Lap/IPAS .EXP method that we use is asynchronous (ie, packed and unaligned). – G"

#135869From: SyndesisNov 14, 1994 1:16 PM

PMJI, but I'd think there could be other more marketing- and customer-friendly answers to the question, "is 3DS optimized for the Pentium?" If it were my product, I'd say "Yes, it is optimized for the Pentium." 3DS is compiled for the 386/486, which means the Pentium runs it even faster than those chips. It's an uninformed question to begin with, and this answer is as correct and honest as the other answer. Exactly which optimization are they concerned about? They have no idea. If someone gets picky and wonders if the data is optimally word-aligned for Pentium, just explain that there's dozens of byte-wide and byte-aligned data in 3DS's internal structures, and there's no way it could be completely optimized without increasing memory requirements by an order of magnitude. 🙂

#135876From: Jonas Ruikis [ADESK]Nov 14, 1994 1:33 PM

John, << Customer friendly response… >> If you don't mind, the next time this comes up, I'll add your quote to the others… :- )

#135983From: SyndesisNov 14, 1994 7:56 PM

We'll call it the Pentium Koan; the Zen solution of un-asking the question.

#135894From: MARTIN G FOSTERNov 14, 1994 3:14 PM

John, >> If someone gets picky and wonders if the data is optimally word-aligned for Pentium, just explain that there's dozens of byte-wide and byte-aligned data in 3DS's internal structures, and there's no way it could be completely optimized without increasing memory requirements by an order of magnitude. << that should shut them up in a hurry <G>. Martin

#135984From: SyndesisNov 14, 1994 7:59 PM

Even if they "optimized" everything by making them 32-bit word aligned, I doubt that it's faster to load four 32-bit values than it is to split out four bytes in one 32-bit load.

#136028From: Yost GroupNov 14, 1994 9:46 PM

Very well put, John. – G

#136421From: SyndesisNov 16, 1994 10:25 AM

I'll take a very small commission on all future Pentium sales, say, 1/1000 of a marketroid's salary at Autodesk. 🙂