[Jyashuwa]

This is a model I managed to render using Maya 2.5. The problem is it's take me like 3-4 minutes just load. And then the program runs extremely slow. I really like making high res characters so I was wondering if I should consider buying a highend 3d Card(Expensive ones). My demo reel progress is kind of at a stand still right now, and I don't want to just model low poly characters.
Im currently using a Oxygen VX1 with athlon 750 and 256 ram. Basically, is my video card messed up, or do I need to upgrade if I seriously want to start modeling characters?
Right now Im looking into Oxygen GVX1 pro.

If anyone experienced in this could help me out, it would be much appreciated.





[This message has been edited by Jyashuwa (edited November 20, 2000).]

[balistic]

Your setup should do just fine for 3D stuff . . . I don't think hardware is your problem (your 3D card has no effect on file loading or final rendering).

3-4 minutes to load seems a bit long for a simple, untextured character, but then I've never used Maya.



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"What we're hearing, techno, is the process of trying to create something of the future." - J.M.

Brian "balistic" Prince
3D Artist
Eggington Productions
www.bprince.com

[Krondor]

Yeah it could be the program, what is your video card? anyway I dont think its the hardware. Get 3D Studio max, or maybe bryce.



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*-Krondor-*

"Make 7 Up Yours"

[[Shizo]]

If you ask me, and i work on computer hardware website.. often getting 0-day news, there is always time to upgrade your video card! Or almost any other part of your system. It's true that once you buy the latest and greatest/most expencive system, tomorrow ther's someone with better and cheaper sys. Don't believe anyone who states otherwise, computer generations are now counted in months, not years.

But anyway about your special case.. I don't know much about Maya and your model but it doesn't look like 1.5 million polygons to me! Say, what type of hard drive do you have? You didnt mention your HD. But i think someone else should try to open it on their system and benchmark.. Someone who has Maya, a few thousand dollars worth software piece

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Chinese student do homework, AND they study real hard!

[surferboi]

well, that model looks damn nice... im sure itll be a pain animating =) but anyways. i have basically the same setup as you, oxygen vx1 agp, dual p2 400, 256mb ram and it is slow and it would be slow for your computer... but maya does have ways around it, if ur using nurbs which i doubt after seeing the character u got the options to hide stuff or reduce the detail which im sure u know. u could also turn on quick interaction... which sux total ass but its another option. and finally u could make a low rez wrap model (acts as a lattice deforming ur hirez character) and go from their. im looking for a new video card still also. the choices are kinda slim right now. diamond has a new gl card thats suppose to rock the house but its expensive. Elsa's gloria III quadro2 card still hasnt come out yet... and when it does itll be around the 1000$ range. im looking forward to elsa's synergy III vid card. Its a handicapped version of the quadro2 with dual monitor display. u can read a lil techie stuff on elsa.com btw before i forget the wrap deformer is memory intensive

[Xcal]

Hey, just curious..

What's the difference between these "specialized" 3d cards (permedia, etc.) that cost a buttload, and your standard 3d cards (Geforce2, etc.)?

I mainly use Lightwave, and my GeForce 32 works "okay". Am I missing out on some serious performance payoffs here by using a "gaming" card??

[jHof]

I know very little, but I'd say "Uhh... Hell ya." from what I know.

[[Shizo]]

From what i know i'd say "it depends..". It's true that companies are very much into making vid cards more compatible and have many nice features like FSAA and TTL and environmental bump mapping.. But then, those cards are MADE to work fast with 3d. Even though they were supposed for gaming 3d.. Still

I'd really like to see some benchmarks done, and since i work on the site i might be able to get something like that.. Don't forget the price.

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Chinese student do homework, AND they study real hard!

[Ko]

I used to own a VX1 which i used with the multi-threaded PIII optimized drivers and it performed quite well... Then i swapped it with a GeForce256 and got a performance increase I could only dream of.
I don't know about your file-loading, except that Maya is pretty slow at loading it's environments when handling large files.
But you seriously need to swap your VX1 with something faster, if you want to go HiRes! I don't know about the GeForce2 cards, but unless they've done some serious changes to the architecture/driverws then it will probably rock with Maya....

Ko

[[Shizo]]

Ya, Ko said it like it is!
There are new GF(3) coming out - a new chip from NVIDIA.. Major ass kickage u can say. Plus GF2Ultras start becoming available (for quite a piece of money though). Yet still its better to buy mainstream vid cards because they're faster, and less expencive so it's yet cheaper to upgrade when the time comes (and the times come pretty soon in those days).

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Chinese student do homework, AND they study real hard!

[Xcal]

So if Geforce (gaming) cards are better anyway, why da hell are 3dlabs cards so damn expensive? eh? anyone? Does it have something to do with OpenGL? What features does it have that normal gaming cards like Geforce, or Radeon don't have?

[surferboi]

hmm well the difference between a gaming card and a proffesional card is quality and accuracy. one of the weird things about the geforce cards is that they are handicapped versions of a geforce quadro card. there are ways of altering ur videocard by hand and getting rid of the handicaps. just do a search for modding geforce cards. a geforce 256 mods into a quadro, a geforce 2 mx mods into a synergy iii quadro 2and a geforce 2 gts ultra mods into a ultra quadro 2
as for the high cost of 3dlabs cards... well the expensive ones have 256mb of ram on the video card, which is great when u cram those hirez textures in. but for the average joe a geforce vid card does nicely. but if u ever get a taste of a wildcat video card u notice a difference. As the geforce cards relate to Maya, they have overlay issues. like, if u make a enviroment plane it is very slow to move the camera, if u try using paintfx or artisian u will suffer the same. its slow. i dunno how it is with the next generation of geforces tho. as far as with lightwave or max it should be fine i havent heard of any real problems.

[Frost]

That mesh is really really nice! 256 Megs of RAM is a joke... I have 1Gig of Rambus at work and it's fine... =) ...or is that 256Mb onboard RAM?

[This message has been edited by Frost (edited November 21, 2000).]

[[Shizo]]

Hehe Frost, what's wrong widj' j00 boy? He said: "expensive ones have 256mb of ram on the video card".
heh heh.. must be all that fake vodka with worst quality ever.

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Chinese student do homework, AND they study real hard!

[Xcal]

That mod is pretty damn cool. Don't think I could do it without frying my card tho.

[Frost]

Shizo: Oh, shut up you drunken bum. I spit on you! (well, he did mention his 256MB of RAM AFTER his CPU description (Athlon), I assumed it was is main memory).

Yeah, I never worked with such hardware as I'm more into mainstream gaming technology (which is quickly catching up to those megablast Oxygen thingies and watchamacallits.)


JSHWA: Well, if you used some sort of high-order surfaces and not polys, you shouldn't need so much memory. A highly tesselated poly mesh will take mucho-RAM, but a curved surface with a few Control Verts will take much less... if it is in fact 256MB of main memory, I'd consider an mem upgrade...


[This message has been edited by Frost (edited November 22, 2000).]

[[Shizo]]

Frost, you best not be spitting on drunken Skidrow bums lying on the ground.. Or else me and other bums POO all over your car afterwards!!!!!!!!!!!!!(!)

EHEHEHEHhehEHEJHEJHEH!

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Chinese student do homework, AND they study real hard!

[Jyashuwa]

heh. I have 256 of on board ram. If I could afford a video card with 256 ram, I wouldn't be having this problem

thanks for the help everyone.