Sijun Forums :: View topic - Questions: Dual monitors, wacom tablets, networks

Adamant · Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2002 7:37 pm

I'm looking into setting up a modest little network of systems in my home so I can bring some of my ideas to life in the shape of animations and so forth. I'm a little out of the loop on new comp technology so my questions may sound daft so please forgive. The last system that I build from scratch was a 486.

1) I'm noticing that motherboards now have monitor connections built in so if I were to buy a decent motherboard and add a decent graphics card would I be able to have a monitor plugged to the motherboard connector and the graphics card in order to have a dual monitor setup? Or would I have to buy a video card with 2 monitor plugs on it?

2) Has anyone experienced any problems using dual monitors and a wacom tablet? Are there any major pitfalls to look out for?

3) I want to setup a small network of about 2 - 3 systems so at night I can render animations quicker. Is there any network hardware that would be best for this? The software would be along the lines of Maya, 3D studio max and maybe Lightwave.

Ultimately I want a network of systems where I can edit video using premiere and create visual effects using after effects and animation software too.

Your input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

B0b · Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2002 1:28 am

quote:
Originally posted by Adamant:

2) Has anyone experienced any problems using dual monitors and a wacom tablet? Are there any major pitfalls to look out for?

Your input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

k should have any trouble with the Wacom on 2 screen as you can stretch the tablet size in the prefs.. but i guess it would b easier for navigation and drawing purposes if you went 1 screen with the wacom..

Ian Jones · Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2002 3:45 am

Check out Loki's website for some tips concerning computer setups.

Digital Illustration Outpost

Search around for it, theres a section about the industry and in there somewhere are tips about hardware and software setup.

Hope that helps.

Catfish · Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2002 4:04 am

quote:

1) I'm noticing that motherboards now have monitor connections built in so if I were to buy a decent motherboard and add a decent graphics card would I be able to have a monitor plugged to the motherboard connector and the graphics card in order to have a dual monitor setup? Or would I have to buy a video card with 2 monitor plugs on it?

It depends how the motherboard is set up. It could work, but no guarantees. I'm guessing that an on-board solution would replace the AGP line, and since there's only support for a single AGP line, it might get extremely confused if you tried to output from both an AGP card and the motherboard's solution.

Note that you don't necessarily need a card with 2 outputs - you could buy an AGP video card and a PCI one. You're best bet is probably to get a decent AGP card, try your motherboard/AGP solution, and if that fails, pick up a cheap PCI one - they're only about �25.

quote

Quote:

2) Has anyone experienced any problems using dual monitors and a wacom tablet? Are there any major pitfalls to look out for?

Depends on the tablet. I find my Graphire is too low-resolution to stretch over a display 2500 pixels wide. It becomes noticably jittery...
However, you can restrict the space available to the Wacom to a specified area - I've got mine set up to just cover the first monitor. Someone else had a neat suggestion of covering the first monitor, plus 200 pixels or so - this would give enough space to have your photoshop palletes on the edge of the second monitor.

[ August 08, 2002: Message edited by: Catfish ]

eyewoo · Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2002 5:59 am

Wacom on two monitors... It seems most people like to put their monitors side by side. I find it more to my liking to stack them and twist the tablet 90 degrees. The tablet can be configured to be in portrait mode, so when twisted 90 degrees the top half can be used for resources and the bottom for drawing. In that way every inch of tablet is used and there is a lot of space for resources. For example, I like to keep the Photoshop navigation window large on the upper monitor so that I can always see the entire picture no matter how tight I'm zoomed in. Seems to me there would be some similar 3D uses.

zak · Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2002 9:20 am

3) I want to setup a small network of about 2 - 3 systems so at night I can render animations quicker. Is there any network hardware that would be best for this? The software would be along the lines of Maya, 3D studio max and maybe Lightwave.

does it work faster? i didnt know. someone please expand on this

Blind · Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2002 9:32 am

Zak: Yes... I'm no 3D expert at all, but I'm pretty sure with some apps you can set up a little rendering farm of linked machines to share the workload. I think a lot of big production studios do this with SGI machines.

quote

Quote:

1) I'm noticing that motherboards now have monitor connections built in so if I were to buy a decent motherboard and add a decent graphics card would I be able to have a monitor plugged to the motherboard connector and the graphics card in order to have a dual monitor setup? Or would I have to buy a video card with 2 monitor plugs on it?

Adamant: I'm sure you could rig it that way, but that would be just what it is: rigged. I think if you're looking to do serious 3D rendering you may want to look into a dual monitor card to do that, or at least one of the newer GeForce4's that are out. They have dual monitor ports.