Soon to be mine.

[TimWoods]

I would be interested to see some results, as my old studio nearly parted with cash for one too. But I was slightly concerned over the compatility. Vray seemed to be a more logical choice and render boxes. I wasnt to happy with the prospect of having to set up the scene specifically for the render drive, as being flexibale is key.

Post some stuff when you get it.
:)

[Crin]

Compatibility is only really an issue if your trying to render scenes that you've set up using old materials. Admittedly you should use ART's shaders to get the best results but this is true of most software pipleine's too so... it's not that bigger deal. It looks like it should be going through and i should have it in a coup[le of week so, fingers crossed! :)


When I get it (hopefully) I'll try to get some stuff for you to see, however with it being at work there's alot of stuff I can't post, obviously.

[amir jahanlou]

Has any thing been updated.

I would like to know the progress with Render dirve since we have 2 machines here and both are sleeping.

Thanks

[grundelboy]

That's a Nice card boyo. How much does one of those baby's go for?

[jabbermacy]

13 grand!

http://store.artvps.com/

[grundelboy]

Owey! That hurts! $13,000. That's just a touch out of my price range.

[TimWoods]

you could get 13 dual proc render boxes for that. So thats why im not totally convinced that one box could match the speed of 13 work stations. but im willing to be proven wrong...:)
if they are so good then why are digital dimension the only 3d house using it, just a thought.

[andrewjohn81]

This, I think, is the biggest downsides to those types of products:
What happens in a few months when some render company comes out with a faster way of doing GI, or something similar, that the card isn't compatible with. In order to use the product you have to first, convert all of your current files using their lights, shaders, and sometimes cameras to get the better speed. Some standard shaders attributes are not supported, so you have to use theirs. Then when you don't want to use the product anymore, more likely sooner than you think, you have to convert everything back.

I assume, for some people it may be worth it, but I agree with what some other people are hinting at. Get yourself a bunch of machines and set up a render farm. Some render programs will render in the background on all the other machines, but display the results on your machine, so you can keep working...just like the card.

I say that because we have a similar card that we paid a similar price for. We bought it nearly a year ago. Think back a year, and where the cards were then. They can hardly do anything that most other renders can do now. If the processes change then the processors need to change on the card...meaning, buy a new one. That sucks.

Just some stuff to be aware of.

[jabbermacy]

Just wait 'till FR-Stage 2 is out and everybody buys up all the xbox2's to use as a render farm ;)

Then this card'll look like a tinker toy....

[Ls3D]

Just wait 'till FR-Stage 2 is out and everybody buys up all the xbox2's to use as a render farm

XboxII? How about a 256 cluster CELL based massive pipe? Two teraflops per 64-core chunk.

When the unit appears - in enterprise kit from IBM, and in Sony's PlayStation 3 console - it's likely to clock 4.6GHz and be built on a 65nm process. Today's samples used a 90nm process. Cells will be manufactured at IBM's 300mm fab in East Fishkill, New Yorj and Sony's Nagasaki plant. IBM said the processor is "OS neutral", but it will able to run multiple operating systems concurrently.


-S

[Hazdaz]

LS3D - yea, don't be too quick to believe every rumor you read - espesially if its concerning a SONY product. Go dig up what the rumors of how fast the PS1 and then the PS2 were supposed to be before they came out... ended up not being even close. Usual marketing BS.


Anyways, concerning the Renderdrive, my biggest issue with those - besides the price, ofocurse - is the fact that they are proprietary. What happens if ArtVSP goes out of business tommorrow? How is that $13k piece of hardware now going to be updated to support MAX7.5 or future releases that contain new features?? What about if/when you decide to switch applications that your RenderDrive doesn't support?

I just think your locked-down to one piece of hardware and one company WAY too much.

However having said that - I don't think you can compare a few networked PCs to th speed of the RD. Maybe I am completely wrong on this, but doesn't the RD give you (near) realtime previews while you are actually working? If that is the case, then a renderfarm doesn't help you out at all when it comes to that - it only helps you when you are rendering an animation.

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.