Just got my new dual p4 xeon box, and since we run Maya, C4D and AM I got to see all of them run faster.
well, except AM…see, it only uses one CPU. this sucks.
it used to. I talked to steve a while ago and he says the code needs some tweaking, but it’s not high on the list because nobody misses it.
so, if you’re like me, why don’t you email steve and tell him mulit-proc support is REAL important, cuz isn’t it?
Especially now with this Hyperthreading thing Intel has implemented.
Even your normal old single processor P4s would benefit from a multithreaded application.
The most current online manual says that multi-threading IS back, but you have to add a line to your registry to engage it. I have added that line and have not had any problems. Give me a sec and I’ll find the page…
Here we go… From the online Manual for 10.5:
Multi-Processors
Though few computers have multiple processors (or CPU’s), it is becoming more common. During rendering, each additional processors will decrease render time significantly but not with 100% efficiency. Even in the interface, multiple processors can increase the feedback of operations somewhat.
Currently multi-processor support only works for the PC and will have to be enabled by changing the registry.
Choose [Start][Run…] from the task bar.
Type in “RegEdit.exe” into the Open edit box then click OK. This will launch the registry editor.
Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Hash, Inc.\Animation Master 2003\V10.0\General.
Choose [Edit][New][String Value].
Rename the new String Value to “Threads”, then double-click on it and set it’s value to the number of processors your computer has.
Re-launch Animation Master to take advantage of the multiple processors.
I’m thinkin bout getting a new comp and want to know if AM actually can use the hyperthreading technology of the P4. Could someone run some test renders and see the benefits of multithreading in A:M? I’d like to see how well it works, if at all. Thanks in advance, if someone has the time.
I don’t know squat about “hyper-threading”, but with 2 CPU’s and good ol’ v8.5, I just open two instances of A:M, set one’s CPU affinity to CPU 0 and the other to CPU 1, and have one instance of A:M render odd # frames and the other even # frames. It doesn’t cut my render times in half due to the extra overhead incurred by having 2 copies of the app running, but the increase is something on the order of 80-90% faster thtn rendering with one occurence on one CPU.
So, even if A:M doesn’t take advantage of “hyper threading”, you CAN get it to use more than one CPU. 
Wegg, how would a multi-hyper whatever threaded single processor benefit from dual support? From the tests I’ve run, AM runs the CPU to nearly 97% usage every time, if you let it. It’s pretty polite and backs down some if you make demands via other apps, considering how processor intensive it is.
I’m serious- can you point me to some reading where it would explain that? I must be missing something about how the newer CPU’s are supposed to work; indeed even the older P4’s?
Thanks pdaley, I’ll have to test that. I was searching through my registry yesterday and couldn’t find anything that looked like a multi-porcessor setting. Figures I had to make it.
Ran13, that would work too…but it would use twice the memory of a single instance of AM. If you’ve got plenty of RAM and not a too heavy scene it would be fine.
Ragnar
Originally posted by pdaley
The most current online manual says that multi-threading IS back, but you have to add a line to your registry to engage it. I have added that line and have not had any problems. Give me a sec and I’ll find the page…
Yeah, it’s the same process as it was back in 8.5. Not the most elegant way to turn something on.
Hey, where did you find this “online manual” i can’t find anything that says that multi-threading is back.
Here’s the deal tho. I just added that line in the latest 10.5 (non-beta) and it does nothing. It doesn’t hurt anything, but there is no speed increase (and the one tell-tale sign is dual lines in the Progressive Render). Hmmm.
Originally posted by Dearmad
[B]Wegg, how would a multi-hyper whatever threaded single processor benefit from dual support? From the tests I’ve run, AM runs the CPU to nearly 97% usage every time, if you let it. It’s pretty polite and backs down some if you make demands via other apps, considering how processor intensive it is.I’m serious- can you point me to some reading where it would explain that? I must be missing something about how the newer CPU’s are supposed to work; indeed even the older P4’s? [/B]
Google hyperthreading. There is info all over the net about it.
From what I understand, if your have a Hyperthreaded cpu, the cpu tricks the OS and applications into thinking there are two processors and more efficiently deal with the computation than if there were just the one.
I’m an Athlon man myself but thats what I have read.
PJC:
I just downloaded the newest reference.exe from the ftp dated 7/1. You’re correct in that it seems that the multi-processor section has been pulled again. The bit that I copied over was from the “online manual” link from hash.com. At this time though it looks like that has been changed to reflect the new downloadable reference. On further inspection, the multi-processor bit IS in the manual for 10.0, just not 10.5.
So much for that.
Dual support should be high on their to do list. With even P4s using hyperthreading and every mac user loading up on dual G4s and 5s I would think they would make an effort to get on the dual proc bandwagon.
j
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