"Dear Slashdot, Please do my research for me. I can't possibly use google and look up the 309830983 gazillion studies on cluster/render farm configurations."
Don't be an asshole. You can go read a gazillion Google pages on setting up a network farm, but what this guy really wants is to hear from somebody who's gone through the trial and error and can offer their sage advice.
Google isn't everything, nor does it give you the right to be an ass.
Sadly, power is not everything. I personally wouldn't build a Lightwave render farm based on G5 processors. Don't get me wrong, I like Macs, but most Lightwave plugins are compiled for x86.
(Directed at Dark Bard) Me personally, I'd go with dual athlon boxes. I have one at home and one at work, I run Screamernet on both, and they work wonderfully. Would I be better off with 4 single processor machines? Well honestly, that kind of depends on a few factors. You have fewer cases, but you have RAM being split up across 2 processors. On the other hand, you have fewer Windows boxes to deal with.
Lightwave's Screamernet does work with Linux, you could save a few bucks here. But I'm not sure how well it works or how compatible it is. But, if you're up to experimentation, I say go with Linux first. If Lightwave is problematic with Linux, then spend a few $$$ and use Windows 2000. It'll work quite well. Lightwave and Win2k are very nice to each other.
Integrated video? I don't think that'll be a problem. If you're doing network rendering, the video card won't even be touched. The network renderer is a CLI app, a good 3D card won't do you any good unless you use a plugin that bounces off the card. (I'm only aware of 1, and I'm not sure it's used in production often...)
64-bit? Oh man that's a toughie. Newtek has made 0 announcements about 64-bit. Are you planning on having these machines for say 2 years? Well... yeah I'd look really carefully at the new processors. But, I'm not sure that's the choice I'd make. I'm not a big fan of placing bets on the future with today's money. If the price difference can buy you extra machines, what's the benefit to buying the latest greatest processors?
I wish I could advise you on Maya, but I am not familiar with it. Lightwave *does* run on Linux in network rendering mode, but I have not tried it yet, nor do I know anybody who has. Yeah, not definitive. But you know what? I can tell you where to go. Go to www.cgtalk.com, go to the Lightwave section, and place the question there. The Lightwave Community there is very nice and helpful. Give'em a go.
He's probably got the "ooo new toy!" itch. I wouldn't mind getting one as well, but I do 3D rendering, and network rendering is a whole lotta fun. Lightwave used to be 64-bit (back in the Alpha days) so an investment in a machine like this seems like it might be worthwhile.
As fun as it'd be to have a machine like that, I should share with him the conclusion I came to: Don't buy the latest greatest hardware unless there's some big screaming reason to do it. If Lightwave were 64-bit, I'd probably have bought one. Instead, I bought a dual Athlon machine. And ya know what? I enjoy the heck out of it. Maybe he should consider one for himself? Personally, I think the nicer multi-threading he'll end up with will yield a more responsive computer than having a single processor, even at 64-bits.
"Microsoft might say that they admire the way that linux contributors interract, but I think it will be a cold day in hell before the admit that they're implementing technical features of linux."
Why would it be a cold day in hell to admit they're implementing features of Linux? They've already implemented Unix'esque features, why would Linux do it? Do you guys think Bill Gates has a pic of Linux on his dartboard?
Honestly, some of you need a reality checkup. Microsoft regards Linux as competition, that doesn't mean they can't find the pieces they like and implement their own. How could they compete with Linux (or anybody else for that matter) if they don't have all the same bibbles and bobbles people are buying it for? Microsoft wouldn't be a mega-corp if it was as arrogant as a lot of you make it out to be.
"maybe this will give some purpose to tablet pcs."
Us digital artists would already like to have Tablet PCs. We like drawing. I may end up with when when the right combination of price and power comes along. Tablets are good but having the feedback right under the stylus would be quite useful.
"This whole thing is one expensive guess, nothing more nothing less."
If it's wrong, it's wrong. BFD. It's still an interpreted collection of data, and over time it'll improve. It's called science, and it's the basis of a lot of things you take for granted.
Chill. Give the people working on it a little credit instead of trying to shoot it down because it's early in development.
" Is Blockbuster big enough to complain loud enough?"
More importantly, is Blockbuster's reasoning strong enough? They have their reasons for delaying the launch to other regions. (I don't know what that is, but it's difficult to imagine that they're intentionally pissing their customers off. Maybe they're testing the waters? Maybe they don't want shortages due to great demand?) I'm not defending the MPAA's view here, just thinking that they won't go for it unless Blockbuster can tell them it'll make them oodles of money. I'm not sure they've quite hit the nail on the head yet.
He's right, though. By making it so people in another region cannot buy a movie, internet piracy is a lot more attractive.
"We have 2/3's of a watery planet right here, that we are yet to explore in great detail."
I hate comments like this. As if astronomers can just take up deep sea diving and marine biology.
Let's settle this once and for all: Diversification is a GOOD thing. We do not gain anything by 'focusing' on what YOU think is important. I'm a 3d artist. Do you think that somehow qualifies me to do cancer research?
So knock it off. We do a little bit of everything on this planet. Over-focus on one thing, and you neglect other areas of research that benefit man-kind. You're not being insightful here.
"Interesting revelation in the tests: Linux, while not having a great share of the market now, will progressively gain user base simply because it is so capable of evolving with new technology."
I can see this for customers such as Hollywood. This isn't necesssarily true in the consumer world, however. Too many variables to make that a reliably true or false statement.
Frankly, I find this statement a bit overrated. Nothing personal, but a little bit of clarification would have sounded less like 'pat-linux-on-the-back-karma-whoring' and more like something informational.
"Political campaigns are already structured like games, with an escalating series of discrete competitions that determine the eventual winner."
That's just as maybe, but nobody in your typical gaming demographic really gives a flying f. Why? Well, to most of us, it really doesn't matter who's in office. It's about as exciting as a game based on Joe Millionaire. (Although a Quake mod might be a lot of fun...) It has nothing to do with how compatible the politics are to the gaming arena, it has everything to do with the popularity of it.
It doesn't help that politics are mainly a waste of time. (I personally find it amusing that so much money and effort was wasted going after Clinton for a non-impeachable offense. Yeah, I wanna play a game about that.)
I think it's certainly popular. I think we're in for some interesting times ahead. If Nintendo starts a trend of creating interesting inputs to make fun games, we could be in for some exciting times down the road.
I'm really enjoying these games that require you be physically active. I hope this game is successful, I'd like to see more of them.
I wonder if games like this could be used to teach music? Certainly this has to have an effect on hand-eye co-ordination. "Games are a waste of time -- my ass.
"Get a T1 and try being an ISP yourself. You'll understand why they can't make any money if everybody is pulling a full T1 worth of bandwidth for a fraction of a T1 price very quickly."
Um right. Too bad that isn't what people are 'whine whine bitch bitch bitch cry crying' about. They're complaining (rightfully) about being promised one thing and being delivered something else. Simply put, they used the word 'unlimited' too freely.
It's about having the right expectations set, it's not about abuse of service.
Slashdot Mirror
"Dear Slashdot, Please do my research for me. I can't possibly use google and look up the 309830983 gazillion studies on cluster/render farm configurations."
Don't be an asshole. You can go read a gazillion Google pages on setting up a network farm, but what this guy really wants is to hear from somebody who's gone through the trial and error and can offer their sage advice.
Google isn't everything, nor does it give you the right to be an ass.
"The best price/power processor is the G5."
Sadly, power is not everything. I personally wouldn't build a Lightwave render farm based on G5 processors. Don't get me wrong, I like Macs, but most Lightwave plugins are compiled for x86.
(Directed at Dark Bard) Me personally, I'd go with dual athlon boxes. I have one at home and one at work, I run Screamernet on both, and they work wonderfully. Would I be better off with 4 single processor machines? Well honestly, that kind of depends on a few factors. You have fewer cases, but you have RAM being split up across 2 processors. On the other hand, you have fewer Windows boxes to deal with.
Lightwave's Screamernet does work with Linux, you could save a few bucks here. But I'm not sure how well it works or how compatible it is. But, if you're up to experimentation, I say go with Linux first. If Lightwave is problematic with Linux, then spend a few $$$ and use Windows 2000. It'll work quite well. Lightwave and Win2k are very nice to each other.
Integrated video? I don't think that'll be a problem. If you're doing network rendering, the video card won't even be touched. The network renderer is a CLI app, a good 3D card won't do you any good unless you use a plugin that bounces off the card. (I'm only aware of 1, and I'm not sure it's used in production often...)
64-bit? Oh man that's a toughie. Newtek has made 0 announcements about 64-bit. Are you planning on having these machines for say 2 years? Well... yeah I'd look really carefully at the new processors. But, I'm not sure that's the choice I'd make. I'm not a big fan of placing bets on the future with today's money. If the price difference can buy you extra machines, what's the benefit to buying the latest greatest processors?
I wish I could advise you on Maya, but I am not familiar with it. Lightwave *does* run on Linux in network rendering mode, but I have not tried it yet, nor do I know anybody who has. Yeah, not definitive. But you know what? I can tell you where to go. Go to www.cgtalk.com, go to the Lightwave section, and place the question there. The Lightwave Community there is very nice and helpful. Give'em a go.
He's probably got the "ooo new toy!" itch. I wouldn't mind getting one as well, but I do 3D rendering, and network rendering is a whole lotta fun. Lightwave used to be 64-bit (back in the Alpha days) so an investment in a machine like this seems like it might be worthwhile.
As fun as it'd be to have a machine like that, I should share with him the conclusion I came to: Don't buy the latest greatest hardware unless there's some big screaming reason to do it. If Lightwave were 64-bit, I'd probably have bought one. Instead, I bought a dual Athlon machine. And ya know what? I enjoy the heck out of it. Maybe he should consider one for himself? Personally, I think the nicer multi-threading he'll end up with will yield a more responsive computer than having a single processor, even at 64-bits.
"So get a job and buy one. It's not like they're DARPA controlled."
Heh. What part of "us digital artists" made you think I can just drop $1,000+ into a luxury?
"and fights for that no matter what the facts are."
Heh including the fact that I never said 'zero effect'.
Cheers.
"Microsoft might say that they admire the way that linux contributors interract, but I think it will be a cold day in hell before the admit that they're implementing technical features of linux."
Why would it be a cold day in hell to admit they're implementing features of Linux? They've already implemented Unix'esque features, why would Linux do it? Do you guys think Bill Gates has a pic of Linux on his dartboard?
Honestly, some of you need a reality checkup. Microsoft regards Linux as competition, that doesn't mean they can't find the pieces they like and implement their own. How could they compete with Linux (or anybody else for that matter) if they don't have all the same bibbles and bobbles people are buying it for? Microsoft wouldn't be a mega-corp if it was as arrogant as a lot of you make it out to be.
"Denigrate it loudly while duplicating it quietly."
To assume that Microsoft hates every bit used to make up Linux is foolish.
"maybe this will give some purpose to tablet pcs."
Us digital artists would already like to have Tablet PCs. We like drawing. I may end up with when when the right combination of price and power comes along. Tablets are good but having the feedback right under the stylus would be quite useful.
"This whole thing is one expensive guess, nothing more nothing less."
If it's wrong, it's wrong. BFD. It's still an interpreted collection of data, and over time it'll improve. It's called science, and it's the basis of a lot of things you take for granted.
Chill. Give the people working on it a little credit instead of trying to shoot it down because it's early in development.
" Is Blockbuster big enough to complain loud enough?"
More importantly, is Blockbuster's reasoning strong enough? They have their reasons for delaying the launch to other regions. (I don't know what that is, but it's difficult to imagine that they're intentionally pissing their customers off. Maybe they're testing the waters? Maybe they don't want shortages due to great demand?) I'm not defending the MPAA's view here, just thinking that they won't go for it unless Blockbuster can tell them it'll make them oodles of money. I'm not sure they've quite hit the nail on the head yet.
He's right, though. By making it so people in another region cannot buy a movie, internet piracy is a lot more attractive.
"We have 2/3's of a watery planet right here, that we are yet to explore in great detail."
I hate comments like this. As if astronomers can just take up deep sea diving and marine biology.
Let's settle this once and for all: Diversification is a GOOD thing. We do not gain anything by 'focusing' on what YOU think is important. I'm a 3d artist. Do you think that somehow qualifies me to do cancer research?
So knock it off. We do a little bit of everything on this planet. Over-focus on one thing, and you neglect other areas of research that benefit man-kind. You're not being insightful here.
"As I am not overly familiar with astronomy, why is this the case?"
A problem with the phase inducers has knocked long range sensors off-line. Attempting to re-route.
"We have never seen an actual formation of planets and can only infer what happens."
That's why they used the term 'suggest' instead of 'prove'. I'm amazed you were modded up.
"Just about any electronics store or office supply store has these electronic dictionaires lined up out in front. "
Thank you for living up to your name.
"You believe that the illegal and predetory practices of MS had zero effect on netscape so you are an idiot."
Read what I said, numbnuts.
"Interesting revelation in the tests: Linux, while not having a great share of the market now, will progressively gain user base simply because it is so capable of evolving with new technology."
I can see this for customers such as Hollywood. This isn't necesssarily true in the consumer world, however. Too many variables to make that a reliably true or false statement.
Frankly, I find this statement a bit overrated. Nothing personal, but a little bit of clarification would have sounded less like 'pat-linux-on-the-back-karma-whoring' and more like something informational.
"For the same reason there aren't any religious sims, either."
Oh I dunno. The way people jump my ass here if I don't sing the praises of Mozilla, you'd think it was a religious sim.
"Political campaigns are already structured like games, with an escalating series of discrete competitions that determine the eventual winner."
That's just as maybe, but nobody in your typical gaming demographic really gives a flying f. Why? Well, to most of us, it really doesn't matter who's in office. It's about as exciting as a game based on Joe Millionaire. (Although a Quake mod might be a lot of fun...) It has nothing to do with how compatible the politics are to the gaming arena, it has everything to do with the popularity of it.
It doesn't help that politics are mainly a waste of time. (I personally find it amusing that so much money and effort was wasted going after Clinton for a non-impeachable offense. Yeah, I wanna play a game about that.)
"what does that say about people when they consider moving your wrists around a little bit "active"
Is 'moving their wrists around a little bit' how you envision somebody playing congos? Heh. Oookay.
"if that were true, masturbating to porn videos would be the new exercise craze."
Since the internet was commercialized, I think it's far exceeded 'craze' phase.
I think it's certainly popular. I think we're in for some interesting times ahead. If Nintendo starts a trend of creating interesting inputs to make fun games, we could be in for some exciting times down the road.
.. or does the inside of it look like a uterus? Anybody remember what a uterus looks like?
Why not? Dance Dance Revolution did well here. Kids like to beat drums. Unless the price is >$60, why would this fail?
I'm really enjoying these games that require you be physically active. I hope this game is successful, I'd like to see more of them.
I wonder if games like this could be used to teach music? Certainly this has to have an effect on hand-eye co-ordination. "Games are a waste of time -- my ass.
"Get a T1 and try being an ISP yourself. You'll understand why they can't make any money if everybody is pulling a full T1 worth of bandwidth for a fraction of a T1 price very quickly."
Um right. Too bad that isn't what people are 'whine whine bitch bitch bitch cry crying' about. They're complaining (rightfully) about being promised one thing and being delivered something else. Simply put, they used the word 'unlimited' too freely.
It's about having the right expectations set, it's not about abuse of service.
"CmdrTaco et al need some sort of CVS on submitted newsposts."
Why do they 'need' it? Why's it such a BFD? In this case, it's a little silly, but come on, it's a dupe story, not a Star Wars prequel.
Maybe it's because I have a life or something, but most of the time I see dupes, I didn't catch the original.