Beer glass scene creation
This course contains a little bit of everything with modeling, UVing, texturing and dynamics in Maya, as well as compositing multilayered EXR's in Photoshop.
# 1 17-07-2003 , 11:22 PM
Russell's Avatar
Registered User
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Sioux Falls, SD
Posts: 370

Motivation To Switch To Maya 5

Hi all,

Okay, here's something I've been lulling over for a better part of the day. I COULD update to Maya 5 if I wanted to but is it really all that great of an upgrade to warrant the change? I'm currently using GI Joe to get my global illumination but GI Joe can only do so much. I'm running my set up on a dinosaur of a 533MHz computer and it drags enough as it is. I'm looking into Mental Ray and I know it's true GI but how much slower will it be to render with than my current set up? I'm saving up for a new computer (as many of you all know) and I've found a site - OT for a sec here (www.pricerightauctions.com) - that auctions off brand new computers for less than $300 like Dell and Sony Vaio PCs so I may get a decent PC yet.

Anywho, is it worth my time to upgrade? What good points can you all give me on switching? Are there any? user added image Thanks in advance! user added image

Russell


Russell Bolding
CEO/Founder - Russelltopia Studios
Web:https://www.russelltopia.com
Email:russbo@russelltopia.com
# 2 18-07-2003 , 12:59 AM
dbirider's Avatar
Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 227
i would watch your self with that site! its you and 400 other people trying to win one of those bids....

# 3 18-07-2003 , 12:04 PM
Nem's Avatar
Subscriber
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Faringdon, UK
Posts: 1,480
i wud recommend a computer upgrade over a maya upgrade, u wont be able to run maya 5 on ur comp that well anyway, so spend as much as u can on a new comp, and get maya 6 when its out user added image


- Simon

My Website: www.Glass-Prison.com
# 4 18-07-2003 , 05:53 PM
ragecgi's Avatar
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Minnesota, USA
Posts: 3,709
I personally went with 5 because of the fixed UVsmoothing buguser added image


Israel "Izzy" Long
Motion and Title Design for Broadcast-Film-DS
izzylong.com
# 5 19-07-2003 , 12:52 AM
I-Iybrid's Avatar
Simply Maya OG
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Queensbury NY, US A
Posts: 1,438
I like the Vector Rendering. Its sweet user added image


- Hybrid
# 6 19-07-2003 , 06:23 AM
Russell's Avatar
Registered User
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Sioux Falls, SD
Posts: 370
Okay, let's just say I decide for the software upgrade first. What's the best way to optimize 5 to render faster? is there a way? I've been reading up on this whoile MR GI and Final Gathering and though I'm confused enough, I think I can get the hang of it and rendering times, sheesh, like I have anything better to do in my life than watch my screen render slowly. Point is, I have the patience to wait for long renders seeing as how I'm still learning all of this stuff, not to mention I'm dying to get into 5's feature set and I want to see what all the talk about reducing polygon size. How does that work anyway? See, I'm just a little sponge, just a'soakin' up all this here knowledge. (seeing as how I only gradgeeaided duh 6 grade no how. user added image) Do I need to upgrade my RAM, video card (64 MB okay?... Nvidia?) to get a little better performance? I'm dyyyyyyyin' herrrrreeee! user added image Give me a frickin' bone here. user added image Thanks chums!

Russell


Russell Bolding
CEO/Founder - Russelltopia Studios
Web:https://www.russelltopia.com
Email:russbo@russelltopia.com
# 7 19-07-2003 , 04:12 PM
M's Avatar
Subscriber
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: BC, Canada
Posts: 2,250
Personally, if your running on a 533, best bet would be to put your money into the computer first, it will up your modelling speeds and stuff significantly.

Other than that, auctioning is great.. just you have to be careful. If your just going to buy off of some unknown site then your going to get screwed like you wouldnt imagine.. if you want to auction for your goods 2 great places are ubid.com and ebay.com. Ebay has more of a selection and is more of a p2p kinda thing. Ubid is they buy all refurbished goods from these manufactures for really hella cheap prices and sell it to you for a tad more, in most cases its cheaper than on ebay. Nice thing is that on Ubid you know 95% of the time (if your buying electronics) you will be getting the real deal, and working.. but on ebay sometimes they word things that you have to look out for, or the ammount of sells they have made. On ebay the other person could run off with your money and end up only giving you back up to 200 dollars from the original price (from ebay). I personally buy all my parts now mostly in stores and some things off of ubid, seeing ebay seems to be getting a bit more corrupted every day.

Watch out when your bidding though.. you can get too over excited user added image.. always keep a max price in your head so you dont top it! Dont want to be paying more for an item than it is in stores (seen it alot). :thumbsup:

How much ram can your MB hold? If its maxed then your in a pickle.. buy a new computer for sure. Sounds like you dont have exactly a ton of money though to go out and buy all the new hardware goodies on the market, so i would just suggest investing in maxing out your ram slots. For the renders, stand up, go outside.. and go for a nice blade/bike/skateboard ride or w/e you want.. just do something productive with your time rather then sitting infront of the render screen user added image.

Hope this helped a bit.


"I should call you sugar maple tree cause i'd totally tap that" haha

email - mattwettstein@gmail.com
# 8 21-07-2003 , 04:56 AM
Russell's Avatar
Registered User
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Sioux Falls, SD
Posts: 370
Here's the thing about the auction site I mentioned. They have brand new items but the thing of it is the auctions last about 60 days.. who's got that kinda time to wait. So I may just save up and get a Dell or something like that. BTW, what do you guys suggest looking into in the $300 - $700 range? And what are the most important things to consider in having "Maya Computer"? I've heard, regardless of the processor speed, lots of RAM and a good video card... the best one I can afford. Any other features? Does Maya 5 require anything else special?I hear AMD is about to unleash their 64 bit processor... any idea what their cost will be? I won't have enough saved up anytime soon anyway but I was hoping to get your input on all this sh... stuff. Thanks y'all!

Russell


Russell Bolding
CEO/Founder - Russelltopia Studios
Web:https://www.russelltopia.com
Email:russbo@russelltopia.com
# 9 21-07-2003 , 05:08 AM
dbirider's Avatar
Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 227
its not really an auction... its more like gambling. and the owner of the website always wins (ends up with $$$) the catch is, the highest original price wins the auction. so if 300 people are 'bidding' on that item, and it costs 10 $ to bid. you have to get the lowest original price. if they set the price of the 2500$ item at 400$ than the 300 people have to bid below 400$ and then the person that bids the highest original price wins. so its sorta like a lottery. you have a 1 in 300 chance of winning. and if you dont win you pay them 10$

confusing... but cool concept for the people who came up with it

# 10 30-07-2003 , 04:07 AM
Russell's Avatar
Registered User
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Sioux Falls, SD
Posts: 370
I'm still deciding on whether to switch... Takes me a long time to decide on anything. user added image I do want to take the time to thank you all for your time and help here at SM. You guys are like the friends I never had in real life. user added image

Russell


Russell Bolding
CEO/Founder - Russelltopia Studios
Web:https://www.russelltopia.com
Email:russbo@russelltopia.com
# 11 30-07-2003 , 09:42 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: londrina-pr-brazil
Posts: 34
independent of maya choose you favorite but i like of maya 5 is beterr in many aspects
[sorry about my english ]

# 12 01-08-2003 , 06:07 PM
drknow's Avatar
Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,033
I like it cause the startup screen is cooler user added image. And It kicks poo flingin monkey ass. :|


It's Dr. Know, Not Darknow
# 13 02-08-2003 , 04:37 AM
Russell's Avatar
Registered User
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Sioux Falls, SD
Posts: 370
DrKnow... Ewwwwww.... LOL! Well, I can't get Maya 5 for a while anyways... I'm taking on the challenge of switching careers again so ain't NO kinda money coming in this house... well, except my wife's piddly paycheck... but at least it's something. I'll just work in Maya 4.5 for a while longer. I am blessed - I truly am. (Just keep saying that, Russell and you'll be okay... user added image)


Russell Bolding
CEO/Founder - Russelltopia Studios
Web:https://www.russelltopia.com
Email:russbo@russelltopia.com
Posting Rules Forum Rules
You may not post new threads | You may not post replies | You may not post attachments | You may not edit your posts | BB code is On | Smilies are On | [IMG] code is On | HTML code is Off

Similar Threads