IRIX and Software

http://sgifanclub.1fr1.net
for smoke / flame / 3ds max / maya artists

Looks promising !
But so far not a single message in the forums ......

What is a single message?
The forum is in full birth like a baby

fvador59 wrote: What is a single message?
The forum is in full birth like a baby

Hopefully without the mess on the floor though ....

fvador59 wrote: http://sgifanclub.1fr1.net
for smoke / flame / 3ds max / maya artists

...except that, AFAIK, these products are no longer actively supported for IRIX by their respective vendors [at least Maya is definitely not].

Oskar45 wrote:

fvador59 wrote: http://sgifanclub.1fr1.net
for smoke / flame / 3ds max / maya artists

...except that, AFAIK, these products are no longer actively supported for IRIX by their respective vendors [at least Maya is definitely not].

and?

yes and ?
Smoke / flame on sgi are just the best editing / compositing in the world.
Not supported ok, but just look a little behind and see what they have done !

fvador59 wrote: yes and ?

I think Foetz' "yes, and" was an and of support- since you can't get support from $ORIG_COMPANY it's a good thing that support is available elsewhere in an informal manner. My PI/Indigo/IRIS 3k is unsupported by the vendor, so I'm very glad to have any support elsewhere, even if it is "unofficial" Another point in it's favor- unofficial support is usually a little bit less expensive .

SAQ wrote:

fvador59 wrote: yes and ?

I think Foetz' "yes, and" was an and of support- since you can't get support from $ORIG_COMPANY it's a good thing that support is available elsewhere in an informal manner. My PI/Indigo/IRIS 3k is unsupported by the vendor, so I'm very glad to have any support elsewhere, even if it is "unofficial" Another point in it's favor- unofficial support is usually a little bit less expensive .

exactly! thanks once again for the long version

foetz wrote:

Oskar45 wrote:

fvador59 wrote: http://sgifanclub.1fr1.net
for smoke / flame / 3ds max / maya artists

...except that, AFAIK, these products are no longer actively supported for IRIX by their respective vendors [at least Maya is definitely not].

and?

I can only comment on Maya [don't have any experience with the others at all].Sure, it's great to get tips etc. for Maya 6.5 [official IRIX support ended March 14, 2006]. But as an artist [and the forum mentioned above is squarely aimed at such], I couldn't care less for such an outdated version even if it runs on my SGI boxes [yes, I've 6.5 installed, but I'm not a proferssional artist at all]. To stay up-to-date, I'd most certainly be rather interested in tips for utilizing the tons of features added since then - and, currently, Maya for other platforms holds at 8.5...So, in your opinion - what is the benefit of getting hints for Maya 6.5 on IRIX when I can get hints for Maya 8.5 for other boxes somewhere else?

BTW, since you are so keen in defending old software - I still have a few questions regarding Explorer. Would you be willing to help me there?

Your are completely wrong Oskar45, but anyway if you think that to be an artist you must have the last version of each apps, i understand why you practice only at home... Some artists made better works with there 6.5 version that you will be able to make during all your life with your new toys. And to finish with, all company are not working always with the last release, only people at home have the last one.Ask also "ILM" why are they still working
with softimage 3D (the old one yes around 1997) on a O2 to animated Yoda ??? They must be "newbie" and don't know that new versions existe and they could be an better artist with them.

"Show me your programs, and I diagnose who you are." it's your signature !!!!
I'm not thinking that too (sorry), it's not because you drive an Farrari that you are a good pilot !
It's not because you have downloaded all the warez apps that you are the best !!!

fvador59 wrote: Your are completely wrong Oskar45, but anyway if you think that to be an artist you must have the last version of each apps, i understand why you practice only at home... Some artistes made better works with there 6.5 version that you will be able to make during all your life with your new toys. And to finish with, all company are not working always with the last release, only people at home have the last one.Ask also "ILM" why are they still working
with softimage 3D (the old one yes around 1997) on a O2 to animated Yoda ??? They must be "newbie" and don't know that new versions existe and they could be an better artist with them.

"Show me your programs, and I diagnose who you are." it's your signature !!!!
I'm not thinking that too (sorry), it's not because you drive an Farrari that you are a good pilot !
It's not because you have downloaded all the warez apps that you are the best !!!

Your comment is cheerfully taken. You are right. But as I wrote above, I'm not an artist at all - therefore, I'm perfectly fine with running "only" 6.5 on my Fuel and I most certainly don't care about the availability of newer versions for other platforms at all. Unless Maya returns to IRIX [which will most probably never happen], I'll simply continue with 6.5 - as you'd put it so politely, I only practice at home afterall And it's great fun nevertheless, believe me. But for the nonce pretend I'm an artist, will you? There's this client who expects some great work from me. I know it could be done painlessly with nCloth. Only trouble is, nCloth is not available in 6.5. So, while I'm not so sure ILM would be willing to share with me how to simulate that in 6.5, out of your very own experience - how would you go about that in Maya 6.5 on IRIX? How would you accomplish Geometry Caching for faster animation? Your hints are most certainly appreciated.

Regarding my signature - you don't have to say "sorry". Not at all. You're most certainly welcome to express your own thoughts there. In fact, you're the first one who ever did. And therefore I really appreciate it. But you see - I'm not driving a Ferrari all the time - sometimes it's only a 4x4....got my point?

as a personal user it doesn't matter what you're using as long as you're happy with it.

however commercial usage depends on several things. one of them is the desired outcome. another is reliability.
pros (no matter which sector) don't upgrade blindly just to have the new version as so many home users do. instead they analyze what they need, what a new version offers, the costs and e.g. the technical risks of an upgrade (plugin compatibility issues for example).
besides that there're many more issues to consider before going for a new or other version. every transition has its pros and cons so there is no 'normal' way. it is totally subjective.

Oskar45 wrote:
I can only comment on Maya [don't have any experience with the others at all].Sure, it's great to get tips etc. for Maya 6.5 [official IRIX support ended March 14, 2006]. But as an artist [and the forum mentioned above is squarely aimed at such], I couldn't care less for such an outdated version even if it runs on my SGI boxes [yes, I've 6.5 installed, but I'm not a proferssional artist at all]. To stay up-to-date, I'd most certainly be rather interested in tips for utilizing the tons of features added since then - and, currently, Maya for other platforms holds at 8.5...So, in your opinion - what is the benefit of getting hints for Maya 6.5 on IRIX when I can get hints for Maya 8.5 for other boxes somewhere else?

BTW, since you are so keen in defending old software - I still have a few questions regarding Explorer. Would you be willing to help me there?

Well, you are partly right about getting hints on maya8.5 and stuff, but imagine, Final Fantasy: Spirits Within was done in Maya version 1 and finished on 2.5.

Citing

For example, we used Maya as our main tool, and we started from pre-1.0 release and ended with version 2.5.1.

link

So I wonder whether there are really so many professional artists using all the new features in 8.5. Because what makers of that Final Fantasy movie could achieve on version 2.5 was still not outgrown by any other movie (except "sequel" Final Fantasy: Advent Children (which was not connected to story of TSW in any way, but was done by partly identical artists (only Japanese)).
So when I think of it, for me an artist can be excellent artist without the latest tools.
You know, expensive and luxury chess set does not make you a good chess player.

On other hand, I agree, that some tools are available only for newer version.
I work with maya from time to time, and to be honest, I like version 4.5 much more than 8.5. It's because of speed. 4.5 is like a turbojet comparing to 8.5 being a Cessna. You really need to experience it yourself to believe.
That's why I wonder why all the recent development is almost always focused only on the latest version. I believe there are more people like me, who like older version more than new one.

as http://www.oldversion.com slogan says " becuase newer is not always better "
though most of people would doubt this, I believe.

and btw, sometimes if you have good progamming power (understand as lots of programming monkeys) then you can develop your own ways:

We developed custom deformation and simulation tools with names like "shapeDriver" and "sqFlex" which were used for many of these tasks, rather than using commercial tools like Maya cloth.

link

Perfect reflection

fvador59 wrote: http://sgifanclub.1fr1.net

Funny...last Friday I'd registered there and posted an introductory message just saying I use Maya 6.5 on my private Fuel. Today I wanted to log in again but received only "You are banned from this forum". Have no idea why

fvador59 wrote: Perfect reflection

Would you have argued the same way if I'd have talked about Photoshop instead of Maya?

Oskar45 wrote:

fvador59 wrote: Perfect reflection

Would you have argued the same way if I'd have talked about Photoshop instead of Maya?

from Photoshop version 6 there has been literally no major change except ability to edit more layers at once. I can imagine myself working with photoshop version 5 as good as with cs3.
although, new "features" may save some time, but they are not crucially necessary.

toxygen wrote:

Oskar45 wrote:

fvador59 wrote: Perfect reflection

Would you have argued the same way if I'd have talked about Photoshop instead of Maya?

from Photoshop version 6 there has been literally no major change except ability to edit more layers at once. I can imagine myself working with photoshop version 5 as good as with cs3.
although, new "features" may save some time, but they are not crucially necessary.

the main difference is the speed and the size. cs3 compared to v5 is much bigger and much slower

foetz wrote: the main difference is the speed and the size. cs3 compared to v5 is much bigger and much slower

I completely agree. I noticed the biggest difference in speed between Photoshop 7 and CS (8) version.
Also in terms of size - integration of tools like bridge and others make PS act really slower (at least the startup)