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Messages - casparagus

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1
Sketchup has only been mentioned a couple of times, but it is a big market.

For hardcore 3D artists like ourselves, Sketchup probably seems irrelevant, however the vast majority of architectural firms I have worked for use Sketchup.

The LARGEST architectural practice IN THE WORLD uses Sketchup as part of their standard line. Sketchup is simple to learn and easy to use, which is why many architects and designers use it. These people are pros in their fields, but 'amateurs' when it comes to 3d.

Corona is VERY easy to use, so would be a perfect match for Sketchup. From what I've seen, Sketchup is more and more the standard for architects/designers, so if there was a good plugin for Corona, at a reasonable price, I can easily see Corona becoming the standard renderer for architects/designers.

It's definitely a different market (and certainly a bid one), and if Corona was complicated and unwieldy I wouldn't recommend it BUT Corona is simple, easy to use and just looks great, so I think it would be a perfect fit.

Anyway Sketchup is my vote.

2
That's cool - I'd shied away from 'build your own' machines, but from your experiences it sounds like the way to go.

Now I just need to get some money together to build some render-beasts!

3
Thats interesting!

When building your own, how do you go about it? Research which parts  you want and ensure they will work together, then buy all parts cheapest online, then whip it together?

And what brands would you recommend or avoid?

4
Yeah its pretty good value.

From what I understand, thousands of these machines are leased to big companies (facebook, bing etc). When the lease is over, the computers are returned to Dell, who sells them off cheap in batches of 500+. So now the market has been flooded with these beasts for cheap.

I'm hoping the same thing will happen soon with the Dell C6220s (the more recent version) - that will be sweeeet!

5
If you happen to be in the US, you can pick up a Dell C6100 (model XS23-TY3) for really cheap.

It includes 4 nodes, each with dual processor. If you search on ebay for 'XS23-TY3' you should be able to find one (with 4 nodes, so 8x Hexa core xeon processors) for $1500-$3000. Unbeatable value at the moment. I just wish I had a couple of grand.

6
Sorry I'm babbling now -

The other reason I'd recommend getting a 'professional' range workstation (Dell Precision or HP's equivalent) is that they are very easy to upgrade. I have, over time, upgraded memory, CPU and graphics cards of all my machines. It means that machines I purchased years ago are still performing well, with the upgrades.

I know it's tough starting out and I hate to see someone waste their hard earned cash! Or talk to a sales rep and get 'inspired' to spend a bunch of money that you don't have on something you don't need and could get for a quarter of the price.

7
I'd second the Dell Secondhand/refurbished option.

When first starting out in 3D, I got a Dell Precision T5400 on Dell Outlet for 700GBP - never had a single problem with it.

Then, expanding my studio, I bought refurbished Dell Precisions (from 3rd party seller), again never had a single problem with them. The fact that they had no or shorter warranty didn't bother me as they never broke.

Also, I bought last generation equipment. It's SO much cheaper (especially refurbished) that you can afford a much higher spec.

On the equipment I bought, I would usually save 50 - 75% compared to buying the equivalent spec new. I paid 700GBP each for four rack servers, which would normally cost just under 3000GBP each new.

If you are in the UK, Mo at la-micro.co.uk is very helpful with refurbished computers (they do HP and others as well). Unfortunately I'm in the US now so I have to shop around to find a new supplier.

Anyway I saved a bunch of money going that route. I've had a couple of problems with several different Dell laptops, but I've had no problems with Dell workstations or servers at all.

caspar

PS. for price/performance, I definitely recommend PC, not mac. I have a MacBook Pro (which was expensive) but that is just to have something nice when I am on the move. I do all my real work on my Dell Precision.

8
[Max] Resolved Bugs / Re: wxWidgets Debug Alert
« on: 2014-08-20, 19:53:18 »
Yeah there are three threads on this issue.

Now, today, I've been trying to replicate the problem, but it is working fine... random!

I suspect it may have something to do with the 'Search LAN during render' but not sure.

 - caspar


9
yes this would be exciting!

I have just started using Corona and it is great. I am trying to get it implemented into our production line and having access to the nightly builds would be awesome.

What do I need to do in order to access nightly builds?

Regards,
caspar

10
Hi, I'm really keen to try out the standalone for automatic rendering of my asset library - but for some reason the download link does not work, might be a proxy problem on my end.

Does anybody have an alternate link to download the latest Corona Standalone?

Thanks,

caspar

11
[Max] Resolved Bugs / Re: wxWidgets Debug Alert
« on: 2014-08-19, 19:57:59 »
I've had this same problem, exact same error.

I rendered a scene yesterday ( and it looks GREAT!) at 3840 x 2160, no problems

Now, today, try to render the same file without changing anything, and it gives this error after a few passes.

This is using Distributed Render with 8 slaves.

 - caspar

12
I'm having this same problem - render elements come out black

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