Messages

1036

Hardware / Re: Workstation upgrade and Render node

« on: 2017-03-01, 12:04:41 »

...
Your planned config has some low-end Xeons. For server use they are great, but for rendering, a single i7 like the 6900k or 6950x with good cooling will be very close. (if those are retail Xeons)
...

These are low end Xeons indeed but they seem capable. They score around 2300 CB when combined which nets a 1:20 score on the Corona benchmark. The average OCed 6950x gets around 2000 CB and around 1:40 score in the benchmark.

Combined they cost around 1400 eur + a dual socketed motherboard. Going with the i7 6950x nets you much faster single threaded speed yeah but it is at around the same price. Ryzen would be a cool deal if it can reach 2000cb on an average overclock as that would be really cheaper at 550 eur.

Am I missing something here because those dual Xeons seem like OK value. That is if you don't want to buy used stuff. Used CPUs are an awesome value, if you have the desire going down that road :)

1037

[Max] General Discussion / Re: AMD Ryzen 7 series and Corona?

« on: 2017-02-25, 16:19:31 »

http://wccftech.com/intel-amd-price-war-ryzen-processors/

=)

Man I can't wait to see how Ryzen performs once the reviews get published. At this moment, even if the supposed price cuts you posted are true, Ryzen is still insanely valuable. I mean 6900k which is supposedly slower is still like 400$ more expensive than Ryzen.

Yeah, it has 40 PCI-E lanes but so far the gains of 4 GPUs on x4 APPEAR (not tested by myself) to faaaaar outweigh 2 GPUs on x8. I mean it isn't even a competition by any means.

I can see the appeal if you are really future-proofing yourself and plan on having 3+ PCI-E drives and 4 GPUs but other than that... It just seems like a hefty premium you pay. In that case I would even advocate a Xeon / Naples build with 80 lanes.

Granted though, currently the market for 4 PCI-E gpu motherboards on Ryzen is non-existent. I doubt however that that will be the case in the coming months though.

If you are CPU rendering and thinking about an i7 type of CPU... I really don't see much option but going the Ryzen way... If the published numbers are true that is. Great to see the CPU market be vibrant again!

1038

[Max] General Discussion / Re: AMD Ryzen 7 series and Corona?

« on: 2017-02-25, 11:02:42 »

I think we can think about something around the 2minute mark for the 1800x :) Judging how it is faster than 6900k I think that would be a relatively safe assumption.

1039

Hardware / Biggest Noctua cooler on the Asus Dual socket WS

« on: 2017-02-21, 12:45:27 »

Hello everyone,

I am potentially looking into buying a really good cooling solution for a dual Xeon configuration. Summers get hot so I'd like to go as big as possible.

My question is, what is the largest (and most effective) Noctua cooling solution you can put on a dual Xeon rig on the Z10PE-D16 WS motherboard? Ram clearance is also important so lets say we got 8 out of 16 slots in use...

I'd really appreciate any and all opinions you guys have on this so feel free to chime in. Thanks in advance!

1040

[C4D] General Discussion / Re: Fusion Shader

« on: 2017-02-20, 22:18:11 »

Would be quite nifty to have some sort of a mix strength slider I suppose... Wink wink devs ;) :)

1041

[C4D] General Discussion / Re: HDR Lighting

« on: 2017-02-19, 16:50:29 »

Is there a way to adjust the HUE value of an HDR map? I have an HDR map I like, but would like to remove some of the green that it contains.

Put it into a "filter". You know, click the arrow by the name -> filter :)

Hope thats whats you meant.

1042

[C4D] Resolved Bugs / Render region, one click bug

« on: 2017-02-18, 17:12:56 »

Howdy,

So there is a bug where if you select region render (in the c4d viewport) and click anywhere in the viewport - this action is going to crash c4d without a save.

Do note, if you click & drag a region render it works perfectly. It is only crashing if you create a 1x1 pixel region render by just clicking anywhere in the viewport once you have region render selected.

:)

1043

Hardware / Re: HELP building my new business Workstation

« on: 2017-02-16, 18:43:19 »

Don't worry. For anything rendering related that CPU will be quite good!

Viewport, certain Photoshop tasks, simulating and stuff like that which predominantly scales with multiples CPU cores badly (i.e only uses 1-2... cores) will however be slower. In fact, they could be significantly slower but that might not mean much to you because even if a PS filter is being applied 50% slower, your render times are going to be like 3/4 faster. So if your filter takes 2 minutes to apply instead of 1 minute you might be fine with it if your render renders for 2 hours instead of 10 :)

So its a bit of a trade-off. Generally people stick to higher clocked CPUs for workstation and put it high core - low clock Xeons in the role of render nodes.

That said, if you buy something like a 2690 you are going to have a high core count and also higher than your usual Xeon single core clocks. The 4790k, 6700k and 7700k (and Xeons versions E1xxx) are pretty much the fastest 1-4 core CPUs you can get - simply awesome for single threaded stuff.

Like I said though, are you going to notice it that badly? Probably not. Depending on your work and what you do you might be just fine (and rendering including IR is going to be WAY faster) :)

Hope it helps!

1044

Hardware / Re: New main workstation Xeon 2693 v3

« on: 2017-02-15, 11:39:24 »

I'm letting loose the questionnaire cavalry... Does anyone know the turbo bins for this particular CPU?

1045

General CG Discussion / Re: Photoshop, selecting layers

« on: 2017-02-14, 16:28:25 »

Frood, Sir dude, that was huge! A really sincere thanks for helping out :) I never knew that checkbox was there until now...

Guess the next thing I need to get into is the wheel and hot water! :)

1046

General CG Discussion / Photoshop, selecting layers

« on: 2017-02-14, 11:10:43 »

Hey guys,

I really need your help with something and I'd really appreciate any answers!

I must have pressed a super duper hotkey combo in Photoshop (or the 2017 update got funky) because now whenever I try to move a layer around in the canvas area the top most layer gets automatically selected and it moves that one instead.

So, basically, I can't move a layer that is in the middle of the stack anymore because the top most layer gets automatically selected. It is the oddest thing and I can't find the option to turn it off.

Headrolling over the keyboard did not help either. Wow.

Thanks!

1047

Hardware / Re: Render PC review $3000

« on: 2017-02-14, 00:20:47 »

I would wait until the Ryzen AMD CPU's come out next month with their benchmarks and see how/if it shift's the landscape.

Pretty much this. If you can wait I'd also say... wait.

In the event you don't like the AMD CPU at least you might get the 7700k for a lower price.

With that said, the 7700k is a 4 core / 8 thread CPU which scores about 950 CB points. For example, a (pretty) modest Xeon build for around ~1300 eur will net you around 2000. A 6850k for example would bring in around 1500 CB.

So what I am trying to say is, the 7700k is a beast of a CPU (similarly as the 4790k and the 6700k), especially for single threaded stuff. Rendering wise? You might be better off with a CPU with a higher core count.

If you dare venturing into the used territory then a 150$ 2670v1 x2 Xeon build will get you those 2000cb points. You can use the Corona bencmhark to compare CPUs too :)

1048

[C4D] General Discussion / Re: Textures dont show in viewport

« on: 2017-02-13, 15:15:30 »

As far as I know Corona C4D only displays textures in the diffuse channel. My workaround is to put you e.g. Bump texture in diffuse, set up the mapping and then delete it from the diffuse/turn down it's opacity for later remapping.

I really hope they add the option to check which channel should be used as displayed color/texture in the viewport - I think this feature is already in the full version anyways.

I've actually requested this feature a while back (the editor tab with the ability to select channels, like with the standard c4d materials). I am hoping they are working on it but surprisingly very few, if any, 3rd party renderers have the said option :)

1049

[Max] General Discussion / Re: Corona Denoiser Run Time

« on: 2017-02-08, 14:22:44 »

Thanks for the link SharpEars! You do have some sharp ears there buddy...

1050

[C4D] General Discussion / Re: Evermotion "Secret Garden" challenge winner

« on: 2017-02-07, 19:27:04 »

There were some really amazing pieces submitted for this competition. Really great, outstanding stuff! Congratulations to all :)