Need to understand these tools

[Brendan Coots]

Depends on what you mean by a “normal computer like mine.” If your computer is a $400 Dell, the difference is night and day. Here’s a brief explanation of those different machines you linked to:

1. The Apexx – These machines have a lot of everything; tons of RAM, 8 or more processors and a built-in RAID system of hard drives. The point of these machines is shoveling massive amounts of data through the pipe in real-time. This type of machine would be ideal for working on film projects, such as special effects and color correction, simply because feature film files are HUGE. Each second of film (2k resolution) in a computer is about 280MB. Getting a computer to play those files back in real-time takes a lot of serious computing power. This computer would make very little sense for the average user, it’s overkill.

2. The 3dBoxx – These machines are more for 3D artists, where a great graphics card and plenty of RAM are the primary concerns. These machines also feature multiple processors, but with the specific intention of letting you run several RAM/CPU hungry applications at the same time. In the 3D world, it’s not uncommon to have Maya 3D, Photoshop, Zbrush and your favorite music player open at the same time, all of which need quite a bit of horsepower. These machines are pretty good for After Effects work as well, but more on the high end, demanding work.

3. The RenderBoxx – These machines are render nodes. That is, they aren’t meant to be used as a workstation for designing on, but more for sending your project files to and they render out the files, freeing you up to continue working on your local computer. Most studios (mine included) have quite a few machines like these networked together (anywhere from 5-5,000), so that artists can submit 3D jobs, After Effects projects etc. and the “render farm” will do the rendering for us. In a fast-paced studio they are essential. For the home user, not so much.

These days, the ideal machine in my opinion is the Mac Pros. For the money, they are a great value and really chew through anything you throw at them, especially with the new After Effects CS3. On the PC side, you should ideally meet the following MINIMUM specs:

– Dual-core processor, ideally AMD X2 / Intel Core Duo, at least 2ghz or better

– At least 2GB Ram. 4GB preferable.

– Minimum Geforce 6600GT or equivalent card, Quadro card prefered

– For video work, 2-4 drives in RAID-0 configuration, ideally 6+ drives

[Steve Roberts]

Not to be rude, but if you don’t understand what they do, you’re not in a position to buy them.

But basically, they’re faster and more reliable than fast computers assembled by a geek at home.

[Brendan Coots]

Depends on what you mean by a “normal computer like mine.” If your computer is a $400 Dell, the difference is night and day. Here’s a brief explanation of those different machines you linked to:

1. The Apexx – These machines have a lot of everything; tons of RAM, 8 or more processors and a built-in RAID system of hard drives. The point of these machines is shoveling massive amounts of data through the pipe in real-time. This type of machine would be ideal for working on film projects, such as special effects and color correction, simply because feature film files are HUGE. Each second of film (2k resolution) in a computer is about 280MB. Getting a computer to play those files back in real-time takes a lot of serious computing power. This computer would make very little sense for the average user, it’s overkill.

2. The 3dBoxx – These machines are more for 3D artists, where a great graphics card and plenty of RAM are the primary concerns. These machines also feature multiple processors, but with the specific intention of letting you run several RAM/CPU hungry applications at the same time. In the 3D world, it’s not uncommon to have Maya 3D, Photoshop, Zbrush and your favorite music player open at the same time, all of which need quite a bit of horsepower. These machines are pretty good for After Effects work as well, but more on the high end, demanding work.

3. The RenderBoxx – These machines are render nodes. That is, they aren’t meant to be used as a workstation for designing on, but more for sending your project files to and they render out the files, freeing you up to continue working on your local computer. Most studios (mine included) have quite a few machines like these networked together (anywhere from 5-5,000), so that artists can submit 3D jobs, After Effects projects etc. and the “render farm” will do the rendering for us. In a fast-paced studio they are essential. For the home user, not so much.

These days, the ideal machine in my opinion is the Mac Pros. For the money, they are a great value and really chew through anything you throw at them, especially with the new After Effects CS3. On the PC side, you should ideally meet the following MINIMUM specs:

– Dual-core processor, ideally AMD X2 / Intel Core Duo, at least 2ghz or better

– At least 2GB Ram. 4GB preferable.

– Minimum Geforce 6600GT or equivalent card, Quadro card prefered

– For video work, 2-4 drives in RAID-0 configuration, ideally 6+ drives

[Brendan Coots]

Sorry for the double post, The forum was acting weird yesterday and didn’t appear to submit my posts.

[Evrard Blom]

Many Thanks.