The collected works of JacquesT - Page 1

Bringing this thread up again...

Just recently joined here...my faves (to date) would have to be:

Princess Mononoke
Howl's Moving Castle
Kiki's Delivery Service
(think there's a trend here... )
Cowboy Bebop (have the backdrop, love the series and the movie)
FLCL (not a movie but still fab!)
Macross Plus
Macross: Do you Remember Love (Love it!)
Patlabor

and funny enough....Cyber City Odeo 808...Weird, yes!

If I had to pick an all time favourite series though, it would be Cowboy Bebop...without question!

Now if only I could find another series like Cowboy Bebop..!

Jacques.

edit: Forgot the one movie that had me in tears!!! Grave of the Fireflies...

Does anybody know of any studios that are still using SoftImage (not XSI)? I would have thought most have moved to Maya by now....? I can't think of a "making of" movies I've seen lately that still has some SGI gear and SoftImage on display...Pity!

I just cannot understand this mentality to 'move on up' every year with a new release of the latest and greatest software....(READ AUTODESK (Maya) HERE!!!)

Jacques.

ajerimez wrote: ...It's tight and slim and runs great even on older SGI machines like the Indy. And if it was good enough for the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, it's good enough for any task!

Hmm, EXACTLY my thought as well! I suppose they make their money out of upgrades and subscriptions nowadays.

I'm by no means a 3D artist but a architectural designer by day, and I still find AutoCAD 2000 (CAD) sufficient for my daily tasks! Skip on 8 years and the latest and greatest version (2008) is bog slow on a machine 4 times as powerful as the PIII 800 that breezes through version 2000...Go figure...I think there is a mentality today of "press a button" results, and that in itself could help artists 'be' artists, but on the other hand, I love to struggle with a problem for a day or so, and it's the sense of exploration and success (or frustration) at the end of the day's struggle that I so enjoy!

Jacques.

hamei wrote: Supposedly 14 is the one to have for historic Acad. It's the same as version 13 except that it works

True, 14 was a very good improvement over 13. Speed wise it was miles ahead of 13. The next great release was 2000, after that it's all AutoDesk( ) bloat-ware.

I could still use 14 today and be very productive...very! I think you could safely compare AutoCAD 14 with Microstation 95, on a strictly timeline basis...

Jacques.

vishnu wrote: The rallying cry at Autodesk is probably `let's stay in front of Blender!' And they'll do it technology-wise, but it's always tough to compete with a zero dollar and zero cent price tag...

...Or buy them out...

Jacques

As my old history teacher used to say, 'everything in life is for sale, even life itself'.

But back to the topic, I think Maya will only benefit from 3rd party plugins or 'incorporated' technologies that are provided via AutoDesk 'acquisitions' in the future. The same route has been followed with 3Dstudio, AutoCAD etc. They (AutoDesk) add very little development to their portfolio of programs, mostly developing the UI, for better or worse. And then there is the fact that to enjoy all these 'updates', you are expected to take out a year-by-year subscription, which in my opinion is over-valued for the updates you get in that year.

I can see Blender growing at a steady rate though as the developers are focussed on their users, and the feedback given on forums, bug reports, conventions, smaller studios, and industry standards. I think Blender will move forward quite quickly, while Autodesk will throw enough money around to buy new technologies for Maya.

Maya does have the benefit of a 'history' from Alias, which in the eyes and pockets of the industry is seen as a stable foundation. Your big studio's will keep using Maya, but I think Blender will start to creep in (and has crept in!) for smaller tasks in studios, once enough confidence is built up to prove that it is production ready (which I believe it is).

Just my 2 pence...

Jacques.

I can understand new features and improved workflow, but bug fixes should be released as patches, not 'pay to fix' upgrades every year. Are there really sooo many advances in the program build and interface + features that it justifies a new release every year?...Hmm.

In terms of new features, with regard to AutoCAD, I haven't seen anything new in 4 years! They change the buttons...but it still crashes when setting multiple splines, 4 years on!

Can't comment on Maya, as I don't use it...yet.

I stopped using Lightwave at version 5.6, but I recall (as best memory serves ) the 'upgrade' from the previous release was a particle system plugin , and a slightly different UI layout...Worth $3000 per seat? Hmm.

I just think these companies are taking the p*ss. But then, if you're making ends meet and then some on a specific package, why upgrade? Some of the local studios here are still using Maya 6.5, and they crank out a few TV commercials a year.

Jacques.

I think the one thing that stands out in my memory is when I went to a computer 'fair' in Durban, South Africa (grew up there) and SGI were there...They weren't just there, they commanded the attention of everybody.

They had this huge 18-wheeler that they converted into a moving demo studio. The whole thing was painted purple, green and silver...serious SGI stuff! While everybody else (intel, AMD, Creative etc) held their show inside the exhibition space, SGI parked their HGV outside the entrance. You could walk in one side, look at all the pretty's (The whole thing inside looked like a Borg spaceship). They allowed six in at a time and did some demo's. One was the spinning reflective Beethoven bust!!!)

I walked out of there, went home and told my mom I wanted to do 3D graphics! LOL! From then on I started following 3D stuff, got hugely excited everytime there was a 'Making Of' on TV with an SGI in it...Jurassic park was the icing on the cake for me. Now I'm an Architectural Designer...go figure...!

They (SGI) just exceeded the 'Cool' factor in everything they did. I even phoned up SGI Sub-Sahara in Jo'burg, spoke to a very nice African-American bloke who pointed me in the direction of the only 3D content creation college in South Africa at that time that used SGI's. I think he found it amusing that a 17 year old had the guts to phone a director of SGI...! HEHE! Man, I was stoked. Problem was, they charge about $1500 for a week long course...That was just way out of my reach at the age of 17.

Now I own an SGI...Just playing along nicely...Yeah my Octane is a bit slow, but for me, it's not how quickly you get there, but getting there in style...

Jacques.

edit: The 18-wheeler is called the "SGI Mobile Innovation Centre". Can't find any good pics though.

fvador59 wrote: of course men
PM if u need it.
This is the final result.Hope you will like it :
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=cujNLAu6YaI

Very Nice! (Although I can't speak a word of French!)

Can you provide a short bit on the construction of the vid? What programs, hardware, timescales etc?

Jacques.

Nice! Middle wheelmouse zooms in and out...

Would be nice if it spun with the speed of the mouse movement!

-Jacques

A sad plea to those who post on this wonderful forum...Please fill in your geographical location as half the fun about the site is knowing where everybody is from! Specifics not required...Something like 'Nepal' or 'Argentina' would do nicely!

(It also helps with the marketplace...)

-Jacques.

Nice and cheap!

Re the Ram, try and swap the modules around. I bought some RAM from Ian and no matter what I did, I couldn't get one of the 256mb modules to work in the last four slots...! Once I moved the old ram to slots 4-8 and the new ram to slot 1-4 everything was peachy!

I love my dual Octane...If I had to buy another dual machine it would have to be a Tezro. If some money falls my way <Yeah right!> I'm gonna get a Tezro, for sure!

-J

Ok, I don't have an Onyx...So hold your pistols please!

I was looking through the Gallery and came across an image of Pentium's Onyx IO4 board. On it there was a Dallas chip. Now I know (maybe that should be 'I think') the Octane gets it's battery backup from the Dallas chip, would the Onyx not do the same? Would the Dallas chip also hold the System MAC address?

See Image here - > IO4 Board

-J

Right, this is the second time I'm posting this as my first attempt was foiled by a new kitten! "Hey dad, what you typing on the interwebs, I can type too?!"

Anyway, I've download a teaser sample of a MP4 video file from here , but as soon as I play it back with mplayer I get garbled video, audio plays fine. I get video OK with the -vo gl or gl2 flags, but I end up with error messages about currupt frames, with serious frame drops.

Any ideas? I can covert the video with mencoder to a .mov, but at 2fps its a bit barking to convert the whole thing...

OR is my box just too slow to play the file?

-J

schleusel wrote: In short: yes

I tried it on my 600MHz Fuel and with disabled audio (i.e. without dropping frames) I get around 4fps (vs. 63fps on my laptop ) so as soon as you add audio it will drop just about everything. After converting it to Xvid4 the Fuel plays it without issues at around 50% CPU though, so your Octane should still do fine there.

Oh piff! My 1Ghz Tibook plays it fine. Guess I'll have to get it set up next to me...Will try the Xvid4 conversion. Did you use 'mencoder'?

-J

It's encoded at 10fps. For a tutorial there is no point in going above 15fps.

Guess I'll stick to my now-ancient powerbook for H.264 playback...It manages...just!

Does anybody have a 1Ghz Tezro or 900Mhz Fuel to test this on?

-Jacques.

eMGee wrote: The price price sounds good and combined with your location, which is relatively nearby, it's all the better.

Forgive me for my ignorance, but this will only fits the O3000 range ( Fuel, Tezro, O350 , etc.), correct? Just to be sure. Someone I know is planning on getting an Octane and might be very interested (although if it won't be an Octane2 , a V12 naturally would cease to be a possibility, if it was to begin with of course...)

I believe the Fuel V12 won't work in the Octane XIO slots. But I could be wrong...but think not!

Why is your friend not getting a Fuel? Faster memory, 2x faster SCSI, internal CDROM/DVDROM, faster single processor...quieter (Although that can be corrected!) Or does he want dual? Just curious...

-J

Very nice Ian!

If I'm ever up in Scotland (But why?! It's colder there!!! ) I'll have to pop in and see this beast!

Happy New Year!

-J

(What's next, a quad 1ghz Tezro?)

Hi all,

If anybody in the UK has an O2 they don't want or thinking of dumping please let me know. Any spec will do, I'd like an small footprint IRIX system to work with. Speed is not an issue.

Would pay postage.

Cheers!

Jacques.

Any idea what spec and what it would cost to chuck in the post? You could take the HD out if it helps??

-Jacques

That is a VERY sexy piece of hardware! Any shots of the back?

-J

jan-jaap wrote:

JacquesT wrote: That is a VERY sexy piece of hardware!

Want to buy one?

Sorry, I'd have to sell my house...Oh wait! I don't own my house...I rent! Haha!

Seriously, no thank you. I have to buy a MIG welder in the coming months...So many things to do, so little time (and money)

Thanks for the photo. It's a lovely clean machine.

-J

shyouko wrote: The most important thing for PPC Mac to run a web browser: Skip Flash and load it only when you have to.

1. Firefox -> FlashBlock
2. Safari -> ClickToFlash

Gosh, even my Intel Mac needs this kind of treatment... Flash sucks.

Agreed, It will be great for just about everything except flash! I still use my 1Ghz G4 TiBook with 768mb ram daily and it goes great guns!

Still looking for an unwanted O2...Anything? R5k will be nice!

Anybody having a clear out?

-Jacques

dc_v01 wrote: Too bad, I used to have a bunch of these I couldn't give away. Don't know what shipping to the UK would be, but O2s aren't that heavy...

Even lighter if you take out the old SCSI HD's!

I just wish there was a bunch of O2's to be collected here in the UK!

I've had some very kind offers from a few folks in the States and Europe, just weighing up shipping costs.

Thanks much for the responses!

-J

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SGI-O2-FLAT-PANEL-ADAPTER-for-1600SW-SGI-030-1170-001_W0QQitemZ390062784113QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCOMP_EN_Networking_Components?hash=item5ad18dbe71&_trksid=p3286.m63.l1177#ht_856wt_1167

edit: NOT MY AUCTION!

Downloading now...Looking forward to this! This is what got me into CG and computers (And Amiga 500's...)

Lotus Esprit V8...in white, black, red or yellow...'nuf said.

-J

nekonoko wrote: Yeah, it's more that some forum members have become nekonoko-hostile rather than IRIX, but point taken - there's still fun stuff to do on IRIX hardware.

I've been trying to post up on the blog some of the stuff that's slipped through the cracks during the summer when temperatures precluded powering on hardware. Probably missed some though.

I wanted to post a few comments on the blog yesterday and tried to register with MT4 but the "Captcha" doesn't display on my Mac?!? (Not meaning to turn this into a trouble shoot post)

Is it a Safari prob? I'm on 4.0.3 (10.6.1)

I think you need to pull apart one of your big-irons Neko and give it re-install...That'll get your enthusiasm going!

Thanks for the site though, is one of the few I log onto everyday!

-Jacques

Right, topic says it pretty much.

Would it be possible to run a Mac on one monitor, sgi machine on another monitor, but use 1 keyboard and mouse for control WITHOUT a KVM? I had hoped there was a bit of software that could be run on both machines and as soon as you mouse over from one screen to another you switch desktops? Both machines are on the same network, and could even be connected with a cross-over cable.

Or is this cloud 9 thinking?!?

Jacques

Still looking. Shipping from the States is a killer at about $125, without import taxes.

So I could throw a few pounds or euros in for an O2 (R5k, need two drive bays) as I have a bit of cash. But since i'm not after high spec CPU it probably not gonna be a lot of cash.

-Jacques