Beer glass scene creation
This course contains a little bit of everything with modeling, UVing, texturing and dynamics in Maya, as well as compositing multilayered EXR's in Photoshop.
# 1 19-02-2004 , 10:08 PM
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System Requirements

Hey here, (total newbie here)

My system does not meet the "system requirements" for Maya but I went ahead and downloaded it anyway... rebellious, I know.

The download went without a hitch but it freezes up on anything complicated, ie; color changes, polygon increased editing... I know I have to upgrade but I want to make sure I get the right stuff and not unecessary upgrades.
I am running Windows XP Home Edition (it says you need the Professional Edition) with 384 RAM (it says you need 512). I have an "integrated direct AGP 3d graphics card with 11 megabytes Dynamically Allocated as video Memory" (read that off the computer).. I have a 60GB Hard Drive and istalled an additional hard drive recently (for video editing) with 120GB. The whole thing runs on an intel Celeron 1.4ghz Processor.

Do I definately need both the XP 'Professional' version AND the extra RAM? Is my graphics card decent enough?
By the way - thank Gawd for this place!

# 2 19-02-2004 , 10:16 PM
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I think that most of your trouble is with the graphics card. Integrated video cards are horrible at any sort of high-end graphics application such as Maya. Your first priority should be upgrading your video card. That will make a huge difference in the performance that you are seeing.

XP Home is ok for running Maya. It's not officially supported, but I know many people who are using Maya under XP Home just fine. More RAM is always good. You can never have enough RAM. user added image


Danny Ngan
Animator | Amaze Entertainment
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# 3 19-02-2004 , 10:32 PM
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Wow, thanks for the quick response!

Seeing as I am only fairly literate computer wise do you have any graphics card recommendations?

Also (completely off the subject)... From newbie to actually animating a character... for a dedicated and quick learner - how long would you say that self teaching should take?

# 4 19-02-2004 , 11:08 PM
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Originally posted by Shambolam
Also (completely off the subject)... From newbie to actually animating a character... for a dedicated and quick learner - how long would you say that self teaching should take?

It's hard to say as everyone work and picks thing up at a diffrent pace. With alot of practive it shouldn't be too hard.

I've seen people on SM who becomes rather good after only a few weeks/months, other a few years. I also find those who people who pick it up easily have a good artist's eye (howardpotter specfifcally user added image )

For animation, anyone can do it, but for good animation, it's a good idea to learn the fundamental animation techniques/skills. The Animators Survival Kit by Richard Williams explains everythink and i highly recommend it. Learning the fundamentals will make animatng in Maya alot easier.


Yeah, but no but yeah but no....
# 5 20-02-2004 , 12:18 AM
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Still looking for a decent graphics card recommendation... Anyone?

# 6 20-02-2004 , 03:37 PM
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Shambolam, I wish there was one Vcard that stood out from the others. But haven't found that to be the case yet. Alias has a list of approved cards on there web site. You can check your price ranges with the manufactures them self’s. And the search feature works good hear at SM for finding out the bad apples or the ones you need what version of drivers for.

I my self would go with Nvidia's stuff. But that’s just personal.

# 7 21-02-2004 , 01:53 AM
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K - Dug deep and found the list, then went online-a-searchin... couple questions.... Who the heck in PNY? Is that the same as nVidia?... Also - I found an nVidia Quadro FX 500 for around $230... Decent price?

# 8 21-02-2004 , 02:16 AM
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NVIDIA dont actually manafacture graphics cards themselves. What they do is develop the chipset and drivers. There are a bunch of licensed manafacturers who actually make, brand and sell the actual cards. PNY is probably largest and best known of these manafacturers. Dont underestimate them, they are a BIG firm.

For what it's worth, I own an PNY Quadro4 980XGL and I love it.


That'll do donkey... that'll do...
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