Your advice few second of your time. - Simply Maya User Community

# 1 22-06-2003 , 10:21 AM

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Your advice... few second of your time.

OK guys. I am a graphic/industrial/multimedia....designer. Anyway I am obsessed with Maya :-(

I need some advice. I wake up at 5.30 every morning and I travel 3 hours everyday by train to get to my job. At work I don't get much chance to play with Maya. I have Maya 4.5 at work. When I get home at 7.30/8pm I am knocked out although I lift myself up and try to learn as much as I can on Maya 4.5 at home.

I have am Athlon 2000XP + machine Nvidia 4600Ti Video card at home.

Now what I can't decide is this-

1. Should I get Maya 5 or just keep using Maya 4.5 for learning. By the time I get little better I could buy the next version ie. 5.5 or 6. Am i really missing out too much by not having Version 5???

2. Should I buy a laptop to use my time more properly to learn Maya??? I could watch the VTM on the train :-)

3. I don't think I could afford to buy the laptop and Maya 5 at the same time. ( imean I have the money but....)

4. I am also thinking of going freelance in 6 to 12 months time. Then I will probably need a new powerfull desktop PC.

So with the long term in mind I can't decide what would be a good investment ie.

Choice1- Get a laptop and Maya 5 now. Use the laptop to learn now and in 1 year to take it to the client.
Choice 2-Get a laptop but stick with Maya 4.5 for now.
Choice 3-Get Maya 5 and no laptop (sleep in the train :-)
Choice4- Get a laptop and Maya 5 now. Use the laptop to learn now and in 1 year to take it to the client + buy a new workstation then.
Choice5- Any combo you can think of :-)))))

I really can't decide what will be a good investment? I used to be so reckless with money but since I got married I always think 5 times before I spend CASH!!!

P.S- I don't have any kids or will ever have so no responsibilities from that side. Please I would like to get some advice from you guys.

Last edited by slickrenderer; 22-06-2003 at 07:08 PM.

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# 2 22-06-2003 , 10:32 AM

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If you have access to 4.5 at work then I dont see why you would need 5, unless you want it at home...

but 5 isn't a BIG BIG update that you are missing a whole lot. Some of the bigger updates to 5 is the conversion from PaintFX to Polys and the new types of rendering options like Vector Rendering... nothing else really changed

if I was you I would pick Choice 2

-Emo

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# 3 22-06-2003 , 11:01 AM

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Thanks Emo ( are you emo=emotional? :-)

grrrr

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# 4 22-06-2003 , 11:04 AM

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Emo what about integrated MR?? Isn't the quality of the rendering hugely superior in 5? I am leaning toward Choice 2 as well. Nothing fixed though.
Any more opinions from anyone else.

grrrr

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# 5 22-06-2003 , 05:32 PM

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maya 5 has more renderers likethe vector renderer and integrated MR
i wud call maya 5 a fun update really, no biggys

- Simon

My Website: www.Glass-Prison.com

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# 6 22-06-2003 , 08:00 PM

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Id say choice 2.

mentalray for 4.5 is awesome, although there are a few things you wont be able to render (subd's, paintfx, fur). If you need those... then upgrade to 5.0 when your a pro.

________

- Jacob

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# 7 22-06-2003 , 08:13 PM

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Also, in 4.5 if you were to try to do any detailed precise texturing, it won't work.

You will get texture stretching because Maya 4.5 smoothes the model, but does not smooth the uv's.

This has been fixed in 5.

Israel "Izzy" Long
Motion and Title Design for Broadcast-Film-DS
izzylong.com

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# 8 22-06-2003 , 08:32 PM

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ahh, did not know that rage.
very useful info, thanks.

________

- Jacob

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# 9 22-06-2003 , 08:39 PM

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thanks rage but I guess for another 6 months these things won't make a huge difference to my learning process.
On a side note is the vector renderer as cool as on the Maya demo video????

grrrr

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# 10 22-06-2003 , 08:58 PM

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I think I will buy a laptop.
Forget Version 5 for atleast 6 months or more depending on the progress I make.

P.S- If I loose my job then I will be stuck at home with my laptop and a desktop :-) I guess that is a chance one has to take. Life is short SPEND SPEND .........

grrrr

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# 11 23-06-2003 , 08:11 AM

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Originally posted by slickrenderer
Thanks Emo ( are you emo=emotional? :-)

Originally Posted by

hehe, no... it's just a coincidence that a lot of people think...

my real Name is Emil but nickname is Emo (I'm from Bulgaria) so that's why

but about Emo music, I dont really like Rock in general so I dont think I'll like Emo either user added image

-Emo

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# 12 23-06-2003 , 11:07 AM

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slick- which laptops are you looking at?

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# 13 23-06-2003 , 01:29 PM

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Howardporter- I am looking at lot of laptops :-)

I am down to 3 now-

1choice - Toshiba Satellite S5200-902 Pentium-M4 2.4 GHZ Graphic card: 5600fx

2nd choice- Dell lattitude D800 Graphic card: Ti4200Go

3rd choice Dell Precision M50 (M60 if it comes out soon) Graphic card: Quadro 700+ (Maya approved)

The biggest thing in favour of Toshiba is the screen plus I can physically go to an actuall shop when things go wrong (hopefully never)

Dell M60 might change my mind if it comes out soon. I am not sure when to bite the BULLET.

grrrr

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# 14 23-06-2003 , 06:26 PM

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Went to the shop to look at the Toshiba. The Swiss suckers told me that they can't get me an English version. German only. I am really pissed off. Biggest suplier of Toshiab laptop in Switzerland can get french and Italian but not English :-(
Leaves only Dell in the equation. Hmmm

grrrr

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