Alienware M15x. The mobile office for 3d rendering.

Vray Benchmark M15x Normal mode (non-stealth)

Vray Benchmark image for the Alienware M15x

Are we 3d architectural illustrators and 3d renderers no longer chained to our desks or  in a cube? I recently purchased the new Alienware M15x. I have to say, I was so tired of working at my desk everyday for hours and even though I miss my large flat panel, I like being mobile better.  Now I know a laptop is not a render farm or a Boxx but for a little workstation, its pretty impressive.

I purchased it in March, about 1 week after it was announced. I was a little nervous about NOT purchasing a dell but I really wanted to try something better, and to tell you the truth Dell wasn’t really impressing me with their workstations anymore.

My spec’s are:

Intel Core2 extreme x9000 2.8 ghz

Nvidia Ge-Force 8800M GTX 512 MB

15″ WUXGA LCD with web-cam

4 GB ram

Blue-Ray/DVD Rom

200GB Hard drive with another 200GB Smart-bay drive

Vista Ultimate (no comment)

The cool thing about this laptop is not only is it fast but with its glowing  light pipe around the outside lid and the lighted keyboard, this computer turns heads. I must admit, it was the cool lighting and Alienware FX that pushed me over the edge and made me order it.

It also has stealth mode (low power mode- see above images) built-in blue tooth, built in web-cam and HDMI port for watching off of the Blue-Ray Disc to the TV.

All in all I have been really impressed with this mobile workstation and enjoy being able to leave the confines of my office once in a while…

MORE BENCHMARKS AT THIS THREAD:

http://www.chaosgroup.com/forums/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=36265

Starting a good 3d rendering

3d rendering- Phoenix Arizona

I have a formula for a good 3d rendering. I use it over and over. After a while, I start to wonder, should I be experimenting more? I am a firm believer of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. At the same time with all the new technology, should I be trying new settings or new materials, lighting etc.

Here’s a little bit of background on my soup Du jour, Right now I am working with the new 3dsmax 2009 coupled with V-ray 1.50 SP2. Compositing is done with Adobe Photoshop CS3 extended. My hardware is new also. I purchased the Alienware M15x with 4g ram and the Intel Core2 Extreme x9000 and the NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTX. I will get into that bad boy a little later.

It’s good to have a template scene set up in 3dsmax. In my template named templatesun.max, I have a camera, a sun and compass and one ground asphalt plane.  I also have my environment and V-ray setting up. Basically, I import the 3d geometry into the scene and pull my camera, sun and ground plane over to my model. This way, if I need to import more geometry, I can bring it into the scene and it will be in the proper x,y and z coordinates.

I find the most important element to be your V-ray materials library. If you are starting a materials library, check out http://www.vray-materials.de/ . This site has some really great materials that are free. Just make sure you have the proper plug-ins and the materials you select are in the correct max version. You may also have to check the paths on the maps. I haven’t gotten one yet that I didn’t have to change the paths.

I have a library called, you guessed it, Vraymaterials.mat.  I keep getting this request from clients. Can I have your model, which would include materials. Anyone who spends an inordinately amount of time in Max and Vray knows that materials are top secret entities. Hours go into creating a good material,  so next time people, just don’t ask 🙂

My basic materials are, asphalt, stucco, concrete walk, concrete curb, dg (or decomposed granite for those of you not from Arizona or Nevada), grass, glass, stone, roof tile and metal. I can basically drag and drop, do a little color adjust and voila, the rendering is ready….. If only it were that simple. But if you are doing a lot of renderings, this makes it pretty easy to keep your renderings consistent and shorten you time on the project.

Our website is: http://www.endisine3d.com