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Brion · 01-10-2003, 01:16 PM

Hi, im a noobie to lightwave and trying to do as many tutorial's as i can. The problem i'm having is with the sunset tutorial's baking process. It says the baking takes a little over two hours, but on my computer it bakes 1% every 7 min's, Yes a lifetime. Does it speed up? or maybe there's some settings i could change.
Oh i'm using a G4 with 256 ram.

Brion.

tnarg · 13-10-2003, 01:15 AM

Hi Brion
I picked up this post a little late in the day but as a fellow Mac user I was interested in your question so I'll try and help anyway. After checking out the tut there are some problems where macs are concerned. Firstly there are notorious problems with the jpeg.p in LW7.5 and OSX so the general rule is to bin it so that imported jpegs are handled by the Quicktime plug-in instead.

Trouble is if you bin it then the option to write to jpeg isn't there when it comes to Skybaker (at least on my machine it isn't) in which case you'll need to render out to another file type without an alpha channel. So even if you can render your baked sky to jpeg o.k it is likely that come import time you'll have trouble.

On a Mac you are not doing too bad at 1% per 7 mins with only 256 mb of ram, try maxing out your ram ( cheapest deal is from Crucial.com), it can make a big difference. You didn't say what system you are on but if you are using system 9 you'll find OSX much more stable when it comes to LightWave.

If you are prepared to sacrifice quality for speed then a resolution size of 2048 is quite hefty so you could try cutting that down and reducing the Skytracer quality too.

If all else fails then it's time to render overnight.
HTH

Cheers
tnarg

Leovenous · 13-10-2003, 07:42 AM

Man I'm glad I use a.... nevermind.

tnarg · 13-10-2003, 10:43 AM

Hey Leovenous, out of interest and a bit of jealousy, how long would a 2048 sky bake take on a ....

philip · 13-10-2003, 11:16 AM

errm, a little over 2 hours? :p

tnarg · 13-10-2003, 11:46 AM

Sheesh.
Now my curiosity has gone and my jealousy just kicked in big time.
I noticed that it was single threaded on your tut too. Does a kick ass graphics card make a difference to baking times? Not that there is such a thing for Mac users really.

philip · 13-10-2003, 11:48 AM

no, the GFX card doesn't help at all. And yes, it was single threaded; the baker is only using one processor anyway...

tnarg · 13-10-2003, 12:09 PM

Thanks Philip, I kinda thought as much.
Wonder if a G5 has any better luck....

philip · 13-10-2003, 12:37 PM

I would definitely think so!
Are you about getting one?

tnarg · 13-10-2003, 01:06 PM

Not straight away. I never go for the first release with a Mac. Having said that I've pre-ordered Panther but won't install it until I've read the bug reports. There are bound to be tears at the beginning with people griping about running a 64bit system with no 64bit applications. Give them a little time to do some ironing then I'll jump in.

tnarg · 13-10-2003, 02:21 PM

In the meantime a good rule of thumb for speed challenged Sky bakers is to do it at 2 times your frame resolution.

Leovenous · 13-10-2003, 08:29 PM

I don't exactly have a bench time for you, but baking skies on my Pent 4 has never been much of a problem, time or otherwise.

tnarg · 13-10-2003, 08:48 PM

Thanks for the info Leovenous, I can confirm Brions count. On a G4 it stinks, I even tried it on a B+W G3 and it really sucked. I love ST2 but for a good quality bake it's a long slow cooking time with the Mac oven rammed up to the nines.
I'd love to hear a bench test for Philips tutorial bake on a G5.

Brion · 14-10-2003, 01:44 PM

Hi tnarg,
Thx for the help, im off to buy a PC (only joking). Yes ill try the easy option and add more ram (thx for the web site). But in the meantime it looks like i'm gonna have to learn to be more patient with my little mac.

Thx again tnarg
Brion

tnarg · 20-10-2003, 08:15 AM

Hi Brion
glad to help. Crucial.com is top dog when it comes to memory, perfectly packaged for safe shipping and totally cheap. You'll find that LW behaves a helluva lot better with more ram though it may not boost Sky Baking significantly.

Cheers,
tnarg

01-10-2003, 01:16 PM	#1
Brion Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Ireland Posts: 2	Sunset tutorial Hi, im a noobie to lightwave and trying to do as many tutorial's as i can. The problem i'm having is with the sunset tutorial's baking process. It says the baking takes a little over two hours, but on my computer it bakes 1% every 7 min's, Yes a lifetime. Does it speed up? or maybe there's some settings i could change. Oh i'm using a G4 with 256 ram. Brion.

13-10-2003, 11:16 AM	#5
philip Tutorial Clown Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 817	errm, a little over 2 hours? :p __________________ Don't ever argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

13-10-2003, 11:48 AM	#7
philip Tutorial Clown Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 817	no, the GFX card doesn't help at all. And yes, it was single threaded; the baker is only using one processor anyway... __________________ Don't ever argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

13-10-2003, 12:37 PM	#9
philip Tutorial Clown Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 817	I would definitely think so! Are you about getting one? __________________ Don't ever argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

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13-10-2003, 01:15 AM	#2
tnarg Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: London Posts: 24	Hi Brion I picked up this post a little late in the day but as a fellow Mac user I was interested in your question so I'll try and help anyway. After checking out the tut there are some problems where macs are concerned. Firstly there are notorious problems with the jpeg.p in LW7.5 and OSX so the general rule is to bin it so that imported jpegs are handled by the Quicktime plug-in instead. Trouble is if you bin it then the option to write to jpeg isn't there when it comes to Skybaker (at least on my machine it isn't) in which case you'll need to render out to another file type without an alpha channel. So even if you can render your baked sky to jpeg o.k it is likely that come import time you'll have trouble. On a Mac you are not doing too bad at 1% per 7 mins with only 256 mb of ram, try maxing out your ram ( cheapest deal is from Crucial.com), it can make a big difference. You didn't say what system you are on but if you are using system 9 you'll find OSX much more stable when it comes to LightWave. If you are prepared to sacrifice quality for speed then a resolution size of 2048 is quite hefty so you could try cutting that down and reducing the Skytracer quality too. If all else fails then it's time to render overnight. HTH Cheers tnarg

13-10-2003, 07:42 AM	#3
Leovenous Full Access Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Oregon Posts: 367	Man I'm glad I use a.... nevermind.

13-10-2003, 10:43 AM	#4
tnarg Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: London Posts: 24	Hey Leovenous, out of interest and a bit of jealousy, how long would a 2048 sky bake take on a ....

13-10-2003, 11:46 AM	#6
tnarg Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: London Posts: 24	Sheesh. Now my curiosity has gone and my jealousy just kicked in big time. I noticed that it was single threaded on your tut too. Does a kick ass graphics card make a difference to baking times? Not that there is such a thing for Mac users really.

13-10-2003, 12:09 PM	#8
tnarg Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: London Posts: 24	Thanks Philip, I kinda thought as much. Wonder if a G5 has any better luck....

13-10-2003, 01:06 PM	#10
tnarg Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: London Posts: 24	Not straight away. I never go for the first release with a Mac. Having said that I've pre-ordered Panther but won't install it until I've read the bug reports. There are bound to be tears at the beginning with people griping about running a 64bit system with no 64bit applications. Give them a little time to do some ironing then I'll jump in.

13-10-2003, 02:21 PM	#11
tnarg Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: London Posts: 24	In the meantime a good rule of thumb for speed challenged Sky bakers is to do it at 2 times your frame resolution.

13-10-2003, 08:29 PM	#12
Leovenous Full Access Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Oregon Posts: 367	I don't exactly have a bench time for you, but baking skies on my Pent 4 has never been much of a problem, time or otherwise.

13-10-2003, 08:48 PM	#13
tnarg Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: London Posts: 24	Thanks for the info Leovenous, I can confirm Brions count. On a G4 it stinks, I even tried it on a B+W G3 and it really sucked. I love ST2 but for a good quality bake it's a long slow cooking time with the Mac oven rammed up to the nines. I'd love to hear a bench test for Philips tutorial bake on a G5.

14-10-2003, 01:44 PM	#14
Brion Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Ireland Posts: 2	Hi tnarg, Thx for the help, im off to buy a PC (only joking). Yes ill try the easy option and add more ram (thx for the web site). But in the meantime it looks like i'm gonna have to learn to be more patient with my little mac. Thx again tnarg Brion

20-10-2003, 08:15 AM	#15
tnarg Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: London Posts: 24	Hi Brion glad to help. Crucial.com is top dog when it comes to memory, perfectly packaged for safe shipping and totally cheap. You'll find that LW behaves a helluva lot better with more ram though it may not boost Sky Baking significantly. Cheers, tnarg