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Best software for 3D modeling / rendering on an O2? - tlacct - 03-13-2021

I'm working on getting my O2 set up so that I can do some vintage 3D rendering. The O2 didn't come with any preloaded software aside from Photoshop, so I don't have any special licenses (a frustrating downside, but I figured it would be the case when I bought it).

Ideally I'd like to run Maya on the machine because I'm familiar with how the basic UI works. I haven't found any Irix copies of Maya online, however, and the only eBay listing sold for nearly 500 dollars. The only 3D application I've been able to semi-run is the very first version of Blender.

Are there any recommendations for easily obtainable 3D software? I'd love to use my O2 as part of my art workflow.

RE: Best software for 3D modeling / rendering on an O2? - saq - 03-13-2021

Don't spend a lot of money on software media. Even if you do get one (and even if it does come with a transferable license) it is highly likely that the company in question will respond to your license key request with "we don't do that version anymore." If you're lucky they might offer you a discount on an upgrade to their supported (Windows/Mac/Linux) version, but that is likely it.

The other consideration in addition to ease is legality. Customarily if your art workflow is a business it is recommended that you not look on the grey side of the net, but if it is just for hobby use some people do consider grabbing software even without a valid license (note that for later SGIs this even applies to IRIX, SGI moved from "the license sticks with the machine" to Sun's "the license goes POOF! on transfer" later on). If you fit in that category poking around on FTP sites such as this one might be of interest.

If you're looking for F/OSS or freeware software for SGIs for commercial work the two that come to mind are Ayam and Blender, and there are tardists for both in free software archives.

RE: Best software for 3D modeling / rendering on an O2? - ghost180sx - 05-15-2021

SoftImage 3D 4.0 works awesome on my O2 and you can find it on archive.org.

RE: Best software for 3D modeling / rendering on an O2? - Jacques - 05-20-2021

(05-15-2021, 08:18 AM)ghost180sx Wrote:  SoftImage 3D 4.0 works awesome on my O2 and you can find it on archive.org.

Yeah SI is nice and fast on an O2. Maya’s UI can be a bit slow at times, though earlier versions seems to be slightly better as not as many plugins are loaded by default. Maya 5 and up really wants 512mb of ram to run well, most O2s won’t have that much.

And if you want really fast there is always Newtek Lightwave 5.0 / 5.6

RE: Best software for 3D modeling / rendering on an O2? - gijoe77 - 05-28-2021

I would say Alias Power animator will run great on the o2 - one of the must haves on an SGI IMHO

Another good free program is Equinox3D - https://www.equinox3d.com/index.html

RE: Best software for 3D modeling / rendering on an O2? - Irinikus - 05-28-2021

(05-28-2021, 02:42 PM)gijoe77 Wrote:  I would say Alias Power animator will run great on the o2 - one of the must haves on an SGI IMHO

Another good free program is Equinox3D  - https://www.equinox3d.com/index.html

The only problem is that the IRIX version is not currently available for download!

I did contact the developer in the past, and he said that he was working on it, but I haven't heard from him since!

I do have an early IRIX version!

I do have the Mac version running on my Mac Pro! Smile

RE: Best software for 3D modeling / rendering on an O2? - ghost180sx - 05-28-2021

(05-28-2021, 02:42 PM)gijoe77 Wrote:  I would say Alias Power animator will run great on the o2 - one of the must haves on an SGI IMHO

Another good free program is Equinox3D  - https://www.equinox3d.com/index.html

I've also contacted the developer of Equinox 3D! I got the same info as Irinikus.

GIJOE, how did you get your copy of Power Animator? I'd love to play with it.

RE: Best software for 3D modeling / rendering on an O2? - Irinikus - 05-28-2021

Here's a screenshot showing a rendering that I've just carried out using the version of Equinox that I have on my Tezro.
It has a render engine that's similar to the "cycles render engine" found in the latest version of Blender.

[Image: G1VHYgD.png]

This image took about 2.5 hours to render, so it's extremely slow and it only uses one thread! (I can seem to find an option to run it in a multi-threaded mode!!!)
It would have to be de-noised, as there's a fair amount of noise in the image!

RE: Best software for 3D modeling / rendering on an O2? - gijoe77 - 05-28-2021

(05-28-2021, 03:34 PM)ghost180sx Wrote:  
(05-28-2021, 02:42 PM)gijoe77 Wrote:  I would say Alias Power animator will run great on the o2 - one of the must haves on an SGI IMHO

Another good free program is Equinox3D  - https://www.equinox3d.com/index.html

I've also contacted the developer of Equinox 3D! I got the same info as Irinikus.

GIJOE, how did you get your copy of Power Animator? I'd love to play with it.

PM sent