[Irinikus]

And here we have a complete Cray 2 Three-Phase Linear Power Supply Module! (The other power supply module is considerably different to this one, so I'll tackle it once I've completed the ECL and Memory Modules!)

There are also two different Filter Cap Modules that also have to be constructed, so there's allot here to keep me busy!!!



Here are some details on the render: (Remember that Maya 6.5 has a 2GB cap!!!)

[Irinikus]

I've made a start on the Cray 2 Memory module.

All of the components and connectors have been constructed and the module is basically complete! (I just need to build up the traces and add the various via's, wich will still be allot of work!)







This model, although not using that much memory is bringing the Tezro to its knees!!! (Just take a look at the frame triangle count in these rendering details!!!)



Here's the viewport view:

[Lady Serena Kitty]

Well it does have a ton of geometries. Geometry count is what matters in terms of purrformance, so not surprising this model would best even a Tezro.

Keep up the awesomeness. Share moar screenies. Make moar renderings.

[Irinikus]

Well it does have a ton of geometries. Geometry count is what matters in terms of purrformance, so not surprising this model would best even a Tezro.

Keep up the awesomeness. Share moar screenies. Make moar renderings.

Thanks!

I'm going to complete all of the modules, including the tank (cabinet) on the Tezro, as individual models!

There's absolutely no way I'm going to be able to successfully render a complete Cray 2 model using a Tezro! (What I may do in the end is to convert the various .mb files to .blend files and then move them over to my Mac for final rendering in a 64-bit version of Blender!)

The main problem with this is that textures don't seem to convert between Maya and Blender, so there will be a bit of work involved in accomplishing this!!!

I may have to upgrade my Mac Pro to the 12-core CPU for this render, as I really doubt it's current CPU will handle it! (Nice excuse for an upgrade!)

[Lady Serena Kitty]

Moving the final render to your Mac Pro won't really need a CPU upgrade. As long as you have the 8-core configuration, you should be good, it'll just take a bit longer. I dunno about other peeps on here, but I don't care about rendering times with this, I care about the beautiful result. At least the Tezro is getting a nice workout with all of this.

[Irinikus]

Just to give you an Idea of what I'm dealing with here:

Each completed module will have more than 1,619762 triangles, and there are 26 of these modules in each stack and there are 16 stacks! So the total number of triangles present in the scene will be somewhere in the region of 673,820,992!!!!! (And this is just for the memory and logic modules, and does not include the stacks of power supplies or the tank itself!!!!!)

It simply won't be possible to render this on the Tezro!!!

A 12 core CPU and 64GB of RAM for the Mac Pro 2013 is currently very, and I mean very cheap!!! My machine is currently fitted with a Quad core Xeon@3.9GHz and 16GB of RAM, which is more than enough for everyday tasks (The machine's still lightning fast!), but it will not do for rendering!!! (Especially not for such a scene!)

I have just played around with the Indy model which I built on the Tezro, in Blender on my Mac Pro. (I was easily able to add textures to it) So Blender on the Mac Pro is definitely a viable option for the final construction and rendering!

[Irinikus]

Here's a scene containing the beginnings of both an ECL and Memory Module. The reason for the short render time is due to the fact that there's no reflectivity or raytracing currently being used in the scene! (Add these features and the rendering will be at a standstill!!!!)



Take a look at how much memory it's using now and just think of how much it will need with +- 416 of these modules in the scene!!!!???

[Lady Serena Kitty]

Seems to me like you'd need one of those Talos II machines from Raptor Computing Systems. Up to 2 POWER9 processors with up to 22 cores clocking at up to 2.8GHz, and supporting up to 2TB memory (all ECC, of course).

[Irinikus]

Ultimately I think I'm going to go with a future Mac Pro with Apple silicon! Only when it's required though! (I will upgrade my current machine to max spec, and run it for as long as I can first!)

[Irinikus]

Today I added the via's to the module in the exact same layout as they appear on my specimen! (This brought my Tezro to an absolute standstill, making the model near impossible to manipulate, but I did manage to get it built!)

I still have to add in the traces, so more work is required on this module!

I then decided to export the built model to Blender on my Mac pro, as a test, and spent the whole afternoon and evening learning Blender and applying textures and lighting to the model!

So here it is: (A model created on an SGI machine and rendered in Blender on a Mac Pro!)