3D-RING.org Interviews

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3D-RING:
What is the greatest number of RenderDrives that you guys have put together and what was the resulting performance level?

Nick Gross
We have tested RenderDrive in many configurations of "farms". Basically, any amount of RenderDrives can be used at the same time. Multiple RenderDrives work in a classic networked rendering mode, i.e. each RenderDrive renders a frame in turn. In this way, for example, a 10 RenderDrive "farm" will render an animation ten times faster than a single RenderDrive.

3D-RING:
$19,950 for the RD2000. Tell us why we should get a RenderDrive vs. say 20 or more general purpose computers for a renderfarm. For 20K, I can setup at least 20 dual CPU machines. Convince me otherwise. What do we get for that investment?

Nick Gross
To go back to the Viewpoint example earlier, RenderDrive is around 28 times faster than the MAX ray tracer (although this figure can go up or down according the type of scene rendered). Obviously this means that RenderDrive is more economical than a render farm, but it also eliminates the space and reliability issues associated with large render farms.

The principle reason our customers buy RenderDrive is quality. The quality of image produced by RenderDrive is second to none. Normally high quality images are associated with long render times, this is not the case with RenderDrive.

Another reason to buy RenderDrive is the tools that we provide for the animator, these include: Area lights, which cast real soft shadows (no more shadow maps); camera based depth of field and lens effects; physically accurate materials – real glass, metals, and shiny materials. Often we find that these tools alone are good enough reason for a customer to buy RenderDrive.

Having said all this there are clearly occasions where a render farm makes more sense. If you are interested in pure render speed and are happy with scan-line rendering quality, then a render farm will be more powerful than RenderDrive. The moment any ray tracing is introduced, however, RenderDrive will beat a render farm.

3D-RING:
Any chance of a low cost version? Such as an add on card instead of a full blown network rendering appliance? Or this idea would just plain not work?

Nick Gross
We are constantly working on new products, and we are certainly aware of the need for a lower cost version of RenderDrive. An add-on card, however, would not pack the power of a full-blown RenderDrive. We believe that RenderDrive RD5000 provides the optimum price/performance. There will be additional RenderDrive products in the future, but the exact nature of them has yet to be finalized.

3D-RING:
What kind of performance gain are we looking at with the RD5000?

Nick Gross
RD5000 will be between 3 – 5 times faster than RD2000. Working on the Viewpoint example earlier this would suggest that RD5000 will be between 84 and 140 times faster than the MAX ray tracer. Of course, as I’ve said earlier, render times depend on the data being rendered, so these figures could be higher or lower according to the nature of the scene.

3D-RING:
If you could change one thing about the 3D graphics industry, what would it be?

Nick Gross
Well, speaking from my position at the rendering end of the process I would like to see a much closer relationship between the vision of the animator and the final output. The animator needs to be able to create rendered images which exactly match the images in his/her mind, not only to improve the quality and scope of his/her work, but also to increase productivity. To do this we need to provide a scene building environment which is physically correct and free of workarounds, and a renderer that can produce a truly photographic result. At ART, of course, we believe that RenderDrive goes a very long way towards achieving this goal.

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