From: "Greg Dunn" To: "'Kare Ola Jacobsson'" ; <3dsmax@engram.net> Subject: RE: MAX/Linux? Date: Wednesday, March 22, 2000 7:26 AM Well, you'll be able to render from the linux platform using PRMan or BMRT if you're using MaxMan from Animal Logic to output your Max files.. and I believe there's a Mental Ray renderer for some of the unix/linux platforms... But as far as Max itself going to linux, it's pretty highly doubtful. There are a bunch of reasons, as I'm sure other people will mention, but a major one is the way it's written. The reason you can do the things you can do in Max (i.e. model, apply a deform, go back down the pipe, copy and paste up the pipe, etc etc) is because they use a whole lot of windows specific features and things. The reason it performs as well as it does is because it's only on one platform. Sure, I think Lightwave runs on windows, mac and did I see linux now? But, as a rule, if something is one 3 platforms that diverse, one or two of those ports (if not all) will suffer immensely, because they're porting code from another system, rather than optimizing it for what you're working on. It can be done, and many games are beginning to do it (see Unreal Tournament) but they're taking a totally different approach (they've written their own scripting engine that runs the same game code on all the platforms, but I doubt that sort of approach would be efficient enough to write a modelling/rendering engine). It's the same sort of reason that you're not likely to see a .max file import option in some other 3d program -- because the max files (sortof) rebuild your file when you load it, using your dll's and such -- as opposed to just being a collection of vertices and faces as most 3d file formats are. That's the long answer. Short answer, no, it probably won't happen. Another reason why not is because there probably aren't a whole lot of people out there using linux who need $3,000 3d software, and don't have it. And certainly not enough to develop a team of programmers and such to devote a few years to a total re-write of the program (or at least the main core). But.... more and more people are turning to other OS' besides windows such as linux and (the soon to be free for non-commercial use) BeOS. And as more developers move there, and more games run on those platforms (because that's typically when people start to buy an OS in droves, and then they get the hardware support and more software, etc) then we'll probably see new 3d programs on those platforms, and perhaps some old favorites as well. On another (related) note, there's a group that're trying to re-create 3dsmax on linux as an open source project.. I just got the link yesterday. There's not much there to see yet, but it's at http://www.linuxstart.com/~free3dsmax/ -Greg -----Original Message----- From: Kare Ola Jacobsson [mailto:kare.jakobsson@ectec.com] Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2000 5:29 AM To: 3dsmax@engram.net Subject: MAX/Linux? Hello all, anyone know if max is to be for the linux platform? maya is supposed to render under linux now, no? and softimage have some info that thye might port to linux or are avare of it anyway, houdini is already there, but what about 3dsmax, anyone know if it will happen? Regards Kare Ola Jacobsson ecTec AB Järntorgsg 8, Box 316 701 46 Örebro, Sweden work: kare.jakobsson@ectec.com -- http://www.ectec.com me: kareola@hotmail.com -- http://hem2.passagen.se/kareola/index.html -- Subscribe/Unsubscribe at: http://mail.engram.net/guest/RemoteListSummary/3DSTUDIOMAX List courtesy of http://www.Engram.net -- Subscribe/Unsubscribe at: http://mail.engram.net/guest/RemoteListSummary/3DSTUDIOMAX List courtesy of http://www.Engram.net