Chapter 4 - Dev log #2 - Workstation

Hello,

First of all... I'm so sorry, I fucked up my calendar. I actually thought I had to do the Bi-weekly Log on Thursday.  
I made a mistake when I modified my Dev-Log appointments and I didn't realize it until someone mentioned it to me.

Sorry for that!


Current status Chapter 4 short:

- 520 renders 

- One cinematic done.

Long version:

We're currently still in the Tabletop session and we will probably stay there for the next 2-3 Dev logs. 

Normally, I work with environments that are pre-built. I then customize them in order to give them my own touch. 

The Sci-Fi setting is not making it easy for me. Many of the assets are straight up not useable. 

Which only leaves me one option. I've got to build many of them myself. 

Here's an example. Sadly, Daz is really annoying when it comes to this. There are no array modifiers like in Blender and it's a lot of very mundane work. 

Here's the scene after I finished the groundwork and started adding some details. (Still a WIP.) 

Here's a different environment: 

The Tabletop session is around 35% of the update. In case you're wondering if we also get some actual RL stuff. As mentioned before, Chapter 4 is quite a bit bigger than the last one.

I enjoy working in this setting but I know it's going to push me to a limit. The things I've planned are beyond anything I've done before.  

And I'm looking forward to getting my ass handed to me until I succeed. 

As I keep changing and rewriting stuff over and over again for this session, I've come to a point where I can say, that people who like Sonya, will most likely enjoy a few scenes. 

But I don't want to spoiler anything, you'll see for yourself. 

2. Workstation and the A6000. 

I wanted it to be a surprise but... Well, I actually did try to order the Workstation for 14.000€ but for some reason they didn't want to let me finance it. (I have a perfect credit score (Schufa) and no debt and a little bit of money for safety.)

Sucks. I then ordered the A6000 alone for 5200€ ( 6000$)... but had to cancel it because I learned that you can't have a 3090 (GTX) and an A6000 (Quadro) in the same system.

They use different drivers. 

And I certainly don't want to render a 3090 useless by replacing it (WiAB PC is too weak to handle both 3090s.)

I would also have lost some rendering speed. SG currently renders with a 3090 + 2080Ti. More than often just with the 3090 because the Vram exceeds the 11GB of the 2080Ti. 

So, it's not worth getting a single A6000 right now. Besides the Vram, I would not benefit from it and even lose speed.

By now it's clear that the new Threadrippers won't come out until 2022. 

With the A6000 out of the picture, for now, I did still order a Workstation to increase my work speed. 

I now ordered the following things: 

- Gigabyte TRX40 Designare Mainboard
- AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X
- 128GB DDR4-3600 RAM
- 1500W Power supply (So I can hook up more and more GPU's)
- 2TB SSD
- 6TB drive
- Fractal Design Meshify 2 XL Big Tower
- Noctua NH Cooling
- ASUS 3090 TUF

Comes in at around 7200€ or 8500$. 

I didn't finance the workstation and just bought it cash. As I don't like wasting money, I had enough saved up to comfortably pay it.

Just joking, these big investments still scare the shit out of me and comfortable was out the window.

At the moment, I still have two 2080Ti's just laying around as back-ups. When the Workstation is here, I will move SG to the Workstation and WiAB to the current SG PC.

The old WiAB PC will then be used to render animations. 

This increases the number of PCs to 3. 

SG PC = 2x 3090s + 1x 2080Ti (Might give the single 2080Ti to WiAB.)
WiAB PC = 1x 3090
Animation PC (Old WiAB) = 2x 2080Ti.

A big chunk of time did always go into test rendering animations for hours and hours. Rendering the PCs useless for hours. (Lots of trial and error.) 

The dedicated Animation PC now frees the main PCs from this tedious process and lets me continue working.

Oh, and I have to build the PC myself. So wish me luck. It's my first time. 

The next Dev log will be on the 21st (Continuing the old Bi-Weekly.)

Summer tier and above can find three more images in this POST 

Images from above attached at the bottom in HIGH RES

- Ocean