jlummel

Hi, thought I'd throw in my 2 cents worth on dual-core and hyperthreading since it's now included in v14. I've read some of the other threads on this in the forums here and think I can add something to the discussion. Hyper-threading is done on a single CPU core under the assumption that each instruction uses only part of the CPU. So you can run multiple instructions at the same time IF each instruction uses a different part of the CPU. Parts of a CPU include the Floating Point Math Unit (FPU), Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU, it does integer math and logic functions), the Memory Controller, Register Operator, etc. So if you have one thread that executes a lot of ALU instructions and another thread that accesses memory or does FPU functions mostly, both threads can run at the same time and the work gets done in 1/2 the time. However, if both threads execute the same type of instructions they have to wait for each other to finish before they can execute. These thread collisions waste time because as there is time spent handling the threading and waiting (and is why multi-threaded rendering on a hyperthreaded system is so much slower that a single thread). When A:M renders it uses the same type of instructions in each thread, so hyper-threading is much much slower. Now if you wanted to browse the Internet while rendering in A:M, then hyper-threading would most likely allow you to do that without slowing down the rendering too much because web browsing places a different load on the CPU than rendering does. With 2 physical cores you don't run into this problem since each CPU is free to execute it's assigned thread independently of each other. I would seem to me (though I haven't checked this out) that if you are running a Pentium D with 2 cores and Hyperthreading support that disabling hyperthreading should speed up rendering in A:M since these CPUs look like 4 cores to WinXP. In reality you only have 2 cores and 2 hyperthreads, which could lead to the thread collisions in each of the cores. I doubt that either WinXP or A:M knows which 2 of the processors are actually virtual hyperthreads and which are real CPU cores. Turning off hyperthreading would give you 2 CPUs in WinXP (or Vista), which would always give you the higher rendering speed. I'm interested in seeing what the effects of using a Pentium D with HT disabled is, as well as a comparision to the Core Duo systems. I never run AMD CPUs for Windows applications (though I used them excusively for Unix applications), so I'm not at interested in AMD specs, but would like to see the Intel ones if anyone has run them. I'm also interested in how well A:M runs in Vista multi-core, compared to WinXP. PS- think they'll come out with AMD based Macs? Or have they already? OSX is NextStep, which is a Unix OS!

Thanks, I'll do that! James

I originally purchased A:M 2000 several years ago and it came with a thick technical reference manual. I understand that a year or two after that TAoA:M became the standard pack-in manual with A:M. This is the first year I've ordered the upgrade and am looking forward to the Tech Reference Manual, but would like the get a printed TAoA:M manual as well. Is that possible? Thanks, James

Hi, please add me to the raffle! I placed an order for the 2007 version yesterday (Mon, Feb 5). I'm intrigued by this TWO project, I hope at the very least it gets showings at the major (and minor) film festivals and a possible public DVD release could be done thru www.customflix.com (that'll get you on Amazon.com as well). Once I'm up to speed I'd like to chip in and help with what I can (might be more fun than playing WOW in my spare time, what little there is ). My main interest in A:M is DVD menus/menu-transitions and operational demos for instructional videos, though I've always had an interest in the nuts & bolts of computer animation. I first found out about A:M at a Videomaker Expo in Burbank, CA a few years ago, I was impressed by what I saw! Thanks, James PS- I wasn't able to find a trailer video for TWO, is there one out yet?