And it's probably a big factor as to why we see more and more online courses... Actually, is there an online 3D school that has a complete program that resembles traditional class ones?
-----Original Message----- From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Angus Davidson Sent: June-11-15 1:52 PM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: RE: Virtual Apps While scary to contemplate, knowing I am not the only person trying to swim against the idiocy is comforting ;) ________________________________________ From: Sofronis Efstathiou [sefstath...@bournemouth.ac.uk] Sent: 11 June 2015 07:43 PM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: RE: Virtual Apps Universities here in the UK are mostly going through a transition of stupidity. I feel your pain... Sent from my Android phone using Symantec TouchDown (www.symantec.com) -----Original Message----- From: Angus Davidson [angus.david...@wits.ac.za] Received: Thursday, 11 Jun 2015, 18:24 To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com [softimage@listproc.autodesk.com] Subject: RE: Virtual Apps Most of our university accountancy runs so totally against reality its scary. I was almost fired on my first day by calling someone (who later turned our CFO) an idiot to their face, We can only use a cloud if its local. We had a trial of shotgun (which is a great piece of kit) but it was totally unusable on our internet. So streaming HD to multiple computers from Europe to Africa will just not work. Which is a shame as it would suit us down to the ground. ________________________________________ From: Matt Lind [speye...@hotmail.com] Sent: 11 June 2015 10:05 AM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: Re: Virtual Apps Has a cloud service like Amazon web services, or similar, been considered? Basically everything Peter just said applies, but you'd have the benefit of scaling up and down as needed and not have to pay for time when school is not in session, nor fork out for or maintain hardware sitting in a back room. At my last employer many applications were installed on a SAN and run in virtual machine environments so hardware and maintenance could be consolidated. There was a small amount of teething getting it set up, but once it was up and running the end user didn't know the difference. Softimage wasn't installed on the SAN and we didn't have thin clients, so I can't provide much feedback in that area. Matt Date: Thu, 11 Jun 2015 09:24:39 +0200 From: <pete...@skynet.be> Subject: Re: Virtual Apps To: <softimage@listproc.autodesk.com> that?s surreal, being forced into buying highly expensive state of the art tech, in stead of some off the shelf computers, out of budgetary constraints. I?m sure that?s exactly how European administration is run. that VCA looks like it would allow you to set up a nice 3D rendering workflow, but it wouldn?t really help with compositing, simulations, working with complex scenes,... or would it? sounds a bit like getting a shiny new pickup truck, but having to load it using chopsticks since you don?t have the budget for a shovel. at least you?ll have the coolest toy in town . From: Angus Davidson Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2015 5:44 PM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: RE: Virtual Apps Dear Peter Thank you for the incredibly comprehensive response. The crazy kindergarten accountancy at the university means that the lab computers need to be paid for by the schools from their operating budgets (which are not keeping up with inflation). However things like VCA are expensive enough to be considered Major Capex and that amazingly enough they have funds for. So its mostly about reading the situation at the University and trying to plan around it. Kind regards Angus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pete...@skynet.be [pete...@skynet.be] Sent: 10 June 2015 02:41 PM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: Re: Virtual Apps if you mean using a thin client on the desk, to connect to a remote workstation (in the server room) ? then yes ? have used this at a former studio. overall it worked quite well. on the thin client you would launch an app, on which you chose the workstation to login to and then a full screen window opens on which you see the workstations? desktop ? and you work you session. It?s very intuitive ? apart from a few keyboard combos (ctrl-alt-del is on the thin client, so there?s a different combination to send that to the workstation) You could use the thin client at any desk to log in to any equipped workstation ? handy at times ? chaotic when your team members end up all over the place. The overhead on the workstation is pretty much zero. The added card handles the compression/communication ? so you can push the workstation exactly as before. there was hardware compression/decompression of all signals ? so it meant adding a dedicated card in the workstation - all data (kb, mouse, usb as well as monitors) goes through network. afaik the screen refresh is done on the thin client ? which reduces the amount of data to be sent (no screens full of pixels) but also makes sure that despite long cable length, image quality is high . (compared to all KVM extenders I ever saw) To the very demanding artist there is a barely noticeable lag and some degradation ? you can kind of make out the compression ? but you do have to look for it. We decided on using the thin clients only for 3D artists, not for compositors. It would work for compositing most of the time, but when checking final images/shots, occasional little flicks or spots from the compression are disturbing. If you are the person who has 3 oversized monitors on his desk, and expects to have film quality visuals while modeling ? this might not be for you. image quality can suffer from network load ? as compression adapts some ? and at a few peak moments network was so taxed (not because of the thin clients) that connections between clients and stations were lost massively. That?s unfortunate and real disruptive ? but once the load was balanced again you would just login and the workstation was right where you left off ? preferable to crashes and shutdowns. But it?s something to be aware of - if you have a problematic network, thin clients will add to the frustration. An added benefit was that there was much less heat generated and electricity used in the office rooms ? in small cramped, badly ventilated and badly equipped offices that can be a tangible benefit. I have memories of humming workstations under desks, burning desklights and running ventilators everywhere (including on an opened workstation case which is a very bad idea) creating an unpleasant and unhealthy microclimate. The switch to thin clients was heavenly. As were LED desklights. Hope it helps some. It?s a big step ? that you need to consider carefully with your supplier (ours was HP) ? and ideally in a riskfree way, where you get the setup on test, with the option to return if unsatisfactory ? because some consequences/constraints are unexpected and to a degree it?s a personal experience. I can very well see this working marvelously in one studio and being a total no-go in another. Now, I?m not getting the financial angle ? to me a thin client is an added cost ? it would not replace any workstations or make them any less redundant. The idea of a thin client is that the heavy lifting is done elsewhere ? workstation, server, on the cloud,... If you mean using a thin client (as in: a very low specced computer) instead of a workstation ? that?s something else altogether. Now, a thin client today might more powerful than a supercomputer of the past ? so there might be cases where it would work. But if you want to get bang for buck, I?d look elsewhere ? as a thin client is not made to customize and beef up and ultimately to put decent specs in. I?d look at barebones rather. From: Angus Davidson Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2015 8:29 AM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: Virtual Apps = <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="width:100%;"> <tr> <td align="left" style="text-align:justify;"><font face="arial,sans-serif" size="1" color="#999999"><span style="font-size:11px;">This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is confidential. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately and destroy the original message. You may not copy or disseminate this communication without the permission of the University. Only authorised signatories are competent to enter into agreements on behalf of the University and recipients are thus advised that the content of this message may not be legally binding on the University and may contain the personal views and opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. 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