3ds max 4 / nVIDIA GTS 2: Direct 3D or Open GL ? 1

[clokkevi]

I have a PC with a med speed CPU, it's a P3 600B - but I've boosted it up with a Leadtek Winfast GTS 2 64MB, with nVIDIA's Geforce 2 GTS GPU.

As I've just started using 3ds max 4, I'm not sure which render I should use. At nVIDIA's site, I see'em bragging about the D3D capabilities of the GTS 2:

"In 3ds maxTM 4 WYSIWYG has become a reality allowing artists to display multiple textures per face, true transparency, opacity mapping and even custom pixel/vertex shaders using Direct 3D-like reflection maps and bump maps all adding up to a tremendous time savings in the creative process.
In this example, Direct 3D was used to display Multitextures per face on the dragon's skin, Opacity mapping in a combination of textures for the trees and real-time fire effects and a custom pixel\vertex shader for the real-time cubic reflection map. This can all be viewed in REALTIME."

But "everywhere" else, I see people discussing *Open GL specs* as the most important thing.

So, what would be my best choice?
Is there certain areas of 3ds max 4 that are different, so that one renderer is better suited for that specific task - but in another task, the other renderer is the best?

What are the differences? Speed, quality?

Or is it just the same which one to use?

Clokkevi.

 

[Azmaramza]

The Difference between the 2 is the compression

I'm not sure my guess would be the quality. If ur Video card can support Direct 3D then go for it else just use Open GL

Az
azmaramza@home.com

ICQ 59238403

AIM azmaramza

 

[Azmaramza]

D3D is the 3d coding made by micrsoft ... OpenGL is written by Nvidia ... Open GL is better but D3D is more stable and takes less resources

Az
azmaramza@home.com

ICQ 59238403

AIM azmaramza

 

[clokkevi]

Hmm.

According to your *second* reply, I will maybe rather go for OpenGL, then.. By "better" you surely mean better quality, right?

I mean, there must be a reason for why the high-end pro graphic cards like Wildcat etc. do ONLY support OpenGL?

Almost EVERY other $50 card support D3D..

By the way, OpenGL is not made by nVIDIA, is it?

http://www.opengl.org/developers/about/overview.html

Clokkevi

 

[Azmaramza]

opps sry i was thinking of something else at the time

Az
azmaramza@home.com

ICQ 59238403

AIM azmaramza

 

[Horrid]

if you have a geforce 2 use D3d, if you have a high end openGL card use that. D3d on a geforce is better than its openGL implementation.

And your correct OpenGL is a silicon graphics standard but they haven't keep it as up to date as D3d, so D3d is probably now the better standard of the two for overall quality and effects. NOTE: I wont put money on that but I remember reading in some GeForce 3 information that openGL is still in 1.1 where it was a few years ago, logic would state that D3d would have more features and work better with todays hardware.

 

[clokkevi]

Hmm.
First - I thought the OpenGL / D3D would some effect on the speed of the final rendering..
Now, I don't think it has - noy unless you have *very* simple materials - like one without any maps and a standard Blinn shader, then *maybe* the hardware-acceleration could be used also in the rendering.

But the reason to have hardware-accelerated graphic cards in most 3d apps, seems to be in the *viweports*, when modelling/animating. Thank God I found that out!

So, I then tried to rotate my model of Tubby McChubbs, in a shaded 4-view setting, in both OpenGL (which I've been using all the time) and Direct3D.
I had of course both drivers configured in the same way.

It turned out that in Direct3D, the screen's refresh rate dropped *VERY* seriously, in fact, it became so bad that I thought why the **** does they have this option, anyway?

So I finally got my answer. And yesterday, I found a website which had done a test of D3D/OGL/Heidi for a specific system/garphic card. It did turn out the same way, with OGL more than twice as fast as D3D, which was almost as slow as Heidi. There were just a few exceptions, a couple of the tests had the D3D at around the same speed as OGL.

Clokkevi.

 

[Guest_imported]

hey clokkevi, seen you on i**news!! (moomin x)

the display drivers have no effect on the final rendering - that's the point of mental ray and other renderers (seen

http://www.splutterfish.com

btw - very impressive).

i have a geforce2mx and find the opengl slightly faster than the d3d in the viewports, but the texture quality od d3d to be superior. they both put heidi to shame though in terms of speed.

could you post a link to that site you mention though...?