Subject: Re: Allen Hastings' PC
From: Allen D Hastings <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 1994 03:31:53 -0700

>If you're still reading the list, how about posting some details about the
>machine you're using to port LightWave to the PC. (what kind of video card,
>how much memory, what OS, ect)

There's really nothing unusual about my PC, and don't take this info as
advocating particular brands.  I have a 486DX2/66 system put together by
NCA.  It currently has 16 megs of RAM (I'm planning to get more), a 1.7
gig hard drive (overkill!), the usual 5.25" and 3.5" floppies, a CD-ROM
drive (double speed I believe), a #9 GXE video board (VESA local bus), a
MediaVision sound board, and an Intel Ethernet board.  But as I said,
these are all common items, and if I were to buy another PC, I might end
up with a completely different list of brand names.

The important things to consider are processor speed (I recommend getting
a 90 MHz Pentium), memory (get at least 16 megs, preferably more), a CD-
ROM drive (LightWave may may packaged on CD, and things like Windows NT
and Photoshop already are), and a video board supported by NT (some
boards may not have NT drivers yet).  Faster video boards may improve
things like layout redraws, and 24-bit capability would be nice, but I'm
planning that LightWave will work with just a 256 color 640x480 display
if necessary (so that it could be used on laptops).

>I'd also be interested in hearing anything else you could tell me about the
>PC version. For instance, how much hard drive space will it need, what
>image formats will it save to, ect...

It's too early to know the answers to those questions, but 500 megs is
probably the smallest hard drive I'd consider (that's the size I use in
my Amiga), and the IFF24 and Targa output options should still be there
(joined by others hopefully).

>By the way, I've heard you use a 486. (which is what I've bee looking at)
>I've been noticing dual Pentium machines are now available. Will they be
>supported in a future release of LW?

I believe that for LightWave to take advantage of those SMP machines for
speed, it would have to create multiple rendering threads, which I doubt
will be in the first PC version.  But perhaps you could just run two copies
at once...

- AH