Virtual Machine for running 3ds Max & V-ray

[Paul BM]

Hi All

I work as the sole visualiser in my architectural practice. I currently have a desktop machine running 3ds Max & V-ray. My IT department is trying to push us all into using virtual machines -  not just for rendering, but for everyday use. I have said that I don't think it would be suitable for 3d modelling and interactive rendering etc.. They say they can make sure "enough resources" are available on the machines but I don't think they really understand.

I will be meeting with them to discuss requirements - can anyone tell me whether a virtual machine setup could work and what kind of system setup I should be pushing for? Should I be pushing for keeping/upgrading my current workstation?

Thanks

Paul

[Francisco Penaloza]

There are many type of IT technicians.  But not many of them really understand what an  3D Artist will really need. Unless of course they have a background on a similar company.

There is so much to talk here, and I do work very close with out IT technicians on my company to assure  everyone has 'the best machine' they need for their task.

For most IT tech, a 'good machine' will be something with lots of CPU a fast HD and enough RAM, this also kind of apply to Us but this will depend on what you do. For instance for rendering only, the more cores and more ram you have the better. But if you are a modeler, then you need fewer CPU but faster speed (Ghz), also lots of RAM and very fast HD(SSD) or fast network.

There are many advantage to use virtual machines, mostly will help the IT tech to manage and maintain everyone instance. But depending what company they are using, then the price per hour for a high end Visualization machine can become very expensive. (the better video card, the more expensive it gets, also they don't have the latest tech.)

In general virtual machines will be running "Server type processors and they are usually not the latest tech ( this depend on the company you are using), those server computers are designed to run many instances but not designed to use the max power for a single instance.  Which is what we, visualization artist usually ask for.

For a general Viz person that will model and render on it's own machine, then there is a sweet spot. You'll need the fastest CPU you can find with lots of cores, with today's tech it could be some Intel Xeon with 12 or 24 cores, I believe they can reach 4Ghz or 5Ghz at render time.  Otherwise you can get an Intel i9 with a more consistent 5Ghz with plenty of RAM (64Gb minimum) and a fast SSD or M.2 but you could also map one of those 'virtual drives' that would speed up file transfer quite bit.

I will recommend an RTX Quadro 4500 that has excellent performance and 20Gb on VRAM unless you can spend the money on a RTX 4090 but you need to have a very large power supply and double the price of the Quadro.

For instance, before I had my partnership with IT, they were specking Visualization machines with Xeons with 64 cores but running at 1Ghz, turbo to 3Ghz and Quadros 2000

Hope this helps, best luck.