Glenn Cole quotes:
>     Adobe Systems Inc.'s After Effects Pro running on a 410-MHz system
>     with 256 Mbytes of RAM and an 18-Gbyte Wide Ultra SCSI-3 array took
>     12 seconds to render a 3-second dissolve, McConathy said. A
>     similarly configured 9600/200 required 36 seconds to accomplish the
>     same task, he said.

and adds:

>(Not that I think someone has an 18-Gig array sitting ON their desk....)

Actually, half-height 9GB drives are readily available, if a bit pricey.
Most Mac and PC chassis can easily accomodate several of these. (Of
course, I remember HP's "Megabyte Express" special deal on 7933s -- three
(1.2GB total) for only $72,000 -- so "pricey" here is a relative term.)

>Maybe I've just been doing business-type programming for too long,
>and have no concept of the resources needed to do, say, Toy Story.

The announcement should tell you: the old 200MHz 604e processor required
12x real-time to render this particular effect (dissolve), and the new
system still takes 4x real-time. It takes a lot of power to compute video
effects. In Jurassic Park, for example, the dinosaurs' effective "hourly
pay rate" was significantly higher than the the human actors'.

The interesting thing that'll be coming along is that these very powerful
boxes will put sophisticated data mining capabilities in the hands of
even very small businesses. I wonder how many managers will have the
mathematical sophistication necessary to turn the results of this new
capability into good business decisions.

-- Bruce


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Bruce Toback    Tel: (602) 996-8601| My candle burns at both ends;
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