[Bf-committers] Parallel Blender

[André Susano Pinto]

Hi Knapp,

On 8 May 2010 08:02, Knapp <magick.crow at gmail.com> wrote:

> I was reading these other posts about where Blender might go and just
> wanted to add my thoughts. Naturally this is just IMOHO. And I know
> blender is taking steps in this direction.
>
> Parallel is where it is at.
>
> I am sure most of you know this but I just wanted to highlight the
> total importance of it and make sure it is in front of everyones face.
> This is not something to put off, as I see it.
>
> Computers are very quickly going parallel. Just a few years ago my
> computer had one CPU and the GPU was not much to look at. My current
> computer has 2 CPUs and a GPU that is old and out of date but still
> very very fast. My next computer will likely have 6 CPUs on a chip and
> if all goes well 2 of these chips for a cost of about 400 USD and 2
> graphics cards with high end GPUs that work together, this will happen
> this year! Can Blender make the most of this?
>
> Just like everything computer, the number of CPUs will likely double
> about every 12 to 18 months. This means that many of our users will be
> running computers with over 4 CPUs by the time 2.5 is released. Just 2
> years latter, I would not be surprised if most users had 12 CPUs. Two
> years after that many top end users might be running systems with 48
> CPUs and god only knows what the GPUs and physics systems will look
> like. Blender should be able to eat that stuff up with ease to stay in
> the lead.
>

I actually doubt the number of processors will increase like that.
It will probably increase, but I wonder about your numbers :p
Since there's other problems like caching limits and memory bandwidth.
Also the fact most applications are not able to take profit out of an
increased number of cpu's
may also lead to a decrease effort on hardware manufacturers.



>
> Another thing to keep in mind is that in 4 years time most users will
> likely be expecting everything to be 3d (as in Avatar). That seems to
> be the big push in the industry right now both in movies, HDTV and in
> gaming.
>
> Making blender take advantage of this in every way possible is a must
> and something that, IMOHO, everyone should be being worked on very
> hard right now. As I understand it, Python is currently the biggest
> problem.
>

Though Yes! Blender is an excel position to use the increased processing
power.
And we should strive to use it :)
But don't overdue it and parallelize everything! Some stuff work just fine
and there might not be a point in spending time on it.
We should also start plugin GPU in the really intensive parts?

And btw whats the problem with python?
And is there any compiled list of what needs to be improved and what current
problems block it from being parallelized?


Best regards,
André

>
> Thanks for reading my little rant. I look forward to hearing others
> thoughts on this.
>
> Best,
>
> Douglas E Knapp
>
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