Maya (Linux & Windows) Render Time Comparison

This morning I was curious to benchmark the render time between Maya in my Linux and Windows box.
I used a simple scene to test render ambient occlusion. Here’s the result :

Hardware Specs:
HP 6910p Laptop
Intel Core2 Duo 2.0Ghz
2 GB RAM

Software Specs:
Ubuntu Linux 8.04 (Hardy Heron) /w kernel 2.24.17
Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2

Rendered image (simple helix on a plane, 2K square res):

Render Results :

Conclusion :

The render time in Linux is 20 seconds faster than in Windows. Both of the OS platform use the same scene. But the results in your machine may vary from various OS settings (for Linux especially the distro and kernel version used). Maybe in your case, it renders faster in Windows. But for me, the Linux version gives a better render time.

Install Maya for Linux (Ubuntu)

Today I have successfully installed Maya 2008 for Linux in my Ubuntu system.
I followed zardostechmage’s guide to install in my Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron. Should work in previous Ubuntu versions as well (Gutsy, Feisty, etc).
Eveything went well with some minor tweaks for the installation to work well. I have taken some notes of what to be done after installation.

1. Mental Ray temporary folder
   You need to create /usr/tmp folder for mental ray’s frame buffer.
   
   

   sudo mkdir /usr/tmp
   sudo chmod 777 /usr/tmp

   Now mental ray’s frame buffer should work.

2. Strange “X” Mouse
   Sometimes the cursor would turn to black “X” cursor, but it really is just the display. Use this to fix it. (in my case, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t)

   
   export MAYA_MMSET_DEFAULT_XCURSOR=1

3. Garbaged Display
   This is due to the incompatibilty of maya with GLX/AIGLX composite. Edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf and disable composition effect

   gksudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

   add the following entry :

   Section "Extensions"
     Option "Composite" "Disable"
   EndSection

Then start and enjoy using Maya