SGI Cheat Sheet

In keeping with the cross-platform philosophy of LightWave, the SGI version functions almost exactly the same as the other platforms. This text will try to cover the 'almost' qualifier.

The SGI version of LW needs a CPU of the MIPS R4000 family at minimum. This includes the 4000, 4400, and 4600. The new R8000 and R10000 series are fully supported, too. LightWave 4.0 had a specially compiled executable for the R3000 (IRIS, ELAN, XM-24 series), but due to the demands of OpenGL, 5.0 can no longer support the 3000 series.

32 megs of RAM usually ships with the Indy and OS/2 models, and while LW will function quite well on that amount, 64 megs is *recommended*, but not required.

Early Indys had what SGI called 'Virtual-24' support in the low-end, which is doublespeak for 8-bit graphics. LightWave will function just fine without a 24-bit card, the only drawback being dithered on-screen display somewhat reminiscent of one of those snowing paperweights. Of course, the files are being generated in 24-bits, so there is no actual data loss.

Animation files on the SGI are called 'SGI Movie' files- this is just their version of .avi or quicktime, and the same steps are taken to create an SGI Movie as are an .avi.

The config files are called '.lwrc' and '.lwmrc'- they will usually be found in the bin directory, which itself is found in the root of the Newtek directory. They are exactly the same format as all the other platforms.

The minimum supported OS is called IRIX 5.2, - the current shipping OS is IRIX 6.3, which is fully supported. LW has tested as functional under Irix 4.1, but there are enough limitations of that rev that we won't support a system running it.

Plug-ins do not have separated sub-directories for Layout and Modeler.

There is no import/export between Layout and Modeler, so there is no need for a temp directory.

There is a directory called 'workspace' that holds icon information, and while there is no need for the user to do anything in that directory, it is necessary, so it must not be deleted.

The 'bin' directory is the unix version of the 'Programs' directory. The .ENU files are found in the 'bin' directory, and everything that would be found in the 'Programs' directory on other platforms will be in the 'bin' on the SGI. If they aren't present, LW/Modeler won't execute.

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Amiga

Intel

MIPS

Alpha

Macintosh

SGI

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