Review

Making your work with you has sometimes been problematic for graphics professionals. These individuals need a lot more computing power than the ability to surf the Web and run a few spreadsheets. They need powerful processors, fast graphics, and a good display, all rolled up into a portable package. The MSI GT60-20KWS is one machine that can definitely address these needs. It has all the graphics and processing power needed to create high-end graphics on the go.

The form factor of the machine certainly isn't svelte, but its heftiness represents the significant amount of power that resides within. The GT60 measures in at about 1.8 inches thick and weighs in at 7.7 pounds, which is on the heavier end of modern laptops. This, however, includes pretty much all that you'd ever need.

The workstation has an Intel Core i7 4700M processor at the center of it all. This is a quad-core processor that runs at 2.4ghz. The review machine came with 16gb of RAM, which can be upgraded to 32gb. Storage comes in the way of a 1tb drive for data, with a 128gb SSD for the OS. A Blu-ray disc burner also goes along for the ride. One feature I really liked was that the 9-cell battery is removable, so you can carry spares. This makes the workstation much more useful in the field, where power to recharge may not always be available. 

Probably the best thing about this mobile workstation is the screen. It's a 15.6-inch display that provides a whopping 2880x1620 resolution. This display is color calibrated to provide excellent color depth and contrast. In addition to the internal screen, the machine can also support up to three external displays via the built-in HDMI and DisplayPort connections. This allows you to use this mobile workstation in the office, as well. 

All these displays are driven by an Nvidia Quadro K3100M mobile graphics card. This card sits toward the top of Nvidia's cards. The graphics engine has 768 cores running on 4gb of memory. Most importantly, this card allows the GT60 certification to run all sorts of high-end 3D graphics and CAD applications, such as Maya, AutoCAD, Revit, SolidWorks, and many more. 

The ergonomics of the machine are good. The workstation is a little taller than most current laptops, so you have to get used to the higher keyboard while typing. Keyboard response was excellent, however; the keys had a crisp, tactile feel. One nifty little feature is that the backlit keyboard can be programmed to display custom colors. This is typically a gaming feature, but one could find use in video editing or other areas that use a lot of hotkeys. The touch pad is also nicely placed so that you don't accidentally hit it. I didn't have any issues with cursor jumping.  

On the technical side, the chassis has a very good cooling system dubbed Cooler Boost 2, which keeps the workstation running cool. This is nice for those times when you actually put it on your lap to work. Networking has also been tweaked for maximum efficiency, hopefully making file transfers easier.

As for performance, the workstation does well in most tests. We found that it performs similar to a midrange workstation, most of this due to the processor and graphics card choices.  While it is not as fast as a dedicated dual-processor behemoth, it has the distinct advantage of portability. The workstation should be able to handle most CAD, 3D, and video tasks with ease.

Overall, I really liked the MSI GT60-20KWS mobile workstation. It had a good balance of power to portability and offers enough power and features to become a graphics professional's only workstation. For the amount of power, speed, and portability, the price is also pretty good. This is a nice workstation that hits the sweet spot in a lot of areas.

George Maestri is a contributing editor for CGW and president/CEO of RubberBug animation studio. He also teaches Maya for Lynda.com. He can be reached at maestri@rubberbug.com.

SOFTWARE

Visual Effects

Sweet 16

Maxon Computer has rolled out Cinema 4D Release 16 (R16), which contains numerous workflow optimizations and features, such as the PolyPen tool for comfortable modeling, a Motion Tracker for integrating 3D content into live footage, and a Reflectance channel for multi-layered reflections and specularity. Release 16 is available for Windows and Mac OS X.

www.maxon.net

Houdini Indie

Side Effects Software is offering Houdini Indie ($199 annually), enabling animators to design, experiment, and create. Houdini Indie includes the same procedural node-based workflow and features as the commercial version of Houdini and the physically-based Mantra renderer. It can be used in all stages of animation and game production, including procedural modeling, character animation, lighting, rendering, effects, and compositing. Houdini Indie also gives artists renderfarm access using HQueue on Amazon's EC2 compute cloud. Indie and the stand-alone Houdini Engine Indie ($99 annually) can be used to load Houdini digital assets into other content creation apps.

www.sidefx.com

HARDWARE

Storage

Studio Line

G-Technology is adding the first extension of its Studio line, the G-Speed Studio XL. Expanding on the two-bay G-Raid Studio and four-bay G-Speed Thunderbolt 2 storage solutions, which launched earlier this year, the G-Speed Studio XL holds up to eight removable enterprise-class 7,200 RPM hard drives, offering performance of up to 1,350MB/sec. The G-Speed Studio XL can be daisy-­chained via dual Thunderbolt 2 ports. The G-Speed Studio XL will be available in November starting at approximately $3,600 for 24TB.

www.g-technology.com

Input Device

In Stylus

Wacom has introduced four new styluses for the iPad - two new generations of the Bamboo Stylus solo ($19.95) and duo ($29.95), Bamboo Stylus fineline ($59.95), and the second generation of the Intuos Creative Stylus, dubbed Intuos Creative Stylus 2 ($79.95). All are available now with the exception of the Intuos Creative Stylus 2, which will ship in October.

www.wacom.com

NEWS

Compositing

New to the Family

Eyeon Software has been a strong player in the compositing industry with its Fusion software. Now, those tools have found a new home following the acquisition of eyeon by Blackmagic Design. Aside from its compositing tools, Fusion 7 also includes comprehensive paint, rotoscope, keying, layering and titling tools, along with a particle generator system. Fusion 7 has a full set of creation tools for building objects and scene elements in a 3D system that can handle millions of polygons with complex shading. When used with Blackmagic's DaVinci Resolve for editing and grading, Fusion becomes an even more powerful tool.

www.eyeonline.com

www.blackmagicdesign.com