4 ms·

Semi-relevant but a few years old, a 2021 VFX industry survery found that around 60% of workstations run Linux, and that number is expected to continue growing.

by bogwog 2y ago

Semi-relevant but a few years old, a 2021 VFX industry survery found that around 60% of workstations run Linux, and that number is expected to continue growing. What's interesting to me is that VFX and game dev are kind of similar in terms of software and expertise, but game devs predominantly use Windows. I wonder why that is? Source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15b-4GMTSEE9tyqeQdBfy_LZnxQIdp38Y/view https://drive.google.com/file/d/15b-4GMTSEE9tyqeQdBfy_LZnxQI... (From https://vfxplatform.com/linux/ https://vfxplatform.com/linux/)

ido 2y ago
Because the games have to run on windows
- jay_kyburz 2y ago
  And both Unreal and Unity both mostly only work on Windows. (Linux support very sketchy)
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
hollerith 2y ago
>VFX and game dev are kind of similar in terms of software and expertise, but game devs predominantly use Windows. I wonder why that is? The deliverable of a VFX project is a video file or an artifact that goes into a video file (no complex dependency on Windows) whereas most games need to be able to run on Windows.
- bogwog 2y ago
  I don't think that's it. Games also need to run on consoles, mobile phones, and sometimes web browsers. Cross platform development isn't a new concept in game development, and all major commercial game engines work on Linux (well, they do today at least) Most software used in the VFX industry does officially support Linux, and a lot of those tools are also used in game dev. Maybe Unity and Unreal's Linux support hasn't been great, and that's the only reason? I guess it's easier to get into gamedev than VFX as an indie, and if you have little/no technical background then there's a good chance you're on Windows or Mac when you start looking up Unity/Unreal/etc tutorials, and then you just stick with what you know.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
jayd16 2y ago
The market is on Windows and the engine/tools target Windows first. Visual Studio, Maya, Adobe, etc have dominated historically. Jetbrains and Blender have gained ground but run well on Windows. I'm not even sure you can deploy to an Xbox or Playstation from Linux/Mac officially but I haven't tried this gen. With WSL and containers etc, getting something on Linux from a Windows machine is way easier than the other way around so there's really no driving force towards Linux. But I'm also very confused by your link. Do you mean the visual effects industry or whoever uses this VFXPlatform project that added Windows and Mac support much later?
bitwize 2y ago
1) If you want to sell your game, you go where the users are buying: Windows. 2) Visual Studio still offers a second-to-none developer experience. If you're targeting Windows exclusively (which you are in PC gamedev), Visual Studio is pretty much a must.
0xcde4c3db 2y ago
I get the impression that career Windows C++ programmers, and especially game programmers, tend to really like Visual Studio. Especially IntelliSense and the debugger. To the extent that equivalents exist on Linux, the consensus seems to be that they require way too much setup for a UX that isn't nearly as good (I vaguely recall one statement along the lines of "like going back to the 80s, and not in a good way").
fxtentacle 2y ago
I believe it's the other way around: V-Ray explicitly advertises that you can avoid those expensive Windows licenses for your render farm by using Linux. And Houdini and its Mantra renderer run natively on Linux since forever. As does Renderman, the Pixar in-house engine. If Pixar was forced to use Windows on their render farm, they'd be looking at a roughly $24mio !!! licensing bill. That's a VERY strong incentive to use Linux as much as possible.
pjmlp 2y ago
Because VFX was mostly UNIX thanks to SGI, and then moved on into Linux. They also don't have any issues with FOSS religion, they will gladly use proprietary drivers and UNIX software on GNU/Linux.

by bogwog 2y ago

ido 2y ago

Because the games have to run on windows

jay_kyburz 2y ago
And both Unreal and Unity both mostly only work on Windows. (Linux support very sketchy)
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]

hollerith 2y ago

>VFX and game dev are kind of similar in terms of software and expertise, but game devs predominantly use Windows. I wonder why that is? The deliverable of a VFX project is a video file or an artifact that goes into a video file (no complex dependency on Windows) whereas most games need to be able to run on Windows.

bogwog 2y ago
I don't think that's it. Games also need to run on consoles, mobile phones, and sometimes web browsers. Cross platform development isn't a new concept in game development, and all major commercial game engines work on Linux (well, they do today at least) Most software used in the VFX industry does officially support Linux, and a lot of those tools are also used in game dev. Maybe Unity and Unreal's Linux support hasn't been great, and that's the only reason? I guess it's easier to get into gamedev than VFX as an indie, and if you have little/no technical background then there's a good chance you're on Windows or Mac when you start looking up Unity/Unreal/etc tutorials, and then you just stick with what you know.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

jayd16 2y ago

The market is on Windows and the engine/tools target Windows first. Visual Studio, Maya, Adobe, etc have dominated historically. Jetbrains and Blender have gained ground but run well on Windows. I'm not even sure you can deploy to an Xbox or Playstation from Linux/Mac officially but I haven't tried this gen. With WSL and containers etc, getting something on Linux from a Windows machine is way easier than the other way around so there's really no driving force towards Linux. But I'm also very confused by your link. Do you mean the visual effects industry or whoever uses this VFXPlatform project that added Windows and Mac support much later?

bitwize 2y ago

1) If you want to sell your game, you go where the users are buying: Windows. 2) Visual Studio still offers a second-to-none developer experience. If you're targeting Windows exclusively (which you are in PC gamedev), Visual Studio is pretty much a must.

0xcde4c3db 2y ago

I get the impression that career Windows C++ programmers, and especially game programmers, tend to really like Visual Studio. Especially IntelliSense and the debugger. To the extent that equivalents exist on Linux, the consensus seems to be that they require way too much setup for a UX that isn't nearly as good (I vaguely recall one statement along the lines of "like going back to the 80s, and not in a good way").

fxtentacle 2y ago

I believe it's the other way around: V-Ray explicitly advertises that you can avoid those expensive Windows licenses for your render farm by using Linux. And Houdini and its Mantra renderer run natively on Linux since forever. As does Renderman, the Pixar in-house engine. If Pixar was forced to use Windows on their render farm, they'd be looking at a roughly $24mio !!! licensing bill. That's a VERY strong incentive to use Linux as much as possible.

pjmlp 2y ago

Because VFX was mostly UNIX thanks to SGI, and then moved on into Linux. They also don't have any issues with FOSS religion, they will gladly use proprietary drivers and UNIX software on GNU/Linux.