tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526678.post1617302167893849964..comments2023-10-26T08:25:17.575-07:00Comments on 2D or not 2D: Real Time Rendering - is it possible?Steve Bennetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14149574463439129838noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526678.post-32565941283958084122009-07-22T22:09:08.154-07:002009-07-22T22:09:08.154-07:00Quick Comparisons:
Machstudio Pro is about $4000....Quick Comparisons:<br /><br />Machstudio Pro is about $4000.<br /><br />Vray RT is about $250 on top of owning VRay (less than $1000).<br /><br />Holomatix Rendition is about $900<br />and is aimed at Mental Ray.<br /><br />Shaderlight is currently free, and<br />if downloaded will have a starting<br />price of about $450<br /><br />(For prices I'm putting "about" because this is from memory).<br /><br />-<br /><br />Machstudio is graphics card based and you get the so-called partnership ATI provided card to make sure that it works well.<br />You can't buy the software without the card - I asked. They said no.<br />Presumably your computer itself will also contribute to how well that performs.<br /><br />I asked myself, to what extent might it be the graphics card that boosts the render time, as opposed to the software?<br /><br />Vray RT is CPU based -- without a networked suite of *up to to 10* slave processors for instance, from what I can tell it's not going to be that helpful for acceleration.<br /><br />Shaderlight is for 64bit systems and explicitly requires at least 8gb ram, which is a lot more than the average desktop (around 2-6gb in a common bundle from a shop) but not that much trouble to upgrade to, given the cheaper software overhead.<br /><br />I'm not sure, but Artlantis seems to be a kind of intentionally optimised renderer, using simple material presets and simple render settings that look at best adequate ... a bit like Vray with 'low' quality sampling. I haven't seen high quality rendering from it.<br /><br />Fryrender is supposedly to come out with a RT solution soon, which should be interesting given their proximity to the Maxwell renderer. The next version of Maxwell seems to be only a bit faster than the current one, so the users hardware probably will need to be heavy to make it worthwhile using.<br /><br />Indigo, the so far free, physically based renderer for 3DSmax is going pro soon, which may or may not be due to enhancements they're making.<br />I'd like to see how much it'll cost.<br /><br />- <br /><br />For actually rendering, Maxwell and Machstudio Pro send out content for rendering to an external application.<br /><br />Vray RT, Holomatic Rendition and Shaderlight are quite embedded into 3DSmax. They also involve adaptiveshade methods, so you see what the render is doing interactively. <br /><br />It would be nice to know to what degree Shaderlight can understand 3rd party renderers such as Cebas finalRender. It's such a pain to have to convert with each renderer a whole library of textures and shaders. Maybe someone should invent a universal shader type that every render can leverage without the user having to sweat?<br /><br />Maxwell and Shaderlight include post-rendering tools - ways to change light values in the image AFTER a render is finished without having to recalculate the whole scene. This is mostly aimed at still image rendering it seems.<br />I haven't seen an example of that for an animated character sequence for instance.<br /><br />-<br /><br />It seems to be that these render 'solutions' may mark the fin de siècle of standard renderer software given they're based on technology that's aging fast. It seems there's a looming shift in approaches to rendering. I wonder in two or so years which of these 'new' renderers will attract the larger user base.<br /><br />-<br /><br />A further comparison to consider is completeness:<br /><br />Vray has several subsidiary plugins (like vray scatter and a few others I forget the names of).<br /><br />finalRender has several too (such as finalDOF and finalShaders).<br /><br />Maxwell and Machstudio Pro don't seem to have any, as yet.<br /><br />Personally I like to see feature additions to software added as a point release rather than an external plugin (especially given some of the renderers themselves are plugins).<br /><br />I'm a 3DSMax user mainly, so <br />I wonder if, at some point, 3DSMax itself may ship with some kind of 'real time' rendering technology which simply eclipses all the tools commented on here. A few years ago I guess that's what the incorporation of mentalray aimed to do.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17970738132333726061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526678.post-40058262853890623762009-06-12T04:31:10.678-07:002009-06-12T04:31:10.678-07:00Looking forward to hearing your thoughts - keep us...Looking forward to hearing your thoughts - keep us updated! Thx. JamesJameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07718859701688507119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526678.post-45970629293251063202009-06-05T21:17:45.018-07:002009-06-05T21:17:45.018-07:00There are a number of things that I can't answ...There are a number of things that I can't answer in depth as I a) need a demo unit to try it out and see how it really works & b) I haven't received any official training on it yet to really get my hands dirty.<br /><br />I plan to get in depth training on using it over the summer. I know it does not currently do caustics at the moment, however their lead developer said they are working on it. Currently it is only in pre-release so it can only get better from this point forward.<br /><br />As I get more in depth with it I plan to post more insider info. Stay tuned!Steve Bennetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14149574463439129838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526678.post-87195056832774538182009-06-03T16:54:52.065-07:002009-06-03T16:54:52.065-07:00Hi Curious if you have any follow up thoughts on M...Hi Curious if you have any follow up thoughts on MachStudio which I just discovered tonight (being a max guy) - I think I see a few things that might escape immediate attention - motion blur for example looks a little "staccato" (I'm not even sure its in the image at all) - all told though it's a wet-your-shorts system at first glance. Any impartial feedback appreciated.Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07718859701688507119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526678.post-32316960749096890732009-06-03T15:13:41.570-07:002009-06-03T15:13:41.570-07:00@astrodog:
I see it changing my workflow in that I...@astrodog:<br />I see it changing my workflow in that I can now focus more on the artistic side of my production instead of worrying about how long it will take to render an animation. Yes, I mostly work with 3ds MAX along with a few other Autodesk applications. MachStudio is working feverishly at not only updating their exporter for 2009 to 2010, but at adding new capabilities. I will be meeting with them in a few minutes about the future and where they plan to go from here...Steve Bennetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14149574463439129838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526678.post-60912105861649867742009-06-02T13:58:07.545-07:002009-06-02T13:58:07.545-07:00So how do you see this changing your workflow? Al...So how do you see this changing your workflow? Also do you use Max mostly? I see there is a 3ds Max 2009 exporter for transferring animations and geometries into MachStudio.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02896287606816711996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526678.post-51081517718253238632009-05-26T10:37:31.454-07:002009-05-26T10:37:31.454-07:00From what I have seen, Artlantis is still taking m...From what I have seen, Artlantis is still taking minutes whereas MachStudio Pro is taking SECONDS to render an image!Steve Bennetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14149574463439129838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526678.post-624694244043337572009-05-22T16:32:24.387-07:002009-05-22T16:32:24.387-07:00you will want to look at Artlantis.you will want to look at Artlantis.Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17234312584646868505noreply@blogger.com