Easy and free Render
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@remus said:
In my opinion one of indigos biggest weakness' is it's lack of some good solid documentation. As stinkie said, the best place for indigo info is really those tutorials and the forums.
Whoa, there! All you need, are Whaat's tuts. Really! (He's got one on uv mapping too, btw.) They're very much to the point and practical.
SkIndigo makes using Indigo really very easy. No need for long tutorial vids or a thick manual. I can make an appealling archviz render with Indigo (IMO, anyway) - and I'm a total moron!
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Indeed the skindigo tuts are very good, but have you ever gone to the documentation section? its a bit of a mess really.
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@unknownuser said:
...I can make an appealling archviz render with Indigo (IMO, anyway) - and I'm a total moron!
Well, Stinkie, I'd like to be uch a "total moron" as you are at rendering!
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@remus said:
Indeed the skindigo tuts are very good, but have you ever gone to the documentation section? its a bit of a mess really.
Hm, yes. True. But: a given horse ... It's quite a friendly community too. Ask, and you'll get answered.
@gaieus said:
@unknownuser said:
...I can make an appealling archviz render with Indigo (IMO, anyway) - and I'm a total moron!
Well, Stinkie, I'd like to be uch a "total moron" as you are at rendering!
Trust me, I couldn't possibly explain what, for instance, an "Oren-Nayar" material is. Not a chance! Making a texture map tileable? No idea how to do that. I got a brain like Swiss cheese - and not the kind with holes either. The grated kind. I do however have a lot of patience. That helps, I think. And I don't mind putting in some work. Not even the fanciest hammer swings itself.
Besides, I don't feel I'm very good yet. Lots to learn still. My modelling skills are somewhat meager still.
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Yes, I know...
The most valuable (and for me desirable) element to become a good renderer is TIME (that I unfortunately haven't got mucg lately) -
Gaieus Has said it best I think. Any program whether it is a render program or a photoediting program becomes easier with time and practice. We all have out favorites and one that we think are easier than others but it all comes down to how much time (and sometimes money) you are willing to invest to get what you would think are good results. I only suggested Modo and C4D as they are also fairly easy (in my opinion) modelers as well as good renderers. Not not free, and I apologize for getting this thread off track from the requested "free".
Scott
After seeing Richard's One click render in maxwell it might be time to dig back into my copy of Maxwell 1.6! Nice work Richard!!
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I got this V-ray render, makes great renders. But how i can make glass effect to any object?
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Hardly free, Vray. Try Kerky or Indigo.
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I do not believe in miracles. Sure lots of stuff is free on the net.
But, if is easy to learn and work with, isn't it worth a little money.?
I mean, getting to make soft easy for users is pretty difficult.
It requires a lot of long hours of thinking and coding.
Nothing is really free in life, as you know. Some effort has to be done in order to get something.
So one has to pay! But you can choose to do it with your time, learning free (not so easy) softs, or with money and work with easy softs. But you have to choose, imho. -
@mariocha said:
I do not believe in miracles. Sure lots of stuff is free on the net.
But, if is easy to learn and work with, isn't it worth a little money.?So - what you're saying is that just because it's free, it's not good - or then you assume that it's not good..???
I assume that you haven't seen any of the AWESOME renders posted here at the Gallery rendered using Kerkythea and Indigo - or perhaps even better... Visit their respective web-sites and see some of the renders in the Galleries...!!
I will claim that some of the expensive render applications are far more difficult to use than both Kerkythea and Indigo...
Just because they cost a fortune, doesn't mean that they're any good...!! -
@frederik said:
I will claim that some of the expensive render applications are far more difficult to use than both Kerkythea and Indigo...
So will I. It's amazing, really (IMO), how user unfriendly some "professional" apps are.
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I tihnk im going to have to go with stinkie and fred on this.
Any piece of software is going to take time to learn wether you fork out nothing or a bizillion dollars. In my view you might as well pocket the bizillion dollars and get one of the free render apps out there that are for the most part just as capable as their commercial brethren.
My personal experience with indigo has been excellent, and although i havent tried kerky im sure i would have a similar experience.
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Think about it for a moment, apps like Maya, Max, Render-man etc were originally and I suppose still today designed to be learned at tertiary education institute. They were originally and still over priced for the average hobbyist or small freelance artist to afford, so licenses were purchased through large companies accompanied with extensive training courses that covered all the intricacies. Blender, SU and a few other new and free software is free 3D for the masses so is the obvious follow on ... free rendering too. I am sure that this 'free' revolution is hurting those big boys as Indigo, Kt and even cheap apps like Podium and others are reaching results that those very expensive apps are capable of with a smaller learning curve. The exact same way sketchup has hurt the CAD business, at first it was dismissed as a toy and as it matured and limits were exceeded more and more potential customers moved to this easy and fast app that could give mind boggling results with a little practice, so has the cheap and free rendering apps also matured and the gap between the high end and free become smaller and smaller.
Take bump mapping for example, it appeared first with the high end apps and was a complicated procedure to apply, now every render engine has it as a staple and applied with relative ease, So then they introduced displacement mapping to separate themselves from the masses, and that too is now available with the free apps.
So getting to the point you must realize that the more bells and whistles you require from your rendering app you must be willing to endure a learning curve and you are also paying for the most recent bells and whistles when you purchase these high end apps.Podium is by far the easiest of the lot, the reason for that is it has the least bells and whistles (but does have the important ones and capable of amazing renders), and it works within the SU GUI. Podium 2 will have many more bells, whistles and a few gems, but keeping it simple and uncluttered within SU is the challenge.
Our strive for absolute photo realism has exceeded the marked requirements IMO, it has become more an exhibition of skill and ability, driven by perfectionists and artists and will continue to push the limits and demand new features in order to reach perfection. So hang with the cheap and free apps as they will be close behind catching up to those $$$ apps with every upgrade.
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Well said Pete!
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I ahve to agree with you too pete!
Though I think as one starts to venture into the area of photo realism the limit of your output (aside from skill and motivation) is the tools at ones disposal. Free by no means equals crap!
I take a look at Indigo and the development there by one guy!! And the development of the plugin by Whaat. You make a suggestion, he confirms it and then exceeds your expectation in it's implementation! And it's free!
I like to get specific (just a habit). I think if someone does address the tutorial for indigo - explaining mostly the terminology that differs alot from the norm and a preview engine is built into indigo as currently unlike it's main competition maxwell you need to wait quite some time before the render cleans enough to determine your success, then it will make it a rather hard one to beat!
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Well said indeed Pete. I too agree that free does not mean crap. Far from it. Kerky, Podium and indigo have brought cheap if not free rendering to the masses. The 3 programs have the ability to output amazing images that give any of the costly renderers a run for their money. I think one thing that sets Maxwell apart is the multi-light function, but like anything else now that that is out it will only be a matter of time before the other programs grab hold of that technology. I think there is a whole different way of thinking in software recently. Before there were not as many options that gave excellent output as there are today and companies are seeing the benefit of offering free software to draw customers in. Autodesk has given away (yes the giant is handing out freebies) Impression 2 to all subscription members. Before one had to buy it, now you just need to download it. So I think the tides are changing a little and the thoughts of big companies are changing as well. I think if someone is just getting into rendering then try a free program, see if it fits your needs and get used to the terminology of rendering. Then if you find there are limitations that you can not live with then look at a renderer that you need to pay for.
Scott
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Well said indeed Pete...
@richard said:
I take a look at Indigo and the development there by one guy!!
Same can be said for Kerkythea...
@unknownuser said:
I think one thing that sets Maxwell apart is the multi-light function, but like anything else now that that is out it will only be a matter of time before the other programs grab hold of that technology.
English is not my native language, but how is it you usually put it..??
I don't want to spill the beans...
Or is it - I can let the cats out, but not the dogs...
But I see a lot of
if what mariocha is saying is right...
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Hey ! Ho, ho !
I just made myself unclear here, I guess.
No disrespect at all ! Frederik.
On the contrary, my main message is that in all respect for the developpers, one should not hesitate to give them some money for a product he likes.
By no means I meant that all free softs are not good.
Or that expensive ones are better.
I never even said a word about good or bad softs. I only wrote about ease of use.
Very sorry, I am.
But, when a good & easy one is cheap, why not pay a little? as an incentive for the good work.And I agree with Solo too.
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I use IDX Renditioner from IMSI: very fast learning curve on both Mac and PC. The Mac version is a bit farther along in capability, but that will change.
Results are not perfect, but very good considering its ease of use. It is an SU plugin.
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Can you show us an example of output you made with the renditioner, Bob?
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