Should I buy V-ray
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I'm doing a trial of V-Ray and a trial of Modo right now so let me comment a bit on them - but keep in mind that these comments are from someone who's experience is limited to about 2 weeks of use.
V-Ray has immediately become a part of my daily work flow. I can't really afford it but now I can't imagine working without it. It is complicated but if you go through the user manual and follow their suggestions you'll be able to get out basic renders in no time. I just learned today how to do bumps and displacements. I modeled a simple plank of wood using a wood grain pattern I got on this forum and it looks fantastic.
I am struggling mightily with Modo. It's rendering and painting abilities make me want to own the program - but I'm not sure it's well oriented towards the architectural profession. It's really more about making complex shapes than it is about making accurately dimensioned 3D models. I've had no success with bringing a SketchUp model into the program - the models come in with hundreds of stray lines and many lost polygons. There's a SketchUp importer but the importer isn't part of the trial package so I can't comment on it but the comments on their forum and the forum at PushPull suggest that it doesn't work very well.
I like Modo, I like the idea of being able to paint on the surface of a 3D model and I like the real time rendering capability. But it hasn't become useful to me in any obvious way. V-Ray, on the other hand, has already become an essential part of my day.
Hope these comments are helpful in some way.
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Hi Arail1
Thanks for your time. I downloaded the 30day trial and am about half way through the manual. I'm really enjoying it.
I haven't touched Modo at all, so your comments on it, were very helpful. It looks a wonderful piece of software but maybe geared more towards options I may never use. Its just such a good price.I think I'm off to ASGviz now to get V-Ray
Cheers for every ones help. This forum RULZ
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did they ever release a mac version of VRay for SUp? i looked it up in their site and could find any mention of it, although in 2008 there was an announcement of a coming mac version.
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@edson said:
did they ever release a mac version of VRay for SUp? i looked it up in their site and could find any mention of it, although in 2008 there was an announcement of a coming mac version.
They are working on that now.
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REcent blog post about the OSX version: http://asgvisdev.blogspot.com/2009/05/development-update-5-15-2009.html
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Thanks for the link Thomthom. It looks like there might be a new version "pretty" soon.
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@holmes1977 said:
Modo is the other piece of software I have had my eyes on. I like the fact it has good animation options. Its differently value for money compared to V-ray. On the modeling Achitecture side I really only need what sketchup can offer. So I'm really only after a renderer. I'm not convinced that its Achviz capabilities are better than V-Ray's but that's personal opinion.
I agree: Vray produces better architectural renders than Modo does. So far, at least. Lux seems to be putting a lot of work in Modo's renderer.
Me, I pre-ordered Modo 401. I need it - SU doesn't cut it for me anymore. If you don't need anything more than SU - well, Vray most certainly is an excellent addition to your tool set.
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New Vray version will be rewrite of the core only. It will not have any new features AFAIK.
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They are planning on making the UI more user friendly, though. Good thing, user friendly UI's. I remember this one app ... really user friendly. They were gonna add lots of new features ... What's that app called again? Modiup? Podmiu? Nice blokes, too. Wonder what happened to them.
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@sepo said:
New Vray version will be rewrite of the core only. It will not have any new features AFAIK.
VfSU2 will have new features. However, they have rewritten the core so they can release for Mac. The last I heard they will release a PC version with the rewritten core before VfSU2 comes out. It is this pre-v2 release that won't have any new features, I'm guessing some bug fixes maybe. But VfSU2 will have lots of really nice features.
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Yes, I was reffering to pre V2 version.
Stinkie
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I'm not really going to "weigh in" here as my opinion is obviously biased, but I'll just try to clear up some version/update questions that seam to be floating around.
Right now the development team has been completely rewriting the core of VfSU so that it will run on a Mac. There are a number of added benefits to this; some of which will be apparent now, some of which will be apparent later. In the short term, we'll be releasing the Mac version, along with a update for the windows side as well, in a few months time. The actual dates depend largely on how things work out during the testing period (which should be starting with a few weeks...I'll make an announcement here). Obviously if there's a lot of bugs/issues that pop up, we'll have to work those out before its officially released. As Thomas said, the Mac version and the update for the windows side of things will have minimal additional features. That being said, we have taken a closer look at parsing, so at this point that is looking better.
In regards to the long term picture of VfSU 2, that is too far off for me to give much specifics. I will say that there is a lot that is on the boards for getting attention during the vfSU2 development process. Among them are Proxies, significant UI changes, additional materials/textures, and a number of other smaller features. As we move on from working on the core to adding these features, we'll let you know more.
Upgrade/pricing wise, that $100 off coupon is only good for just a few more days, so if you're thinking about it, nows the time. For those of you that already have VfSU, the update corresponding with the Mac version will be free, but VfSU 2 will have an upgrade cost associated with it. That upgrade from VfSU 1 to VfSU 2 hasn't been finalized, but will be a significantly lower cost than the program out right.
Lastly, (and this is more on a personal note) I think that Modo is a great program and does a lot of things very well. From what I've seen of it, and the limited experience I have with it, I can tell you that it does amazing work and is a lot of fun to use. I'm personally one who is likes using tools "in addition to" rather than "in place of", and Modo is tool that I think makes a good addition to a number of workflows. I will say that I have yet to render in Modo
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Thanks for the info.
I really appreciate when a company gives the users some info on whats ahead.
It makes it so much easier to wait when you have a approximation of the time until next update.P.S. Please dont forget render region. I've been asking for this since version 1.0.
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dalomar -
Thanks for the informative post.
I've registered on the ASGVIS forum, sent emails to support (twice) but still haven't received an activation email. I'm coming to the end of my trial period and would like to ask some questions on the forum over there.
Any advice on how to get through this logjam?TIA
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dalomar
Thanks for all that info
Like arail1
I to am having major problems with registering on the ASGvis forums. I've had some help with your support. I now can loggin to the home page and have purchased V-Ray. But cannot login to the forums. Is it two different area's with two different registration? -
I have heard alot of people speaking on Modo possibly not being the best tool for Archviz/Modeling work. While I do not think there is a "best tool", many are good or great, I do think a few really shine and Modo is one of them. Modo is not just a tool for doing organic modeling. While it does do that well it can excel at architectural modeling as well. Modo can model down to as tight of a tolerance as you want to throw at it. I do not know to many architectural modelers modeling tighter that maybe a 1/16" or a customer who expects tighter tolerances that that either. If someone is saying modo can not model accurately then they have not taken the time to learn how.
I used to say "sketchup does everything I want it to do" too, but the more I use it the more I find myself doing things in modo that I can not do as easily in sketchup. I think we as artists always need to be moving forward...we just hope that our software is moving forward as well. THIS is where sketchup falls short for me. The lack of high poly support is beginning to be a killer for me. So many people want to add good trees into a visualization (stuff like xfrog or onyx trees) and we all know that will grind sketchup to a halt. Yes, there are good work arounds but they will never equal a great full 3d tree. Again, Sketchup is great but if you are looking for a well rounded FULL 3D package then I would spend the money on Modo.
The sketchup importer......Yes it falls short. Much of this is not Luxology's fault though. We have heard this was a matter of Google not working very well with Luxology.
Below are some good video's showing the architectural capabilities of Modo. Sorry, they cost but there are some great models and render examples on the modo forum as well.
http://www.luxology.com/store/training_series14.aspx
http://www.luxology.com/store/15_architectural_interiors/
Scott
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