More VR4SU Griping

thomthom · 27 Feb 2012, 17:23

V-Ray for Blender require the standalone version of V-Ray - not something that's free...

Stinkie · 27 Feb 2012, 17:27

I know.

andybot · 27 Feb 2012, 18:30

It's still a great value - $490 for a single license...
versus nearly $3.5k for C4d, Maya, 3dsMax...

holmes1977 · 27 Feb 2012, 20:48

has anyone used Vray stand alone. There isnt alot of info out there. Its not like a software you can import a model, add materials and proxies too, then render is it?

andybot · 27 Feb 2012, 21:14

If I go that route, I'll let you know. Basically from what I understand, the Blender plugin exports a vrscene file, which then the standalone prorgram renders out the image or animation. All the material, lighting, etc, is done in Blender.

Stinkie · 27 Feb 2012, 21:20

Correct. Vray Standalone will only open .vrscene files. It doesn't even haven an UI, as far as I know.

valerostudio · 27 Feb 2012, 21:28

Enough said.

dkendig · 28 Feb 2012, 15:19

We get that suggestion a lot "why don't you just hire more people". Unfortunately it's not quite that simple. You can't just toss a developer at our code in the middle or end of a development cycle, It takes time to get someone fully up to speed (and that's a developer time, not a training person's time, we don't have someone that just trains new developers). This is especially true when dealing with anything in SketchUp. We were acquired by CG about halfway through our development cycle. There were some changes that needed to take place after the acquisition, which naturally would occur after one company joins up with another, but for the most part, it wasn't a very bumpy road for long.

We will begin simultaneous development for our products soon. The additional resources will come in to play after this dev cycle. We appreciate the support from you guys. I don't think it's really fair to point the finger at CG about our current troubles though, we wouldn't be in too different of a situation if they weren't involved. I have to say that it's actually refreshing to hear people talk about trying to switch to another rendering solution, and then eventually come back and say that we are the better solution, even given the issues that made them want to switch. I know it encourages me to keep going, I don't know about anyone else. It makes me excited to hear what all of those users say once we actually resolve the issues they've been struggling with since our last release, and also see the amazing work they will create with a more stable and featured-packed product.

So with that said, thank you to everyone that has stayed with us, we look forward to making it worth the wait.

dkendig · 28 Feb 2012, 15:21

@valerostudio said:

Enough said. [attachment=0:25fanj0l]forum screenshot.JPG[/attachment:25fanj0l]

That forum doesn't get used anymore, but the humor is not lost on me

dkendig · 28 Feb 2012, 15:28

@andybot said:

@stinkie - what really bugs me is that they have a bunch of bug fixes already done - Devin has said so in posts early last year. I would love to have a beta to play with too. (Hell, we're basically playing with a beta currently...)

We do have some sketchup-specific bug fixes that are waiting to go in to an installer, but those are just the tip of the iceberg. We have fixed and optimized all sorts of stuff since the VfS release. We will do our best to get as many fixes to you as soon as we can. We are trying to finish up with VfR asap.

Stinkie · 28 Feb 2012, 15:36

@dkendig said:

We get that suggestion a lot "why don't you just hire more people". Unfortunately it's not quite that simple. You can't just toss a developer at our code in the middle or end of a development cycle, It takes time to get someone fully up to speed
.

I'm sure this is true. However, surely there must've been a few windows of opportunity the past few years? VfSU being very buggy is hardly a recent phenomenon.

@dkendig said:

We will begin simultaneous development for our products soon. The additional resources will come in to play after this dev cycle.

That's very nice -no sarcasm intended. But when can we expect a point release that adresses the issues people are currently experiencing? It's really overdue, and I for one am becoming somewhat annoyed.

@dkendig said:

(...) we wouldn't be in too different of a situation if they weren't involved.

We know.

@dkendig said:

I have to say that it's actually refreshing to hear people talk about trying to switch to another rendering solution, and then eventually come back and say that we are the better solution, even given the issues that made them want to switch.

I'm sure. I'm also sure it's Vray people consider the better solution -and not VfSU as such.

Now -enough negativity. I'll keep my fingers crossed the next release is a good one.

dkendig · 28 Feb 2012, 17:34

@unknownuser said:

I'm sure this is true. However, surely there must've been a few windows of opportunity the past few years? VfSU being very buggy is hardly a recent phenomenon.

Yes, originally there was one developer. We grew to 4... and we're more productive now with 2 than we ever have been. We would love to find some more developers to add to the team, after this development cycle. We didn't have as many resources in the past as we do now, so that's going to play a big part in how much things are going to change. We rewrote our whole plugin in the last update, which brought about a lot of change already, and addressed many of the old bugs that existed in the previous version. I completely understand that it's hard to appreciate that when you are currently facing a new set of bugs that sprung up in this last release. I'm not interested in making excuses for the state the product is currently in, there are some nasty bugs that need to be addressed as soon as possible. The future looks promising, and I can't wait to see VfS with all of the new fixes and optimizations in place.

@unknownuser said:

That's very nice -no sarcasm intended. But when can we expect a point release that adresses the issues people are currently experiencing? It's really overdue, and I for one am becoming somewhat annoyed.

I could pick a date, but it won't mean anything. The most accurate comment I can make about this, is that we need to get VfR out the door prior to addressing VfS issues. It's not that you're lower on the totem pole or anything of that sort... it's just that the VfR guys have been waiting much, much, MUUUUCH longer for an update. It's their turn right now. We don't want to continue the pattern of only working on one product or the other, because it makes big fixes and patches go very slowly. Now that we have Chaos Group's resources on our side, we should be beginning simultaneous development after we finish up with this dev cycle. Please keep in mind that this is the plan, and will most likely be modified a few times before it finally comes to pass. It is the best roadmap or crystal ball I can provide at the moment.

Final Release of VfR -> Planning next dev cycle -> VfS and VfR development begins -> VfS and VfR Beta -> VfS and VfR Release.

Stinkie · 28 Feb 2012, 18:19

Thanks for the info, Devin.

valerostudio · 28 Feb 2012, 19:12

Devin, I really don't mean to pick on you guys. I know how hard you work over there and without you, we wouldn't even have a SU plug-in. I appreciate the time you are taking to respond to this posting and hearing your comments actually makes me feel a lot better. V-Ray, without a shadow of a doubt, is the best rendering engine on the market. I have tried many and have always come back. The plug-in thats out now certainly gets the job done for what I do daily, so I am not feeling that the bugs are holding me back. I have learned to deal with them and work around them. The thing that I am looking forward to are the new features like dome light and proxies. The videos I have seen for the new Rhino plug-in are awesome. We all look very forward to the next release! Now back to work Devin! Get us a new plug-in dammit!

dkendig · 28 Feb 2012, 19:31

I'm glad you haven't given up hope. I know we can kind of vanish in to a black hole from time to time... but that typically means we're busy, rather than what everyone always seems to assume (WHERE DID THEY GO!!! THEY'RE GONE FOREVER!!! NOOOOO!!!!). We are still chugging along. I just wanted to pop in here and calm the masses a bit. Now off I go to fix a duplicate sunlight issue again! ::flies off in to the sunset::

andybot · 28 Feb 2012, 19:51

Well, +1 from me for coming back to vray after trying and not quite liking other competing solutions... I am psyched about the next version, whenever it may be. In the meantime, I am going down the vray standalone route with Blender. So far, I've played with the Blender integration, and it's looking good.

valerostudio · 28 Feb 2012, 20:03

You're the second person I have heard that from. How's Blender with SU imports?

andybot · 28 Feb 2012, 20:07

TIG's obj exporter is gold!

Stinkie · 28 Feb 2012, 20:09

Is there a demo of Vray Standalone available somewhere?

Edit: one has to use the demo of Vray for Maya, apparently.

holmes1977 · 28 Feb 2012, 20:19

Hi Deven
First of all we all appreciate a response from the development team. So thank you. I hope you realize that most of our annoyance
is from the fact that VR4SU seems to us, to have never been completed. These year old bugs are hammering our work flow. All we ask are some fixes. I just cannot understand why these were not addressed before starting a new project. You have said on another post that this was Chaos Groups idea. I just hope you can understand how we as paying customers in a very competitive market. Are gutted that a tool we purchased works below par.

Please note that I am only talking about bug fixes. I will wait patiently for new features.

Prices of jobs have fallen swiftly in this world economy. I do not get paid nearly as well as I used to for Architectural presentations. So I need a software to preform as it should. At the moment I'm finding that its not. In short. Because of bugs, it takes longer to complete work, which means i earn less money. The learning curve with this software is hard enough as it is. Let alone spending extra time researching and testing work arounds for bugs.

So my questions to you.
Is your next design cycle to fix bugs in the existing VR4SU?
Does that start as soon as VR4R 1.5 is rolled out? (Becomes a paid product)
Are you still on track to roll out VR4R at the end of Feb? (which is now)

cheers.