Pros and cons of renderers

sfto1

Hello all,

Could you please share your thoughts on rendering programs for SU?

I have played a bit with Shaderlightv2(free), but before I jump into a pro version of any sort, I am looking for the pros and cons of the many renderers out there. This is new enough where I am not even sure what the appropriate questions to ask would be, so even there, I am relying on your experience to help formulate questions. My application would primarily be architectural exterior and interior scenes, but also some modeling of furniture.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to weigh in on this topic.

P.S. I couldn't find a thread on this, so if one exists, a point in that direction would be helpful too.

numbthumb

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=3220&start=0&hilit

sfto1

Thanks NumbThumb for the thread point.

Have you used any of these? If so, thoughts?

IdahoJ

@unknownuser said:

This is new enough where I am not even sure what the appropriate questions to ask would be, so even there, I am relying on your experience to help formulate questions.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but this pointless. If you don't know what questions to ask, then trying to answer or advise is a fair waste of time ...

Three suggestions:

Spend some time learning basic render application theory and nomenclature (google is your friend here). It would be silly to discuss pros and cons of render applications if you don't understand either the basics of how they work, or the terms used in describing them.
Invest some personal time into reading through at least a few of the different render application threads here in this section. The pros and cons of several render applications are discussed, some in great length. There are several good choices for render applications, each with it's own set of pros and cons.
Define exactly what YOU expect your needs to be, based on 1 an 2 above, then return with more specific questions.

I think if you follow my outline, you'll find your question(s) will be answered more completely with less confusion and wasted time.

Cheers.

EscapeArtist

Please do download and use any free or demo render software and use them for at least a few months. It's really the only way you're going to get an idea of their strong and weak points. I went through pretty much every single available render app, even some obscure and out of date ones before I settled on the one I use now. It took years, I was learning about features and the rendering process while whittling down the number of apps I liked. I don't think render apps are something you can, or should, lock yourself in to a single app right off the bat. Half the fun is learning all the cool stuff you can do with them anyway!

sfto1

Thanks Escape Artist,

The point of my query was to try and step in the right direction knowing full well that it would be years before any true proficiency and artistry would "pop". I do not want to go down a road for architectural rendering that experienced users have found to be fruitless. From your experience are there free versions that will let me explore further than the Shaderlight free plugin allows. With Shaderlight free, I can not experiment with interior lighting and the exterior options are extremely limited. The Pro version trial is good for only a couple of weeks and does not give me the couple of months that I would love to play around with. So, is there a plugin that you can recommend for exterior and interior rendering in a free version?
Is this asking for too much?

Idahoj,

Your three suggestions are constructively positive, and I intend to follow up on them. Your preamble is unduly harsh. I did not intend to waste yours or anyone's time with pointless non-questions. I am sorry, if I did. I thought the inclusion of the architectural exterior and interior parameters would have jump started some suggestions. If that was too vague, again, sorry to you and all.

I have always had the approach that a journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step, and a really successful journey of a thousand miles starts in the right direction. I am wanting to avoid tramping thru the "weeds and thickets" of rendering only to be told later," There was an better way."

So with that said:

From your experience, what would you have liked to know as you stepped into the world of rendering?

Are there any rendering packages for SU that are equally suited for professional quality architectural exterior (natural lighting) and interior (artificial lighting) rendering? Or are these needs/rendering engines so specifically different that experienced renderers find themselves using different plugins for each of these?

Are the different rendering programs "radically" different, or from your experience did you find that there are enough similarities that you didn't have to back track much or invest a ton of time learning a different UI to get similar results?

Which rendering plugin(s) for SU would you recommend to a novice renderer? and in just a few words, why?

Cheers, and looking forward to your reply