Easy and free Render
-
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.
-
Well said Pete!
-
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!
-
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
-
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...
-
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.
-
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.
-
Can you show us an example of output you made with the renditioner, Bob?
-
I've just read through the entire thread and I just wanted to say thanks for all the info'. This kind of stuff is invaluable to us Newbies who are only just gtting to grips with Push/Pull
.There seem to be 2 front runners in the "Ease Of Use" category, Podium and Maxwell. I'd be interested to see which of these two most of you think is actually the easiest to use (not necessarily the best at rendering, but simple for someone with my very limited skills to use)
-
@grizzler said:
I've just read through the entire thread and I just wanted to say thanks for all the info'. This kind of stuff is invaluable to us Newbies who are only just gtting to grips with Push/Pull
.There seem to be 2 front runners in the "Ease Of Use" category, Podium and Maxwell. I'd be interested to see which of these two most of you think is actually the easiest to use (not necessarily the best at rendering, but simple for someone with my very limited skills to use)
keep in mind grizz that this thread is nearing 5 years old.. while much of the info still applies today.. some of it doesn't..
-
@unknownuser said:
@grizzler said:
I've just read through the entire thread and I just wanted to say thanks for all the info'. This kind of stuff is invaluable to us Newbies who are only just gtting to grips with Push/Pull
.There seem to be 2 front runners in the "Ease Of Use" category, Podium and Maxwell. I'd be interested to see which of these two most of you think is actually the easiest to use (not necessarily the best at rendering, but simple for someone with my very limited skills to use)
keep in mind grizz that this thread is nearing 5 years old.. while much of the info still applies today.. some of it doesn't..
NNOOOOOOOOoooooooooo!
Advertisement