Advice on which renderer to use

syburn

I have just discovered Indigo and Kerkythea. I would like to explore one of these softwares but would like some advice as to which one might be best for me to focus on.

Im not looking for top class finished presentation work.

Just decent glass, metal and reflective surfaces, and a better library of arch materials.

With simple and easy to manipulate luminares and daylight.

Should be very quick to render and I hope very intuitive.

Thanks SU community!!

solo

They are both excellent render engines.

the best is the one you find most comfortable to work with and can learn the intricacies the quickest.

Fletch

This seems an odd place to put your question... it's not really a discussion of ruby.

but I agree with Solo.
They are both easy to try, they both have tutorials... and both have nice exporters.

You will need to try them and see what you think.

You will get many opinions from thousands of people. But you will only know your answer when you try them for yourself.

I have not used Indigo so cannot comment on its usage/features, but I will say that Kerkythea allows you to choose from many different render methods very easily. This is one of the main reasons why I use it/like it so much.

Didier Bur

@unknownuser said:

the best is the one you find most comfortable to work with and can learn the intricacies the quickest

So that's obviously KT2008 I would say...

boofredlay

Moved to SketchUp forum.

Al Hart

You might want to check out IRender.

We have done quite a bit of work to integrate it with SketchUp by adding wizards to create lamps, light fixtures, mirrors, etc. This makes it easier to prepare a scene for rendering.

And the new IRender nXt versions adds default "Studio Lighting" which makes it easy to produce good renderings without having to add lights to the scene.

Check it out at: http://www.renderplus.com

syburn

Thanks for the tips. By default I can only look at KT as Indigo does not seem to export (keeps asing me for .exe with i dont have)

Just realised that I will loose my sketchy lines if i render with KT etc. Shame...

jeff hammond

@al hart said:

IRender.

i thought for sure when i first heard of irender that it would work with macs.. possibly a mac only app..

[random, useless comment of the day ]

Al Hart

Actually, its the other way around.

I went to a meeting last week to present to a bunch of potential users. But it turned out that 80% of the were Mac users, and IRender only works on the PC

@unknownuser said:

@al hart said:

IRender.

i thought for sure when i first heard of irender that it would work with macs.. possibly a mac only app..

[random, useless comment of the day ]

xrok1

the way i see it indigo is easier but kerkythea has more options, raytracing etc...

BTW indigo needs to be installed as well as skindigo when you do your first export it will ask for path of indigo.exe just browse for it then it won't ask again after that.

bigstick

Indigo is a nice render engine and reasonably easy to set up, but its biggest drawback is speed - or lack of it! Kerkythea is a bit complex for a lot of people. The Kerky fans will tell you that it is easy and flexible. It is flexible, but whether or not it is easy depends rather on your experience level and point of view. Both have the advantage of being free.

I like Podium, but then, I am biased, and would say that

Tim Danaher

There's a new renderer coming out from IDX Design - Renditioner. This integrates directly into SU -- it's not a separate app. Interestingly The Mac version will be released first -- although when that would be, I've no idea: 'Soon' is what they say.

I get the impression that it's what TurboSketch should have been all along (it's from the same people).

http://www.idx-design.com

Frederik

@unknownuser said:

IDX Renditioner for Google SketchUp 6 and SketchUp Pro 6 is a photorealistic rendering plug-in that operates directly within Google SketchUp.
It is "one button" easy for novices, yet powerful enough for professionals.

Sounds almost like a second Podium...

wmanning

Hi, I'm new on this forum. I'm with IMSI/Design, and thought I should mention on the thread that the Mac version of IDX Renditioner is out now.

There's a trial on http://www.idx-design.com and there is a basic edition, IDX Renditioner Express that is a free update for previous TurboSketch Studio users. That is available on http://www.turbosketch.net website.

I hope you'll at least give us a look.

Thanks,
William

bigstick

@wmanning said:

Hi, I'm new on this forum. I'm with IMSI/Design, and thought I should mention on the thread that the Mac version of IDX Renditioner is out now.

There's a trial on http://www.idx-design.com and there is a basic edition, IDX Renditioner Express that is a free update for previous TurboSketch Studio users. That is available on http://www.turbosketch.net website.

I hope you'll at least give us a look.

Thanks,
William

I downloaded, installed and tried to get this to work, but I got an instant crash each time. I have posted a message on the brand new forum (the second dealing with this type of crash) but still no response or fix yet...

Stinkie

If it's the same lot that sells TurboSketch, you're most likely not going to get much support.

Edit: they've done it again. 199,95 $ for a renderer that produces cr*p images. Unbelievable. Companies like these ...

jim smith

wmanning:

I bought turbosketch a few weeks ago to give it a try - the price was good and it integrated well with SketchUp, but the renders I have gotten have not been very good and take forever. I also admit I have not spent a lot of time trying to tweek the settings.

3 questions:

Will the new idx version be out for windows any time soon?

Will the speed and quality of image be improved in the new version?

Any estimate on cost of upgrade for TurboSketch owners?

Thanks.

wmanning

The interface is fairly intuitive for some, less so for others.

The PC version of Renditioner should be out in about 4-6 weeks. We're doing a lot of work with Lightworks on improvements that will improve image quality and speed. There will be IDX Renditioner Express that will be a free update, and IDX Renditioner for $199 (discount to TurboSketch Studio users tbd, but an offer may be sent out at around $129). The main differences are render size/performance. With Renditioner supporting 16 megapixel images and multithreading. On the Mac version we have seen approximately a 40% improvement using a dual core, up to 80% reduction with an 8-core.

wmanning

@unknownuser said:

If it's the same lot that sells TurboSketch, you're most likely not going to get much support.

Edit: they've done it again. 199,95 $ for a renderer that produces cr*p images. Unbelievable. Companies like these ...

Two points: first it is the same company, but not the same lot. New management, and new support team. Regarding the gentleman who said that he hadn't heard back from us, he posted his issue at midnight our time, posted here at 8:45 in the morning our time, but we were in contact with him by 9:15... Don't have enough information to duplicate his problem, but we are still working it. Support is a big deal for us after the problems the company had last year with it.

Second, "cr*p renders" I beg to differ. That may have much more to do with models, setup, or other measure. We've had a lot of different feedback from people in Film, Architecture, Lighting Design, Interior Design, all using it professionally, as well as some good reviews. I hope we'll get the rights to post more of the best customer models. Never-the-less, I'm sorry if you had a different experience.

[Edit: I take that back, partially. If you used TurboSketch Studio on a PowerPC Mac, they were crap renders. IntelMac I'll defend, and both are solid now with the update.]

William

sk.lion

nothing beats podium - sorry, its true. I'm sure there are more "advanced" tools, but for people looking of a get-to-the-point easy to learn program, podium is good.