Heads Up : Free IDX Renderer for Sketchup
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Thanks for the heads up -- it should work with SketchUp installed elsewhere, so we'll look at that.
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the funny thing about those things, renders engines,
is that instead of having to wait to the /7 version to get improves
you just get them
and free
and it works inside SketchUp
what are we waiting for ?
i mean.......,, -
I gave IDX a go yesterday. and I have to say I am not impressed.
maybe I have not understood the interface properly (was too lazy to read the manual). but the workflow seemed to be to right click on a textured surface to open the attributes window. the only slider available was the one for "bumpiness", the only means to change reflectivity or roughness of a material seemed to be through presets like "plastic", polished", etc. the bumpiness for textures seems to be set to 50% by default. and due to the automatic update of the material preview it is quite tedious to change this value. that was the first thing that annoyed me - unsufficient control of material attributes.
after applying changes to the material you have to press OK, which closes the window. that means, instead of simply left clicking on the next material (you can't access the attributes window through the material editor) you have to right-click again to reopen the window for the next material. that slows the workflow down quite a bit.
as a last thing: I am used to indigo and to the luxury of having an idea how the image looks like right from the beginning. even podium gives you a very pixelated preview of the render that is refined several times throughout the process.
but IDX Renderer takes an awefully long time to process light information, not showing anything. then it starts rendering the final image from top left to bottom right. to be able to judge if your render-setup works as desired, you have to wait until half the render is done...
if anyone of you has more positive experience with this render engine, I would be happy to hear it. perhaps some of the annoying things I fount are simply caused by my lack of knowledge. if so, I may give it another go.
the multi-core support in the full version is quite tempting after all.
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I agree with Plot-Paris. IDX renditioner looked ppromissing but the render results are pretty basic in my opinion. I think its very hard to achieve a photorealistic result. But for quick rendering its ok.
Does anybody know how to achieve a realistic metal look?
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i think that the renders options are more than sufficient for a learning person.
And the results for comparing one shot and another , are rather quickly to get.
I am waiting the comments about how it is compared to Podium -
@ Plot-Paris: thanks for your feedback. We do apply a basic bump (on an autogenerated bump map) and matte finish by default so that in many cases only a subset of materials need to be edited, and not faces, which keeps the tweaking down. Designed this way to speed up workflow for novices or for those who are used to the workflow while they design. Changing from another renderer might take a different mind-set I suppose.
Regarding the preview update being slow -- thanks for the feedback. We're just done an update today and we changed the material preview to use a secondary thread so it’s fast now on most dual core machines. (Although for multithreading rendering you need the full version. There is a 30-day trial of that if you prefer.)
We don't perform a progressive scan, so instead we chose the three options for preview renders, standard and presentation. Maybe next release, again thanks for the feedback.
For a quick look at the more positive experiences I'd say check out http://forums.idx-design.com. We've also got a couple of quick videos there that can give you a good feel for the how-to's in < 3 minutes or so each.
@pugz1983, it depends on the type of metal you're looking for. There are two material finish selections for dull metal and polished metal which I often apply to a solid color, like silver. If there’s light hitting it you will see a nice specular effect, particularly on curved surfaces. For metal materials such as those supplied in SketchUp you may want to use the default matte finish. We don't have anisotropic shaders in this version if that's what you're looking for.
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thanks, wmanning. the tutorial videos are quite informative and easy to follow - perfect to have your first render ready in a few minutes.
I have to admit, that I didn't try the preview render, but immediately went for the produciton render quality (which of course takes a long time).
however, here are some suggestions, that in my eyes would improve the interface:
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add sliders to change reflectivity and roughness (perhaps even glossiness!
) of the material to the existing bumpiness-slider. the presets are fine. but sometimes I would like to play arrount with subtle changes of one of these values. I asume it wouldn't be too difficult to add these sliders to the interface, for you already control the values with presets. -
either directly apply the changes to the material or add an "apply-button" so that you can keep the window open. if you now select a differently textured face (or select another material in SketchUp's material editor) the IDX material window updates to this new material. that would save a lot of right-clicking and would speed up the workflow considerably
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I don't know if this is possible or if it meant an enire rewriting of the code - but I do like the ability of several other render engines, to apply a "light-attribute" to a material, meaning, that in order to create a light, I simply apply a material to the model of the bulb and define the ammount of light, this material emmits. thus I can easily influence the quality of shadows (crisp or soft) by changing the size of the light source (wide surface = soft shadow). in my oppinion that is easier to understand. and if you add image-support, you can even iluminate an picture (like a computer screen
)
I have to say that I appreciate the attempt to keep it simple and easy to use. and I absolutely agree with your way of applying attributes to materials rather than to surfaces (as it is the way with su podium).
a bit more control however would be highly appreciated.
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I gave it a quick try, I need to learn how to get control over the lighting settings and material editing.
Quick component based scene thrown together, I used the bump settings which was simple to adjust.
I struggled to get the right lighting and the shadows softer.
Otherwise it was remarkably fast, this render (not very good) took 56 seconds to render.
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Car
IDX Renditioner, free version
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Interior scene
IDX Renditioner, free version
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Canal Boat from 3D Warehouse, landscape modelled in sketchup and then rendered with the free version of IDX Renditioner, free version
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Can we start posting renders in the gallery section please? Point has been made.
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@unknownuser said:
Can we start posting renders in the gallery section please? Point has been made.
So sorry, but are these renders not relevant to this thread ?
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yes they are relevant to an extent, but posting render after render is what the gallery section is for...
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Juju,
Haven't you got anything better to do?
Seeing the results of testing a new SU compatible product in context with this thread is justifiable and of interest to a lot of people, if not to you.
In a few days the news would have moved on, so relax and avoid this thread if it irritates you that much. -
@toxicvoxel said:
is justifiable and of interest to a lot of people, if not to you.
That's the Gallery is for . What is not clear ?
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You may have noticed that there have been more than a thousand hits on this thread before posting your complaints. The posts (which are reports accompanied by images rather than gallery images showing individual work) are not any more inappropriate in this context than those stating your objections gentlemen. I would assume that it would be more appropriate for the moderators to move the thread (renders et al.) in it's entirety once the initial release interest is over, rather than have the self-appointed forum police hijack the topic for their own satisfaction in this way.
I'll PM the moderators and ask them to remove/move the thread on your behalf.
Happy? -
Toxicvoxel, JuanV.Soler, thanks Guys this last renders just for you
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land softly please
thankyou -
I would like to suggest that if we post images here, we add valuable information about render settings, render time (resolution therefore) etc. to the post; perhaps personal experience about what and what doesn't work well. then these images have a scientific value and help us testing the limits, speed, behavour of IDX renders in different situations (daylight, interior render, studio lighting, etc.)
however, if series of images are posted, without any comment then - I totally agree with Juju - it makes sense to open up a new thread in the gallery section. and I would be glad if we could keep the discussion on a professional level rather than getting personal
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