Announcing Thea Render
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Typical! I just decided to jump ship and turn to Kerkythea, because Indigo went commercial. And even though it will stay free it is already announced that upgrades will be delayed even further.
Are there any free renders out there if you're not using blender? Maybe I should even jump from Sketchup to Blender...EDIT! I know I sound like an angry old fart, but that was just my initial feelings. I don't want to take anything away from Giannis, and at least he's still keeping Kerkythea free. So good luck with you new challenges.
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It's the sign of the times 2Kemon
There is less and less sharing on the internet.
Have you checked the component section here on SCF lately?There used to be a lot of free stuff there...because people considered it fun to make others happy.
Now most of the components up there are linked to commercial activity.
Good for the authors, but not as much fun as it used to be.Luckily there are still ruby coders out there that really contribute to this community without asking money for all or some of their plugins... I love it. (Fredo,CPhilips,ChrisFullmer etc....)
For a lot of people, those 'freebies' are the reason to come to a forum like this and to participate. -
...you're right biebel! The funny thing is, that it has actually made me consider buying modo, since it wouldn't be much more expensive than one of the render apps I've used up until now (I don't know Thea's price tag yet), and I would be getting a better 3D app thrown in the mix. And as written in the previous post, I've even considered a Blender/YafaRAY combo when Blender 2.5 is released.
But that's enough off-topic posting. Kerkythea is a great and flexible render app, and I'm not at a level where I'm limited by the features of the free version. So I'll carry on reading my tutorials. If Thea render is supposed to be better, then the future buyers are in for a real treat.
Now I'll stop complaining, and start contributing instead. After My school project is over I'm planning to release different free sketchup component packs of low-poly trees, low-poly cars, cut-out people and stuff like that.
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Confirmed that it will be released in Mac OS also. That's great
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I gotta admit that upon the first look at the page I too thought Kerkythea was no longer going to be supported or be free. It looks like that's not the case, and I sincerely hope that they will be able to provide updates and support for the free engine. Heck, if TR is affordable, I'd buy it - but I can't even afford SU pro...
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I'm very happy for Giannis' new endeavor. He deserves to be rewarded for his generosity to thousands over the years, and Thea Render will be impressive, indeed.
maybe it's not obvious, but the donate button on KT's website is surprisingly dusty compared to the download button...
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@fletch said:
maybe it's not obvious, but the donate button on KT's website is surprisingly dusty compared to the download button...
I can imagine
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OK, I look at TR as researches in space industry. All new (and initially expensive) features are implemented there while with time, they "strain" down to (say) everyday "free" users of KT.
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@gaieus said:
(and initially expensive)
No, no... I can't reveal much now, but please rest assured that it will be affordable...
@gaieus said:
features are implemented there while with time, they "strain" down to (say) everyday "free" users of KT.
Well... I guess you can say that...
So it's only a matter of patience and what you see today will (perhaps) become available for free over time...
Some after a couple of years... -
By the "expensive" thing I meant development. It is indeed expensive to spend much time of educated and well qualified people on something (yet) not "financially" productive which can bear the fruits only in the future.
Sorry for the misunderstandable expression.
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@solo said:
Whoah!! KT and Indigo hitting the commercial market.
@unknownuser said:
And what about Kerkythea itself? We certainly won't abandon Kerkythea, our "render buddy". Most probably though, the shift in priorities will have an impact for the next updates, delaying them further. On the other hand, some related Kerkythea issues will be improved, particularly the integration with modelers (since exporters can be reused). And of course, there will be some long-promised features, that now make their appearance in Thea Render, but will also become available in a next Kerkythea edition.
Please note that KT - even future releases - will remain free...
@solo said:
I have always dragged my feet to learn Kt, but now I will (yes I will) make sure I give Thea a try, looks like it's going to be a fantastic rendering solution.
Yeah - it's really a shame that you've dragged your feet, cause it actually is quite easy...
But Thea Render sure is an awesome application...
@solo said:
Any idea of release date and price? (I cannot access the KT forum from my machine)
Not sure why you shouldn't be able to access the KT Forum and website...
I'd encourage you and others to visit the new Thea Render web-site...
And in particular the related announcement over Thea Render forum (requires registration to post or read)...Regarding the price... Not sure I'm allowed to reveal that much here, but this is what you can read in the Thea Render Key Points document...
@unknownuser said:
FAIR PRICE
Thea is built for the professional user but without an elitetargeted price tag. It is affordable for one basic reason; we simply enjoy working on creating a solid and elegant application in order to meet your expectations. -
@escapeartist said:
I gotta admit that upon the first look at the page I too thought Kerkythea was no longer going to be supported or be free. It looks like that's not the case, and I sincerely hope that they will be able to provide updates and support for the free engine.
Please rest assured that although all forces are currently aimed at the Thea Render development, new versions of KT will come...
Because of the present priorities on Thea Render development, we can't keep the same pace on developing KT - at the moment - but since KT and Thea Render share some parts of the same "engine", KT will adapt some features from the Thea Render...
For obvious reasons KT won't immediately adapt all functions and advantages as the Thea Render, but there will be improvements in future releases of KT...
Please note...
We (The KT Team) have a very strong passion for KT and the KT community...
We all feel very much engaged in the KT project and development - but without an income, KT can't last forever...Look at it this way...
The Thea Render application is a step to ensure the survival of KT's future existense...
It's as simple as that...@escapeartist said:
Heck, if TR is affordable, I'd buy it - but I can't even afford SU pro...
Good point... -
Thanks Giannis and the KT Team for having provided a great free renderer ansd still keeping KT free.
I am sure that Thea is going to have a bright future. I hope that the price is affordable by me. ( I still use SU FREE as SU Pro is unaffordable to me).With great regards
PRSS -
A couple of renders made with the current alpha version...
Only post pro is a little bit lens distortion. Glow and dof are made in Thea.@unknownuser said:
Since animation is fully supported (and at some point, we will have a relevant preview), one byproduct is motion blur. Thea Render supports true motion blur making your renders feel much more alive.
@unknownuser said:
Bowling scene .... no post pro all pure Thea alpha
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Yes,but I doubt that the Sketchup plugin ever will be able to support object animation and thus no motion blur either...or am I wrong?
....unless the Googies get out of their lazy chairs and actually start improving the lousy native Sketchup animation capability (read: Not!)
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@kwistenbiebel said:
Yes,but I doubt that the Sketchup plugin ever will be able to support object animation and thus no motion blur either...or am I wrong?
The dice scene is made in SU...
Can't tell you exactly how the SU plug-in will work inside SU, but I'm certain it will work... -
Things are starting to take shape and we're really happy to inform that we've just launched the new web-site...
@unknownuser said:
The new site has been just launched. It is not something spectacular as we wanted to have something quickly for this temporary phase, prior to Thea Render release.
The main goal of the current site pages is for you to get quick news on the development progress (or even quicker via RSS feeds). We will continue to add some resources and special links to site pages, and of course don't forget to visit our forums here to check out "interesting details".
best wishes
Ioannis Pantazopoulos -
Technology Preview of Relighting
Following the "trend" in rendering, we have implemented a mechanism for relighting a scene without the need to re-render the scene. This mechanism - that we call Relight in Thea Render - is particularly effective for unbiased rendering. With the usage of multiple separate buffers (per light group), it is possible to tweak your lighting as a post process but keeping the result unbiased. Thus, you can get numerous renders of high quality within the rendertime of a single shot and even create relighting animation.
[flash=640,505:2ol056yo]http://www.youtube.com/v/8PVmUFIGRLY&hl=en&rel=0&fs=1&hd=1[/flash:2ol056yo]
Telecine Suite scene modelled by Tim Ellis and rendered by Patrick Nieborg. -
Thea render pricing policy and opening date is announced. More at Thea Render Forum.
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Thanks for the heads up.
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