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    Mental Ray noisy shadows

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    • A Offline
      archigrafix
      last edited by

      Perhaps it's why you see so less interior renderings done with MentalRay! 😉
      Very kind from Autodesk, you buy a 3Dmax (several thousand dollars) and get to spend one more thousand to add Vray!
      In the past I've tried the demo of MAX several times...I was wondering to go to Max...but never succeed in using Mentalray for Archviz! I gave up when understood why Vray is the industry standard!
      However Vray + Autodesk = same fight. The right equation to buy many times the same software (I am also a Vfsu user)!
      I wont discourage you from testing, afterall things perhaps evolved in last versions. I personnaly think there's a lot of nice and well priced render soft, so why lose time on Max? 😲
      Bon courage

      Agir comme un homme de pensée, et penser comme un homme d'action...

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      • thomthomT Offline
        thomthom
        last edited by

        @archigrafix said:

        I personnaly think there's a lot of nice and well priced render soft, so why lose time on Max? 😲

        Because Max imports Revit models without pain. And I can even define the materials in Revit if I use Mental Ray. Which means less work to update illustrations.

        Though I do consider skipping Mental Ray and just use V-Ray instead. Gotto check if I can get a trial there as well before the Max runs out.

        Thomas Thomassen — SketchUp Monkey & Coding addict
        List of my plugins and link to the CookieWare fund

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        • J Offline
          Jeff_LCI
          last edited by

          Having worked with mental ray, you can try the following:

          Final gather to: Draft
          Image Precision to: High
          Glossy reflection: 2x
          Glossy refraction: 2x

          Optionally:
          Turn on Global Illumination and set Max Photons per sample to 50,000
          Turn off: Reuse Geometry
          Disable Caustics (in rendering settings, indirect illumination)

          Hope this helps.

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          • B Offline
            bhbarchitects
            last edited by

            Dont agree with mentalray being poor, I have had some nice results and seen some stunning examples of arch vis. Personally only use vray with sketchup as architects can never make their mind up and constantly change things!!!

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            • StinkieS Offline
              Stinkie
              last edited by

              @unknownuser said:

              I have had some nice results and seen some stunning examples of arch vis.

              Me too. Ramy Hanna's stuff's great.

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              • EarthMoverE Offline
                EarthMover
                last edited by

                Thom have you tried to run the scene through Iray? Not sure what version of Max you have, but the interiors coming out of Iray that I've scene have been superb. Also maybe Max 2 Thea would be a good solution for you Revit models.

                With this MR issue, is your only light source the Daylight system? What is you MR exposure setting set to? If you turn off FG and GI are you still getting noise in the shadows?

                3D Artist at Clearstory 3D Imaging
                Guide Tool at Winning With Sketchup
                Content Creator at Skapeup

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                • Chris FullmerC Offline
                  Chris Fullmer
                  last edited by

                  I've done a bit of mental ray rendering many moons ago, and never had such bad shadow artifacts, so I'm sure there is a way to fix it. I just can't think of how off the top of my head 😄

                  Lately you've been tan, suspicious for the winter.
                  All my Plugins I've written

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                  • Chris FullmerC Offline
                    Chris Fullmer
                    last edited by

                    Here I remembered an old sample. Modeled from memory of my old Landscape architecture building at school. Then rendered in Max, using mental ray and the sun. I just don't recall the settings.

                    Link Preview Image
                    Building 7

                    Modeled in SketchUp in under 4 hours from memmory. Rendered in 3ds Max, using Mental Ray. Hopefully more complete images to come!

                    favicon

                    Flickr (www.flickr.com)

                    I might have the model around still if you want to peak at settings.

                    Lately you've been tan, suspicious for the winter.
                    All my Plugins I've written

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                    • thomthomT Offline
                      thomthom
                      last edited by

                      Chris - is that setup similar to mine? Interior with Sun & Sky lighting only?

                      Thomas Thomassen — SketchUp Monkey & Coding addict
                      List of my plugins and link to the CookieWare fund

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                      • B Offline
                        bhbarchitects
                        last edited by

                        ThomThom could you share that part of the model so, i can give it a try?

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                        • thomthomT Offline
                          thomthom
                          last edited by

                          @jeff_lci said:

                          Having worked with mental ray, you can try the following:

                          Final gather to: Draft
                          Image Precision to: High
                          Glossy reflection: 2x
                          Glossy refraction: 2x

                          Optionally:
                          Turn on Global Illumination and set Max Photons per sample to 50,000
                          Turn off: Reuse Geometry
                          Disable Caustics (in rendering settings, indirect illumination)

                          Hope this helps.

                          I tried this, but it made no real difference...

                          Thomas Thomassen — SketchUp Monkey & Coding addict
                          List of my plugins and link to the CookieWare fund

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                          • PixeroP Offline
                            Pixero
                            last edited by

                            Two looong threads with lots of tips on MentalRay:

                            http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=183&t=429322
                            VRay-like interior renders with mental ray

                            http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=183&t=303284
                            Mental Ray - Render Troubleshooting

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