I was finally able to check the Artlantis gallery. I have to admit there's some very nice images in there. Yet, if I had 900 € to spare (and I just might), I think I wouldn't spend them on Artlantis. I'd rather squander them on Maxwell (easy now, Pete ), as its output quality is much better, in my opinion. (Indigo offers superior workflow, but - alas! - does not have Multilight. ) Is this a matter of personal taste and needs? Only to a certain extent, I think.

I guess my conclusion is that Artlantis is a tad too pricy for the kind of output it offers. IMO

Thanks for the links. I'm not the world's biggest fan of npr rendering, but I find these well-executed. Yes, Pete, so are yours.

The Artlantis site seems to be unreachable today. So I did a Google search for Artlantis images. The app doesn't seem to be the best choice for photorealistic rendering. I must admit, however, that I did see a couple of very attractive npr renders. But 900 €? I'm guessing Artlantis comes with callgirls and cocaine.

No, seriously, why is it so expensive? I am genuinely wondering, not taking a stab at the Artlantis people.

I somehow missed Lewis' post. Looks very appealing.

900 euro? That's quite a lot of money. Too much, IMO.

@whaat said:

The importance of quick setup time is extremely underrated. My primary goals with SkIndigo were quick setup time, ease of use, and fast/intuitive workflow.

Yes, the UI of version 1.0+ was somewhat inspired by Podium. The core geometry export algorithm (a few lines of code) is the only remnant of SU2KT in SkIndigo. Everything else was rewritten.

BTW, the official stable releases of Indigo / SkIndigo 1.0 are right around the corner.

Well, you succeeded. I owe both you and TBD. If it weren't for Podium and (Sk)Indigo, well, I probably would be rendering a lot less.

Already did. There's some groovy images in there.

Yeah ... (Sk)Indigo provides a smooth and easy workflow. For most materials, I just use Whaats presets and tweak from there, using the reflection and exponent sliders. No need for adjusting Fresnel etc.

And as for render time: I own a copy of modo, which is very, very fast. However, if I wanted to do that interior I posted in modo, well, that would've taken A LOT of tweaking and test rendering. And I seriously doubt the result would be as good.

Unbiased rendering takes long, that's just how it is. Maxwell's slow, Fry is, and so is Indigo. But for some things it's just the best solution. (As is biased rendering. Both methods have their advantages. )

Indigo may render slow, but it sure does produce good results. Without a complicated UI, a lot of setting up etc. That interior I posted maybe took me 1/2 hour to set up.

Looks good.

I should learn to express myself more clearly.

What I meant is: I think Whaat was inspired by the Podium UI. For the look and feel, I mean.

@sepo said:

Nice one Stinkie. It looks you are enjoying the Indigo a lot.

I do. It's straight forward and delivers results - which is what I like about SU and Podium too. I think I read somewhere Whaat based the exporter's UI on Podium's.

@unknownuser said:

so i guess they will be releasing a mac version eventually but it's going to be a different engine than the version they have now..

That's right. 2.0 will be using another engine. Is it good? Yes, it is. In fact, it's very good. Stay tuned.

@mike lucey said:

'Workflow' is TBD's (Tavi's) middle name

Mike

Correct.

@ Whaat: thanks. And thanks again for the exporter. What can I say? I am picky. If I have the choice between 'reasonably clean' and 'spotless', I choose the latter. Of course, I'm no pro. I have the luxury of time. Oh, btw: those presets of yours? Work great. 'Leather' does wonders for wooden floors. More, please.

@ Solo: thanks! Still so much to learn though. I'll be revisiting both mr. Chopra's and mrs. Roskes books again soon. Got any other reading tips?

I'll post a final render of the interior some time soon.

Thanks, lads.

Anssi, the interior rendered for about 10 hrs. The exteriors for about 48 hrs. The originals are pretty big and I wanted 'em noise free, so ... Mind you, these were done on an octo core. If I'd used my dual core ... well ... Would've taken a week, or so.

The interior needs quite a lot of additional work. So I'll have to re-render.

The exterior is all SU. The interior is ... eclectic. (And rather imperfect. Still working on it.)

I say we call it art, and name it "The Miesian Grid Can Sod Off".

Joking aside, I'm pretty confident I can not model curves like that.

Awesome renders, no question about it. Extremely well done, IMO.

Backdoor ... ! Backdoor ... !

No, I really must restrain myself.