Thanks, and no, my bathroom isn't smelly. Most of the time.

Thanks for the tip, but I think I'll stick to using Podium and Indigo, as I'm fairly comfortable with those apps. I respect Kerky and the work that's being put into it, but I find it's GUI a tad too complicated. For me, anyway.

I admit, however, there's some mighty fine renders in the Kerky gallery.

Oooh, a li'l contest.

We should really keep Sepo indoors. He just can't resist hassling the neighbours.

I'm pretty curious about the outcome. But shouldn't the setup time count too?

These look nice, especially the middle one.

I haven't made any comparative renders, but I have tried KT at maxed out settings on my octo core. Took all night for the render to get at about 40%. Obviously this is in part due to my limited experience with the app (which in itself looks cool), but I was nevertheless a tad surprised.

I'm not a Vray user, but I think the answer may be here: http://asgvis.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=90&topic=3068.0

On the positive side, a side by side comparison could help people to decide what renderer they might get for different tasks.

Also, it might shed at least some light on what your getting for your buck (prices matter!). Visiting the respective forums would of course be a must.

Sorry, my bad. Or actually Bigstick's. Search the Podium forum, you'll see.

Your point about comparing apples and pears seems valid to me. To some extent these kind of comparisons seems to derive from the need to find the 'ultimate renderer' -a thing that does not exist.

Let's also not forget: different tools for different jobs. In my opinion, unbiased yields the best results. However, unbiased renderers seem somewhat unpractical to use in a production environment. Unless, of course, you own a whole fleet of 'manycores'.

Oh yeah: the price counts too, obviously.

Valid points, Jenujacob. I must add, however, that since 1.5 Podium also uses MLT.

A good initiative. The difference in render time is obviously due to the fact the current version of Podium uses only one core. My gut tells me this'll change.

You modern day architects ... What, a person can't have a little room for himself? Anyway, thanks.

I'm quite a fan of both apps. They complement eachother really nicely. And the workflow they both offer is actually one I'm able to grasp without much pondering on, say, the physics of light. R.E.S.P.E.C.T. to both TBD and Whaat!

"but 24 hours render time compared to 2 hours in Podium" - I must add to this Podium uses only core for the moment, while Indigo uses as many you can throw at it (8, in my case). Imagine rendering the same bathroom in Indigo using only one core. And now imagine how fast Podium will be when using 8 cores.

Same file, but rendered in Indigo. The Indigo version looks better, but (!!!!!!!!) it rendered for about 24 hrs (if I remember correctly) on an octo core. I feel Podium and Indigo make a hell of a team. Both are amazingly easy to use, and both provide quality renders.

Without knowing it, Sepo, you answered the question I asked on the Podium forum earlier. Thanks.

As adding bumps makes specularity kick in (which I didn't quite fully realize until now), a 'distressed', 'uneven' look can be added to reflective surfaces in SU/Podium by combining Podium's "auto specularity", and textures from the modo Texture Libraries.

Hey, I didn't buy those for nothing after all!

Oh, critisize away.
The night one I purposely wanted a bit darker. The day one, however, could have done with a bit more daylight.

Just good ol' Podium reflection, no specularity. Bumps seem to affect the way surfaces reflect, though. I think Sepo, Solo and TBD might be better placed to comment on the technical details.

I posted these on the Podium forum some time ago. I thought I'd post them here too, just to show what Podium can do in the hands of even the most un-technically minded users. The bathroom is too big, but that's obviously not Podium's fault. The day version rendered for 1 h 53 m 22 s, the night version for 3h 17 s. Both rendered at 1160 x 646. I suspect the upcoming new release of Podium will be even faster.

Looks good. Haven't seen you around on the Indigo forum since that little flame war. Don't give up on Indigo just yet, it's darn good (and easy to use, thanks to SkIndigo).

Gee, I get to keep my head. Bummer, I could do with a less ugly one.

You working on some materials for P, right? Keep at it, I'd say. Seems like you're doing a fair job.

Must be good ol' Podium.

The Google boys are out of their minds if they don't put Pete on the testing team. I can't think of anyone more qualified.

All the best in 2008, y'all.

Looks pretty good, your highness. A tut? Really?