I've never had a need to do much quality rendering in the past. That is changing now. So I've tried many programs these last few weeks for use with Autodesk Architecture, SketchUp and Rhino. I've tried out Maxwell Render, Fryrender, Indigo, Vray, Kerkythea, IDX-Renditioner and Podium. These would be used to generate near-photorealistic renderings and quality animations though not photorealistic.
After three weeks of heavy play and learning with and about the various softwares, I've come down to Vray and Kerkythea. Vray is the easy default choice because it is ubiquitous. But Kerkythea is very compelling and I can't quite dismiss it just yet.
I found Kerkythea to be no more difficult to use/learn than Vray, just as fast, seemingly almost as powerful, it also renders animations quite well, it has been around several years, the latest release, as I've read, is much improved over 2007's version. It seems like it should be of great interest to many people. Yet I cannot find much about it in various forums and through google searching.
What, if any, is the downside to Kerkythea? Why is it not more popular? At the very least, considering its ease, speed, results and cost, are there any Vray/other major render app users who have tried Kerkythea and can provide a solid comparison?
I use Vray, not familiar with Kerkythea, but another one you might want to check out which might even lure me away from Max/Vray is Modo but luxology. Very simple very fast, very compatible with Rhino and all done in one environment with no plugins.
Community support is huge, imho, and was 99% the reason I dropped Final Render for VRay and the only reason I still use Max (which is far too expensive).
I use Autodesk Architecture, Rhino and SketchUp. The community support is the key difference for me at the moment between the two. I'm leaning that way, but there is a part of me that hates to pass on quality free software.
Does anyone else find vrays integration in to rhino awkward? Is there a way around the whole vismat material problem? i.e. materials available for vray in max (all of them) being usable in rhino.
Vray is the best rendering engine in my opinion. I’ve used lots of different programs and set-ups, and my personal favorite is:
Max9 with Vray; it gets the job done without a lot of hassle.
i would say the Rhino Vray combo gives the best bang for the buck in the shortest time currently. but i did see allot of real time stuff at SIGGRAPH that i liked
as far as the material issue i found it very easy to rebuild any material, np just use the maps and assign them to their respective positions.
I'm more curious about meeting people who are interested in Kerkythea and have any thoughts on how to most efficiently use the software, and the best settings to use when interfacing between Sketchup and Kerkythea.
I used Kerkythea for the first time about two months ago and only to render some furniture, so I don’t have too many tips to share… but I certainly share your interest. I think SketchUp --> Kerkythea --> Paint.NET could be a perfectly decent FREEWARE package for small projects.
FYI - i started this post almost two years ago - interesting to see it come back to life - thought i'd give an update
ultimately, i settled on vray for use with sketchup and rhino. About a year later, i learned modo. so at this point, my main apps are rhino and modo - i work back and forth between the two - they compliment each other well - i render just as comfortably in vray and modo - plus modo has just enough of an animation package that it gives me that capability as well. now i am learning rhino's grasshopper plugin and modo's channel linking features, both of which let you link relationships of model features. i still use sketchup quite often as i've got some projects where it is the choice of the design team - but i prefer the power and flexibility of the other two apps. I did not continue on with kerkythea, only b/c at the time, i was learning rendering for use in a firm and the firm was a bit weary of free software so I went with vray. To the extent I learned kerkythea though, I was very impressed.
My main reason for using Kerkythea is that I can use it anywhere. I have worked for 4 different firms in my young career and I don't have to worry if the company happens to have my rendering software of not. I just plugin a USB with Kerkythea on it and render away. Its become an easy and convenient way to impress the principals during down time (rendering concept models, etc)
Apr 25, 10 7:48 pm ·
·
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.
Kerkythea vs Vray
I've never had a need to do much quality rendering in the past. That is changing now. So I've tried many programs these last few weeks for use with Autodesk Architecture, SketchUp and Rhino. I've tried out Maxwell Render, Fryrender, Indigo, Vray, Kerkythea, IDX-Renditioner and Podium. These would be used to generate near-photorealistic renderings and quality animations though not photorealistic.
After three weeks of heavy play and learning with and about the various softwares, I've come down to Vray and Kerkythea. Vray is the easy default choice because it is ubiquitous. But Kerkythea is very compelling and I can't quite dismiss it just yet.
I found Kerkythea to be no more difficult to use/learn than Vray, just as fast, seemingly almost as powerful, it also renders animations quite well, it has been around several years, the latest release, as I've read, is much improved over 2007's version. It seems like it should be of great interest to many people. Yet I cannot find much about it in various forums and through google searching.
What, if any, is the downside to Kerkythea? Why is it not more popular? At the very least, considering its ease, speed, results and cost, are there any Vray/other major render app users who have tried Kerkythea and can provide a solid comparison?
Thanks,
Joe
I use Vray, not familiar with Kerkythea, but another one you might want to check out which might even lure me away from Max/Vray is Modo but luxology. Very simple very fast, very compatible with Rhino and all done in one environment with no plugins.
What are you using for the 3D?
Community support is huge, imho, and was 99% the reason I dropped Final Render for VRay and the only reason I still use Max (which is far too expensive).
I use Autodesk Architecture, Rhino and SketchUp. The community support is the key difference for me at the moment between the two. I'm leaning that way, but there is a part of me that hates to pass on quality free software.
Does anyone else find vrays integration in to rhino awkward? Is there a way around the whole vismat material problem? i.e. materials available for vray in max (all of them) being usable in rhino.
Theres a material converter from Max.
But that's about it.
Vray is the best rendering engine in my opinion. I’ve used lots of different programs and set-ups, and my personal favorite is:
Max9 with Vray; it gets the job done without a lot of hassle.
i would say the Rhino Vray combo gives the best bang for the buck in the shortest time currently. but i did see allot of real time stuff at SIGGRAPH that i liked
as far as the material issue i found it very easy to rebuild any material, np just use the maps and assign them to their respective positions.
I'm actually really happy with Kerkythea for Sketchup but the entire support dialogue appears to just be the forum. Anyone out there using Kerkythea?
Kerkythea is really good for rendering massive amounts of particles, I don't think it is better than vray in rendering architectural scenes.
I use rhino to blender+yafaray
I'm more curious about meeting people who are interested in Kerkythea and have any thoughts on how to most efficiently use the software, and the best settings to use when interfacing between Sketchup and Kerkythea.
le bossman,
I used Kerkythea for the first time about two months ago and only to render some furniture, so I don’t have too many tips to share… but I certainly share your interest. I think SketchUp --> Kerkythea --> Paint.NET could be a perfectly decent FREEWARE package for small projects.
the whole shareware thing is just annoying because no one will ever write a book on the thing. no, i'm not going to.
FYI - i started this post almost two years ago - interesting to see it come back to life - thought i'd give an update
ultimately, i settled on vray for use with sketchup and rhino. About a year later, i learned modo. so at this point, my main apps are rhino and modo - i work back and forth between the two - they compliment each other well - i render just as comfortably in vray and modo - plus modo has just enough of an animation package that it gives me that capability as well. now i am learning rhino's grasshopper plugin and modo's channel linking features, both of which let you link relationships of model features. i still use sketchup quite often as i've got some projects where it is the choice of the design team - but i prefer the power and flexibility of the other two apps. I did not continue on with kerkythea, only b/c at the time, i was learning rendering for use in a firm and the firm was a bit weary of free software so I went with vray. To the extent I learned kerkythea though, I was very impressed.
My main reason for using Kerkythea is that I can use it anywhere. I have worked for 4 different firms in my young career and I don't have to worry if the company happens to have my rendering software of not. I just plugin a USB with Kerkythea on it and render away. Its become an easy and convenient way to impress the principals during down time (rendering concept models, etc)
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.