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Best rendering software

ElGrecus

So what's the "best" rendering software right now? I mostly use Rhino for modeling but haven't settled on a rendering system yet. Mental Ray? V-Ray? Maxwell? The list goes on. Maybe you could tell me what you prefer and why. Is one easier to learn than the other? Best user interface? Most steamlined production? Thanks.

 
Sep 28, 09 7:53 pm
not_here

maxwell for photorealism. quick setup, very powerful once you figure out the advanced options and what works and doesn't work.

v-ray for diagrammatic renderings. i seriously think it's subpar when compared to either mental ray (pure mf raw power) and maxwell (ease of use).

mental ray is a beast. it can do anything and everything but it's a pretty complex piece of software compared to any other rendering package i've tried (a lot of them). this is what i'm currently teaching myself...

Sep 28, 09 11:06 pm  · 
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LML

maxwell is a bit on the slow side, unless you have a monster computer. a lot of people go w/ vray for speed

Sep 29, 09 1:46 pm  · 
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induct

Vray, easy to use, many free materials on the internet and good tutorials. Plus Vray RT looks good and Vray is available on pretty much every common modelling program - SU, Max, Rhino, Maya.

Sep 29, 09 7:07 pm  · 
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FrankLloydMike

VectorWorks! Nah, just kidding, but it's what I use.

Sep 30, 09 11:00 am  · 
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trace™

VRay. The results will come down the artistry of the user.

Sep 30, 09 10:22 pm  · 
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not_here

i don't personally like v-ray... two years ago, the rhino version left a lot to hope for, but anyways.....


never underestimate the importance of a good bit of photoshop work on top of a rendering. it really comes down to this. good visualization, more often than not, uses renders just as a starting point....

Oct 1, 09 8:22 am  · 
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med.

3ds max mental ray is what I've been using. It's pretty powerful.

Oct 1, 09 9:16 am  · 
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ElGrecus

When I ask around I've been getting "Maxwell" as an answer. But those people probably haven't used V-Ray so they can't make a fair comparison. Mental Ray is the gold standard but the learning curve is steep. Is it worth it? So far it's leaning towards V-Ray but I'd like to get more responses. Keep them coming please...

Oct 2, 09 1:08 pm  · 
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Distant Unicorn

The old VRay was kind of crappy-- I use 1.46 for sketchup.

The problem wasn't soo much Vray as it was poor integration. It is almost next to impossible to properly size and map images and Vrays better rendering engine is a memory hog.

Like 1.5 gigs of memory at full throttle on my laptop!

1.5 which was released a year ago is suppose to be amazing. The textures are now linked to the library (sketchup by far has one of the easiest to use texture mapping). They fixed multiple issues with the lighting, translucent materials, shadows and dropped monte-carlo.

Supposedly, 1.5 is suppose to be like three times as fast as 1.46. I tried them all and like Vray the best. Maxwell/3dsmax is better but I just hate using 3dsmax.

The only thing I hate... like really hate... is Vray for sketchup 1.46 has horrible file quality. Like there's no easy way to save direct to file and the raw format requires an extra plugin to be able to import into photoshop.

Oct 2, 09 1:28 pm  · 
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bRink

photoshop

Oct 2, 09 11:08 pm  · 
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Peru

I prefer Vray, but you can get amazing results with mentalray.
You got to see the rest of theese farnsworh renders - the green stuff is also rendered...
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=132&t=754315&highlight=mies+van+der+rohe


Good vray sfuff here:

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=132&t=737188

Oct 3, 09 1:09 am  · 
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