Rendering, possible alternates to PhotoWorks?

I (my company) am actually using PhotoWorks with very good results. Sometimes the results are frustrating and time consuming but we are producing some very nice renderings. Before settling on PhotoWorks we demoed some other packages. It really comes down to what you need for features and the price you want to pay. The SW website has some rendering partners on the solution partners page. One that comes to mind is

they offer translation and rendering software for SW. There is also another company on the solution partner page "ART" they offer a very high end rendering software/hardware package.

Something to remember if you're not using PhotoWorks for rendering SW models then you will need to translate your files into another format so the rendering software can read them. This typically breaks the link between the rendering file and the SW file. Meaning any changes to the SW file don't update the rendering file. One of the biggest reasons we use PhotoWorks is because of the file link and compatibility guarantee. I believe Okino and Alias have translators that actually keep the link between the rendering and Sw file? You could also have translation problem.

As far as rendering specific software...there is lots out there. Lightwave,

3D Studio, Maya, Okino, Alias, Blender are just a few off the top of my head. They would all work with SW files with some sort of translation.

"John Layne"

Hi Rob

Thanks for the reply; do you have a link to a website? I would be very interested in seeing examples of your work.

That whole data translation mine field is something I'm very wary of. I would like to see how others work with data translation.

Checked out Maya and Okino they both seem to support distributed network rendering via a third party plug-in --- could have it?s advantages? Although learning curve could be steep.

Regards

John Layne Solid Engineering Ltd

I'm working on a website but it's not quite ready yet. I could e-mail you some renderings if that works for you. You could also check out

they all have some PhotoWorks rendering examples.

PhotoWorks does not support network rendering but it may in the future.

John Layne wrote:

Don't forget Cinema4D (C4D) - It's always been stradling the easy to use but powerful fence in my mind. The problem I've always had...as mentioned...is the translation. Plenty of 3rd Party players will do the translations with relative ease...but the onus is then on you to keep things updated.

The software is great...doesn't require subscription...the support is always there...and there is a helpful community of users. And it's not as expensive as Maya or Alias. Seamless has a price.

"John Layne"

Hi,

Check out

It's on alpha but the SolidWorks plug-in is available to early adopters.

Marc

"John Layne"

Impressive! Are you using the alpha with the SW plugin?

..

I've been checking out the general forum images, very nice!! (looks like the SW plugin was just recently released)

..

So, "they", I would guess, are the RealFlow company, Next Limit Technologies?

..

Hi Paul,

Only way to test it is to buy the alpha... You get the full software and all the plug-ins when they release. It's the same engine for all the plug-ins so we should get the same results from Max, Rhino or SolidWorks. It's not very usefull in SW2005 but will be fine with 2005 that has a real camera.

Marc

Thanks conj

Maxwell is very impressive, I'm totally blown away. I spent 20 minutes looking at all the images. I swear some are just to real, it's scary I'll try not to become paranoid when watching the News.

It seems to include Network rendering, have you tried this?

In your post did you mean it's not that great with SWX 2005 but will be with SWX 2006? If so what problems are there with SWX 2005?

Regards

John Layne

Just joined the Maxwell forum, I see the limitations in SWX 2005 regarding cameras--- And I really didn't want to upgrade to SWX 2006 until SP5 after the ongoing issues with SWX2005 SP2 etc.

Network rendering seems to be available, but a little bug ridden at the moment, but hey it's Alpha. I await with interest, to see if it improves speed of rendering over 4 PC's (of varying speeds)

If anyone out there is running the BETA of SWX2006 I'd be very interested to know if there are improvements to PhotoWorks.

John Layne Solid Engineering Ltd

Hi John,

As you found, the images are great. But those were made by folks who paid for the alpha!!! So those folks are serious and probably could make stunning images out of any renderer. It's a great way to have talented and willing people help develop the software; they paid so they want it to be good. It's a bargain at $395 right now but you have to be confident in it's future.

Ciao,

Marc

"John Layne" until SP5 after the ongoing issues with SWX2005 SP2 etc.

heres a link to some renders

done in brazil 3ds max and mental images mental ray maya

btw im moving to nz in may

heres a link to some renders

done in brazil 3ds max and mental images mental ray maya

btw im moving to nz in may

link

Thank for those Mike

Where in New Zealand are you going to be based? Have you got a job lined up?

John Layne

On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 12:41:59 +1200, John Layne would like to see how others work with data translation.

John Layne

Thanks for all the responses.

For the time being I'll stick with learning PhotoWorks--- since I already own it!

I will keep an eye on Maxwell, once it's out of Alpha I will definitely consider it. Network rendering has a lot of appeal to it--- we shall see.

Now I'm of to search the Web for info/tutorials on PhotoWorks and do a bit of drooling over the work of Paul Salvador and others of his ilk.

Thanks again

John Layne Solid Engineering Ltd