Maxwell is out for ArchiCAD

[rmejia]

I started out with scanline and after a while started getting some nice renderings. Then I tried to render a big scene, and there was no way the Viz default scanline renderer was doing it, the file ended up way to big and would always crash the pc (64 bit and 8 gig ram might have solved that but it was before that). Looking for solutions I started to read up on the different alternatives out there, and there where many ... I ended up trying mental ray, because it was free, it was already in Viz and I didn't even know it existed Everything was looking good until some black weird spots started showing up and my RPC was not working ... Then I started once again to look at other options: Brazil, Maxwell, Vray, etc.

I tried out Brazil and it seemed very similar to mental ray but for that I rather use mental ray. I kept reading in alot of places and seeing many sites (evermotion, cgarchitect, cgtalk, vismasters) with people showing their very nice renderings and they all had one common denominator ... Vray. One thing that caught my attention is the quick lighting preview that you can get (something I really wish mental ray had), maxwell I think has it too. The thing I am most interested at the moment is the Vray Stand Alone which hopefully some day will be released. One thing that I didn't like about Maxwell is the 4 processor limit per license. But at the end of the day it's like comparing Revit and Archicad or ADT, it's one of those unending discussion.

I think that one should use whatever works for them, and it's always a pain to take time out to learn new programs, I rather get to know really well the ones I use most often. And more and more the different programs "borrow" features from one another, so Maxwell and Vray may end up with many similar features. You use "(Though honestly I only use Mulitlight on interiors, for exteriors I have my favorite sun settings.)" I use the sun/sky for exteriors in Vray and for interiors I just override the environment with a color (turning of the sky) and then raise the multiplier.
Apart from renderers ... for trees I ended up with Onyx which look good and have the random seed option which is very nice and am looking for cars at the moment. Dosch cars look nice.

In the end be it Mental Ray, Maxwell or Vray I think we can agree on one thing ... Accurender in Revit is light years behind .... Hopefully plugins for Revit will start popping up someday like they are for Archicad now.

[tbarnesarc]

In my opinion, for now, Vray is the only option. Mental Ray has made some real progress in MAX 9 and is really worth checking out now the the learning curve has been flattened out. Again, even mental ray gets extremely slow in some instances. For me, and this is just my opinion, VRay first and mental ray second....i wouldn't use anything else....for now!!!

Dwayne D. Ellis

That's not true at all. Have you checked out Modo yet? I have been using Max/Viz since 3d Studio 2.5 and have gotten better renderings out of Modo than I ever have out of Max. It blows anything out of the water as far as speed goes. The quality is also amazing IMHO. Check the Arch Gallery

[Andre Baros]

We opted for Onyx tree's as well but have now run into the environment issue. Our clients don't want "grass" anymore (thank god) they're asking for prairies... and rendering those is a major pain. Adding them in Photoshop is just as bad, especially when there isn't one on site now to take a picture of.

I've heard much of Modo, but don't want to open that can of worms.

[tbarnesarc]

I've heard much of Modo, but don't want to open that can of worms.

What can of worms? Hmmm.

[Andre Baros]

Worm: One more option after Revit.

[dellis]

I'd like to take a crack at rendering one of those scenes myself in VRay. I've been using MAX since 1.0 and VRay since, well, the beginning. I'm not going to say MODO isn't capable of good renderings, theres obvious examples in that gallery but i really have a hard time believing that MODO is faster then VRay...let alone blow it out of the water. Especially if you want to talk about completely 3d scenes...not 3d objects placed into a 2d background plate. And just for the record...if something faster and better then vray came out tomorrow i wouldn't use vray anymore....which is why i said that mental ray has made some real progress in MAX 9. Even though it totally ripped off VRay interface and workflow. I could care less though....it only benefits me more...because now i can use both without any problems.

"I have been using Max/Viz since 3d Studio 2.5 and have gotten better renderings out of Modo than I ever have out of Max. It blows anything out of the water as far as speed goes."

Are you talking about the scanline renderer or Vray? And really, this might be attributed to your own personal comfort with MODO. I know that i instantly felt comfortable with VRay and my first crack at mental ray felt like calculus.

Any good artist with any good software can get good results....time is usually the variable that differentiates the results.
I wish that i had the luxury of not worrying about render times but that isn;t the case. Nor can quality be forfeited either.

Like i said in the beginning...i don't want to start a war here.

Benchmarks are the only real way to see if anything gets blown out of the water.

Dwayne D. Ellis

[tbarnesarc]

I am talking about Max only, not Vray. Never used Vray. The renderings are awesome that's for sure. I should have clarified my argument. I mean Modo is more bang for your buck. $850 for Modo Vs $2K for Viz + $700+ for VRay. Viz does have animation while Modo doesn't YET. Next release will have it, but I rarely do animations anymore anyway. I will have to tryout the Demo of Vray just to see what it's all about.

I just got sick of Viz and Max because they can't really handle large scenes as well as Modo. I have taught Viz on college and won competiotns with it and am still annoyed with it. I got tired of waiting for redraws when I would move the camera around. I have a fast work station too.

Anyway, I was just stating from my experience with Viz and Modo I prefer Modo now. I am dropping Viz and getting a copy of Modo.

[Andre Baros]

Just curious about the Render time issue. You say that you don't have the luxury of long render times, this implies to me that you need to get the rendering done the same day that you get the request? Is that true or is it a case of needing to do multiple renderings or animation frames or something else. I know that in house the time frame is usually a day or two (sometimes less for re-do's due to design changes) and when we've sent stuff out to the pro-render houses in town they always require 2 weeks or charge a crazy rush charge.

[dhurtubise]

Anyway, I was just stating from my experience with Viz and Modo I prefer Modo now. I am dropping Viz and getting a copy of Modo.[/QUOTE]

How about showing sample of model from Revit to MODO with rendering data ?

[tbarnesarc]

Here ya go then:

The first image was done in Viz: 3400x2200, w/ radiosity @80%, One light that is the sun. total time for solution and rendering= 3 hours

The second image was done in Modo: 3400x2200, w/ GI, and HDR background, One area light. Rendering time 1H 15M.

I am not trying to start a war, by any means, but I have been using Max/Viz since 1998 on and off. I have found that I am enjoying Modo more now. It all comes down to personal preference. "To each their own."