Rendering Software

[Red]

Which software is the best for life like renderings? There are so many out there to choose from. Please don't mention Art-Lantis.


Is their a list out there comparing software? Pros and Cons?

[Rakela Raul]

maaaan, i loved those palm trees

[stefan]

There are many possible solutions.

And most of them will be able to render ArchiCAD models.
I tried many of them:
http://www2.asro.kuleuven.ac.be/asro/English/HOME/SBs/render/render.htm


Artlantis R is hugely improved over the old Artlantis. I hated the older generation, but I like the new one. Very usable results for the effort it takes.

VIZ/3ds max are very good solutions, if you work in Windows.

Maya, Cinema4D and Lightwave are of equal quality, but also on a Mac.

No experience with Electric Image, so follow the advice of Dwight.

The combination of ArchiCAD with Cinema4D and the dedicated plugins is a good solution.

RPC is nice, but the content is not free (unless you use it for education as we do).

[Anonymous]

Red wrote:
Which software is the best for life like renderings?

Well now, this is a loaded question

Without trying to sound to much Zen like, I would like to go into that life like rendering concept.

If you think of rendering as an art (and I most certainly do), you could draw some similitudes from other art's, and I suggest photography, for obvious reasons:

It deals with the visual world, in 2D, light, textures, camera and stuff, it is technological by nature and it is recent (relatively).
If you look at what happened to photography since it's beginnings, you realize it started by trying to be just a reproduction of the real world (like painting at some point), and after an initial period, it evolved into a true art, by tryin to express and provide emotions.

Now rendering, imho, is walking the same path. After an initial period of trying to be more and more lifelike, you are now getting, in games and movies, an impressionist approach. Hiper reality is out, ambience is in.

Some people in the architectural business are starting to "get it" - not many - and are trying to give a distinct personal artistical feeling to their work.

Unfortunately (again imho) they are doing this exclusively with filters and stuff, and not with the real macoy: the rendering itself.

This could be one way, but not the only.

Rendering software should allow you to do whatever you want to do, not just "be the most real". I think we will get there pretty soon, mainly because you see the reality WOW factor is now wearing out.

I have a bunch of other theories on this subject, which I won't bother you with unless asked for, not wanting to risk (again) the accusation of taking someone's subject over.

Nevertheless, I would like to present an example (put the money where the mouth is, I think it is called).

In this one, produced with THE UNMENTHIONABLE ONE, my aim was to maintain a high degree of realism (no Mademoiselles de Avignon from me...) but at the same time transmit a mood, tell a story, provoke some feelings. If I failed or succeed, that is up to you. No filter/piranesi/color correction tricks here, just out of the machine.

Have fun and feel free to bash away

[stefan]

Krippahl,

Your signature might be a clue 😉

I agree with your observation: think as a photographer and display a mood, an atmopshere. Who cares if there are some jaggies or if the radiosity or raytracing misses a few pixels? You can paint them away or you can leave them in if you want.

E.g. I kinda like the noisy undersampled GI renderings, since they provide a feel for lighting, yet don't take forever to calculate.

Blurred and glooming post-processed renderings are used too much lately, so that is something I would try to avoid (or at least be subtle with...).

[Anonymous]

stefan wrote:
Krippahl,

Your signature might be a clue 😉

If it is the signature that gives me away, and not the image itself, then I am happy

[stefan]

Krippahl wrote:

stefan wrote:
Krippahl,

Your signature might be a clue 😉

If it is the signature that gives me away, and not the image itself, then I am happy

The image is fine, really! And Artlantis R is really much improved over the Classic generation. So it's worthwile to consider.

But... at a price of about $500, you come in region where you are able to buy a full seat of Carrar3D, Strata3D, Cinema4D and even the cheapest version of animation powerprogram Softimage!

And then you get full modeling, animation AND rendering. Sure, these are more complex then Artlantis, but at that price level, you have so much more to add: you can create geometry to import in ArchiCAD, you can model and add freeform design, which is not possible directly inside ArchiCAD etc...

So consider your options wisely.

[Anonymous]

stefan wrote:

But... at a price of about $500, you come in region where you are able to buy a full seat of Carrar3D, Strata3D, Cinema4D and even the cheapest version of animation powerprogram Softimage!

I am very much aware that having a fancy for one software makes you biased against others. This happens to FlacCadders, and it also happens to everyone of us.

You have to be very conscientious about this, otherwise it becomes a matter of faith, and after that fundamentalism, and I most certainly would not like to be one of those.

Having said that, I would like to point out:

A Mercedes with automatic gears (at least here in Portugal) is much more expensive than the same Mercedes with manual gears.

Automathion costs.
I, for one, think that ArtLantis (hope they don´t hear this), should be MORE expensive than those other softwares, exactly because it is more automatic.
If it makes my life (as an architect) easier, if it shift's gears automatically, then it is a higher end product.

Look at ArchiCAD/AutoCAD. You love the first not because it has more settings and commands, but because it does things automatically for you!

[Red]

stefan wrote:
I hated the older generation

Thats my problem.....but it run out of chances


Also we have the need for modeling not just rendering.

[Anonymous]

Red wrote:
Which software is the best for life like renderings? There are some many out there to choose from. Please don't mention Art-Lantis.


Is their a list out there comparing software? Pros and Cons?

Sorry, i have miss something, but why are you not mentioning Artlantis?

[Red]

nicolasrivera wrote:

Red wrote:
Which software is the best for life like renderings? There are some many out there to choose from. Please don't mention Art-Lantis.


Is their a list out there comparing software? Pros and Cons?

Sorry, i have miss something, but why are you not mentioning Artlantis?

I dislike it