Rendering with Archicad

[Anonymous]

We are having a lot of trouble with the rendering process. First, it takes a lot of time to render a simple interior project. We are using version 9, it has been rendering for 2 days and it is not over yet. We are using Archicad instead of Artlantis. Any advice? Shall we use any other software for the rendering process??

[TomWaltz]

I'm afraid your question is akin to "My car won't start. What's the problem?"

We'd need to know a lot more information. You only say that it's "simple", and that could mean different things to different people. At the very least:
What is in the model? Is there tons and tons of 3D information like furnishings, decorations, and people? Do you have a large building and you're rendering only a small part? How much glass/refraction is there? How much lighting do you have in the model? What kind of hardware do you have? Which OS? Which build of Archicad 9?

[Anonymous]

The system we are using is a computer with 1.5 gig of ram, 3.0 mgz speed running XP professional. The rendering includes a common office layout with furniture, tables, pc's and glass between offices.

Is it common for a rendering of this type to run for 2 days??

[Anonymous]

There is probably a library part or parts with a huge number of polygon in your view (objects with curves or trees are common culprits) There is a free add-on called 'Polycount' for AC10 that tells you which objects have the most polygons. I don't know if its available for AC9.

Rendering a simple scene shouldn't take that long!

Your choice of software depends on what you want out of it. Are you interested in absolutely perfect photo-realistic images, or quicker simpler images just to get your ideas across to the client?

If you are using the internal renderer the results are usually fairly poor.

The built-in Lightworks renderer is good, once you get the hang of it. Dwights often recommended book 'Lightworks in ArchiCAD' explains the tips and techniques to get the best out of it. Look around the forum to see examples of the type of images it is capable of producing.

Many people prefer to use Artlantis instead as they say it gives better results 'out of the box' and more realistic lighting and shadows. It is, however, a separate program to be paid for whereas Lightworks is built in for free.

The Maxwell render plug-in seems to give the most realistic results imho if that is what you need, but again more complexity and extra price.

Maybe post some examples of the work you are doing and people will be able to give more specific recommendations.

best of luck!

Pete.

[TomWaltz]

Alex wrote:
The system we are using is a computer with 1.5 gig of ram, 3.0 mgz speed running XP professional. The rendering includes a common office layout with furniture, tables, pc's and glass between offices.

Is it common for a rendering of this type to run for 2 days??

Common, no. Possible, yes.

My guess is that you are seeing through multiple layers of glass. If the refraction settings of the glass material is higher than 1, you could easily see an exponential growth in the time needed to render. I would check that first.