lightworks vs artlantis ?

[Anonymous]

Im getting into rendering more and more.... im currently using lights works for movies and renders and getting pretty good results,,, is artlatis that much better and should i start learnig that

achi cad 10
widows xp

[Dwight]

Yes you should start learning Artlantis.

There are several reasons why anyone who is serious about design communication should invest in Artlantis:

1: Speed. It renders big, quick. [to use the Maircanism]

2: Quality: Soft shadows and radiance fill the scene.

3: Ease: You get plenty of feedback composing and surfacing a scene - can see the consequences of changed light angles immediately due to gigantic preview window.

4: Camera control: Archicad has a defecatory camera control that makes it impossible to smoothly accelerate and decelerate. Artlantis automates this.

Two drawbacks to Artlantis:

--- it still handles materials in a simplistic way that LightWorks supercedes with sophisticated shaders, but since the LightWorks engine Graphisoft implemented is archaic, who cares? You can't see that subtlety. [Pause to wipe away bitter tears of disappointment]

AND

the file must be transferred to Artlantis and file updates from Archicad must be carefully managed to not lose changes. [Pause to grit teeth over forgotten Artlantis material change made and forgotten, eradicated by next Archicad file update.]

My next book is called "The Artlantis Attitude," where you make great art without breaking stride. So, soon you will also have the coaching you need to excel in Artlantis.

[Anonymous]

Hello guys. thought I would jump in here. I downloaded the demo version of Artlantis to give it a try. I like the end results but still find a few things that are a little confusing for myself and havnt found any solutions yet.

- Can you place a light in Artlantis or does it already have to be placed in archicad? I want to highlight certain elements but havnt found a way. It might be that the demo version doesnt have any light objects or you may have to buy those. Unsure.

- I get a bit worried about how easy it is to update the file from archicad to artlantis. All i seem to be doing is merging the files which basically just doubles up. Is this a major problem or have I not found the right setting. Dwight would know.

- Its pretty obvious that you have to buy quite a few additional libraries as the standard ones seem a little lacking. Adds to the price.

Those are just my concerns. ... for now.

[Karl Ottenstein]

Gareth wrote:
- Can you place a light in Artlantis or does it already have to be placed in archicad? I want to highlight certain elements but havnt found a way. It might be that the demo version doesnt have any light objects or you may have to buy those. Unsure.

You can place as many lights as you want in Artlantis itself. By using the saved file as a reference file for your next export from ArchiCAD, all of those lights will be incorporated in the modified ArchiCAD model.

There is a video tutorial on the Artlantis web site on how to insert and edit lights. Or at least there was.

- I get a bit worried about how easy it is to update the file from archicad to artlantis. All i seem to be doing is merging the files which basically just doubles up. Is this a major problem or have I not found the right setting. Dwight would know

.

Yikes. No. You do NOT want to MERGE. You want to use a reference file. Merging is indeed merging - and you will double up your geometry. It is a useful feature, since you can merge additional components into a model. But, the ArchiCAD workflow is to use the last Artlantis file as the 'reference' file for the next ArchiCAD export. Now, it turns out that there is a bug with specifying the reference file in the export dialog right now for Artlantis 2. So don't. Instead, once inside Artlantis with the newly exported file, go to File > Use Reference File and navigate to the previous Artlantis file. (Obviously you exported with a new name, or to a new location, right?)

By using the reference file, all shader applications and changes, viewpoints, etc etc all get merged with the new geometry exported from ArchiCAD.

- Its pretty obvious that you have to buy quite a few additional libraries as the standard ones seem a little lacking. Adds to the price.

Yes and no. Depends on how much you want to trade off work for money. Artlantis 2 lets you create your own shaders from any images that you might have - which of course includes all of the free textures and maps available on the internet. The ones included get one off to a good start.

Keep in mind that this is not the Artlantis forum. Most of your questions are best answered in those forums and by watching all of the tutorial videos on the artlantis web site. 😉

Cheers,
Karl

[Anonymous]

I enjoy using lightworks. I admit, as others have mentioned, that if you were going to take a serious path into design communication perhaps Artlantis would be best in this case rather than lightworks. But I can't stress enough that when you have a pretty good handle with LW, one could produce great renderings and not have to deal with importing and the 'logistics' of importing.

Any news/rumors about the next version of AC with regards to lightworks? ...will it dissappear altogether or is it improved.....or maybe no changes?

[Anonymous]

junior wrote:
I enjoy using lightworks. I admit, as others have mentioned, that if you were going to take a serious path into design communication perhaps Artlantis would be best in this case rather than lightworks. But I can't stress enough that when you have a pretty good handle with LW, one could produce great renderings and not have to deal with importing and the 'logistics' of importing.

Any news/rumors about the next version of AC with regards to lightworks? ...will it dissappear altogether or is it improved.....or maybe no changes?

I'm sure that they havnt touched lightworks much. What they need to do for AC 12 is greatly improve the library.

I also can get my head around lightworks and can usually achieve what I set out to do. But I also realise that it can be very much a trial and error type approch. I imagine that artlantis would take that guess work out as the preview window is extremely useful.

[vfrontiers]

Just a couple of additional comments (and sorry, I'm reading them without my glasses, so if these items are already covered... it only shows that I am lazy!)...

1. Lights are added using the little "+" in the light menu or by ALT dragging an existing light.

2. You are actually adding LIGHT SOURCES and not LIGHT FIXTURES! Unless, of course, you are actually adding OBJECTS with light sources in them!

3. The archiCAD file will be regarded in ArtLantis as the SCENE. As Karl explained, the 2nd time you save your ArchiCAD file as .atl.... save under a new name. Once you've opened up this file in ArtLantis, choose to USE A REFERENCE FILE and point to the OLD ARTLANTIS file and all the "ArtLantis" work you've done will be brought in.

4. I just bought OnyxTREE and am finding quite a convenient workload to move through .3ds to .aof (artlantis objects). Just wishing Onyx would create a STORM for ArtLantis

[Anonymous]

vfrontiers wrote:
Just wishing Onyx would create a STORM for ArtLantis

Yeah! I vote for this wish too!
Specially with its "windy" capabilities!...
That would be great.

[Anonymous]

I have seen presentations done with 3D max and I have to say that it is superb compared to those done with Artlantis...can anyone advise?

I am currently using Artlantis for rendering and do not seem to be able to achieve the kind of standard that I had seen on 3D max.

[Laszlo Nagy]

Agnes wrote:
I have seen presentations done with 3D max and I have to say that it is superb compared to those done with Artlantis...can anyone advise?

I am currently using Artlantis for rendering and do not seem to be able to achieve the kind of standard that I had seen on 3D max.

I have seen in another post of yours that you are probably using Artlantis 4.5.
Maybe you should try their latest version. It is much more advanced.