can you recommend a good & fast renderer?

[jens g.r. benthien]

I have a real problem to solve <sigh>.

For a customer I have to render architectural scenes, and I would like to use radiosity with it.

I'm developing in Rhino, can export to 3DS format or obj etc - format doesn't matter at all. In addition I've used Cinema XL v 7.0, but radiosity is extremely slow and complicated.

I don't want to upgrade Cinema, because I don't need all the feature. Instead I'm looking for an excellent alternative.

So far I've checked Bryce but I don't know if it allows to import 3DS or any other suitable format, and if the texture mapping is ok, what about radiosity etc. Seems to be a good deal, but if it doesn't fit my needs it will be a waste.

Then there is Vue d'Esprit - Vue 5 Infinite. Very impressive!

Any other like Renderman or Mental Ray are far out of reach - besides that I don't have the capability for network rendering, because I have to use my notebook for it (it's a very fast one, but can't catch up with a render farm).

Any suggestions? What I really care for are first class shadows, not like the ones in Cinema which get messy on 3DS objects...

Let me know - **any** hint or opinion is apprecieated.

[Grafixman]

I'm out of my league here, but your question prodded me to do some search on the subject matter. Here is an interesting article:

http://www.zaon.com/company/articles/3d_rendering.php

It's a rant, I know, but it provides some comparison between better known renderers.
There's a forum link in the article, too. Maybe you could ask those people there.

[Ross Macintosh]

Jens -- Kerkythea is a freeware renderer that is as fast as they get. It doesn't have a fancy graphic user interface but will do a very good render quickly -- minutes instead of hours. The developer has a new site here. It is still kind of sparse but give him time. You might have fun playing with it and heck -- the price is right!

Another interesting program is Maxwell Render which is based on the physics of real light. The quality of rendering from it is amazing. Interestingly it uses a photogaphic approach. The program is currently released as a 'alpha' version that you pay for. Paying them now gets you a workable product and access to future releases. It is being actively developed and is gaining lots of followers. Check it out you might find it interesting enough to want to buy into it. Do check out the forum -- lots of support and great work being posted. Check out Maxwell Render!

Regards, Ross

[Ross Macintosh]

I should note that Maxwell isn't fast. What helps however is you see the render progressively get less noisy as successive passes are rendered. You can stop it if what you're seeing is 'good enough' or if you'd rather try it with a different setting. The engine is expected to get quicker as it develops.

[Grafixman]

Speaking of freeware renderers, there's Yafray. It's a pretty capable renderer and I've seen some very impressive renders done with it. But it's on the slow side.
Then there's the good old Povray.
Also, Toxic. That's even slower, but it's branded itself as a physically accurate renderer.
I also recall reading an article about faking radiosity. Will post later if I can find it.

[Mike Bailey]

I have had my eye on this one for some time.
http://www.projectmessiah.com
Serious software.

As far as I know Bryce does'nt do radiosity, bummer.

Vue5, a wonderful program. The real good render settings slow it down a lot, it will multi task, render to disk while you surf the web. No displacement mapping. Bummer

Freeware? IMHO you get what you pay for.

What about Flamingo?

[Grafixman]

Found it:

http://www.smoke3dstudio.com/tutorials.htm

Don't write off freeware too fast, Mike. Some pretty impressive stuff are being done by skilled artists out there. An expensive pencil does not a great artist make, or something like that... . But if you got the talent and a deep pocket, well, nothing wrong with getting the best of the best.

BTW, the link above came from a discussion in this forum:
http://3dpinoy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=2607
Since Jen's post is about rendering architectural scenes, I thought it might be helpful to post the thread here, for a little more insight into the subject matter of rendering.

[Mike Bailey]

G-man let me retract and reword my statement .

IF ITS FREE ITS FOR ME! Well, at one time it was. Been there, done that.
If yer lookin for freeware, check out http://bakhter.com/
Take care.

[Grafixman]

No offense taken, Mike. I'm not a freebie hunter. It's just my view that learning to do one thing well is more important than having the latest cutting edge tool. If you're a pro and have deadlines to beat and resources to back you up, then yes, using profe$$ional tools is a must. But with the resources available nowadays, hobbyists like me shouldn't have to break their piggybanks just to get their feet wet...

[Mike Bailey]

hobbyists like me shouldn't have to break their piggybanks just to get their feet wet...

I agree. Jen's on the other hand has been at it for a while and already has some pretty nice software that I wouldn't mind having myself.