RayOfLight

I like glass with settings like, 98% reflection and 98% refraction, fresnel reflection with an IoR of 1.52 or so, and either colorless, or with a very slight fog color, althoug I can't remember if it was available in 1.05..make sure you have at least reflection and refraction layers, etc. and use the fresnel map in both too..

or even way faster: Use Adaptive Subdivision as Image Sampler, min rate at -1, max rate at 2, so DON'T use higher settings, that will work but it will also slow you down. Make sure Object Outline is checked, color treshold could be at 0.1, maybe lower, but you might not need it with object outline on. As filter I always have Area at 1.5. Works like a charm.

to convert any materials coming from Revit (Autodesk Materials), you can use the Autodesk Material Converter, it converts materials and maps to Arch&Design/V-Ray and from there to Standard. I made it with the intention to use it in VR programs like Unity. So only supported maps will remain. Of course this means you loose some quality, but it's as good as it can get with standard materials and supported maps. Check it out at http://3dstudio.nl/producten/maxscripts/autodesk-material-converter (it's in english)

in time they may come back for now they switched to Arion, and integrating that technique/software into 3dsMax and Rhino, thus creating 3dsMax Live and Rhino Live.

Friday 26th of October in Utrecht, the Netherlands A one-day event, with masterclasses from several modomasters, showing modelling, rigging, animation, arch&viz and more! There is also a session about the merger between Luxology and the Foundry. Interested? Register while you still can: http://www.modogathering.com/register You can also like us on http://www.facebook.com/modogathering or follow us on http://www.twitter.com/modogathering Don't miss the best modo event in Europe!

the program was slightly changed, we will also have a session about the merger between Luxology and the Foundry!

MOGA2012 - modo gathering This will be the second time I organize this modo-special event. (Last year it was called EUME2011) We'll have several experts giving a whole day of masterclasses, showing the use of modo in all kinds of fields, Movie, Advertisement, Product visualisation and of course Architectural visualisation! The event is in the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands, in an english pub.. interested? Take a look at http://www.modogathering.com or like us at http://www.facebook.com/modogathering or even follow us at http://www.twitter.com/modogathering Or just register at http://www.modogathering.com/register Looking forward to meet you there! Stefan Twigt

really, no offense meant, but I find it strange that someone would buy a product because of possible future plans. Plans are never a guarantee as you don't know what tomorrow will bring..What if RC did release RC4 but your company was gone by than just because of the bad economy at the moment..you would've spend money on something you would never be able to use..I don't buy a car now, because in 50 years it might be possible to fly with a car..and then to complain if mine won't... I did try Arion2, MAX LIVE, I work with 3dsMax for 16 years now...I like MAX LIVE, a lot..and no, I don't have a need for fryrender anymore because I can do way more with this new software..I can do stuff with it, they didn't even dare to plan ahead to... And yes, it would be great if those same options, this same software would be able to work with programs like SU7 or Rhino or so..but to be honest, those programs were never meant to produce visuals on this level..probably their base code won't be able to support it..of course you can export to .obj from almost every program, load that into ARION2 standalone and render it...so still...not a real problem, only not integrated.. But even the integration was not to be expected.. And integrating Arion2 into 3dsMax gives great options...you can access it through MaxScript..write an app and script to be able to walk through your scene from your iPad by simply moving it, just hold still or press a button and it will render a photorealistic end-result with Arion2 MAX LIVE...all controlled from your iPad for example..(no the code isn't finished, but the test case was working fine!!) Of course it's not nice expecting something and then seeing something else is going to happen..but that's live. I try to make the best of what I do have, instead of complain on what I don't have

Arion is a hybrid, it uses both GPU and CPU.

and you can render a nice lawn with realistic grass quickly!

support for IES data and the rendertime subdivision (and the limitless geometry/materials) is going to be the best features I guess.. Also, you won't really need the lightmixer anymore in Arion LIVE, as you can change any light in 3dsMax, just the way you like!

Well actually, that is just the same version of V-Ray. Any upgrade of V-Ray will cost you something too.. (more even, than the upgrade from fryrender to MAX LIVE or ARION 2.0...)

there is still support, you can send them an email, they will reply quickly. And they didn't really kill fryrender, it has evolved into the LIVE plugins, which basically gives you about the same options of Arion and Fryrender together. Instead of the lightmixer, you just change your light settings in 3dsmax..it renders using GPU and CPU and is done in notime! (Microsoft didn't kill WinXP too...they now have Win8..looks different, but can do the same and more..)

make sure that the output folder you set in your rendersettings is writable by you (both for .rcs file and for a possible .dsi or rgb that you might have set) Also make sure you are using the latest plugin versions for 3dsMax and Maya (not the new beta versions, they won't work with your fryrender/arion versions!) When Arion crashes on higher resolutions, you might need a bigger videocard (more memory) or you should upgrade to Arion 1.6.1. (Note: when you work with Arion 1.6.1, you will need the new beta drivers, which work fine, but you won't be able to render with fryrender 1.5 anymore, at least not until fryrender 1.6 is released!) Assigning fryrender materials to you scene in 3dsMax or Maya works just like every other material, just make a new material, type Fryrender/Arion material (in 3dsMax in your Standard rollout), click the edit button in the material, and use the fry-editor to change the material into what you want. There is quite some info on both programs on the randomcontrol website and wiki: http://randomcontrol.com/tutorials http://randomcontrol.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

take a few hours and you can do almost everything with SU. Take a week of practice and you can make nice buildings. But I personally prefer modelling in 3dsMax or Modo, mostly because that is more accurate (or easier for me). What is the problem with the 3dsMax accuracy?