Gregory Davis

Thank you for the great tutorial. Looks like a pretty amazing plugin.

I would tell them they need to hire a surveyor and get a crew out there to get some real data for topo, spot elevations, and locate the streets, buildings, existing trees and any other hardscapes. I usually tell local clients it will be more precise and in the end cheaper & faster just to have the site surveyed and sent to me in CAD form, rather than sending a 3D artist out to do a quasi survey.... (I mean, they don't ask the surveyor to do 3D renderings, right?) I should note that this is on a case by case basis - we end up doing a lot of quasi-surveys... But with larger scale / complicated sites as this sounds....i would push for a real survey. Cheers! GD

Thanks Ken! Really impressed with you all accomplished so quickly. Datasmith is amazing. It seems almost....unreal. The support and specially learning/tutorials look great. Access to substance source is a nice bonus, too. I just watched the 'launch' video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWZYitnw9To, and very excited to hear that the datasmith sketchup plugin is in development. A lot of our projects never make it to Max. For projects that we start conceptually and work through design development, we tend to render with vray for sketchup and don't move to Max unless they get very complicated and really need forestpack/railclone or just get too large for SU to handle. It just makes sense to use Sketchup early in the design....clients can understand a SU model better than Max and its easier to 'fly around' and show/present. Anyway, very excited about this - hope you'll keep us updated on the Datasmith for Sketchup release!

Hey Francisco, No problem! Yeah, like I said, I've always just stuck to air because I've always had a 'fear' of water leaking everywhere and have opted for the simplicity of air. But I'm looking into taking the plunge this build and delidding sounded like too much fun to pass up. First time delidding....just something I want to try this time around. I'm feeling like I'll go water this time, just not solidified whole build yet...havent order all the parts... (btw, silicon lottery gives replacement warranties on their delidding. and it's supposed to bring coffee lake temps down by 12° to 25° C. I would imagine it prolonging the life of an OC'd cpu.) Plus you guys are making me feel dumb for not using water cooling. Yes, will try to keep you all updated on build....(will 'try'...man we freaking busy these days!!) I really appreciate all your feedback - it's always good to hear from people in my field with actual relevant experience.

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated! Was typing this reply earlier but got sidetracked.....will catch up tomorrow. thanks again! Yeah, definitely not feeling any overkill here. Currently using a I7-5820k/x99 system with 32GB, GTX770 & GTX1070 and looking to move on up with whats currently available. 32 GB isn't enough for some exterior scenes in Max...so 64GB is a must. Not happy about the crypto-GPU prices, but not going to shut my business down until prices come back down to save a $1000. So, yeah...what Ive got going on is we're bringing in another employee, so need to come up with a whole new setup.(the pccpartpicker list is basically my +/-exact current setup with cpu/mb/gpus upgraded) Instead of building a budget workstation for them, going to give them my hand-me-downs.(and get me a new one in the process) My WS is well over 2yrs old now and starting to feel the wear & tear on it, anyway. This new machine will double as my main workstation and also run real-time walk-throughs to the yyyuuge dual monitors in the conference room during client meetings. (I dont game...at all...and the 1080ti's will not be in SLI) Oh $*i#....just noticed as I was scanning my pcpp list again that it does say SLI on there....I think it's listed that way because it's the only way I could spec dual cards is by selecting 'SLI'... My bad. Yeah, but I'm def not SLI'ing. Just wanting max power available for anything GPU related. I use GPU extensively with Vray up until final renders on cpu. Also have been delving more and more into Real-time solutions and loving it, so not looking to skimp in the GPU dept. I hear you about the water-cooling. It's one of those things - everybody has told me it's fine for years, but I just haven't built with water before and it always had this stigma with me...I just picture it springing a leak (like my radiators seeem to do every 3.45 yrs..) just as I'm feverishly trying wrap up a big deadline I stayed up 4 days to finish. Noctua's D-15 has treated me well the last 3yrs with a 4.5ghz OC on my 5820k. But, I do feel like its time to take the plunge.... I just sent my 8700k off to SillyLotto to be delidded....so I'm anticipating an awesome overclock either way. But I get more excited when I think about it delidded on water.

Haaaaaa!....too funny... (but seriously, is Oz legislating how cpu's are cooled?...)

New build time. Putting together the parts for a new workstation build. 3D modeling, rendering and post production, as well as drafting in autocad. Max, sketchup, Vray for both, corona. Plus all the usual arch viz programs. Also getting into UE4, and testing some other VR/real-time solutions.(gpu intensive) Some of the picks are kind of arbitrary, been changing it up daily. Would love to hear some feedback. Until Intel's 10nm ships or the new Ryzen is released and really knocks my socks off, I'm solid on the 8700k. Need to have this built in the next month, so don't have time to wait for the next best thing...(or for gpu/ram prices to drop...) I want high single thread speed, good overclockability and intel stability. Looking into more cloud-based rendering options for larger projects, if not building another render node, so the 8700k's mult-thread is great for my rendering needs on this WS. Still a small debate in my head of going with a I9/I7x for the xtra PCI lanes and other HEDT advantages...but the 8700k is just giving so much bang for the buck. I'm not sure the PCI lanes bottleneck the GPU's for 3D work anyway... Any thoughts? I've been working comfortably with 32gb of ram(for the most part.....definitely needing a little more), so maxing out at 64GBs should be fine for my purposes over the next few years. Although I have a water cooler spec'd at the moment, I will most likely put in a Noctua D-15.....not a fan of having water inside my workstation. But wishing I could because they look so damn cool. Going with the Asus X Hero mainly because its the only z370 with more than 2 usb ports! (only a slight exaggeration...) Also want to set up for the best overclock I can on air... Cheers! GD https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Burlynomad/saved/bkQsJx PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/WNdVnH Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/WNdVnH/by_merchant/ CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($338.99 @ Amazon) CPU Cooler: Corsair - H150i PRO 47.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($169.99 @ Amazon) Motherboard: Asus - ROG MAXIMUS X HERO (WI-FI AC) ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($254.99 @ Amazon) Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 64GB (4 x 16GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($663.49 @ Adorama) Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Samsung) Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($199.99 @ B&H) Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB SC2 Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($1199.99 @ Newegg Marketplace) Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB SC2 Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($1199.99 @ Newegg Marketplace) Case: Fractal Design - Define R6 Gunmetal TG ATX Mid Tower Case ($164.98 @ Newegg) Power Supply: Corsair - 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($229.99 @ Amazon) Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit ($129.99 @ My Choice Software) Case Fan: Fractal Design - X2 GP-14 (Black) 68.4 CFM 140mm Fan ($14.38 @ OutletPC) Case Fan: Fractal Design - X2 GP-14 (Black) 68.4 CFM 140mm Fan ($14.38 @ OutletPC) Case Fan: Fractal Design - X2 GP-14 (Black) 68.4 CFM 140mm Fan ($14.38 @ OutletPC) Monitor: BenQ - PD3200Q 32.0" 2560x1440 60Hz Monitor ($461.00 @ Amazon) Monitor: BenQ - PD3200Q 32.0" 2560x1440 60Hz Monitor ($461.00 @ Amazon) Keyboard: Corsair - K70 LUX RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard ($159.99 @ Corsair) Mouse: Logitech - G602 Wireless Optical Mouse ($38.00 @ Amazon) Other: Loctek D7L Heavy Duty Gas Spring Swing Monitor Arm Desk Stand Monitor Mount Fits for 10"-34" Monitor Weighting 13.2-33 lbs ($139.99 @ Amazon) Other: Loctek D7L Heavy Duty Gas Spring Swing Monitor Arm Desk Stand Monitor Mount Fits for 10"-34" Monitor Weighting 13.2-33 lbs ($139.99 @ Amazon) Other: 3Dconnexion SpaceMouse Wireless 3D Mouse 2.4GHz via Micro-USB (3DX-700043) ($121.00 @ Amazon) Total: $6216.49 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-03-03 22:47 EST-0500

Hey yall, Ready to build a new rig based on a Ryzen 1700. Would like to hear how your builds have gone using various AM4 motherboards. I'm shooting for 32GB(2x16) as close to 3200 as I can get and of course want to get the highest OC I can out of the 1700. I've been looking at the +/-$150 x370 boards. Trying to figure out highest overclocker and compatible 32GB(2x16) RAM.....with least amount of RMA's. Main use of build is as render node for vray & corona. If it turns out to be a real screamer, I may use as workstation and turn current workstation into node(5820k)....in that case I'll be using 2 GPU's, a GTX 770 & 1070. Will aslo plan on adding a M.2 drives in the future. Not interested in hear-say...would really love to hear from people with actual experience with their own builds. Trying to get my choices all lined up for black friday sales. Thanks yall!

In Vray global settings, disable or uncheck displacement and then try to render....most likely using displacement map in a material and it is taking 'forever' to calculate light cache. It looks like you are using older vray....trying to remember where the setting where off top of my head. (You should alwasys state what version you are using when asking for help.) You'll need to track down the material using displacement and disable displacement. Try just using bump instead. If you're trying to render grass using displacement - don't. It won't work in sketchup/vray like it does in Max.....sketchup/vray doesnt handle large amounts of displacement well. Try using the Skatter extension or just add grass in post-production. Also look into upgrading to vray 3.4. The drastically improved parsing times make using skatter with larger amounts of geometry much more achievable. (seconds compared to many many minutes / hours)