Mental ray is good?

[ihabkal]

Friends,

If you have ever done a good architectural rendering with Mental ray/max please post the best one you have here? Let's see at least 20 participants who would prove to me that Mental Ray is a good solution for arch. renderings. At this time I think it's not even worth trying it....preparation and rendering time would help too. If you are a mental ray user, defend it!

thanks,

Ihab

[maranello55]

Hi ihabkal,

 

I think Mental Ray is a good renderer...but you have to look at your own idea of how your illustration should be like and time available.

 

Mental Ray, if been used correctly, can result in a highly accurate rendering in terms of light assesment and such, but of course at the cost of time. Usually being used for industrial design purposes to simulate certain product. (I've seen some)

 

Besides that i think there is a lot of 'intuitive' renderer out there such as Vray for example which can be tweaked to fit your own quality and time constraints.

[voltaire_ira]

well, here are some

 

http://md8solutions.com/voltaire/submit1.jpg

http://md8solutions.com/voltaire/cheri1.jpg

http://md8solutions.com/voltaire/cheri2.jpg

http://md8solutions.com/voltaire/cheri3.jpg

http://md8solutions.com/voltaire/gofa_final.jpg

[noi-pi]

MAX 6 + MentalRay renders.

 

 

 

 

Last image is still a WIP.

 

Man I love this renderer!!!

[Msamir]

Nice images Herminio,i like the 3rd one.

[izrut]

Last regards to mr 3.3...VIVA mr 3.4

 

 

 

[izrut]

 

[Hao La]

Im with MR (^_^)

 

@izrut : would you share your scene with its settings ? it's pretty good

[joske]

Mental ray can be as fast as any other renderer out there

if you have time issues with mental ray, mostly it is because you are using it the wrong way...

seriously... it is ! : but that does not mean it is the easiest renderer out there.

so that might explain why most people still think it is a slow renderer, but used in the most optimal way, you have one of the fastest renderers out there.

I know some people right now are going : "yeah right, in your dreams pall", but those people never really tried mental ray in the most optimal way, or never bothered to really try.

i'm not saying they should, that's for them to decide, but if the did : they would know better...

 

here are some of my mental ray renders, you can see some more on my websites :

http://www.minedfield.be

http://www.tecton.be

 

 

 

 

 

edit :

all renders are originally made between 3000-4500 pixels wide

rendertimes are between 3-6 hours (for example the rocking chair takes longer because of the depth of field effect)

render pc pentium 4 3Gh HT 521 ram

[jvlive]

great renders. but as ihabkal asked: prep and render time?

[padre.ayuso]

I use MR as well. Render times for scenes made HDTV at 3000_ 1/16? Generally about 2 1/2 hours. Prep time (including Test Renders)? About 30 minutes or longer depending on the scene. When I started it took forever to get one done, but once you get used to the different things and know what they do, easy going, really easy. Not to say that VRay is better or worse, I have not tried it. But, to say that MR is not worth even trying is going a bit overboards I'd say. If you know how to use it, you can get very photorealistic renderings in low time.

[jinsley]

Friends,

If you have ever done a good architectural rendering with Mental ray/max please post the best one you have here? Let's see at least 20 participants who would prove to me that Mental Ray is a good solution for arch. renderings. At this time I think it's not even worth trying it....preparation and rendering time would help too. If you are a mental ray user, defend it!

thanks,

Ihab

 

Maybe I miss-understand the post and I don't mean to sound too harsh. If you have already dismissed MR, then don't try it. I like mental ray, some other guy will be leaps and bounds ahead of me using VRay... and then some other dude will both make us both look like we scribble with crayons between our toes using Lightwave.

 

To base what you think you could do on other peoples renders is fine, but to dismiss it before trying it in a production environment is silly. Use VRay, Maxwell, Lightwave, whatever works best for you. Many, many digital artists use Mental Ray... many use Vray, etc... I have seen some amazing renders on cga's forums done with Fryrender... it has taken me a lot of time to figure out mental ray and to develop my current work flow which is still changing.

 

Google is your friend, take a look at this site even, go to evermotion. Go to the Mental Images site and look at their showcase.

 

My office just bought a D300 for us to use for marketing images... I have little idea how to use the thing... to dismiss it and say the the camera isn't worth trying is ridiculous before I have read the manual, scoped out the internet, and worked with it through a project or two.

 

Anyways. I think producing exceptional architectural illustration comes down to an individuals artistic skills more than which render engine they are using. I also think it is time that people stop getting hung up on which render engine is "best" and start focusing on the work they are producing and what they can do to develop their skills farther. The render engine doesn't make art for you, its a tool you use to make art.

[mattclinch]

2005...

[padre.ayuso]

Anyways. I think producing exceptional architectural illustration comes down to an individuals artistic skills more than which render engine they are using. I also think it is time that people stop getting hung up on which render engine is "best" and start focusing on the work they are producing and what they can do to develop their skills farther. The render engine doesn't make art for you, its a tool you use to make art.

 

I agree wholeheartedly with you on this one. Let's create some awesome renderings, regardless of what we use!

[Frosty]

to dismiss it and say the the camera isn't worth trying is ridiculous

 

Well put. The team I was on for the Smithsonian Museum comp used mental ray for most of the perspectives - a $500mil building. I don't know how to use it, but I sure was impressed with the results. As in any project however, it wasn't the only tool in the kit. We also used FormZ, AutoCad, Rhino, Cinema 4D, SketchUp and VRay.