MikeKane Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 The company I work for understandably feel that the investment in V-Ray is unwarranted, saying "Max does everything V-Ray does already, because Mental Ray is now built into it". I haven't got to grips with either piece of software, but Mental Ray seems devilishly tedious to work with, and V-Ray appears to becoming a widely favoured solution. I've heard V-Ray also handles large datasets (typical in architecture) more effectively. I'd be interested to hear what received wisdom is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jophus14 Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 I know exactly where you are coming from. I work with VIZ at work and 3D Max/Vray at home. I cannot get the concept of Mental Ray for the life of me (VIZ doesn't have a skylight option either) and I'm still a noob to Vray. I do prefer Vray for the quick setup results and the render times, but I will not be able to work on a project at my job then take it home and finish it due to the difference in software. I don't want to sit at work for 9 hours and then get home and work some more for no pay only to get better image results. I think we are in the same boat somewhat and i am also interested in what people have to say about the subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesTaylor Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 i've never used Mental Ray properley but did have a play a while back about the same time i picked up and started using vray. At this point i was very much a beginner and really struggled to get MR to render anything but a blank screen! On the other hand a picked up vray and was away in minutes! it seemed much more straight forward and user friendly, almost an out of the box solution no major tweaking of settings needed. (if you want to there is plenty to adjust, but its not normally required). From what i have learnt / read since vray is much easier to get to grips with and quicker at producing renders, there is a wealth of knowledge available on the web and it is quickly becoming as close to the industry standard as is possible considering all the options we have available. I may be wrong but i think if you were to push both engines to their absolute limit then i would guess MR may be the better of the 2, but since this doesn't ever happen my vote definately goes with Vray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Tizard Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 Hi, I agree with James...........I also use Viz and struggled with mental ray before trying the free version of Vray. I showed the boss the comparison of what I could acheive with both products on day one and as the learning curve seems so steep with Mental Ray it was a bit of a no brainer......!! £450 ish for Vray and good results in a couple of days OR weeks of struggling to get a result from Mental Ray at my chargable hourly rate........!! I know myself how difficult it can be sometimes to get the man with the cash to see further than the end of his cheque book!!!! Hope this helps.......!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeKane Posted March 24, 2006 Author Share Posted March 24, 2006 Thank you all for your input, there seems to be a consensus developing. Did Autodesk back the wrong horse? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notamondayfan Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 you could also put accross the issue of training, and time spent teaching your self MR. and also the render time comparison, which at the end of the day would end up saving the company loads in the long term. have u tried vray free at work? that would b ideal for quick renders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jophus14 Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 Are there any classes that are out there for the proper learning of Vray rather then trial & error? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawyer Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 Chris Nichols dvds are really must haves for any GI work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jophus14 Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 They are great DVDs, but they are only for Vray. I own both of them and he makes it easy to understand what he is doing and why he is doing it. His render times are ridiclously low compared to mine though (his=43sec. Mine=3hrs) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psv1 Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 mental ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 Autodesk didn't back the wrong horse - when they made the decision, mental ray was already well established, and it's the software to beat in the entertainment industry. It's also incredibly powerful in the hands of people who know it well enough - but generally in design vis you don't need everything it has. You can argue for Vray - the business benefit is probably going to be in terms of time saved, which will end up being worth more than the cost of the software. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Nichols Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 They are great DVDs, but they are only for Vray. I own both of them and he makes it easy to understand what he is doing and why he is doing it. His render times are ridiclously low compared to mine though (his=43sec. Mine=3hrs) HAH.... and my computer is really old too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Nichols Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 Autodesk didn't back the wrong horse - when they made the decision, mental ray was already well established, and it's the software to beat in the entertainment industry. It's also incredibly powerful in the hands of people who know it well enough - but generally in design vis you don't need everything it has. You can argue for Vray - the business benefit is probably going to be in terms of time saved, which will end up being worth more than the cost of the software. MR is a great piece of software and should not be ignored... many amazing things have been done with MentalRay including all the Matrix movies and any other movie that has a slightly different look (city of lost children, the cell, panic room, fight club,...) MR can also handle massives amount of geometry if you are clever with it.... think the 1000s of centinals coming into zion... Vray has other strenghts, including (IMHO a much faster raytracer) and an interface that is designed to help both noobies and experts. Experts wish there were more such as a shading language and a standalone version which MR does offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkblue_wire Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 never waste your time thiking go to v-ray directly best regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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