bionatics and onyx

[neko]

i am considering purchasing one of the two products and i would appreciate any feedback on the subject.

 

the things i like about bionatics are the way it integrates to VIZ/MAX. i like the ability to alter the trees using the concept of 'seeds'. the plug-in (easynat) is easy to use, but it is unfortunate that the animation and advanced tools come with another expensive plug-in (natFX). the price is fairly high, but the quality seems to be worth it. i would like to see more trees in the library though.

 

onyx appeals to me because of the price, the number of trees available and the features for modifying and animating the plants. what i don't like is that i have to import the trees to VIZ through their application. without a demo, it is hard to say how much effort that involves - what if i want to dynamically change the size, colour or age of the tree ? the quality and quantity of the plants seems good though.

 

it seems to be a hard choice to make ? i look forward to any suggestions / opinions.

 

thanks

[BrianKitts]

there was a thread on this not too long ago..... hope you're up for a little reading!

 

http://www.cgarchitect.com/vb/6326-trying-out-plant-plugins.html

[sedus69]

We have both Bionatics and Onyx at works.

 

We start with Onyx because It is very powerfull, not so hard to manipulate but Interface looks like and Good old 3D Studio 3 For DOS. Plants can be very realistics.

 

 

We get Bionatics after a meeting at Imagina 2005, very good Software, Easy to use just select your "seeds", the plant you want, its age, the season you want it and You have It.

The only problem is the price... 850€ for lisence + 50-60 € a plant.

 

Onyx is far less expensive!!!

 

the overall quality is the same. After a little Tweaking for Vray.

 

Hope it helps.

[neko]

thanks brian - i did read that thread before and it was very helpful.

 

i suppose i was trying to narrow it down to a debate over just the two. i have my own reasons for not including speedtree or xfrog (one being the fact i am an instructor and looking for academic pricing, which i only found with the two mentioned).

 

i want to be able to use the software in a classroom. bionatics seems more appropriate for this since it now comes with VIZ pre-loaded.