is finalRender stage-1 worth the 150$ upgrade

[TheArch]

My firm has a copy of Stage-0 and I am more often than not frustrated by its lack of speed and finickey settings. If I need quick architectural mass studies with som GI I have resorted to just using the Advanced Lighting Light-Tracer in Max.

 

I am not interested in a flame war but I WOULD like to know if I shold just get Stage-1 ordered or not.

 

So my questions are: Is stage-1 FASTER and is Stage-1 EASIER?

[Diego Rosales]

It really depends on your needs:

 

Is it better?

 

Absolutely. Although we just received our copy last week and cannot give you an in-depth opinion, what IS evident at first hand, is that it's much easier, intuitive and faster. As with any tool, takes some time to get a good idea of what each setting does and how to optimize things. It's bundled with lots of features and cool toys.

 

Is it good for YOU?

 

From what you said, I don't think so. If you only want to do massing studies without fancy materials or esoteric effects, get Vray Free and you'll be way ahead of the light tracer.

You won't have the whole array of tools at your disposal (that you wouldn't use anyway), but you'll have more than enough to do "quick GI renders".

And you're also saving money.

 

Hope this helps.

 

/Diego

[TheArch]

thanks alot for your quick reply!

 

one question though:

does the free version of vRay give you any watermarking or other "go buy the retail version" effects?

 

I will also have to read the EULA to be sure it can be used for corperate (commercial) use.

[Diego Rosales]

Happy to help.

 

You got me with that question. I don't know. We have Vray demo and it does watermark the images. I understand the FREE version doesn't. Just try it and see.

Whether it can be used for commercial use or not, the answer should be easy. Download the file and read the EULA. It should be specified there.

 

/Diego

[TheArch]

after review of the EULA it makes no mention of using the software for commercial purposes . . I just can't sell it to anyone. . .but if they want to buy free software . . .I have a bridge to sell them!

[kunstraum.tv]

150$ for an upgrade to stage1 sounds fair. stage1 ist much much better and faster than stage0, there´s no question. and that for 150$. and don´t forget that you are used to work with fR. vray free is nice but for commercial work not the right tool. for my own i love vray advanced and for arch. stuff it´s the best renderer i can imagine. but the question is, do you really want to learn a new renderer when you can get stage 1 for 150$ ? i don´t like cebas and i don´t like fR, but i have to admit that stage 1 is quit a very good tool.

[TheArch]

thanks for the added input. That is a good point about learning new software packages. However, I will take a look at vray free anyway if it works for our process I might just abandon fR all together.

[bigcahunak]

I would second kunstraum.tv about all he said.

you already have the tool, you worked with it and you probably have files done with it, which only gives another voteto upgrading.

However if you do decide to switch to VRay - I think that they have special price sale for stage 0 owners. Go check their forum.

[KiboOst]

Hi, here are some in-depth articles about Stage1 :http://www.kicrea.com/articles/index_us.php3

 

Hope helpfull

 

Kib

[Christopher Nichols]

Interesting article. But I wonder about something. How does Disney use finalRender in production? And if they do, how are they using it in Linux? Has finalRender been written as a standalone rendering engine? That would seem to be the only way that they can use it... MAX does not work on Linux...

Generally most big studios don't talk about what tools they are using unless they want a break in the price. Disney has a lot of money, and gets very upset if they name is used without permission.

[schmoron13]

in terms of vray free, it's totally worth the money for what you are doing. I use it all the time for an earthquake engineering non-profit, and though it lacks some of the cool features of its more expensive brothers, you can't go wrong with it for what you're doing. THere's NO watermarks, and it kills max's scanline renderer for nice outputs...just remember to turn off any advanced lighting in the scene before turning on the environment override

[David Arbogast]

finalRender Stage 1 is great! If you've already purchased Stage 0, then your investment would be strengthened by upgrading.

 

My summary of Stage 1:

1. GI calculation speed is improved by a factor of 10. This is the best thing about Stage 1. Unlike Stage 0 which forced you to guess at the sample point distribution, Stage 1 introduced an absolute units method of determining sample points. So, for example, instead of having 350 scene relative sample point distribution in Stage 0, you can now specify a more meaningful absolute 1'-0" distribution. Also Stage 0 was infamous for absolutely horrible GI artifacts, but Stage 1 is real smooth.

 

2. Unlike Stage 0, Stage 1 is a standalone renderer, so Cebas has had to create their own AA engine. It's way too slow and Cebas recognizes this and is working to fix it. The slow AA is not an App killer though.

 

3. There are three new Stage 1 material types included. The included glass and metal material types take the guesswork out of creating good glass and metal. The "advanced_fr" material type is a very sophisticated and intelligently organized material type I've seen.

 

Right now you probably aren't using Stage 0, which you've already purchased. If you spend a little more now to upgrade, you'll get use out of that initial investment. I agree that the painfully slow artifact ridden Stage 0 wasn't very useful in the arch. viz. production environment, but Stage 1 is! So, I think you and all Stage 0 owners, should definitely upgrade.

[TheArch]

I have already put in the coporate request to purchase the upgrade. HOPEFULLY the cogs in our software ordering machine have started turning and Stage-1 will get here soon.