Software Expansion/Upgrades -

[MarcellusW]

All,

 

I would like suggestions on complete programs or plugins, model packs for arch rendering. We have a significant budget to improve our workflow.

 

I have:

3ds max

sketchup

Forest Pack Pro

Corona

xfrog trees/plants

 

I am suggesting for upgrade:

 

Vray (if nothing else to convert materials to Corona)

Vizpark Plants Collection

Railclone

 

Any thoughts? Would be most interested in 3ds max plugins that save on modeling time/ simplification.

 

Cheers!

[Amen]

How about Laubwerk plants? Deadline as a render manager? Nvidia GTX 1070 or 1080 for gpu rendering (I know, it is not software but it speeds up previews). RailClone is very nice, but it takes time to master it. Lumion is an option if you can use it for projects? Project Manager for asset management and relinking of missing links - I like it a lot.

[MarcellusW]

Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately, I will not be able to upgrade the hardware. Hadn't thought about Project Manager, that's a good one. About Lumion, is it that better to have over Unreal Engine? Just seems pricey for what it does (I haven't tried it, just looking at the site).

[Amen]

It is expensive as it is easy to use. Unreal is the other way around free (+more powerful), but it has a lot bigger learning curve.

I like Lumion because it is very stable and easy to learn. I do not like Lumions upgrade policy. Each year you have to 1k $ for the newest version.

[John Dollus]

About Lumion, is it that better to have over Unreal Engine? Just seems pricey for what it does .

 

You are paying for the simplicity. Unreal is free so architects love it but it is expensive to absorb the training cost and it's very difficult to keep proficient Unreal developers on staff when they can easily double their income by switching to another field.

[Scott Schroeder]

Then the architects find out what the modeling overhead cost is to put their Revit models in Unreal. Then it collects dust. Lumion for the most part circumvents the overhead in needing to prep a 3d model. So yes, while Unreal is free, it is most certainly not free to create assets to go into that. Lumion is expensive upfront but you have a drastically reduced modeling overhead in getting your scene into the engine.

[Jose Negrete]

Marcellus,

 

I recently got this script which saves a lot of time converting materials:

 

http://www.3dstudio.nl/webshop/product/1-universal-material-converter

 

Vray (if nothing else to convert materials to Corona)...

 

I agree with the Lumion comments. There is much less setup. Just keep in mind the animation limitations with imported geometry - only scale, rotation and movement is compatible.

 

https://forum.lumion3d.com/index.php?action=kb

Edited May 11, 2016 by acad-gatsu
added Lumion comment

[MarcellusW]

Yes, the Universal Material Converter looked promising, however, you still need Vray installed in order to convert Vray materials to another render engine, otherwise the script wont work. Alas, I am still stuck buying Vray to convert materials.

[MarcellusW]

...it's very difficult to keep proficient Unreal developers on staff when they can easily double their income by switching to another field.

 

Tell me, did this doubled income involve 6 figures and benefits to boot, and NOT living in California? Perhaps likewise I need to 1up my field.

[Jose Negrete]

It works (*so far) with only a Vray demo installed. Here's an excerpt from the documentation:

 

"To convert to or from V-Ray or Corona, you will need to have either of those renderengines

installed. At least as demo version."

[MarcellusW]

For this very script, I emailed Vray about a year ago on what they thought(you'd be surprised how often people change their minds when you just ask) about using their demo version which states...

 

"Not to be used for commercial purposes"

 

...if I used it to have the right .dll file so that I could covert materials ... for commercial purposes. This is the answer I recieved:

 

 

"..."

[John Dollus]

Tell me, did this doubled income involve 6 figures and benefits to boot, and NOT living in California? Perhaps likewise I need to 1up my field.

 

yep. come to Texas. Seems like everyone from California is....

[John Dollus]

There is much less setup. Just keep in mind the animation limitations with imported geometry - only scale, rotation and movement is compatible.

 

I view Lumion animations as a bit of a plague upon our industry. We often get them forwarded to us by management wanting exactly what they see except with realistic people moving more naturally and their own specific vegetation blowing in the breeze and, of course, reflective materials 'turned up a notch' all for the same time/money.

Um, yeah, good luck with that. Lumion is great at what it does but what it does is operate within a very small arena.

[beestee]

I view Lumion animations as a bit of a plague upon our industry.

 

I can sympathize with this to an extent. I felt the same way about RPC content when it was in its prime, it was overused and the quality of visuals produced by using it was less than stellar in most cases. But it was popular for a reason, and I can't fault ArchVision for that.

 

What resources do you think Disney Imagineers have at their disposal to do animations and rendering...and yet they would choose to use Lumion:

 

 

What alternative have you offered to management? I would be interested to hear because I am not aware of any superior alternatives that would allow these further levels of immersion in design in short timeframes and smaller budgets. As far as I see it the only alternatives are to offer not do it or to blow out timeframes and budgets. I use Lumion for a number of our projects, but I also use Max and Corona for probably an equal number. Lumion is just another tool to me, a tool that affords me offer far more flexibility than I can without it.

 

There are many levels of quality below what Lumion can produce, and not just limiting criteria to animations but also considering stills.

 

I don't view a plague of desire for animations as something bad for the industry, animations have been too costly to be accessible for all but the biggest budget projects and highest profile studios for the better part of the last decade. This increase in demand has pushed developers to produce better tools to meet those demands, Act3d just happens to be a top player in that game for the moment, but you can be sure that they are not the only ones.