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Tanner Shelton

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Posts posted by Tanner Shelton

  1. Very bad for us here as well. Almost all events have cancelled that are in the next two months. We got a notice from our Governor for our state that no events can be held that have more than 100 people (Or more than 20 if there are people in attendance who are at risk). So that hasn't been good.

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  2. @Mitchell (the other one) Looking at the dates of the summit, it isn't until the end of April. And the travel ban is for 30 days, from what I have read, so technically this is outside of the 30 days and should be after what you mentioned about California. But we have seen how fast things are changing, so I doubt those days are anything to go off of.

  3. Check your ambient level setting. I'm not sure why it would have been raised just by importing some trees? The other thing I can think of, was maybe another directional light or point light imported when you imported your trees?

  4. 8 hours ago, line-weight said:

    But surely the response to this should be to make RW faster. Let's hope that the improvements @JuanP mentions will turn out to achieve that.

    Renderworks can only become faster if Cinema 4D decides to make Physical Renderer faster (Physical Renderer is the rendering engine that Vectorworks uses). Currently, it feels like they have abandoned it without any major updates in a long while. Which makes sense since most C4D users use 3rd party rendering engines, and Cinema has pro render now. That is why the talk of implementing another rendering solution, Redshift now, would be so good. Hopefully Redshift integration would become the new Renderworks. As long as there is support for more Graphics Cards that is, as only Nvidia graphics cards is pretty limiting.

    • Like 1
  5. 43 minutes ago, JuanP said:
    • Redshift - We are working on getting Renderworks "REDSHIFT Ready" for the 2021 cycle.  Even though this is not a realtime renderer per se, It is a faster RW rendering.  It will be a quantum leap for Vectorworks built-in rendering.

    Wow! Awesome news! Hopefully that includes support for their PBR textures as well instead of Renderworks textures.

    • Like 4
  6. 17 minutes ago, rDesign said:

    I disagree, I don’t think this is an either / or proposition

    Fair point! I guess it is the same idea as Cinema 4D still having Physical Renderer for use, but also offering Pro Render and then 3rd party renderers. Physical Renderer may be good enough for a portion of the userbase. So no reason to completely remove it, but Cinema is more valuable to a large audience because it offers integration with other render engines and still offers support for Physical Renderer, so you can do more if you need it. So not being pigeonholed into one option, Renderworks or Cinema, but integrating more options like has been discussed in this thread, Renderworks, Cinema, Twinmotion, Lumion, Enscape. So it doesn't all have to be carried on the shoulders of Renderworks alone.

     

    The big problem I see with just adding new render engines as plugins, is the material setup is different if you want to fully use the render engine to its max potential. For example, in Cinema 4D, if you want to use Corona, you have to use Corona materials, which are PBR and have realistic parameters. If you were to render Vectorworks materials in Corona, it would have better lighting and GI, but you wouldn't have the inclusion of proper roughness values, maps, IOR values and such. Without those settings modified properly, textures look really bland and flat. It'll be interesting to see how that is handled.

  7. 7 hours ago, line-weight said:

    Just because the '3d world' (presumably mainly for film, computer gaming etc?) uses lots of programs, doesn't mean that it makes any sense for the architecture/construction world. Many/most architectural practices don't have the resources to have members of staff dedicated to specialised aspects of rendering. In many cases it will be one person doing everything. They don't have the time or brain space to learn multiple programs on top of everything else you have to keep on top of in architectural practice.

     

    Another significant difference is that architectural and construction drawings are effectively contract documents. They need to be very carefully managed for changes and consistency. Flipping things around between programs doesn't just waste time, it increases the scope for errors.

    That makes a lot of sense. This is why I think it would be good to have two options, a real time integration or plugin with something like Twinmotion for those that don't have the resources or time for learning an entire new program, since Twinmotion is mostly drag and drop. And then continue the integration of other 3d programs like Cinema and maybe Blender or 3ds max for those that have the resources and that want to push farther into super realistic Archviz.

     

    The reason I bring up the 3d world is because they are very connected. There are multiple pillars of 3D. Games, Movies, 3d printing, and Architectural Visualization. If you are going for super realistic renders, and have the resources to devote to it, you would definitely want to use various 3d programs, marvelous for creating blankets and pillows, and a 3d package like cinema for it's established connections with various rendering platforms, probably even Substance or Mari to texture and add dirt maps and natural wear. But you are correct that all teams have different needs and can't afford all the bells and whistles, which means Vectorworks either improves Renderworks as a built in solution, or provides a connection to another program like Twinmotion, that will meet the smaller teams needs, or even a team that values speed over realism.

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  8. 29 minutes ago, zoomer said:

    But 3D people can be very focused and specialized, while we are mostly need to do everything.

    It all depends on how big of a team there is. Some studios will have one person just on modeling, and one just on texturing, while another studio may have one on modeling, texturing, rigging, and getting it all setup for rendering. I feel like increasing the compatibility is what is key to let this world use the great things of the 3D world. For example, Unreal Studio creating Datasmith. So I do feel like the potential for change is there.

     

    I think my view on it may be different than most, as my background is the 3D pipeline, and I am learning the planning Vectorworks side of things, where most come from a CAD or drafting background and are incorporating 3D.

  9. Generally speaking, the 3D world is moving towards a more multi-program workflow. Not using multiple programs would be like trying to make an animated movie with just Maya. It's technically possible, but not realistic. It will take much longer and the result won't be passable. For movies, you don't just use Maya, you use Maya for box modeling, ZBrush for high poly sculpting, Marvelous Designer for cloth simulation, Maya for rigging and animation, Mari or Substance for texturing, and then usually Maya for scene setup and then Arnold or another 3rd party renderer for rendering. In 3D, each program finds it's niche, then does a really good job at that one thing. If you try to implement too many things, you either need a giant team to keep it going and improving, or everything will be sub par.

     

    That doesn't mean the Architectural/Event industry is moving that way as well, but I think Vectorworks will need to evolve in some way to be able to compete with the competition. Either with going full into updating 3D to help it compete with other commercially available programs, or implement more 3rd party support for exporting to allow for easier workflows with these programs.

     

    The only Architecture program I have used is Vectorworks, so I would be curious to see how others compare in this regard. Such as Revit.

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  10. @Zeno That is why I think it would be a good idea to allow for two workflows. One that currently works, which is the really high quality version. It will take longer to setup and render, but will give amazing results. That's the Vectorworks -> Cinema 4D -> 3rd party renderer. The second option would be for those that value speed over quality. Which would be Vectorworks -> Twinmotion. Twinmotion looks great, but isn't as photo realistic as it is real time and has to take shortcuts. But speed would be further increased by having a lot of ready made assets and the fact that you won't ever have to wait for a render.

    • Like 1
  11. Currently with my workflow, I don't texture at all in Vectorworks. My only items in the resource browser has been symbols. I also don't light or even try to mess with cameras either. And then I do all lighting, cameras, and texturing in Cinema with Coronas material node editor and Corona lights. This way my Vectorworks file is a lot smaller, and others can work on my layouts without having all of the fluff slowing down their computers.

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  12. I agree with that Mark. I think instead of offering Renderworks, it would be a really good option to focus more on adding in functionality to export to various programs for rendering. Renderworks is so behind in the 3D world. No PBR textures, an old renderer that hasn't been updated in years. Lack of some really powerful modeling tools for more organic models, and no way to handle those in the program well. Currently, I have migrated to Vectorworks for Modeling/plans. Cinema 4D for additional modeling, then using Corona in Cinema 4D to texture with modern PBR textures and render with Corona, which is a super fast CPU renderer. It works really well for me as I am going for realistic looks. I've been thinking a good replacement or alternate to Renderworks would be giving a lot of connection with something like Twinmotion. It is real time, has a ton of assets pre loaded, and it isn't hard to get something that looks good. I think this would be a good mix for most users that aren't fully focused on creating super realistic and styled renders.

    • Like 2
  13. Here is something I deal with on a daily basis. When I am working on a project, I save it in the folder where my other versions of this project are. I like to save a new version every day, to give me a good log of changes and allowing me to go back if needed. But here is where I run into issues. Here is how I organize my folders and a description of the issue below:

     

    Main Folder

    -> Project A

        -> File A Revision 1.vwx

        -> File A Revision 2.vwx

    -> Project B

        -> File B Revision 1.vwx

     

    So I had finished up working on File A for the day, and I save it as a new revision, which is revision 2. Then I open up File B to start working on new updates. Then, when I am finished, I go "File" -> "Save As". Then the location that the save as dialog box opens up, is the Project A folder (or the last place that I had last saved a file in). To me, this doesn't make sense, because I am now working on File B, and I would prefer it to open to the containing folder of the file I am currently working on. So what happens, is I save without checking which folder I am in, and then I have to go and hunt for the file because I don't know where it saved. Example of the issue below:

     

    Main Folder

    -> Project A

        -> File A Revision 1.vwx

        -> File A Revision 2.vwx

        -> File B Revision 2.vwx (The dialog box defaults to the location of the last save instead of the currently open file)

    -> Project B

        -> File B Revision 1.vwx

  14. @Sean@UVS One quick thought, in your Custom Renderworks settings, what is the "Curved Geometry" setting set to? If it is low, try changing it to high. I suggest this as it was working with final quality renderworks and not custom. The other thing I do when this happens, is open a brand new file, copy your drape line to it and paste it in place. Then delete the drape line from your original file, then copy and paste it in place from the new file back into the original file. I've had that fix weird bugs where it wasn't updating all of the geometry when rendering.

  15. I agree, it definitely feels like it needs some optimizing. Working in other programs you can rotate a single mesh object with no issues, but in Vectorworks, that same mesh object will take longer to rotate and I find myself rotating, then waiting, then clicking, then waiting for it to update, then finally it will, then I have to move it so repeat the same process.

  16. I think this is why Vectorworks still goes slow when I am modeling and zooming in and out in open gl and wireframe. I have a 32 core processor, but it is a 3.0ghz. My laptop performs better as it has a faster CPU speed, but less cores. It is a worthwhile trade off since I do need the extra cores for rendering, but it would be awesome if there was an implementation of more cores being utilized in most of the normal work.

  17. No it doesn't need to be rendered to export. Maybe try unchecking lights and cameras and materials when you export or export it in chunks, meaning export only whats on the current layer and put it all together on 3DS Max.

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