I like a lot of things about KeyShot - however, I’d like to know what you-all might consider the closest competitor?
I like Mawell Render - however it is slow - I’m doing product rendering - small things - a lot of the other ones I tried seem clunky - or not very intuitive. Any suggestions?
I asked myself this question almost a year ago as I was also considering KeyShot. It’s probably the best renderer I’ve tried that gets good looking results quickly and easily. In the end though I decided to buy Modo for a similar cost (it’s priced in-between KeyShot & KeyShot Pro). As well as a good renderer I also got a full sub-D modeller plus animation. Exporting from Rhino is not too complicated, and once you get the hang of Modo’s renderer you can get some really nice results. If I had the money I would probably add KeyShot to my collection as I do really like it, but I’m getting along fine with Modo and it also gives me other options apart from just rendering.
Alan.
I’d prefer Arion for Rhino,it deliver the same results as maxwell dose,but it’s fast.and fully integrated into rhino’s interface.
I’ll check it out right now! Thank you!
I would have a look to OctaneRender a fully unbiased realtime rendering engine and, of course, at V-Ray, today an industry standard.
Still leaning towards KeyShot for the simplicity - seems easy to use - to learn - … taking a closer look at your suggestions… thank you all.
I recommend V-Ray for several reasons: (1) higher quality renderings (2) more control and (3) complete PLUG-IN integration.
I have used other renderers and they slow me down unless they are a true-plug in. Keyshot exports a mesh and sends it to their external app. Change your file? Re-export again. Repeat, repeat, etc.
V-Ray is totally integrated INSIDE of Rhino. When I first switched, I was getting proiects completed 2x to 3x faster.
Bear in mind I’ve never rendered with any other software from Rhino, but I love Maxwell Render for quality and for using the language/workflow of photography and light physics, rather than computer science. For me, it is so intuitive and logical from an artist’s perspective. Sometimes renderings do take a while, but it is so enjoyable to work with and experiment with that the little extra processing time it takes does not bother me.
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OK OK OK - got it. This is the way I see it: I am an artist and photographer - MAXWELL RENDER is #1 on my list - even though it may be slow - there are ways to work around that - with pre-renders - and also by investing in machines that render FAST, which means more investment - but worth it. Also tied with Maxwell is KEYSHOT because its EASY and FAST - however you sacrifice QUALITY and its $100 more expensive. Its a trade off - quality or speed? Well, for $100 less, I’ll let my wallet dictate which one wins. At this time - its Maxwell, which is $100 less than Keyshot - and I will simply do more PREVIEWS faster - and do my rendering while I sleep. You can get KeyShot for $895 with a coupon, and Maxwell for $775. Any feedback on that?
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Do you need interactivity of keyshot? or just final render shot.- or both.
gpu or cpu?
Arion- keep in mind if you are going to do large file renders it will fail.
- if you use blocks its okay, but a 250mb mesh file loaded will balloon 4x to 1gb on the gpu.
http://www.randomcontrol.com/scenes
it is fast though and damn the glass material results are really nice.
arion in rhino is okay…i would not touch the standalone thing…yes clunky.
vray. still king.
note. Corona Renderer is planned for rhino.
I have heard Corona Renderer and Arion are both one man written programs.
but with damn good render results.
Maxwell because quality, Keyshot because speed?
My impression is that Keyshot images are looking greyish like to much Ambient Occlusion use and for interiors it’s also not fast and not easy to use. I used Maxwell 1.0 in the past, but quite quick I jumped to Vray - it give me the Maxwell quality if I need it and the render speed is great. Vray is for me the universal engine No 1 for pro use.
After plinking aroound with Maxwell Render - decided it was too convoluted - too confusing - certainly compared to KeyShot - so now it is KeyShot or Vray! Both are the same price! Then again - I’m in China - and they require SHIPPING a DONGLE - that would be an extra $150 for shipping - so it looks like its KEYSHOT. No dongle!
Jumping in to this conversation. I wonder if anyone is familiar with Flamingo? Isn’t it McNeel’s product? Wouldn’t it make sense to use a rendering product that is actually made by McNeel?
Looking forward to Brazil 3 and Neon in V6. What should we expect?
I have enough dealing with Rhino 5 & T-Splines 3 to mess around with complicated rendering - I’m going for KeyShot when it goes on sale on CyberMonday. Should be able to get it for $700 or so then… thank you for all the feedback everybody!
I always go for the world-class / best of the breed when selecting apps that I use daily and can affect my income. Plus, you didn’t learn Rhino in a day. $100 is simply not a factor when its my career.
Also, you should absolutely include in your pricing the render nodes or networking capabilities. V-Ray lets you install the app on NINE other computers (no core limitation), for no extra cost, unlike others. So, you can get close to 100 cores working on each render. That will beat anyone for both price and speed … and quality.
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I’m curious to see Keyshot interiors. Product shots are quick done in any modern engine, but I would ask me, will I never render interiors?
@Allyson: I bought Flamingo 1.0 some years before but the engine was horrible antic. The jump to Vray and it was a big jump. I don’t trust Flamingo anymore - best look at the render galleries what can be expected and try to render some exterior/interior shots at you machine. Be careful at the galleries and also ask you what is not shown - for example Keyshot doesn’t show good interiors.
Well - uh - I’m doing small product renders - and I need to do them fast. I found that out of the many renderers mentioned here that one stood out from the rest in terms of hitting the ground running - that was KeyShot. All the other renderers you needed a PHD in “Interface Management & Controls Orchestration” to get a result. Yes - sure there are presets - however - the “Keep it Simple” philosophy is dead in “GUI land”. I remember using Maxwell during the beginning BETA and it had few controls and I got worthy results - and of course there existed a client “Wish List” which now - in version 3 - has materialized - say - blossomed into what must look akin to the dashboard of a NASA Space Shuttle. So - if all you want to do is RENDER a simple small product - you have to wade through a forest of buttons and switches ad nausea. So - again - with KeyShot - you open - load - render - simple. You may give up ground (probably) on quality - but what the heck - you gain in productivity. If you can get this for $700-ish on CyberMonday - if its available - at that price - its doable. Although in my opinion theses programs are overpriced and overcomplicated. There should be a descent renderer for $495 out there - that would be KeyShot in my opinion - simple - efficient - although apparently its NOT so well integrated into Rhino - so it has a couple minus’s - That’s my FINAL take on RENDERERS.