Alternative renderers to Mental Ray

[pixelmonk]

Hey there,
I recently changed from 3dsmax to Maya. If I'm honest I can't figure out how to create some realistic renderings in Mental Ray. Everything's so different and complicated and nothing looks that nice as it does for example in Vray / Final Render 2.

Does anybody know something about the release dates of those two renderers? Both are being developed as a Maya integrated renderer. Or can anybody recommend any good websites, books or dvds related to Maya Rendering / Shading / Lighting?

Kind regards,
Luka

look in this forum for examples of MR stuff people have done. There's even a thread on Vray. While Vray is good... ehh... can be done in MR.

[Lamster]

Honestly, mental ray is akin to a wild stallion. You need to go rodeo on it before it acknowledges you as master. However, once you learn it, it's superb. Of course VRay and Final Render are kickass and since you're used to them, you probably are able to pull out what you need from them. However I encourage you not to shy away from learning Mental Ray. Learning how to use it can only add to your skillset, not detract from it :)

Take your time to learn it man. I still am learning it, and I have been able to put out some work that I can say that I'm quite happy with. I must say that more than anything, the process of learning how to tame this wild beast has been most wonderful itself. This forum is an invaluable resource of course. I suggest you start with the FG for beginners thread by Joszvex. If you need more, there's always paolo berto's trix r 4 kids writeup on the various aspects of mental ray.

Do a search on the threads started by joszvex in cgtalk and google paolo berto to get those resources. That is, IF you want to start down the dark path :twisted: <insert evil laughter>

And of course, if you wish to tackle that dragon of a thread called VRay Like Renders in Mental Ray, it is THE one that will help you out the most. A little hint, most of the good stuff comes in at around pg 30+ if you use 15 posts per page.

Terence

[thev2]

look in this forum for examples of MR stuff people have done. There's even a thread on Vray. While Vray is good... ehh... can be done in MR.Then again, anything can be done in photoshop too ;-)

[LukaStellwag]

Thanks for this great answers. I'm going to get familiar with Mental Ray, but does anybody know something about the release dates of Vray / Final Render 2 for Maya?

Kind regards,
Luka

[dagon1978]

Then again, anything can be done in photoshop too ;-)

vlado, i wonder why you're pricking here... you know, something can be done in mental ray and not in vray... so, why dont you talk us about the siggraph and the imminent vray 1.5 instead of photoshop? ;)


Thanks for this great answers. I'm going to get familiar with Mental Ray, but does anybody know something about the release dates of Vray / Final Render 2 for Maya?

Kind regards,
Luka

you can ask to vlado here (or thev2), he's a vray programmer, but he prefer to talk about photoshop, i see

[floze]

you can ask to vlado here (or thev2), he's a vray programmer, but he prefer to talk about photoshop, i see
Why use photoshop when there's windows paint? :cool:

[dagon1978]

Why use photoshop when there's windows paint? :cool:

why use paint when u can use your hands :D
http://www.kurtwenner.com/street/
http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/pave.htm

[thev2]

vlado, i wonder why you're pricking here...<shrug>There is no particular reason - I suppose I just couldn't help it... that thread (V-Ray like interiors with mental ray) has always seemed a little funny to me, considering the lengths people have to go to to get a good result...you know, something can be done in mental ray and not in vrayAnd some things can be done in V-Ray but not in mental ray, yes, I know...
so, why dont you talk us about the siggraph and the imminent vray 1.5 instead of photoshop? ;)Come to siggraph and I will :-)

[dagon1978]

<shrug>There is no particular reason - I suppose I just couldn't help it... that thread (V-Ray like interiors with mental ray) has always seemed a little funny to me, considering the lengths people have to go to to get a good result...
really? probably you forget the same threads 3 years ago "goncalo like interior renderings with vray" or "russian techniques" or "alex knost interior redenderings" or "Saluto interior renderings" or "Vergefio..." ecc ecc ecc
so, what's your point? yeah, vray had a great gap in this years... but it's losing this gap years by years... and now you can get exactly the same results with mental ray... it's a matter of experience ;)


And some things can be done in V-Ray but not in mental ray, yes, I know...

something like...?


Come to siggraph and I will :-)
yeah, like 2 years ago? or like 1 year ago? i can say, i'm waiting vray4maya for more then 2 years, more then just a promise... but probably after this siggraph we dont need vray anymore ;)

[LukaStellwag]

Hey there,
I didn't want to start a Vray vs. Mental Ray discussion ... I just asked whether someone knows something about some alternatives to mental ray. Thanks for the links and suggestions you all made, I'm going to learn more about Mental Ray in the meantime until Vray / Final Render 2 comes out.

Well I actually think I'm not going to the Siggraph, it's clearly too far away.

[floze]

Hey there,
I didn't want to start a Vray vs. Mental Ray discussion ... I just asked whether someone knows something about some alternatives to mental ray. Thanks for the links and suggestions you all made, I'm going to learn more about Mental Ray in the meantime until Vray / Final Render 2 comes out.

Well I actually think I'm not going to the Siggraph, it's clearly too far away.
Dont forget to try maxwell, they have a fair demo version of their renderer too:

http://www.maxwellrender.com/

[Pixero]

There is also Turtle renderer. http://www.illuminatelabs.com/

[thev2]

yeah, like 2 years ago? or like 1 year ago? i can say, i'm waiting vray4maya for more then 2 years, more then just a promise... but probably after this siggraph we dont need vray anymore ;)I can probably get you a beta build of V-Ray for Maya if you email me at vlado@chaosgroup.com; other than that, it is inevitable that there will come a time when all renderers give you the same rendering results for more or less similar speeds - similar to how any make of car does the basic job of transporting you from one place to another. It does not mean that there is only one brand of car though... I hope that V-Ray will be around for long, but even if it is not - life is not only about rendering.

@Littleluk: I'm sorry for diverting your thread.

[slipknot66]

Why not post a beta version of v-ray for maya here, so others can test it too?!

[thev2]

Why not post a beta version of v-ray for maya here, so others can test it too?!I cannot do that here, obviously, but it will be placed on our site. If you would like to take a look before this happens, feel free to email me.

[cpan]

Why not post a beta version of v-ray for maya here, so others can test it too?!

:scream::scream::scream:!!
:D


I cannot do that here, obviously, but it will be placed on our site. If you would like to take a look before this happens, feel free to email me.

ehe too fast for me :D
mail to be sent :)

[dagon1978]

I can probably get you a beta build of V-Ray for Maya if you email me at vlado@chaosgroup.com; other than that, it is inevitable that there will come a time when all renderers give you the same rendering results for more or less similar speeds - similar to how any make of car does the basic job of transporting you from one place to another. It does not mean that there is only one brand of car though... I hope that V-Ray will be around for long, but even if it is not - life is not only about rendering.

@Littleluk: I'm sorry for diverting your thread.

i hope to see vray/brazil/fR/ecc for maya soon, competition can help to make things better and faster
u have my mail now ;)

ciau

mat

[revilo3D]

Ive been using MR for a few years now, and basically whenever i couldnt get results, it was because of my lack of understanding of a render engine - not mental ray. Its all there - just perhaps not so flashy and intuitively(sp?) labelled. Learning mental ray will help you learn to core functions of a renderer - how it thinks, breathes, acts - hence you will then be able to tame it, as well as any other renderer to an extent.

The problem these days is people hit all the make purty buttons and dont actually know what they are exactly telling the computer to do, so they become dependant on that system - rather than being able to recreate the same look without advanced renderers or know what to look for in other engines :)

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