Great news, Raytracing now equals Radiosity!!!

[knight42]

Well I can't view the samples as their "javascript:;" links don't do anything :shrug: but I've always thought Radiosity is a different process to Raytracing, which is why it does two passes. Those small pics don't look photorealistic, anyway.

My Hype detector has gone off...

J

[medula]

it all looks Raytraced to me.

It looks pretty yawn to me. ;)

[AdamT]

The images are lame, but Chief is a pretty good low-cost proggie for modeling houses and small building. I played with the demo a few months ago.

[FusionDG]

Originally posted by AdamT
The images are lame, but Chief is a pretty good low-cost proggie for modeling houses and small building.
Well the new release [9.0] is out and I wanted to try it to see how much it improved since 7.0, the seat I have right now. I never went to 8.0 because it had so many stability and predictability problems, but 9.0 is looking tempting.

i use ArchiCAD right now for modeling, but it's residential library is really weak. Plus I like the way Chief Architect handles windows and doors and casing. You can add custom user designed profiles for casing on windows and doors, and the same for base, crown, and chair molding. Plus you can now add custom profiles for rakes and eaves supposedly. I want to try the demo next wek when it comes out and i'll see how it works then.

So if 9.0 fizes alot of things, I may go back to Chief Architect to do plans and for modeling.

paul

[LucentDreams]

Oh man i love markmeting departments. Any app that uses a montecarlo or similar engine uses raytracing qith radiosity. Man are they stupid, when you render in C4D C4D has a scanline raytracing hybrid, which is partially why its so fast. What this means is unlike maz where you have to define in the materials if something is scanline or raytrced, C4D detects if an object needs raytracing and then does it. The GI we have simply adds onto that. glass is still calculated through raytracing in a gi render.

[FusionDG]

Well, I got a speedy response from ART which is really nice. They always were really good about being personally involved with the end users.

Basically ART says that they do use radiosity in their rendering calculations. As proof, he gave me two renderings showing the rendering with and without radiosity. He said that the radiosity pic was at a “medium” quality setting.

I guess the proof is in the pudding:

w/out radiosity:

http://fusiondesigngroup.com/pics/Simple%20Raytrace.jpg

w/radiosity:

http://fusiondesigngroup.com/pics/Raytrace%20with%20Radiosity.jpg

I then showed him a quick 4-minute radiosity rendering in C4D:

http://fusiondesigngroup.com/pics/Radiosity%20C4D.jpg

I replied and said that their CAD software looks promising but tried to kindly tell them that there radiosity engine really doesn’t measure up to industry standards and it still looks like a flat scanline render to me :shrug:

it was kind of them to reply so quickly, and the raytracing feature is a nice upgrade for Chief Architect users.

[AdamT]

Out of curousity, do yo happen to know whose render engine they're using? Off the top I'd guess Lightworks.

[FusionDG]

Originally posted by AdamT
Out of curousity, do yo happen to know whose render engine they're using? Off the top I'd guess Lightworks.
ART's info on the site mentions POV-ray, but I thought that only did Raytracing. I asked and I'll let you know if I get a reply.

[FusionDG]

Well, I got some more feedback from ART.

POV ray now has added radiosity to its engine. And ART FWD me a few more pics; I have to say that I am rather impressed!

http://fusiondesigngroup.com/pics/Table%20with%20Radiostiy.jpg

http://fusiondesigngroup.com/pics/Table%20with%20Radiosity%20and%20Details.jpg

If Chief 9.0 can do radiosity comparably well, plus it comes with a 8,500 item residential library [yaaa, less custom moulding :D], plus great window and door abilities for custom casing and custom user grids, and now it does custom rakes, eaves, moulding, and automated section CAD details, that's a nice package for someone to have available ato use as a tool for their architectural arsenal.

The base version comes for under $1000, and the full version for $1,500; to me it sounds like a something worth looking at for a CG architectural artist.

I'll have to try the demo and see how close one package comes to doing it all. It just may be the package to have for simple, quick, and pretty renderings.

C4D will stay around of course for the mainstay rendering items. But Chief may be nice to try and use for small jobs/clients.

[AdamT]

It does sound interesting. The renders or okay, but a little flat IMHO. That may be the artist as much as the engine.

Don't they have a much cheaper edition? Somethng in the $300-400 range? If I was going to invest $1-1.5k I think I'd go for FormZ instead. It's not so dedicated to architectural work, but still very good and much more versatile.

[FusionDG]

It does sound interesting. The renders or okay, but a little flat IMHO. That may be the artist as much as the engine.

Agreed, they still are not stellar, but it does show that CA 9.0 now has the ability to do some radiosity calcs, which not many other CAD packages can do AFAIK without plug-ins, minus ADT 4. And as you say, the pics may reflect the artist and maybe not the tool.

Don't they have a much cheaper edition?

Not sure yet. Their site may have some info

I think I'd go for FormZ instead. It's not so dedicated to architectural work, but still very good and much more versatile.

I guess that’s the reason I think this package is appealing for someone starting out doing architectural construction documents and some rendering. It’s a nifty little package for the price.

For me CA 9.0 is interesting because I feel that I may be able to cut down on some the modeling that I have been doing in C4D because ArchiCAD has such limited residential libraries. CA has a healthy res library. Plus CA’s windows, doors, and trim work may save additional time. I don’t really see myself using CA for rendering now that I use C4D. Why trade in the Audi TT for the Dodge Neon?

Don’t know yet if I’ll find CA 9.0 useful for archi modeling, but after trying the demo, maybe next week if it’s out, I’ll have a better assessment of it.

[AdamT]

I think I'll give it a try as well.

BTW, they do have a Home edition which is around $200-300, but it would lack the big libraries of CA9, so probably not a great solution.

Too bad they don't have something in between the base package and the full-blown package--like with all the libraries but sans Pov. Maybe we should suggest it.

I think I'll try the demo as well.

[FusionDG]

Well I just got word from ART that the demo will NOT have the raytracing or radiosity tools available to use. :shrug:

I would have been curious to see how tweakable the settings are and how fast the render is.

IMHO I would doubt that CA would be faster than C4D though, especially as I doubt CA could take advantage of my dual AMD processor setup.

Although I could be wrong, again :D

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.