I’ve explored different 3d applications in the past and most often use 3ds max now, but I’m familiar with xsi, houdini, cinema 4d, and maya. I’m interested in knowing what EIAS has to offer. I’d like to ask the users, what are the benefits and defining characteristics of this app? Why do you use it, and what advantages do you see in it compared to other 3d apps?
I don’t mean to start a app vs. app. thread. I am just curious about this app and want to know more about it compared to others. I’d like to hear from others about it before investing time to research it.
For me, probably the ease of use and familiarity. I’ve used it for about 7 years and am confortable setting things up quickly.
Included within ease of use is very fast, predictable results with materials and camera. I can get a great looking image out of EI faster than any other software I have used. The closest to speed of set-up and no-nonsense, great results for me has been with Brazil and 3D Max. Brazil is very simialr to EI’s camera as far as getting a good looking image out with minimal tweaking and set-up fiddling (important for deadlined production)…EI is the only software I have used which can produce ‘huge’ output imagery without crapping out…we are talking billboard size without a hick-up.
For animations, nothing touches Camera’s speed and quality AA and texture filtering. Usually in 3d you get one or the other. Speed or quality. With Camera you get both.
EI, for what I do which is illustration and some animated titleing and openers, is very viable and untouchable in output quality/speed.
for me, EI is a nuts and bolts 3D package. It does 90% of what I do fast, all the way through the process. It is not the best(understatement) for CA, but has good basic tools. I prefer MotionBuilder for CA.
Gives excellent render results without a lot of fuss and is easy to setup.
From the excellent stuff I’ve seen, long time users produce over the last 6 years, I’d have to say most of us users haven’t tapped into Electricimages full capabilities. Thats what brings me back to upgrade time and time again.
Yes…app vs app wars are never a good thing. I’d be happy to answer any question you may have about EIAS. Perhaps you can give us a little insight as to what you primarily use 3D for. That will help us focus our response to you.
I use 3d for some special effects work, character animation, creating elements for motion graphics, rendering architecture, etc, etc. Basically anything that can be done in 3d I occasionally have to do some time or another (except games). I also do compositing work and use 3d to supplement that when need be.
One thing I am interested in about EIAS is what I’ve heard about the ease to get great looking materials. Sometimes I need to do motion graphics sequences and have trouble setting up good looking materials for that in 3ds max. Cinema 4d materials are nice for motion graphics, but I’m always looking to see different programs’ strengths to pick the best tool for the job.
I’m not looking to necessarily replace any packages I use, but rather to know where EIAS excels to evaluate whether I should look into using it or not.
Ok… so lets put you in the category of generalist. I’ll try to rate EI on a scale of 1 to 10 for different uses. Maybe this will be helpful.
Character Animation: 4 (Maybe 5 now with FBX)
CA has always been EIAS’ weak point because the package was designed from the ground up to be a hard surface rendering engine for ILM, not a character program. However, CA tools have received a boost with most of the basics covered. (IK, strength maps, morphing, etc) However, the package needs considerable enhancements to be competitive.
VFX Work: 7
The film industry embraced EIAS in the 1990’s, particularly ILM. Therefore a number of strong tools exist that make EIAS good for digital sets/mattes, camera mapping, hard surface rendering and speed. It wouldn’t take much effort to turn this “7” into a “10” once EITG addresses some limitations in its texturing subsystem and further enhances its camera mapping capabilities, internal tracker, and includes layered rendering support (PSDs).
Broadcast Design: 9
EIAS’ phong rendering engine can knock out Broadcast work like crazy. I personally believe EIAS is the ultimate broadcast design tool especially when augmented by a few choice plugins and shader systems. Again, layered rendering would push EIAS to a 10 here. Included in the purchase are a number of special broadcast tools originally designed for the Trinity broadcast system. (GrangerFX)
Hard Surface/Architecture: 9
EIAS’ raytracing and GI engine is quite strong and also very fast…though not as fast as the phong engine. It is easily comparible to the likes of Brazil and other stand alone renderers for speed. EIAS is known to produce beautiful results with little effort and its ability to render millions of polygons is great for architecture.
Rendering Capabilities: 9
The addition of caustics, blurred reflections, excellent motion blur, GI, and a number of other rendering enhancements give EI a strong edge for producing photorealistic work. Its radiosity implementation is clunky and needs help, but its GI is wonderful.
Particle Systems: 6
EIAS particle systems come in the form of 3 different plugins. They are acceptible for producing intermediate level particle effects, but can not match the capabilities of other programs like Maya. EIAS particle systems could use a shot in the arm but they’re good enough for most things.
Materials & Shaders: 10
EIAS excels in vast number of shader systems that exist through 3rd party offerings. MForge, NX, AG Shaders, and dozens more power a material system that I haven’t seen anywhere else. EIAS’ texturing system, however, needs improvement. UVs are supported, but the UV integration is clunky and very limited. External programs are needed to create UV’s before importing into EIAS.
Dynamics: 4 (increasing soon to a 7)
EIAS has no internal dynamics engine other than Mr. Nitro which includes some basic explosion dynamics, however, the advent of several plugins can provide better features for you.
Blaster: Enhanced explosion dynamics. (Available now. Hard surface dynamics in a pinch).
Rodeo: Full fledged hard surface dynamics (coming soon).
ClothSim: (Available now…for basic softbody type dynamics).
Natural Media: 8
A number of plugins exist for EI to help create natural phenomenon like oceans, clouds, trees, terrain and so forth. They’re all pretty solid, with OnyxTree probably being the best.
When comparing EIAS to other 3D apps, it ought to be pointed out that EIAS lacks a modeler component. Not a showstopper at all, but one has to factor that.
i agree on most of brian’s points. EI is an excellent package for many uses, and for architectural viz it is still a very good choice, but with one definitely weak point: for interiors, the current GI engine is not on the level when compared to other solutions.
the problem is insufficient light distribution, which in some cases can be compensated by adding extra light sources, but which makes ‘realistic’ looking lighting setups quite difficult and time consuming. it looks like if the light propagation is somehow ‘clipped’ after a certain number of iterations, probably a way to speed up the rendering.
i hope there will be some development in this area for version 7.
She also allows you to develop your own style really easily. A huge plus for me.
Other then that I agree with everything Brian said, kudos for such an honest answer
Ian
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