Hi, there,

I don't have any other 3D software (yet) but I was wondering if anyone could give their opinion on easiest to use (meaning both setup and get good results from) if my only modeling program is going to be MOI (meaning that I'm not going to necessarily get a package like Cinema 4D or Modo or something similar).

Thanks all, very much!

- A

I went through the same evaluation a few months ago and settled on MoI and Hypershot. You can have both for $400 total - not a bad deal.

Ed

If you want something fantastic and easy AND FREE !
Take Kerkythea !
http://www.kerkythea.net/joomla/index.php

I rendered these lenses with it !
http://forums1.caligari.com/truespace/showthread.php?t=5143

Its just about the same quality as Maxwell one of the best renderers out there !
Easy to use and a standalone renderer !
Peter

My favorite is Maxwell, but if you want something free, Kerkythea is the best choice!!! You will have many options, as KT is a rendering system, that means fast preview images with simple raytracing and photon mapping and unbiased rendering for your finals!

At this time the more easy renderer is Podium http://www.suplugins.com/ free for image max 500*500 else 79$ for Student, 179$ normal
You select anything and just move 2 cursors :)
Can't be more simple!
But it's not now a "Stand Alone" so you must export in format 3Ds in the free Google Sketchup (the more easy (like Moi) and fun poly modeler) http://sketchup.google.com/
If you want fun try it :) (forms are moi of course :)

deja vu I thought, copy paste here...

For some time now we have been trying to change our work flow and moi came at the right time.
I was wondering if Micheal have any plans for Moi to have a material/UV Maps system and plug in capability?
I personally own maxwellrender and Moi could take full advantage of maxwell's studio, it could be an amazing combo especially for product photography.

On the other hand I understand that modelling/organization/creation of technical illustrations futures are and should be the priority of Moi to become the best designer tool out there.In my opinion you not far from it.

What I am trying to ask in an inarticulate way is, which direction Micheal plans to take Moi.

Michael my apologies if I sound like I am working for a gossip mag, NO for sure I am not.
As I mention above I trying to change my work flow and I would love Moi to be my main modeling app.

moi to maxwell lacks uvs/textures etc. at its current stage, thus I am reconsidering another painting rendering system (modo is the 1st candidate for now).

Hi yannada,

> I was wondering if Micheal have any plans for Moi to have a
> material/UV Maps system and plug in capability?

Yup! I am going to try to have some just basic materials for v2, then I would expect some more detailed stuff in the future.

I would also like to have plug-in capability, but that takes quite a bit of work to provide documentation for and to support other developers, I probably won't be able to focus on that anytime too soon, probably more like v3 for that.

- Michael

thanks Michael for the prompt answer, Could you please elaborate on UV mapping,
The reason for asking is from my experience lets say with rhino just to compare apples with apples UV mapping is Ltd. Uv Unwrapping does not exist (yet)?...
Would you say is a NURBS limitation or is has not been explored yet?

From my experience all rendering engines rely heavily on the host application when comes to UV mapping, Uv Unwrapping etc.
Could tasks like that be achieved in future versions of Moi, V3, V4...

any info will be more than welcome, (uvs my weak spot)

Hi yannada, I'm not really planning on special UV unwrapping or editing tools anytime soon.

The main focus for rendering in MoI would be for more product shots kind of stuff, not on like creatures and faces and stuff like that.

Can you maybe give some examples of renders where you needed UV unwrapping to make it work right? That might help me give you some more information.


> Would you say is a NURBS limitation or is has not been explored yet?

It just doesn't really match up well with what a NURBS modeler is usually used for.

Like for instance if you want to render a toaster oven - do you need uv unwrapping for that?

I do want to enable UV nesting for mesh exports though - but that's something different than what I think you're talking about.

- Michael

For those who would like a good, comprehensive, value for money ,3D app to complement and work well with MoI, I think it would be hard to go past Carrara. Especially the current Pro version.

The things you can do with a MoI item by taking it into the Displacement Painting, and the wonderfull texturing/rendering workings--etc!! in Carrara! (I, as you can guess, am a real fan!)

Hi Michael could I mail you some pics?

Hi, Rayman, thanks for the info!

Do you need a program like Blender, C4D, Carrara, or another "big" 3D app to setup the scene first in or does Kerkythea do all that within itself?

Thanks, and sorry for the stupid question!

- A

> Hi Michael could I mail you some pics?

Certainly!

- Michael

Kerky can import any 3D file in OBJ ;) and some other format like sia, kmz, 3ds, xml
It's a "stand alone renderer" Prog
It can just create some basic "primitives" 3D by itself ! Cube, Spheres, Cone, Plan,...etc
It import directly scene from Sketchup 3Dmax Blender by special plug in
But it can also create anything by import file obj ! And then move scale rotate anything
Multi instanciating is also possible! (thousand of the same pieces (useful for grass, trees etc)

And from Moi it accept the 3 variations :Ngones, Quads +triangles, or only triangles !

Frenchy pilou has said what you asked for !
Its a standalone render engine so you DONT need anything else
to set it up !
Its right from Moi3d to Kerkythea !
And its free with lots of free materials for download ... so very easy to set up !
And it has render presets too so you just have tol press the button : )
Peter

Indigo seems pretty easy to get photo realistic renderings. Just take a little more time do to the type of rendering it does. It is free too.

www.indigorenderer.com

There's another free unbiased engne called Luxrender (not affiliated with Luxology). It has no real interface, just open a file and it starts rendering...

jonah

Luxrender has great results but it is like Indigo or Maxwell.... An unbiased renderer....
With Kerkythea, you can choose between several methods, some of them give quite fast results and you have also the advantage of previewing the model .

I have to say that Maxwell is very easy and if you know photography you won't have a problem understanding it, and ofcourse it's quality is like non other, meaning it's visually very impressive. But there are many good free alternatives now you can use which produce some outstanding results. Best suggestion i can give is that you download a trial/demo and play with each engine for a while to see what fits you like a glove. :)

/ Magnus

Maxwell does indeed provide high quality renders. And it has Multilight, which is fantastic. Now, if you want the same quality, but don't want to pay an arm and a leg, Indigo is the way to go. It doesn't have Multilight, but other than that it is absolutely superb software.

Allow me to include a render I did with Indigo. I used the plugin for SketchUp, which I very (!) highly recommend, as it is extremely easy to use. Very intuitive. I cannot comment on the plugins for other apps, though.