Hi Aaron, the software is Key Shot v 3 http://www.keyshot.com/

It has a really hefty price tag so i am testing it to see if i can justify the expense versus the quality when compared to other commercial rendering engines.

Martin

Looks really nice Martin, it seems that you are getting pretty attached to KeyShot!

- Michael

Hi Michael, I like Keyshot but not as much as MoI, Keyshot is instant wow factor, but now that someone has thrown down a challenge, i can understand why my friend don't use his copy much. It's certainly very good for product vis using it's default materials and lighting but creating a custom studio environment is proving to be a real pain, but I will play with it some more over the next week or so and report back :¬)

Martin

Martin,

The trick with KeyShot is you need to have a large collection of HDRI environments to choose from. I've been collecting them for 4 years.

The HDR makes a big difference in the result.

You can see some great renders here from a recent contest (a few of mine are included):

http://pinterest.com/keyshot/2012-rendering-contest/

Ed

What time is it ? ;)

Thanks for the reply Ed, yeah i figured the secret is in the HDRI maps. I was playing until 3am this morning and concluded the extra light materials are about as much use as a chocolate spanner, so i am now scouring the web for free HDRI apps and tools. Keyshot is the "studio" and that's where the mental retardation comes in, get your head round that and you have it sussed. I just might have to invest in a camera that supports RAW format now - lol ... This game is getting too expensive. Now where's the manual to my SL240, I wonder if it can do RAW, but there again multi shots at different exposure rates are supposedly able to be combined into a HDRI image .....

Martin

I have uploaded the model to http://grabcad.com/library/tar-ox-b27-x-6-piston-radial-break-calliper, feel free to grab it and experiment with it. It's got a few errors in the model, but it might come in handy for those who want to practice repairing geometry or for those who want to test render a real world object, or for those who just plain like to play with textures and materials design. It's free so enjoy!!

I will be doing another render of the model soon with a custom HDRI and some self developed textures/materials and mappings.


Martin

Final render of this project, this time its all my own textures and materials, the geometry is OBJ, and there is my own custom HDR map ... I have loads of schematics for Tarox, so i might just have to do another one :¬)

Martin

Added another render with a little bump added so the casing don't look so "Flat", but that should be it for this model! (Famous last words) ...

Definitely the last render for this one

Martin

>>Hi Aaron, the software is Key Shot v 3 http://www.keyshot.com/

It has a really hefty price tag so i am testing it to see if i can justify the expense versus the quality when compared to other commercial rendering engines.<<

I use Keyshot. Definitely worth the outlay, provided you have a use for it. Really rounds off my business nicely...

Hi Sebastian, thanks for the comment. My real area of design is landscape and garden design, I have very little use of rendered images to be honest, most people seem to understand top views drawn by hand than they do with colour 3D stuff, however the hard-scape stuff such as decking, patios, tunnels and walling are a different thing, people don't seem to be able to visualise these things, and i end up carting round stone catalogues and quarry stone samples and all in order for the client to get a better mental picture, so I am waiting to try it on a real world project other than my own to see if it works, if it does it will soon pay for the outlay.

Nice renders on your site too.

Martin