3. Zbrush + Keyshot plug-in with Keyshot Bridge. Total price is less than Keyshot PRO, but it works completely as Keyshot PRO, exept import feature. So you can import only through Zbrush and work only with Zbrush-supported formats. OBJ format is ok, so it could be good for someone.

Hello,

It might work if Zbrush could understand vertex normals from imported .obj, but it wasn't the case few months ago.
So you have to export really dense mesh from MoI to keep the result acceptable (but not perfect), and that's a pity because you can't take any advantage from MoI meshing engine.

Consider Strata3D, which now has an HDR Light Studio module. You can get them as a bundle for about $850; or, if you prefer a subscription plan, they have options for that as well.

Strata has always had a very good renderer for a mid-level package, but I am really loving it with Light Studio. Perfect lighting and reflection setups are a snap, and it plays well with MoI.

I do not recommend it for animation, but it excels at still images.

The only drawback to Strata's renderer is that it lacks subsurface scattering.

Strata could be good, but they have an integration with HDR Light Studio only for their MAC version.

I'm interested in what better features it has?

For me rendering products in controlled environments, Maxwell render, an unbiased CPU only renderer, would take too long for me for production quality renders. I suppose Maxwell Fire is a bit faster but I doubt if Maxwell Fire can keep up with KeyShot or render as high quality as Maxwell Render.

I recently just tested Octane with my workflow (and I have both the Nvidia 1080 and 980ti installed), and I don't think it will work for my workflow. While renders are a snap (even faster than KeyShot on my rig), scene setup is too long. In KeyShot I can very quickly create 'render sets' where there are different positions of objects, with different materials, which I can then render at 4K resolution in a snap. I literally go to lunch and finish a dozen renders, each with different lighting, materials, camera settings and component configurations. The workflow for setting something like that up in Octane would be a deal killer for me-- and I would think the same could be said for Maxwell Studio as HyperShot uses a siimilar render engine.

If I recall correctly, HDR Light Studio has a fairly restrictive policy on creating Light Maps and in particular won't allow you to resell them. Not sure if that's a problem, but might be worth looking up. FWIW, KeyShot has a proprietary HDR format of it's own with their HDR Studio which sucks, but I've been told by their CEO they will be opening it up to export non proprietary formats soon. I hope that's the case.

Were you able to do any performance testing in any of these solutions? (Maxwell, Thea and Arion)

Hi everyone,

Repeat....IMHO "Thea Render" is the BEST solution under 300$!!

Simply.

- Marco (mkdm).

chippwalters
just try to render interior scene in Keyshot.

mkdm
I agree

Hey have you looked at Toolbag?

https://www.marmoset.co/toolbag

Just a couple:




Still, KeyShot is not unbiased, nor is it Vray. If you're looking for interiors, it's not the best. Certainly look elsewhere. FWIW, I've been looking HARD at UE4 for interior renders / animations.

and FYI, my post was prefaced by "For me rendering products in controlled environments." – which is quite different from architectural interiors.

Hi everyone,

Consider also the great 3DCoat!!

I use it for about 2 years and i must say that it's a fantastic piece of software that it's also a perfect companion for Moi !!

For $379 you get Sculpt, Voxel, Retopo, Excellent UV Editor, Fantastic Material Editor with PBR, very very good 3D Painting
and full Export of any kind of texture created starting from the materials!
It has also a simple but very good rendering module.

- Marco (mkdm)

In 3D Coat, can you use it ONLY for UV editing? IOW, can I bring in MoI and SketchUp models in 3D Coat and create UVs as well as map them there? Can you map labels easily (aka KeyShot easy)?

thanks!

Hi chippwalters,

Yeah, absolutely!
I know that many people uses 3DCoat almost exclusively for UVing and Retopo.
In those areas 3DCoat is particularly well suited.

Impossible to find out a 3D sculpting/modeler that can offer more, for only 379$!!!

And like Moi, the 3DCoat's forum is fantastic and on the 3DCoat's YouTube channel you can find hundreds of very useful tutorials.

- Marco (mkdm)

Hi
From a non professional point of view I feel moved to say that it is almost effortless, and great fun, to make something in Moi, paint it in 3D coat and render it in SimLab. Exactly how long this all takes obviously depends on how complex the model is but it takes a fraction of the time that would be possible with any other combination of software. With free versoins of each someone could learn 3d asset making in a week for free. Someon should do a tutorial on youtube.
Regards
Keith

Hi Keith!

I agree!

IMHO unless you need to fulfill the gfx industry standards, Moi + 3DCoat + Thea Render + Silo or NVil + Affinity Designer (beta only at the moment) are unbeatable!!

All for less than 1200 US $ !!

- Marco (mkdm).

Workflow movie

https://youtu.be/A8Trvv7wMcY

Hi chippwalters,

I write you here in reply of your post http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=7954.52

because i think that i'm "Off topic" if i continue to use the thread "Project moi3d v4".

> I'm curious if it can also export maps that KeyShot can use?

I think there are several ways to do that in 3D-Coat...

If you want to directly work on hi-poly meshes, a possible workflows are :

METHOD 1
-------------

1) File -> New
2) Close the splash screen
3) Go to the "Paint Room"
4) File -> "Import model for Per Pixel Painting"
5) Do painting job in "Paint Room"
6) Finally export all, with File -> Export Objects & Textures with "Export Geometry"
At this stage you can choose what Export/Import workflow is better suited for yout receiving app, (KeyShot in your case) :
A) Gloss/Color Specular
B) Gloss/Metalness
C) Roughness/Metalness

METHOD 2
-------------

1) File -> New
2) Close the splash screen
3) File -> "Import model for PTEX"
4) Do painting job in "Paint Room"
5) Finally export all, with File -> Export Objects & Textures with "Export Geometry"
At this stage you can choose what Export/Import workflow is better suited for yout receiving app, (KeyShot in your case) :
A) Gloss/Color Specular
B) Gloss/Metalness
C) Roughness/Metalness

For both methods, I think that the best Export/Import workflow for KeyShot are A and C.

Or maybe it's better for you to use the "KeyShot Advanced" with Roughness/Metalness.

P.S. i'm using latest version of 3D-Coat : 4.7.06 64Bit

Ciao!

- Marco (mkdm)

Well, I totally love Thea Render and it's my main Renderer for years.
- It's very affordable with great network rendering - an additional network node is 49.- Euro.
- It has GPU and CPU kernels, biased and unbiased.
- The GPU kernel ("Presto") is brilliant in that it also uses the CPU very efficiently at the same time as the GPU (optional of course), renders really fly and if one machine has not enough GPU memory, it simply renders on CPU only silently.
- Great material system.
- Falloff panels are very simple to create by mapping a gradient image on a quad-polygon-panel and use that as light. I use several HDRIs of studio equipment like umbrellas and spotlights that way.
- Good community, constant development, nice and clever developer, no update cost in several years with massive dot updates (the addition of GPU rendering was free!).
- It's very well integrated in Rhino (that where I use it the most these days) but also works just as well as a standalone ("Thea Studio").
- Comes with an ever-growing material library and other goodies.
- Bucket rendering for GPU - if you are low on GPU memory, use the buckets.
- Animate between different lighting situations.
- Many passes with deep EXR support.
....

Highly recommended.

Cheers,

Tom

Hey Marco, Thanks a bunch for that 3D Coat write-up! Very informative. Much appreciated.

Hi chippwalters,

You're welcome!

I gave you only very simple and incomplete indications for a possible workflow involving 3D-Coat and Moi,
but there's much much more on 3D-Coat YouTube channel and on the 3D-Coat forum.

Of course, in addition to using PTEX or Vertex Painting, you can use the standard "Paint on UV Mapped Mesh"
to paint using a classic UV Map.

I currently use Thea Render so i don't really know the best workflow for KeyShot.

Anyway, I'm glade that you appreciated my little post.

Ciao!

- Marco (mkdm).

Hi Tommy,

I totally agree with you.

Anyway I hope that Solid Iris will improve the Standalone Studio, 'cause i think that its UI is still not streamlined enough.


- Marco (mdkm)