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Rendering packages:


Hopinc

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Hi Guys,

 

I have been playing around with rendering programs this weekend and thought you might appreciate a bit of a "heads up."

 

The two that I tested are the Bunkspeed "Shot" and Luxion "KeyShot" - both are very similar in they way they work, which is somewhat different to Inventor Studio.

 

Both are downloadable as trial software on limited time usage. "KeyShot" water marks it's rendered images in the trial software, so they are unusable, Bunkspeed is not so mean and they are usable.

 

For "Bunkspeed Shot" trial download go to: http://www.bunkspeed.com/shot/

For "Luxion KeyShot" trial download go to: http://www.keyshot.com/

 

Of these two "Luxion" has an advantage in that it allows for the importation of models direct from Inventor as ".ipt" or ".iam" files. Unfortunately this is not perfect and sometimes assemblies are not brought in as they should be (please bear in mind that this may be as a result of my limited experience with these programs).

 

I won't go in to a blow-by-blow account of how to use them, rather I will just highlight a few things that may be relevant:-

 

Both programs support IGES files (and they work well) of individual parts or assemblies. "Bunkspeed" accepts them straight from Inventor. "Luxion" requires that the Inventor user sets up the "save copy as" option to have a Solid Face Type of "Nurbs," not the default setting of "Analytic."

 

Unless materials have been pre-selected in your model/assembly, and you have ticked the required box to bring them into the rendering program, all models appear grey. It's a simple matter to drag and drop materials from the palette onto the model/assembly to put things right.

 

Once you have imported your model into either program you may find that it is facing the wrong way. It took me a little while to figure out how to change this, but these controls are found in the "scene settings." Once the model is selected by clicking on it in the drop down menu, it is possible to adjust it to your requirements (see the "Luxion" screen grab image).

 

Lighting is not controlled as in Inventor studio, rather it is a function of the "Gamma" and "Brightness" settings in the scene set up. What you get is greatly affected by your initial choice of scene and adjustments to it's height, rotation, etc. If a "backplate" is selected this will also affect lighting.

 

Whilst working on your model/assembly "Bunkspeed" has the ability to switch off real time rendering, "Luxion KeyShot" does not. In practice this makes little real difference.

 

Cosmetic screw threads do not come through, and if a thread is required it has to be cut into the actual model part.

 

Both programs have somewhat limited metals in their palettes, however new materials are easily created from existing ones. So far I have not failed to find a colour or texture in the palette that was not near enough to what I wanted.

 

The final picture of the carburettor shows (I hope) what these programs can do with only minimal effort.

 

Of the two I prefer "Luxion KeyShot" to "Bunkspeed Shot." I feel it is much more intuitive to use. This is purely a personal choice and you may well have different tastes. If you try them please let me know how you get on, or if there are any others that I should have a look at ?

 

Regards,

 

Dave

Luxion_screen.jpg

This image.jpg

Edited by Hopinc
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Hi Dugg,

 

Nice to hear from you. I would certainly like to see any images you want to share with us.

 

Personally, I do a lot of rendering with Inventor Studio. You can see some of my work on my company's web site @ www.mdltd.org

 

I only bring this to your attention as the site contains some of the best that I have been able to achieve with Studio. Apart from using custom "backdrops," which I have also done (none of these feature on the site), I think I have probably reached the limit of what I can achieve with Studio. Animation is an option but the images are always of necessity at a lower resolution.

 

I guess I am looking for something with a little extra "pazazz!"

 

Regards,

 

Dave

Edited by Hopinc
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Hi Hopinc, we use keyshot at work, shot and keyshot were once called hypershot then that split into 2 companys and now they compete with each other, from what I have seen keyshot is by far the best if not the best on the market at the moment, nice to see someone on here using it.

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Hi Lazer,

 

That's interesting, I thought there were too many similarities between the two for it to be just coincidence.

 

It occured to me that one might be a knock-off of the other, but now you have highlighted the history I can see why they are so much alike. It is also obvious why Bunkspeed has used two different names to describe the same product - "HyperShot" and now just plain "Shot." Isn't insight a wonderful thing :D.

 

BTW - what sort of rendering work does your company use KeyShot for - are you rendering Inventor models? Have you any images you could share?

 

Regards,

 

Dave

Edited by Hopinc
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  • 2 weeks later...

I will show you some renders on my return to work, we design bus and train seats, in the early stage of the design we use Alias to develope the concept models then use Inventor to design the seats then we import that model into keyshot to render.

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Nice!

 

I don't know if you saw it or not, but on Thursday at 5:00 pm UK time (11:00 PDT) KeyShot ran a webinar when their own Thomas Teger gave a demonstration of using lighting planes to illuminate models. It was most interesting and is available for download as a hi-res movie from KeyShot's web site if you would like to view it.

 

Inventor Studio users will find it a most peculiar way of lighting models - using emmissive planes for illumination, instead of placing lights as per a photographic studio. It does work well though, and has the advantage of being able to place an image (and manipulate it) of your choice on the plane so it is reflected onto the model.

 

Thanks for sharing the image with us, it's good to see someone else's work now and then.

 

Regards and best wishes,

 

Dave

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I will show you some renders on my return to work, we design bus and train seats, in the early stage of the design we use Alias to develope the concept models then use Inventor to design the seats then we import that model into keyshot to render.

 

Thats interesting we form plastic parts for busses ...if you think your company could do with some formings,,, then please get in touch with us.

check out the web site www.jakay.co.uk (copy and paste in google)

and ask for Craig :)

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