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3DL Only?

LotharenLotharen Posts: 282
in Daz Studio Discussion

Just curious, but is there anyone that only uses the 3Delight render? The reason I ask is because I have been considering switching to this render engine becuase I'm not after photorealistic renders. I want my renders to look CGed, even digitally painted - its a style I like and want to emulate.

So, how many of you use this engine regularly? and why do you stick with it?

Comments

  • AtiAti Posts: 9,139
    Lotharen said:

    Just curious, but is there anyone that only uses the 3Delight render? The reason I ask is because I have been considering switching to this render engine becuase I'm not after photorealistic renders. I want my renders to look CGed, even digitally painted - its a style I like and want to emulate.

    So, how many of you use this engine regularly? and why do you stick with it?

    I like the look it gives. For the types of illustrations I do, 3DL fits better.

  • LeanaLeana Posts: 11,822

    I don't use only 3DL but it's still my main render engine, mostly because I like the results I get with RDL better than the ones I get with Iray. I also have some really nice shaders which work only with 3DL (like the pw ones).

  • Oso3DOso3D Posts: 15,042

    Not me, exactly, but 3DL is perfect for a lot of things I want to do (see my DA gallery). For drawn/illustrated and many nonphotorealistic styles, it is far superior.

     

  • LotharenLotharen Posts: 282
    edited November 2016

    Thanks everyone!

    If I've read correctly 3DL doest use a computers graphic cards. So I could even use a all-in-one computer for rendering useing that, does that sound right?

    I'm at a loss for shaders and lighting with 3DL, I really have to educate myself. I've only been useing Iray and Reality since starting the hobby. Any resource reccomendations would be welcome for those of you more experienced with 3DL.

    Edit: Also, what is UE2? I've read that in a lot of 3DL posts.

    Thanks again for the comments

     

    Post edited by Lotharen on
  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001

    Right...3DL is CPU only.  The more cores the better/faster it will be.  The number of cores and clock speed are the two most important factors for rendering with 3DL, followed closeley by amount of system RAM.  It is slower than a snail stuck in molasses if it needs to use virtual memory while rendering.

    UE2 = UberEnvironment 2.  It's an included 3DL environmental light. 

  • LotharenLotharen Posts: 282
    mjc1016 said:

    Right...3DL is CPU only.  The more cores the better/faster it will be.  The number of cores and clock speed are the two most important factors for rendering with 3DL, followed closeley by amount of system RAM.  It is slower than a snail stuck in molasses if it needs to use virtual memory while rendering.

    UE2 = UberEnvironment 2.  It's an included 3DL environmental light. 

    Ahhh, okay, thanks! I've been playing around with it but it doesn't appear very bright for the entire scene I have. Going to need to learn how to light better. Perhaps I need to include scattered spot lights.

    Also, is there a way to use something like and HDRI image so you can have clouds in the sky, ect?

  • srieschsriesch Posts: 4,241
    edited November 2016

    In 3DL you can have clouds in the sky via a skydome (or backdrop).

    I still use only 3DL for a few reasons. 

    First and most important is compatibility; nearly all my content works in 3DL, and conversion to Iray is impossible with some and presumably would be a lot of work for all the rest, so it doesn't make sense to convert for me.  It would be different if I was just starting to purchase content today and was willing to avoid all older content entirely (or was somehow able to identify all older content that couldn't be used and convert all the rest manually.)

    Second, I think (and could be wrong, or could be out of date, research) 3DL can do some things iray can't (I've forgotten the specifics, but I'm thinking there was something with hiding shadows or invisible objects, displacement, and motion blur perhaps? Double-check that, and perhaps that could change in the future.

     

    Post edited by sriesch on
  • SpottedKittySpottedKitty Posts: 7,232
    Lotharen said:
    So I could even use a all-in-one computer for rendering useing that, does that sound right?

    Most all-in-ones I've heard of are drastically underpowered for rendering. For this job, there is no such thing as too much memory, too much hard drive space, too much cooling inside the case, and too powerful a CPU. When you start a render, your computer will usually be running flat out, everything at full throttle and maximum heat production, for anything from several minutes to a day or three, depending on how big and complicated the scene is. It's quite possible to burn out an underpowered system because it's been way overstressed.

  • Oso3DOso3D Posts: 15,042

    3dl can have objects not cast shadows, or cast shadows but be invisible, and so on... Iray can't. Displacement works better in 3DL (for a bunch of reasons), but Iray can do decent displacement for a number of things. Motion blur, yeah, 3dl only.

    Plus 3Dl can do all sorts of funky weird shaders, like grass, dirt, ghost surfaces, cartoon stuff, etc, Iray can't.

     

    Iray, however, can output 32 bit exr -- that's very cool for a bunch of reasons, and can do things like distance passes and other stuff (that you can only do in 3DL if you buy special cameras).

     

    When it comes to photorealism and volume effects, bringing 3DL up to a point comparable with Iray, you end up with renders taking, often, as long or longer in CPU vs CPU comparison. So for photorealism, if you can afford a decent graphics card, Iray is _usually_ superior... unless you want a ghost and a cartoon cat chatting with a photorealistic robot.

     

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