Unity vs Unreal

TheRetiredSailor

So I'm a little late to join the Unreal and Unity game.  How do the two of them compare as a rendering alternative for DAZ Studio?  How do they handle iRay texturing on the objects in my library?

Thanks in advance.

jcp

Both use real-time render engines, so you won't get the same quality as iRay. If all you want to do is render still images (or even simple animations) there is not much point, especially given you now have the option of filament with Daz. In addition, the character fidelity will be less in either engine because the HD subdivisions are done via a proprietary method in Daz so can't be exported. If you want vfx (fire, water, particles), VR or interactivity then the time investment is more logical. In terms of which one to explore, there are many many threads on this, but my suggestion would be unreal. Whilst both can give high-quality outputs, unity's heritage as primarily 2D platformer means that the 3D aspect is not as advanced. Plus Epic have very deep pockets courtesy of fornite so have given lots away (there are lots of free assets on the epic marketplace, plus free assets each month, plus the entire megascans library can be used for free in unreal), the particle and physics systems have recently been overhauled and UE5 (due next year) looks like it will be a big step forward in terms of real-time lighting and rendering high-poly assets. On the other hand, some people think that unity is easier to pick up, and the unity marketplace is bigger than Epic's as it has been around longer. 

TheRetiredSailor

jcp said:

Both use real-time render engines, so you won't get the same quality as iRay. If all you want to do is render still images (or even simple animations) there is not much point, especially given you now have the option of filament with Daz. In addition, the character fidelity will be less in either engine because the HD subdivisions are done via a proprietary method in Daz so can't be exported. If you want vfx (fire, water, particles), VR or interactivity then the time investment is more logical. In terms of which one to explore, there are many many threads on this, but my suggestion would be unreal. Whilst both can give high-quality outputs, unity's heritage as primarily 2D platformer means that the 3D aspect is not as advanced. Plus Epic have very deep pockets courtesy of fornite so have given lots away (there are lots of free assets on the epic marketplace, plus free assets each month, plus the entire megascans library can be used for free in unreal), the particle and physics systems have recently been overhauled and UE5 (due next year) looks like it will be a big step forward in terms of real-time lighting and rendering high-poly assets. On the other hand, some people think that unity is easier to pick up, and the unity marketplace is bigger than Epic's as it has been around longer. 

Thank you.

nonesuch00

jcp said:

Both use real-time render engines, so you won't get the same quality as iRay. If all you want to do is render still images (or even simple animations) there is not much point, especially given you now have the option of filament with Daz. In addition, the character fidelity will be less in either engine because the HD subdivisions are done via a proprietary method in Daz so can't be exported. If you want vfx (fire, water, particles), VR or interactivity then the time investment is more logical. In terms of which one to explore, there are many many threads on this, but my suggestion would be unreal. Whilst both can give high-quality outputs, unity's heritage as primarily 2D platformer means that the 3D aspect is not as advanced. Plus Epic have very deep pockets courtesy of fornite so have given lots away (there are lots of free assets on the epic marketplace, plus free assets each month, plus the entire megascans library can be used for free in unreal), the particle and physics systems have recently been overhauled and UE5 (due next year) looks like it will be a big step forward in terms of real-time lighting and rendering high-poly assets. On the other hand, some people think that unity is easier to pick up, and the unity marketplace is bigger than Epic's as it has been around longer. 

Unity's heritage is not as a 2D Platformer as 2D Platformer framework code & 2D physics weren't added until sometime after 2012. 

Unity & UE4 both can do realtime PBR rendering better than Filament but like Filament you will be doing much such up of PBR materials & lighting to acheive a nice look that you want.

To decide you should either watch Unity & UE4's official tutorials or independent tutorials on both on YouTube to see which is easier for you to use.