3DL viewport preview Renderer
IceCrMn
Posts: 2,142
I have a question for 3DL users.
Would you like to see 3DL integrated into the viewport with a preview renderer similar in functionality as the current iray preview renderer?
My answer:
Yes!
I certainly would.
I was recently working with the Visual Style shaders and was getting frustrated with the time consuming and tedious repetition of having to rely on the spot render tool to see results without needing to do a complete render.
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Comments
I've been a hobbyist at this stuff since getting introduced to 3D computer graphics in 2007 (Bryce 5, iClone 2, then Daz Studio 2, 3DS Max, Poser 8, and others along the way) but now having retired, I have more time to play with it. Having a 3DL preview option in the viewport would be nice, but inasmuch as Daz3D introduced Filament a couple of years ago, and touted Octane too, I don’t think the addition of a 3DL previewer is on the list of things to add.
I'm not really interested in those two.
I'm sure they are great render engines, but 3DL has a long history here.
It's a shame it has been allowed to languish for the sake of iray.
It's a very capable engine that we never really got all the options made available to us that it has.
The viewport preview renderer probably did more to drive iray acceptance and product sales than anything else.
Imagine having to go through the same tedium with it as 3DL.
Iray would have been DOA.
I love iray, and use it alot.
I just want the same convenience of use and instant gratification with 3DL.
In lieu of a 3DL preview feature, Spot Render may be the best that we can hope for at this point.
Yeah, that's the tedious part.
I do think that there should be the option to do so, even though I likely wouldn't use it myself.
It is already possible, using IPR in the Aux Viewport.
Hmmm, I wasn't aware of that.
I've closed the aux viewport a few years ago and never opened it again.
I'll have to check into that after my cloth sim ends.
Thank you Richard.
What is this magic IPR? never seen it as a view option?
Interactive preview render...you can tweak surfaces and lights and it will update using progressive rendering.
I rarely use it myself, quite comfortable with using the standard progressive mode along with spotrendering when setting up my scenes.
When you have the aux viewport open, you click the options menu (three lines stacked up in the corner of the aux viewport pane) and select "Show IPR toolbar".
On the "Render Settings" pane at the top switch the Render Engine to 3Delight and it should light up and become usable.
I'm using the phrase "usable" here in a very diminished sense.
Press the now not greyed out play button(button on the right with the triangle on it) to turn it on.
Press the little square "Stop" button next to it to turn it off.
What it does is perform the 3DL render in the small aux viewport window while leaving the main viewport available for work.
Changing the camera translations in the main view does NOT change it in the aux. The opposite is also true
Camera changes in either view are independent.
Not exactly what I'm looking for.
I still get to wait for the render to complete or use the spot render tool.
I just get to do it in more than one viewport with the aux.
I'm looking for more the same experience one has when using the iray preview renderer.
To see what I mean try turning on the IPR then wait for the 3DL render to finish in it.Then try to change the view point/camera angle.
You can't.
You must first turn off IPR then wait for the render to clear from the viewport, then you can move the camera/perspective viewpoint.
also, I was wrong about the cameras/perspectives not being linked between the aux and main view.They are.You can just switch between them in the different viewports.
Still doesn't change my mind though.
I want the same experience with 3DL as I get with iray preview.
3Delight doesn't support that, as far as I am aware, at least not in the version included with DS (which is now quite old, but the newer versions require completely new shaders in a new language).
Well, that sucks.
I'm really starting to like the results I get with the Visual Styles shaders.
I was hoping something similar could be done to improve the work flow.
I guess I could buy a 2nd or even a 3rd monitor to setup up a proper CGI workstation.
Then I could put a viewport on each monitor.
Oh well, back to proverbial drawing board.
If it is already possible, and we don't know that, it's another indication that this software is in dire need of a manual.