Reality Plug In
lucartl
Posts: 52
Does anyone use the reality plug in with Daz? How is it? My cpu is an i7 with an integrated graphic cards, and I don't have any problem rendering in iRay, just slow, sometimes with complex scene. Will Reality, actually Lux, work anyway? Do you get better rendering results? Any quicker? Thanks☺
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Comments
Yes it will work...probably won't be any faster.
Ok, thanks, mjc1016. It is already something to know that it will work. I think I am going to have a go with it. I had a look in the internet and it seems very good. Of course if somebody is using it and can give me some first hand advice, I appreciate.
Reality is pretty awesome. I use it because I wanted something better than 3delight (but I do like 3delight) and iRay didnt exist.
The Reality forums moved recently, you can find them now over at preta3d.com, best place to ask for advice, tips and tricks, etc.
if you learn to optimize a scene for a rendering engine this will make things faster. If you leave it up to the computer don't expect it to guess what's best.
that being said the ability to adjust lighting while rendering regardless of mode, the ability to edit directly in your rendering file to make tweaks and the ability to render with Studio not running can speed things up when you start running out of resources is a workflow I prefer and the fact the solution seems to address both AMD and Intel CPU and AMD/ATI and Nvidia components instead of a single proprietary solution to take advantage of it's primary strength, that all gravy on a biscuit!
Thanks everybody. Yeah, I'll have a go. I was also looking at Octane, but . . can't afford it right now . . and I will have to buy a Video Card, something I'm planning to do later on! So far I managed to render some pretty ugly things . . and now some decent stuff. With skin and lights that I like, anyway. Did not yet tackle the issue with rendering time but I am aware that there are ways to save some. Thanks StratDragon. Today I'll look into that. I said . . "I'm looking into that" . . Not that I'm looking forward to . .
I've just started using IRay having been a Reality user for years. For me, Reality/Lux in accelerated mode (plus boost) was quicker than IRay CPU mode but slower than IRay GPU mode. Setting up materials in Reality can be an arduous task but if you are doing a series of images where little changes except poses, then it is a one-time hit. Being able to work on the next scene while the current render is happening is a plus, as is being able to change tonemapping on the fly.
Having said all that, the fact that most new products come IRay ready means a big time-saving overall. The IRay Uber shader is a pretty good instant conversion too. Some of the Reality conversions need so much tweaking I have often spent half a day setting up materials for a single scene. Even then I might not be completely happy with the results. GPU does make a big difference for IRay and a well-lit scene with good IRay shaders will outperform Reality every time. The caveat is that the scene must fit within the VRAM of the GPU card. If not, CPU is snail's pace.
Hi Marble, and thanks for the very informative answer.
"For me, Reality/Lux in accelerated mode (plus boost) was quicker than IRay CPU mode but slower than IRay GPU mode"
So, basically is time for me to buy a GPU, . . I'll see if I can do that now.
"Setting up materials in Reality can be an arduous task but if you are doing a series of images where little changes except poses, then it is a one-time hit"
This one unfortuntely I don't understand, I did not tackle the issue yet. At the moment I just put together a scene with stuff I like, and live the default material on, and if I want to change the settings for the skin, I use a program called Iray converter, that a part from that, it also takes care in few simple steps of other settings, like glossiness, bump and so on. But that is me, same scene, shooting from different angles.I think I know vaguely what you mean. I saw some rendering done with Reality, and they look gorgeous. Your pic, for example looks amazing.Is that a Reality rendering?
"Some of the Reality conversions need so much tweaking I have often spent half a day setting up materials for a single scene. Even then I might not be completely happy with the results."
Sound familiar . . But that is the name of the game . . I think
" . . . and a well-lit scene with good IRay shaders will outperform Reality every time."
Ok, I have finally tried and noticed that. If I am not wrong even small adjustement in the tone mapping tab and basically everything that has to do with lights, like iso and so on, can make quite a big difference in rendering time. Saying that, I find myself liking more and more, distant lights mix with spot lights, and no so bright scenery. So . . doesn't help, I think.
Well, in conclusion, the fact that yuou can keep working in the meantime and make changes on the fly, is enough for me. About time? It's actually the PC working, and after a little bit of research and probably knowing things better, I should be able to reduce the load on my CPU.
CPU rendering works fine in Reality so you can try it out without having to buy a new GPU.
But reality does not have a 'converter' in the same sense as Iray, it does have some automatic materials settings but you will likely want/need to go in and tweak. Reality/Lux is more work but imho the results are superior.
Thanks Gederix
One thing that hasn't been touched upon...
Luxrender is very easy to set up to do network rendering. Because of this, you can grab every computer in your house as a 'render node'...just make sure you install the same version of Luxrender on each and configure. THAT can make Reality/Luxrender a lot faster.
Thanks mjc1016. That is good. At the moment I have only a desktop. I had also a laptop but stopped working last year. I"m wondering how "stripped down" the pc in the network can be. And you're saying that more than one can be used. It may be worth it buy a very basic middle range pc, with no monitor and no gpu, instead of a very espensive video card. Or maybe two!
Yes, they can be very stripped down. It doesn't even have to be the same OS...you can grab some multicore machines with network cards and memory...and just run a Linux Live distro.
Just make sure the render slave has enough RAM. I had a Mac with 24 GB and an oldish PC with 6GB ... the render failed on the PC. Bought more RAM and it worked. Nevertheless, for IRay, the limitation is VRAM, not RAM, and I am finding it too easy to find myslef over the 4GB limit of my GTX970.
Thank you both. Ok, I will have to have a good look into that. I can probably manage to put together a pc with spares or something like that and I have my old windows 7 disk laying around. I was going to buy the same video card, by the way. Last question . . I have 16gb of quite good ram at the moment, and I can go to 32 max. That is something that I could afford to do straight away. Will that improve things? Thanks.
To some degree, yes...but how much, exactly, depends on a lot of factors. In general, for 3D work/rendering, there is no such thing as too much RAM (but there is almost always 'not quite enough').
Hi lucartl.
Thank you for your purchase. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you get the most out of Reality. Here are some of the features that you might enjoy:
- The most accurate PBR, unbiased rendering system, based on LuxRender, the benchmark of quality in the field.
- Non-blocking rendering: continue working in DAZ Studio or Poser while the render runs.
- Adjust the light's intensity and color while the render runs.
- Adjust the scene's exposure while the render runs.
- Apply film emulation to create a new, more filmic look.
- Physically-Based Materials make it intuitive to edit your scene. No confusing nodes or endless lists of properties.
- Run multiple renders at the same time.
- Same interface whether you use DAZ Studio or Poser.
- Automatic presets simplify your workflow.
- Share material presets with other Reality artists.
- Use the same presets in the DAZ Studio and Poser editions of Reality.
- Stop and resume the render at any time.
- Unlimited network rendering, even with mixed OSes (Mac OC, Windows, and Linux machines).
- Use GPU and CPU acceleration at the same time.
- Use GPUs from nVidia, AMD, or other brands, and you can mix them together.
- Fully documented.
Cheers.
I was reading this thread and was like "I can't believe no one mentioned network rendering yet."
I use Reality mostly when I know a render is complex enough that none of my system will render it in a sane amount of time. Combine them, and I can usually get a pretty good cut in my render times. I've had a few scenes that took 24+ hours in both 3DL and Iray that I redid in Luxrender via Reality and slaved all the system in my home to my main. Render time to get the same quality results that I got from 3DL? 6 hours. :)