3D rendering software

[vbm]

I'd like to treat myself to a (tax-deductible) Christmas/New Year present and get some software for doing 3D lighting plots & drawings. What would the Blue Room technical whizzkids recommend to somebody who doesn't consider himself particularly computer literate..?

[Cormac]

Hi,

if you have not used rendering software before why not try Google sketchup which is free and with a little work you can come up with some nice quick renders.

If you want to go down the dedicated software route perhaps

WYSIWYG which is distributed by Cast or

ESP vision,

 

Both have plus and minus but seem to work for the majority.

 

Use the search function as I'm sure this has been discussed in length in a few posts,

 

C

[gareth]

Two or three years ago I'd have recommended WYSIWYG. At the moment, however, as a dissatisfied ex-subscriber to WYG (I made it as far as R19, but then gave up throwing money at it year after year when it became clear that the views and needs of the smaller WYSIWYG user no longer mattered to Cast), I wouldn't. Instead, have a look at either ESP Vision or Vectorworks Spotlight.

[niclights]

I also recommend VectorWorks and ESP Vision. Former for design and latter for visualisation. You might even be able to pick up a slightly older but fully licenced version of VectorWorks very cheap via popular auction sites if you're lucky.

[soundo26]

Vectorworks spotlight is good and more intuitive than some others on the market.

[merlin24]

have a look at either ESP Vision or Vectorworks Spotlight

 

By the time you have purchased Vectorworks, Renderworks, and however many universes of ESP Vision you need and speant alot of time converting Vectorworks files into something ESP Vision will read you will have spent vastly more money than you would on one copy of Wysiwyg PERFORM. Vectorworks is a better CAD package but that is what is designed to be.. Wysiwyg is designed as a lighting design package and that is what it excels at. Most people that have complicated CAD files will either recieve them in DXF/DWG format or have created themselves in an actual CAD package and then import them into Wysiwyg, which despite common belief does work quite well..

 

Wysiwyg is an easy package to use provided you take the time to read the quick start guide and follow the tutorials or get yourself a days training.

[lasero]

hmmmm.... last post seems slightly biased...

 

if you (like I do) do NOT consider your time spent on r&d as of immediate monetary value, then go with the more 'economic efficient' product (especially if you will get paid for your time)...

 

lasero

[merlin24]

I wouldn't say biased, yes we do sell Wysiwyg, but to be honest I am speaking from a fair few years of using it and other software in the field.

I am not getting into an argument about it I have passed my opinion, people have their own minds and can make their own decisions, based on the information available to them. I did and I have not ever regretted it.

I have also never (regardless of my current employer) had any issues with getting support/backup/requests dealt with by CAST Lighting. Even when I was a "small user"

[damian1501]

Hi Andy,

 

Do you know anyone in Scotland who carries out wysiwyg training?

 

Many thanks, Damian.

[Calder]

If your good I might show you...

[peter]

Can I point you int he direction of Light Converse, which is available through Zero 88, which is a realtime 3D photorealistic visualisation and rendering package. See here for more information, and here for a demo video (warning, 77mb link!).

 

If you need any more information, please let me know.

 

 

 

 

Peter

[andyc]

For the cost of diddly squat you can try Maya for 3D modelling and rendering. OIve just been playing with it and its phenominal. Although not as straightforward as say Autocad!

 

Just google search Maya PLE

 

Ive never used WYSIWIG myself but a good friend of mine gets some great results but is miffed at having to fork out the subscription fees.

[niclights]

Maya is a traditional 3D modelling/animation package. Similar to 3DStudio Max etc. Incredibly powerful but designed primarily for animation, not for lighting simulation. In my experience it is very difficult to create accurate representations of lighting fixtures simply because they are not designed to do it.

 

Applications like WYG, Spotlight for VectorWorks & ESP Vision allow you to say 'Par64 here' and the rendered results will be accurate. But with 3D modelling you would not have these tools. Instead you would adjust and fiddle to create an image. This is not suitable or practical for lighting visualisation.

 

Really this has all been discussed before.