14 replies to this topic

[Brad Graber]

Looking for some opinions on renderings softwares.  I'm looking for some nice marketing renderings.  I have a need for some upper end renderings and a new hire that I would like to train to do those.  I have looking into Lumion as well as Artlantis.  I would prefer something a bit cheaper then Lumion, but if it is the way to go and gets the job done I don't mind as well.  We will start to demo some of these and see what works, but i'm just curious as to everyone else's experience.

[Brad Graber]

Also i'm curious what the import process is like into these softwares.  

[Brad Graber]

I sure miss having Amit around.... He was always very knowledgeable with this kind of thing

[Sam Morgan]

Several softplan users are using lumion, including me.  Exporting from softplan and importing into lumion is a breeze. I was skeptical of the cost at first but jumped in and glad
I did. I haven't upgraded to the latest version yet but likely will soon.

[Brad Graber]

Does softplan export a .skp file directly... or are you importing into sketchup as a .dwg, then saving as a .skp file, and then importing into Lumion as a .skp?

Having just purchased Lumion i'm trying to work out the import method

[Henry Buckner]

Softplan 18 does have the ability to export as .skp- I believe it's under File/Publish.

[Brad Graber]

I finally figured out that is available but only to + subscribers.  I am not a + subscriber.

[Henry Buckner]

Sorry, didn't know that.

[Michael Roman]

I export from Softplan to Sketchup (+ subsciber) and I render in V-Ray.  V-Ray is quite a bit less expensive than Lumion.  I have tried the newest version of Lumion as a demo it does a very nice job, too.
This is a sample render that I did for a customer using V-Ray.  One day I hope that Softplan can give us this natively so we don't have to use another software package.

[Michael Roman]

Forgot to attach image.

Sorry, its been a long week.......

Attached Thumbnails

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[Steven Wohlgemuth]

I export from Softplan to Sketchup (+ subsciber) and I render in V-Ray.  V-Ray is quite a bit less expensive than Lumion.  I have tried the newest version of Lumion as a demo it does a very nice job, too.
This is a sample render that I did for a customer using V-Ray.  One day I hope that Softplan can give us this natively so we don't have to use another software package.

Which version of V-Ray do you use? I see a few different ones available on the website..

 

Steve

[Keith Almond]

If anyone is interested in giving it a try, KERKYTHEA is a FREE RENDERING ENGINE that will accept 3DS, OBJ and SKP files ... ALL of which I believe that Softplan can EXPORT.

 

I posted a chess set I rendered in KERKYTHEA, quite a while ago, I didn't spend much time on it, as it was more of an experiment than anything else, but the software may be ideal for someone to get their feet wet, without spending a fortune. Have a look at what it can do in the gallery.

 

http://www.kerkythea.net/cms/

[Michael Roman]

I use V-Ray for Sketchup Version 3.6

There is a bit of a learning curve, but that is the case with most high end software packages of any kind.

[randolph cohn]

architect amit is super busy designing and drawing in the southern california area.

 

i'll see if i can't get him to poke a few of his ideas into this thread.

 

btw,  he's also busy, with his family, bicycling all over the world.

[Brad Graber]

I was able to exchange a few emails with Amit.  He was helpful as always.  He did say that he has dropped the rendering hobby for the most part.