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Advanced Render or External Render
I’ve been messing around with the demo for C4D’s Advanced Render module, and have really been impressed by the quality it produces. However, before I commit the money and time to buying it and learning the interface, I would like to be sure that I am getting the best bang for my buck, so to speak. How much better, if at all, are the external renderers on the market? Programs like Vray and Brazil seem to produce some impressive results, but can these even be used without first having the AR module? And if I were going to use an external renderer, which one? (I am a hobbyist who would prefer not to have to do things like program Renderman shaders) Any opinions/ideas would be much appreciated.
-Bob -
5 Replies
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You can consider Lux Render. Lux is a physically-based, un-biased renderer that is Open Source and produces stunning results. It also allows you to manipulate the light sources after the rendering and update the scene in real time. It has a C4D plugin.
See https://www.luxrender.net/v/exporters
Good luck.
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Paolo Ciccone
Pret-A-3D
https://www.preta3d.com
https://www.paolociccone.com -
Some of the external render engines are capable of producing better results than AR, but not tremendously so, IMO. They are considerably more difficult to use and they tend not to work with some modules (the Hair module in particular). They will work without AR.
Of the group that works with Cinema I would recommend VRay4C4D. It’s tightly integrated and is capable of beautiful results.
But my advice would be to start out with Advanced Render for it’s high quality, ease of use, and 100% compatibility. I might change that recommendation if you were going to be doing primarily longish animations with global illumination.
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Thanks for the recommendation! I’ve been doing some research and Vray definitely produces some stunning results. I was also highly impressed with Maxwell and Fryrender, but I’m not sure they’re worth the %300+ hit to render time, even if they are easier to use.
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Maxwell and Fry can produce some amazing output, but they are *seriously* slow. Animation is not a realistic option.
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btw, don’t get too sold by sample output; in every case the skill of hte operator is much more important than the quality of the tool.
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