TheAllusionist
06-02-2008, 02:41 PM
I like to consider my self a jack of all trades, I try to keep current on as many programs as I can and compare them, but I tend to fall behind. So I decided to give the new mental ray architectural shaders (this includes the physical sun and sky) in XSI a test drive. So I took an old project done in a more stylish manner in XSI (in the old days I used a light rig of many lights around the scene in a hemisphere of sorts) and rendered it out using the new shaders (OK, not that new! LOL) in as much of a realistic fashion as I could to put XSI 6.5 through it's paces. Later if I have time I will play with stylization, but for now the goal was to see what I could do with XSI 6.5 compared to XSI 4.2 from a few years ago. I did use different car models, but the rest of the model is the same.
Living in the world of architectural visualization I typically do projects in Max, and we are working modo into our workflow in my studio, but I like a lot about XSI and try to squeeze something in from time to time using it. I have to admit Autodesk actually did a sweet job on implementing mental ray in Max9 and above, in XSI everything isn't in one place most the shaders are their own separate node, but I do think the results are pretty good and I have to recognize if you fire up a program once or twice a year, your execution will not be flawless.Since it is using mental ray 3.5, the same as Max9, there is no real difference in output quality, no real difference to compare or contrast, so my conclusion would probably be that for archvis Max has more support, for anything else XSI is the winner!
I am now working on a night version of the scene, but having problems getting good exterior downlights and wall sconces. Would someone be so kind as to recommend camera shaders, enviroment shaders, materials shaders (object: light lense) for good archvis night time renderings for XSI 6.5 Essentials? Thanks in advance for your comments and suggestions. I know I rarely post here, but having a decent sized site(s) myself I am pretty busy ;)
Here is my before and after!
Living in the world of architectural visualization I typically do projects in Max, and we are working modo into our workflow in my studio, but I like a lot about XSI and try to squeeze something in from time to time using it. I have to admit Autodesk actually did a sweet job on implementing mental ray in Max9 and above, in XSI everything isn't in one place most the shaders are their own separate node, but I do think the results are pretty good and I have to recognize if you fire up a program once or twice a year, your execution will not be flawless.Since it is using mental ray 3.5, the same as Max9, there is no real difference in output quality, no real difference to compare or contrast, so my conclusion would probably be that for archvis Max has more support, for anything else XSI is the winner!
I am now working on a night version of the scene, but having problems getting good exterior downlights and wall sconces. Would someone be so kind as to recommend camera shaders, enviroment shaders, materials shaders (object: light lense) for good archvis night time renderings for XSI 6.5 Essentials? Thanks in advance for your comments and suggestions. I know I rarely post here, but having a decent sized site(s) myself I am pretty busy ;)
Here is my before and after!