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Luxus for Carrara alpha release available - Luxrender in Carrara

3drendero3drendero Posts: 2,025
edited April 2013 in Carrara Discussion

Check out the news here, updated:

http://carraracafe.com/luxus-luxrender-plugin-for-carrara-beta-released/

EDIT: Now replaced with Luxus the Luxrender plugin for Carrara – Development/documentation blog:
http://carraracafe.com/luxus-the-luxrender-plugin-for-carrara-developmentdocumentation-blog/

Post edited by 3drendero on
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Comments

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,583
    edited December 1969

    Wow that was fast!
    Dude said he looked deep... he wasn't just a pullin'
    Amazing.
    I better go and thank him.
    And thank you too, for telling us 3d Rendero!

  • 3dOutlaw3dOutlaw Posts: 2,471
    edited December 1969

    An important point from the Cafe thread, at least for me: "...it should be possible to specify [Carrara Surface Replicator] instances as instances to LuxRender and save a ton of bits." Yes, yes, yes! Can you feel that?!?! :)

  • James_1903529James_1903529 Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    So what is going to be better about the Luxus render engine than the one pre-built in Carrara?

  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,050
    edited December 1969

    Un-biased renderer Vs. Carrara's biased renderer. There's been whole threads going back and forth. Personally, I've seen just as good results out of various biased renderers including Carrara's. Mostly I think it's a new toy. One that takes six days to render a scene that Carrara could render in a fraction of the time.


    The claim is that it's a more real world like renderer. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but that doesn't mean squat if you don't understand how to optimize your shaders, compose a scene, or light a scene. No matter what render engine you use it's still a simulation. If you want photo-real, buy a good camera.

  • 3dOutlaw3dOutlaw Posts: 2,471
    edited April 2013

    Its not better, it's different. Every render engine will have its proponents and detractors.

    I like Carrara for Animation, and for its replicators. (call me shallow, lol!) Otherwise I work in Poser (and DS sometimes). I have never been able to get a good handle on Carrara lighting. Not sure why, but for me, I don't like the "look" I get. Seems I need to put in more work in shaders and lighting to get what I think is compatible to Poser (firefly). I also like Cycles. I don't like 3delight.

    Lux...I find lighting easy. Materials are straightforward.

    I also have an i7 machine, so it takes about 1 hour for a good final render....versus those that apparently take 6 days, running a 386 processor......seriously, LOL?

    So, if this brings together 2 things I like, its a win-win for me!

    Post edited by 3dOutlaw on
  • James_1903529James_1903529 Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Thanks for the information. I think I've more to learn with the built in one.

  • 3dOutlaw3dOutlaw Posts: 2,471
    edited December 1969

    Yep, best to learn the tools you have versus hopping from one to another, or else you'll be like me. Decent at all, master at none. ;-)

  • Salem2007Salem2007 Posts: 513
    edited December 1969

    Cool! I really enjoy using the Carrara interface rather than the DS interface....but I was having fun playing with LUXRENDER, so this could be the best of both worlds.

  • Jay_NOLAJay_NOLA Posts: 1,145
    edited December 1969

    Very cool, was surprised at how quick an alpha got released.

    I just made an entry for it in the plugins list.

  • swordkensiaswordkensia Posts: 348
    edited December 1969

    Excellent news..

    Looking forward to it and a definate purchase from me.

    Its about time Carrara got some good plugin development again...so please don't start with the 'Why do we need this...?????', silliness.

    Cheers,

    S.K.

  • laverdet_943f1f7da1laverdet_943f1f7da1 Posts: 252
    edited December 1969

    it seems to be a great announce!... hope it's going to be developped!...
    I'm not sure to understand the limits about the surface: they say that lux surface has only one channel... does it means: just color or texture? or, as usual, refletion, transparencies, sss, etc...,?

  • 3DLust3DLust Posts: 230
    edited December 1969

    LuxRender is awesome - I can't wait to have it in Carrara!

  • 3DAGE3DAGE Posts: 3,311
    edited April 2013

    for me. the advantages of an unbiased renderer is the real-time feedback while working with shaders, lighting and camera's,.. and seeing those adjustments directly on the rendering image. ....although I'm not sure that applies to the way luxus / luxrenderer works.

    The disadvantage, is that the "shaders" need to be adjusted for that render engine, and the render time (if you let it keep going) can be hours,. since the renderer constantly improves the image with each pass.
    but,.. normally you can get a good image in a very short time, with a few hundred passes.


    quick test,.. it seems to override, or disregard any multiple shading domains, and uses the main "global" shader, which would normally be the default (grey) shader,... also, the image area seems to be smaller than the "production frame" area in Carrara.

    lux_car_alpha.jpg
    1280 x 1024 - 248K
    Post edited by 3DAGE on
  • rk66rk66 Posts: 441
    edited April 2013

    @3dage

    here an screen.

    I see you have found it.

    rk.

    Luxus_for_Carrara.jpg
    350 x 238 - 15K
    Post edited by rk66 on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,583
    edited December 1969

    Personally, I'm really finding it refreshing how incredibly outgoing this fellow is about meeting the needs of the Carraraist. He certainly is going to make it into a nice choice, and I truly appreciate that. Will I ever use it? Of course I will. Give me a new fun toy and I'll set it where I can see it every day. Give me a fun new toy for Carrara... well now... There you've got me thinkin'
    And I'll take some time to mess with it. Perhaps a whole day or more. If it turns into an option that I really want to keep using, then I'll be busy copying all of my Carrara scenes over to a new spot and adding them to yet another new spot of my browser - so I can start working them into a new Lux way of life. Gotta give my little buddies the same dose of fun as I get, right?

    The other exciting thing that's making my stomach feel like I've just crossed the threshold of the top arc of a roller coaster, is that art, especially art with Carrara, and even more so, art with Carrara and Dogwaffle... variety is an important piece of equipment. Carrara (and Dogwaffle :) ) are variety-centric. Adding an entirely new way of shading, lighting and rendering to Carrara is like doubling everything you have for Carrara. Imagine the mix and match possibilities it opens up!

  • 3DAGE3DAGE Posts: 3,311
    edited December 1969

    Hi RK66 :)

    I finally figures it out :) .. i was looking in the wrong place ..Doh !

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,583
    edited December 1969

    3DAGE said:
    Hi RK66 :)

    I finally figures it out :) .. i was looking in the wrong place ..Doh !

    I wanna see it when it's done... can I? Can I see your picture?
  • 3DAGE3DAGE Posts: 3,311
    edited December 1969

    quick pic back a page,. :)

    but it's just a junk test to see what it does at this stage,.. after finally figuring out where it was :) (I installed it, but couldn't find it),..
    but thanks to RK66 for the pic anyway.

  • 3drendero3drendero Posts: 2,025
    edited December 1969

    Updated the news post with screenshots showing both a render comparison and installation paths:
    http://carraracafe.com/luxus-alpha-released-luxrender-plugin-for-carrara/

  • 3DAGE3DAGE Posts: 3,311
    edited December 1969

    Thanks for that 3DRendero :)

    it's nice to SEE what's possible, ...and where files should go.

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,583
    edited December 1969

    Yeah... Thanks a lot for all of this, 3drendero!

  • Orion_UkOrion_Uk Posts: 231
    edited April 2013

    OK, so I have just decided to jump on the band wagon :P

    I have literally just booted up C8.5 (172) and threw in a genesis figure, added an aniblock and started playing..

    Just gonna read the documentation now (render seems to be grey scale only!, sure that after reading the documentation all will be fine)..
    Are we restricted to stills or can we do PNG sequences with this Alpha?

    I just wanted to say a BIG thank you for your efforts so far and encourage you to keep it up :)

    THANK YOU v-much ;)

    Post edited by Orion_Uk on
  • 3drendero3drendero Posts: 2,025
    edited December 1969

    There is no documentation, this is an alpha release, meaning that most functions are still missing.
    You can try to setup the textures only, since the only material available is color and texture maps:

    "4) 2 new shaders. Lux Surface should be the top most shader, Lux Matte must be in the first slot of Lux Surface
    5) Only the diffuse channel of Lux Matte will work. You can set a color or a texture there."

  • Orion_UkOrion_Uk Posts: 231
    edited April 2013

    Hi 3drendero :D

    3drendero said:
    There is no documentation, this is an alpha release, meaning that most functions are still missing.
    You can try to setup the textures only, since the only material available is color and texture maps:

    "4) 2 new shaders. Lux Surface should be the top most shader, Lux Matte must be in the first slot of Lux Surface
    5) Only the diffuse channel of Lux Matte will work. You can set a color or a texture there."

    RE: There is no documentation, this is an alpha release,

    I was referring to the LuxRender documentation as I have never used LuxRender before. I just brought Luxus for DS and decided to give this Alpha a try while I was at it, but usually I use Octane Render Plugins (For Poser, Blender & DS) or standalone for Carrara stauff, so thought it might give me a point to start from & help me understand the Carrara plugin and Luxus/LuxRender ;)

    Thanks for the reply and info :)

    Post edited by Orion_Uk on
  • 3drendero3drendero Posts: 2,025
    edited December 1969

    New version was just released, enough new features to call it a beta, more details here:
    http://carraracafe.com/luxus-luxrender-plugin-for-carrara-beta-released/

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,583
    edited December 1969

    For those who May have missed it... Here is where you can Download Luxrender

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,583
    edited December 1969

    Also, the new Beta release as well as the topic has been moved to the new forum - just in case you missed it. There's a second page on at original discussion that links to this new one.

  • 3drendero3drendero Posts: 2,025
    edited December 1969

    Got the "Hybrid" renderer of Luxrender to work as well, GPU assisted rendering for Carrara is here!
    The option of "slg" is not working, since the current Luxrender 1.21 does not support full GPU rendering via slg, think that it is scheduled for 1.3 though.

    Amazing integration of all Luxrender materials/lights/renderers in Carrara, outstanding work by SphericLabs.
    Stable too, no crashes after a few hours of working.

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,583
    edited December 1969

    Sweet. So, what do you mean by you got the hybrid to work? Care to elaborate on that?

  • rk66rk66 Posts: 441
    edited April 2013

    @3drendero:

    from the Luxrender site:

    "SLG renderer
    The SLG renderer branch has just been merged with mainline. This means from now on LuxRender has a full GPU accelerated render mode, it will be available in new development builds and in the forthcoming v1.3."

    http://www.luxrender.net/en_GB/index


    I have a little issue:
    When I load a scene from the indoor presets and then I render, hangs both Carrara and Luxus. Other scene presets will work. Can test other this?

    rk.

    Post edited by rk66 on
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