Carrara Render Engine? Options?

GarrettDR

Hello,
What is the render engine used in Carrara?
Does it have a stand alone app that can be downloaded?

I Save my DAZ Studio files out to RIB, and render them with 3Delights stand alone engine.
I have tried the Reality 4 Plug in, And personally, I don't like the never ending render process.

I have seen the Octane product and know that it is available for both DAZ and Carrara.
Has anyone tried the Octane render for DAZ and if so, how is it?
Carrara?

Thanks!

I found this link of info...
http://anthonypieper.com/why-i-love-the-octane-render-plugin-for-daz-studio-and-you-should-too/

WendyLuvsCatz

I have Octane render for Carrara others use Reality which sends to Luxurender

DustRider

Carrara's render engine is a part of Carrara, not an external product like 3Delight. There are currently two Carrara plugins to external render engines (with another in the works, more about that later).

1) Luxus for Carrara will export your scenes to LuxRender, but if you didn't like the Reality/Lux combination with DS, you probably won't like it with Carrara either (just as slow).

2) Octane for Carrara is a plugin that enables the use of Octane Render from within Carrara, the same is true for the DS to Octane plugin. I have both plugins, and prefer the Carrara plugin. The Carrara plugin is much more stable than the DS plugin, and development of the Carrara plugin is also much more reliable/active. I REALLY enjoy using the Octane plugin! There is nothing wrong with Carrara's render engine, it produces great results and is quite fast, but the nearly instant feedback to changes made in the scene with Octane really improves both my work flow and the quality of my final render. Of course, the speed of Octane for an unbiased renderer is also quite impressive as well.

I use it on a laptop with a Nvidia GTX 670M with 3Gb of VRAM and am very happy with it (this is about the same specs as an old GT 560 in a desktop). You will read posts around the internet saying you need a $1,000 card to use Octane, and that simply isn't true, Octane will run quite well on a $120 - $200 dollar card. You should have a minimum of 2Gb of VRAM - but 3 or more is better because all of the data for rendering your scene needs to fit into the RAM on your video card. You also have to have an Nvidia video card to use Octane. There is a demo version of Octane standalone and the Carrara plugin available here: https://render.otoy.com/downloads.php

You can also export your scene using the Carrara plugin to an Octane format, then use the stand alone version of Octane to render it. There are several examples of renders I've done with both the Carrara and DS plugins (as well as regular Carrara and DS renders) in my galleries if you are interested (links in my sig line below). Octane is a progressive renderer like LuxRender, but it is very easy to set the number of samples so the render will automatically stop after a given number of samples.

3) There is a third option in development called LuxusCore, that works very much like the Octane plugin (i.e it has an Interactive Progressive Renderer or IPR). It is being developed using LuxCore, which is the new programming API for LucRender 2.0. LuxusCore/LuxCore is MUCH faster than LuxRender 1.x, you also have the ability to use pure GPU rendering or CPU rendering. This should be an excellent low cost alternative to Octane render, but LuxCore isn't nearly as fast as Octane. You can find more information about LuxusCore and download the exerimental/beta version here: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/50130/

Hope this helps a bit.

GarrettDR

dustrider said:

You can also export your scene using the Carrara plugin to an Octane format, then use the stand alone version of Octane to render it. There are several examples of renders I've done with both the Carrara and DS plugins (as well as regular Carrara and DS renders) in my galleries if you are interested (links in my sig line below). Octane is a progressive renderer like LuxRender, but it is very easy to set the number of samples so the render will automatically stop after a given number of samples.

This is what I was curious about. Thank you for the Info! I definitely want to check out your comparisons. Looking at the price of the Carrara plugin, I think that is the way I will go.Is a newer plugin in development or is the current version the newest?

DustRider

GarrettDR said:

dustrider said:

You can also export your scene using the Carrara plugin to an Octane format, then use the stand alone version of Octane to render it. There are several examples of renders I've done with both the Carrara and DS plugins (as well as regular Carrara and DS renders) in my galleries if you are interested (links in my sig line below). Octane is a progressive renderer like LuxRender, but it is very easy to set the number of samples so the render will automatically stop after a given number of samples.

This is what I was curious about. Thank you for the Info! I definitely want to check out your comparisons. Looking at the price of the Carrara plugin, I think that is the way I will go.Is a newer plugin in development or is the current version the newest?

The current version for Carrara is a "beta" version, and is in continuous development heading toward the final release. Even though it is a beta version, it is extremely stable and feels like a final full version release. When any problems are found, the developer (Sighman) jumps right on them and typically has a new version with the fixes out within a week (often witin a few hours). If you purchase the plugin while it is in beta, you pay 50% of the full version price, and get the upgrade to the full version for free (this is also true for the DS plugin).

When I first heard that Octane for Carrara was being developed, I downloaded the Poser plugin demo and was immediately hooked. I purchased Octane with the DS plugin, and even with the stability issues of the DS plugin, I was still very happy with my purchase (zero buyers remorse). I was lucky enough to get selected for the closed/private beta for the Carrara plugin, and even in it's early stages it was extremely stable. I haven't used the DS plugin much since starting with the Carrara plugin because the Carrara plugin is so much more stable. Hopefully the next version of the DS plugin will be a bit more stable. But I'm really enjoying the Carrara plugin.

There are a few Carrara features that aren't supported by the plugin, like Carrara dynamic hair. There is a thread here about the Carrara plugin that will give you a bit more information and insight into it (sorry, I'd give you the link but I'm not at my computer).