I haven't read much of the above, but I'm still happy using MR. Should I have switched!?
On 29 May 2016 at 23:18, Pierre Schiller <activemotionpictu...@gmail.com> wrote: > @Sven's got some really deep honest points regarding mr. > > @Matt Lind, any MR shaders you develop help a lot of people, who read this > but can't participate either because they're not part of the list or this > (will be) a cached google page. In representation of them: I vote YES, we > do use MentalRay. > > To this day I'm still contacted by peopñe who says: MR toon shader is the > best out there. Softimage toon shader is the best. And that'd my personal > use of MR: toon shading, normals, world normals... you know stuff that > requires more of a compositor's cheme to arm a scene for cartoon renders. > > I'm interested on advanced shaders because less parameters deal with the > same amount of settings regarding out of the box MR shaders. Plus we all > have seen your page over thr years, Matt, who are we kidding, really great > tutos and SI help from you all these years. :) > > Release the kra...(wait)... release the MR shaders... > > Cheers. > On May 29, 2016 10:08 AM, "Sven Constable" <sixsi_l...@imagefront.de> > wrote: > >> What you say about update cycles is absolutly valid. In fact mental >> images did updates quite frequently. Not as often as chaos group with vray >> but at least several per year. I had a better and newer link including >> dates of bugfixes but I can't find right now. Heres an older list by AD: >> >> http://docs.autodesk.com/MENTALRAY/2012/ENU/mental%20ray%203.9%20Help/files/relnotes/relnotes.html >> >> >> >> A lot of fixes quite frequently as it seems. But since most of the >> costumers didn't use the standalone but the integrated version by its DCC >> developer the bugfixes were incorporated only once per year. Leaving >> costumers a year with a bug, that got adressed by mental images possibly >> just a week later. >> >> >> >> >> >> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto: >> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Derek Jenson >> *Sent:* Sunday, May 29, 2016 3:36 PM >> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com >> *Subject:* RE: Anybody still using mental ray? >> >> >> >> I think the biggest problem with the stability of MR was with the concept >> of only releasing a single update once a year which was tided to the 3D >> program. That was unrealistic idealism. There was also pressure to give >> customers the lastest and least tested version of MR with each yearly DCC >> update. 3D is too bleeding edge for that release model to be stable. Being >> XSI's only renderer option for a long time, stability certainly became an >> issue. >> >> If MR updates were released with the frequency (and flexibility of >> rollbacks) like all 3rd party engines, everyone would have fonder memories >> of the software. >> >> The developers of MR also worked in complete isolation with regard to >> communication with their customer base. The RS guys have bent over backward >> to educate and update their clients, and I really appreciate the support. >> IMO, you can only partially point the finger at users for not using a >> software as intended. With information/training being so easily accessible >> now the "you're not smart enough to use software X" mentally of the early >> years is void. If a whole user base is struggling with a technology... then >> something with that tech is flawed; not the other way around. >> >> The flexibility of MR and 3delight are unmatched (in XSI), but the speed >> demands forced on this biz make Redshift indispensable for keeping pace. >> ------------------------------ >> >> From: mirkoj.anima...@gmail.com >> Date: Sat, 28 May 2016 22:00:28 +0200 >> Subject: Re: Anybody still using mental ray? >> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com >> >> there are some good points in there BUT if better results can be achieved >> faster and learn faster on another engine does it make sense to waste time >> learning inferior render engine instead? >> >> >> >> also I do know much more experience people with MRay that even with >> knowing a lot more still had to spend wake nights waiting for crashes and >> issues on critical rendering that ofc needs to be done tomorrow morning :) >> >> >> >> On Sat, May 28, 2016 at 9:55 PM, Matt Lind <speye...@hotmail.com> wrote: >> >> The people who complain the most about mental ray tend to be the ones who >> never took the time to learn to use it properly. >> >> If you read the manuals, mental images states some modes are more taxing >> than others for rendering. For example, Segmented shadow mode incurs 15% >> additional rendering time vs. the default shadow computation mode, and is >> less stable inside of material shaders. Segmented shadows is currently >> set >> as the default shadow computation mode. If you do most of your rendering >> in >> passes, then you likely do not need segmented shadows and can revert to >> what >> is now labeled "normal" shadow mode to regain some performance and >> stability. If your render pass doesn't need lighting, then turn shadows >> off >> completely. That's just one example. >> >> For XSI v1.0 thru XSI v5.11, the default settings Softimage chose for >> mental >> ray were fairly efficient, but users commonly complained about black spots >> when doing renderings involving lots of reflection or refraction (because >> they didn't increase ray depth) or anti-aliasing wasn't super smooth >> (because they didn't set filter to 'lanczos' or 'mitchell' instead of >> default 'box', or didn't adjust the adaptive sampling properly). In >> essence, most complaints were due to user error - because users didn't >> take >> the time to learn how to use the renderer >> >> To alleviate support issues, Softimage redefined the default mental ray >> settings in XSI v6.0 to what they are now - which effectively activates a >> bunch of stuff you don't need majority of the time and does a lot of extra >> work that never shows up in the final rendered image. This change can >> often >> be blamed for inducing crashes and slower render times because many users >> do >> not tweak the settings. >> >> If you learn to use the renderer properly instead of using a 3DSMax >> mentality of pushing a button and walking away, you'll get better >> performance and stability. Much of that also involves strategy for >> setting >> up the scene before sending it to the renderer - another area users make >> gross mistakes because they don't take the time to understand the >> rendering >> process. >> >> Matt >> >> >> >> >> Date: Sat, 28 May 2016 09:25:06 +0200 >> From: Mirko Jankovic <mirkoj.anima...@gmail.com> >> Subject: Re: Anybody still using mental ray? >> To: "softimage@listproc.autodesk.com" >> >> *1. I don't want to throw away a expensive CPU based renderfarm.* >> >> It will be obsolete soon anyway so just make good planing for next render >> tool, CPU or GPU road. >> >> >> >> *2. mental ray still has more shaders. It's slow sometimes but it is >> rathergood when you want to do non physically based things. A bit like >> Softimageitself, the all-purpose, swiss knife.* >> >> First time I heard something like this for MRay. Mostly it is in line I >> wanna puke or quit 3d completely due to rendering part :) >> When I discovered Arnold and then even more Redshift that is when a big >> issue I had with SI, ie rendering was solved and 3d was fun again. >> MRay was PAIN non stop! Swiss knife.. yea could say that, got ton of >> things >> but nothing good for most of things :) >> >> Redshift saved my 3d ;) >> >> ------ >> Softimage Mailing List. >> To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com >> with "unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to confirm. >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> >> Mirko Jankovic >> >> *http://www.cgfolio.com/mirko-jankovic >> <http://www.cgfolio.com/mirko-jankovic>* >> >> >> >> Need to find freelancers fast? >> >> www.cgfolio.com >> >> >> >> Need some help with rendering an Redshift project? >> >> http://www.gpuoven.com/ >> >> >> ------ Softimage Mailing List. To unsubscribe, send a mail to >> softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with "unsubscribe" in the >> subject, and reply to confirm. >> >> ------ >> Softimage Mailing List. >> To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com >> with "unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to confirm. >> > > ------ > Softimage Mailing List. > To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com > with "unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to confirm. > -- Chris Marshall Mint Motion Limited 029 20 37 27 57 07730 533 115 www.mintmotion.co.uk www.dot3d.com
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