External rendering application for ST3? 1

[VABiker]

Coming from SolidWorks, with a PhotoWorks license, I had the ability to first use PhotoWorks (not too much fun, but fine in the long run), then PhotoView 360. The latter is a trimmed down version (a lot) of Luxology's "modo 501" application.

The modo 501 applicatin is fairly rich feature-wise, but mainly pointed toward CG artists (my words), complete with built in modeler. The modeler is slick, but I had no real use for it, as I'm still building primarily prism-shaped parts and assemblies. PhotoView 360 worked really well for me.

I would like a different rendering system (more realistic?) than ERA will apparently deliver. I tried to use "Bunkspeed Shot" and came away unimpressed.

I've downloaded a trial version of Luxology's modo 501, but now see it doesn't import SE files directly. (Filetypes are: .lwo, .3dm, .dae, .dxf, .eps, .ai, .fbx, .3ds, .psd, .geo, .sldprt, .sldasm, and .obj.) I'm in dialogue with Luxology to confirm this.

So the question is: what type of good, solid rendering application do you use with Solid Edge ST3 (or other ver. of SE)?

Thanks!

 

[swertel]

Well, since ST4 was just released to manufacture today, and it updated ERM extensively (still using Lightworks engine, I think) you may be happy with that.

Otherwise, instead of Bunkspeed Shot you may want to try Keyshot. Same technology as Bunkspeed's Shot. The company Hypershot split in two: Bunkspeed Shot and Keyshot.

The other one to try is Luxion.

--Scott

http://www.wertel.pro

 

[KENAT]

We looked at keyshot a few weeks ago but overall it didn't seem to offer significant advantage over ERA for how we use it.

Solid Works tried pushing 3Dvia for the same application but it isn't a rendering package as such so not directly applicable for us.

(So ST4 has new rendering huh, may have to find out more, still waiting to roll out ST3 because our licenses are now tied up with our former corporate overlords)

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(probably not aimed specifically at you)
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[beachcomber]

I tried Bunkspeed Shot and Luxion Keyshot recently but wasn't that impressed with either.
I didn't get any better than with ERA in ST2, ant they seemed so slow even using a Quadro FX4600. It's all the real time redering that slows them down. Every time you make a change the view gets updated.
To get the best out of ERA you really need to practice with it.

bc.
2.4GHz Core2 Quad, 4GB RAM,
Quadro FX4600.

Where would we be without sat-nav?

 

[xedu]

Another keyshot clone is Simlab.
Not the real thing I believe for advanced users, but for me it's enough.
And the price setting is almost...Just give it a shot

Like Scott already said, I also think ST4 will bring a lot of enhancements to the ERA environment. So maybe you should download ST4 in a week or two

 

[teebarr]

The closest thing to PV360 is Keyshot. Shot now uses very different technology (iray) to Keyshot. IMO the lighting is superior but the downside is it is very slow with a standard CAD rig (the FX4600 will make no difference).
The improvements to VS+ seem to be making backgrounds easier to apply etc., but the rendering engine remains the same - doesn't really compare to PV360.

To get decent results from Keysot/Shot you MUST delete all materials after the import and apply library materials, otherwise you are wasting your time.

Tony

 

[VABiker]

Following up on my original posting and subsequent responses. After messing around with modo 501, I gave up. Bottom line is that there was not a good way to import SE files. (Export Parasolids, then import into SolidWorks, saving out as SW files...blah. Yes, it "can" be done, but not what I had in mind.)

Since Bunkspeed Shot didn't work with my system, I figured Keyshot wouldn't either (just how much time to devote to this experimenting is a question unto itself). As such, I've now tried out SimLab. I'm in evaluation mode, but this is much more like what I had in mind. Runs as an add-in within SE and produces a pretty slick rendering. Still messing around, but easier and faster than ERA within ST3 (and won't crash my 32bit system!).

I'm relatively new to SE and ST3, so I haven't made inquiry as to the upgrade process to ST4 (whether we're on subscription or not, etc.). ERA in ST4 looks great in the demos, but this will do for now. Will probably buy it based upon what I see. Would still like to hear of others' experiences with this or other render packages.

I like the 3D .pdf capability, too. Quick, easy way to export a 3D model for someone else to look at. I got really accustomed to that in SolidWorks and used it a lot more than eDrawings.

Thanks for the feedback to point me to SimLab (so far!).

 

[kjoiner]

I have Keyshot 2 and use it instead of ERA in Solid Edge. Keyshot and Shot are now very different products. Keyshot is more CPU based whereas Shot uses the CUDA cores in nVidia cards. In my opinion Shot is much more resource intensive and as others mentioned, you need a really high end card to make it work.

I think Keyshot is much easier to use than ERA in Solid Edge. I was able to get good results in Keyshot without much effort. ERA requires too much tweaking with lighting to even have a decent image.

Kyle