I need to get 72 phot renders done over the next few weeks

Does anyone have suggestions on how to automate the process? Also would
this work when using a plug-in like Maxwell? I have a studio setup for
Photoworks that I have had success with for a small run of renders but
not for a large number. If anyone has had success automating
renderings/Solidworks process, or running Maxwell/Photoworks over a
network I would appreciate your advice.

 

By the way, I've seen your stuff over at Product Design Forums.....some
really nice work...love your stuff.

 

wow-not only two identical topics but two identical posts..yeesh!

Rob- thanks for the compliment! Well - unfortunately I have 68 separate
files to render. Fortunately- they are organized into families-- appox.
3 similar concepts are grouped in 23 assys. They are all modeled around
the origin, so that I can toggle visibility and render. There are some
common materials, and some custom textures. I was hoping to texture
them during the day, put them into a proven studio and have them render
at night, over the network using Maxwell, or barring that Photoworks. I
have limited time during the day, and I need to sleep, so I was hoping
that someone would have a few pointers!

Perhaps I can toggle visibility of the parts in Animator that
Photoworks can render? not sure. I dont have plenty of Animator
experience so this will take some experimentation.

 

if you have set them up ready to render why not just ask for some groupies
here to render 5-6 each for you - may be for a small reward ;o)

 

Hi Parel,

Have you asked these questions on the Maxwell forum?

I've been somewhat busy over the past few weeks, so haven't had much time to
try out Maxwell V1 other than a few test renders so I can't offer to much
advice. Not sure if render queing is working with V1.


John Layne
www.solidengineering.co.nz

 

Forgot to add one of the test renders I did with Maxwell the other day was
the Mouse from your surfacing tutorial on the Product design forum. mainly
to test the new multi-light functionality of Maxwell. I love that feature

Tips if using Maxwell (which you probably already know)

1/ Make your lights as simple as possible ie just simple square surfaces,
you will have to assign the surface normals in Maxwell Studio as you can't
in SolidWorks. Simple lights will increase render speed dramatically.
2/ Use the -ml in the comand line in Studio to enable the multi-light
functionality. This way you can alter the intensity of the lighting of the
render file (.mxi) in real time after the render is complete, allowing you
to save an infinite number of images from the .mxi file. If you have 1 or 20
lights active in the render won't affect the speed.

John Layne