Fryrender Swap

[cecofuli]

Hey guy

try to see HERE

Very, very interesting... wow!

[instinct]

Has already been posted:
http://www.chaosgroup.com/forums/vbu...highlight=swap

on a side note it does some clever comp, not rerendering and hence has quite some limitations from what i read...nothing you couldnt do with VRay+Nuke and a tad of thought :P

[cecofuli]

Opss... sorry...

Oh, yes, it's a "light" post-production software in a user-friendly interface, but it's for how don't want another piece of software and want to show a client different rendering solution. In some situation it's a lot usefull. Change diffuse, glossy, some little reflection. Is not to bad in my opinion.

[instinct]

Well for one it needs additional rendertime to create the passes and on a second note a lot of things are not supported (like displacement).

Regards,
Thorsten

[simmsimaging]

A lot of things aren't supported, but I don't think it is accurate to call it a "light" post-production program. As far using Nuke, or Photoshop; some similar things would be easy, no question, but some not very easy at all (for example the possibilities that stem from the fact that you can adjust UV tiling in SWAP)

The render time is what it is - but then again it is the final hi-res render, so once you are done you can make all variations at full res in real time so the time savings could still be huge.

It would not be ideal for every job, but even a single job could more than make it worth your while. I haven't bought it yet, but I would probably just render a couple of material editor type scenes in SWAP and just use those to develop materials I need for jobs (those that I could anyway - and there would be many you could not for sure)

b

[instinct]

As for UVs, Nuke has STMap and it can do just that when set up properly.
Just to put that straight. I didnt mean th fry rendertime in general, but the fact that a swap render needs to render multiple additional passes (3 if i recall right ?) So if rendertime is x3 that makes quite a difference. Plus you have to select wich objects you want to change BEFORE rendering, so if your client wants a different object changed you still have to re-render.

Dont get me wrong it's a nice tool and i dont wanna put it down or anything. It's just not as sensational as marketing claims in my eyes :P

Regards,
Thorsten

[simmsimaging]

As for UVs, Nuke has STMap and it can do just that when set up properly.

First I have heard of that - I stand corrected on the UV thing I tried googling STMap but could not find any information on it, but it sounds interesting.

It's just not as sensational as marketing claims in my eyes :P

Show me something that is

b

[instinct]

lol, very good point

here's frank's tut on stmap:

http://www.studiodaily.com/main/training/7574.html

so when you render to elements, recombine them you're free to swap (pun not intended :P ) the diffuse with different maps even (tho that wont affect lighting or reflections obviously)

Regards,
Thorsten

[simmsimaging]

I think SWAP does affect reflections and lighting, which you could do manually as well as long as you have the right selections and a good eye for it. Anyway - I think we are in agreement in the long run.

STMap looks like a really powerful tool - I can't believe I have never heard of this. Why isn't everyone who uses Nuke doing SWAP like material edits?

I would love to see a plug in for photoshop like that!

b

[instinct]

No idea, we do :P

From what i gathered from the Video it seems swap is rendering 3 passes (black, white and material if i am not mistaken) and hence it does affect lights and reflections, but not correctly. Works for many things and adds a lot i guess tho. And is most likely sufficient for a review session. Not really for a final render i'd guess. I might be wrong there tho as i didnt try myself.

Regards,
Thorsten

[simmsimaging]

I really have to look into Nuke as an alternative to Photoshop.... I only do stills work and was always told there was no real advantage to using Fusion or Nuke (aside from the node workflow). This alone could be a big one in my opinion.

I think SWAP is supposed to be good enough for final images, not just reviews, but I haven't tried it yet either. There could be a big difference between SWAP changes and the same materials re-rendered. I'll let you know if/when I bite that particular bullet


b

[instinct]

Beware of Nuke's Paint system...it's due for an overhaul. If you do a lot of retouch that might bite you in the back.

Regards,
Thorsten

[simmsimaging]

Retouching is about 95% of what I do - so it may not be worth my while. I grabbed the learning edition to have a look at though.

Thanks for the tip!
b

[sv]

Retouching is about 95% of what I do - so it may not be worth my while. I grabbed the learning edition to have a look at though.

Thanks for the tip!
b

are you retouching renders, or just doing masked colour corrections etc? If your just working with renders to comp up images, Nuke is amazing, but if you are retouching photo's with clone stamp and the like, photoshop is still where it's at. But i doubt you are clone stamping your own renders...
I'm so into Nuke at the moment - just can't get enough of it - brilliant tool, especially with vray.

[simmsimaging]

I'm retouching renders as well. I do a lot of hand-tuning and masking, and I'm often blending photos and renders. I can see how Nuke would be good for mixing plates and global corrections, but I can already see that it can't replace Pshop for me.

Too bad it's so expensive, otherwise it might be something I could add to the mix - but the learning curve looks scary and the price tag even more so!

b