rhino vs sketchup

[urbanbeing]

i have used rhino for a number of years now ( i use it mainly for architectural images) and i rendered with flamingo, recently i got vFr
it works great for interior scenes, the gi is amazing , but i cant seem to get any luck with the exterior scenes , perhaps i need to learn the vray options better,When you adjust the rhino mesh settings to achieve smoother surfaces , vray struggles , is sketch up a better option to use with vray as it useds more simpler geometric shapes ?

[dalomar_cg]

Re: rhino vs sketchup

Using Sketchup is not going to make any difference. Its going to be the same process setting up an exterior rendering there as it would be in Rhino. Geometry is geometry, and infact SU is not as efficient exporting the scene as Rhino is.

[merlik585]

Re: rhino vs sketchup

urbanbeing what is exactly your problem with exterior?

I have been using Rhino for architectural work since the very first release(was not even called Rhino then ,I used to model in Rhino export to Autocad and render in Accurender.I bought Flamingo when it came out,but never really use it,Accurender was always a step further.I have been using Vray,since the betas,love it would not go back.

I always use the physical camera with Vray sun and sky,for exteriors.Having done and still doing a lot of photography,I feel comfortable using the physical camera settings.

Renee

[urbanbeing]

Re: rhino vs sketchup

http://profile.imageshack.us/user/urbanbeing/
some of my images have been posted here ,
My problem is finding the right Visopt to use .... i struggled with the intensities of the Sun and HDR multiplyer , it took me about 56 hours ( on the trot !!) to figure it out
My clients are demanding more realistic images ,in shorter times
the contrast between areas in shade and not are very severe and i have to nuke my scene with lights to adjust the contrast ...


I would love to use a programme like http://www.teamviewer.com/index.aspx
Which allows users to work on remote pc's anywhere , you could possible acess my file , set up a options and just wiz about for 10 minutes so i can see where and what you are clicking , that would absolutely make my day , to see a pro in action
please send me A PM if you are interested , we can skype on the side to communicate , or i could phone?
have some hectic deadlines ahead that are freaking me out!!! lol

[urbanbeing]

Re: rhino vs sketchup

DALOMAR... Would you say rhino is faster than sketch up , better? worse ? easier to model , ?, more stable? etc?

[dalomar_cg]

Re: rhino vs sketchup

Well first of all, I am very biased (although with good reason), but if you're asking then you're asking ;D

Basically, at this point Rhino IS faster that SU as far as V-Ray goes. Its not that we're holding back anything, its just that a SketchUp scene will take longer to parse than a Rhino scene will (parsing = the time taken from pressing the render button to the render actually starting...aka "exporting" the scene).

Modeling is a more of a story. Most people will tell you that SU is easier to do things. Well, thats not necessarily the case 100% of the time. If you're modeling a lot of boxes, then SU may be just fine, but anything beyond what is an abstraction or combination of a box is going to be rather hard to put into sketchup. Rhino on the other hand is extremely capable with doing pretty much anything modeling wise. Boxes are not nessecarily as easy as SU, but a box is a box, so you can still get em done, although it may take a few seconds longer. Anything beyond that and Rhino will be lightyears faster, and easier, than using SU. Also doing any sort of manipulations/transformations are 1000 times easier in Rhino.

Beyond that there are the other things that make Rhino much better. You'll have a much easier time texturing your model. There still aren't super advanced mapping tools in Rhino, but even in their present state you'll be able to do texturing much easier than with SU (and quicker too). In general, there are going to be much fewer hoops to jump through with Rhino as opposed to SU.

There's more too, but I don't want to go writing a novel...go to www.Rhino3d.com and download the evaluation. There's no time limit on it, but you'll only get 25 saves. Download V-Ray for Rhino as well...as long as you haven't run out of saves then I believe V-Ray should work.

[dkendig]

Re: rhino vs sketchup

In my opinion, SketchUp is great if you just want to mock something up real quick. It's pretty decent with small scenes too... but I wouldn't say it follows the normal rules of a modeling application. I came from a Maya background, so jumping in to Rhino isn't really that much of a stretch. SketchUp on the other hand... it's just not for me. It's too "point and click", and I don't feel like I have enough control over the models in the scene. Rhino can handle larger and more complex scenes than SketchUp, and so in that aspect it's quite a bit faster. As Dalomar mentioned, V-Ray for Rhino interacts with Rhino faster than V-Ray for SketchUp interacts with SketchUp, so in that aspect Rhino is faster once again. It all depends on what type of experience you have with modeling software, and what you are hoping to accomplish. I wouldn't dare try to model something like a bicycle in SketchUp. I'm pretty sure I'd go insane. Then again, it might only take 5 minutes to set up a scene in SketchUp that has a lot of imported components like trees, people, vehicles, etc.

[urbanbeing]

Re: rhino vs sketchup

Great so.... rhino = 1 , SU =0
still want to know if anyone ( a pro ) is interested in

using a programme like http://www.teamviewer.com/index.aspx

Which allows users to work on remote pc's anywhere , you could possible acess my file , set up a vray options and just wiz about for 10 minutes so i can see where and what you are clicking , that would absolutely make my day , to see a pro in action
please send me A PM if you are interested , we can skype on the side to communicate , or i could phone?
have some hectic deadlines ahead that are freaking me out!!! lol
pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease !

[Micha_cg]

Re: rhino vs sketchup

Teamviewer? Never heard ... but great, I tested it here. Phantastic. I must finish a project today, but tomorrow we could make a Teamviewer session - could be interesting for you and me. The teamviewer could be a way to offer Vray for Rhino trainings between projects.

[Free Agent_cg]

Re: rhino vs sketchup

i feel it my duty to step in on behalf of SU, i agree the organic stuff was alot harder to work around but not these days there are very few differences between sketchup and any big boy modelling program (except high poly capability which pisses me off, sketchup isnt too happy with super detailed scenes)

http://asgvis.com/index.php?option=c...0&topic=4318.0

this is what Silver_shadow has been working on the past couple of weeks, with new plugins like subdiv and smooth, SketchyFFD there are no limitation to organic modeling, and from experience a collegue of mine, who worked mostly in Rhino for architecture and after joining our firm couldnt believe that sketchup was capable of the things were doing (even before these plugins) and now only works in Sketchup...

sketchup is made for ease of use i think and interface is disgustly simple, and if u apply a end user 3D guy frame of mind to it, no other program will satisfy...

[dalomar_cg]

Re: rhino vs sketchup

(here comes the bias)

Agent,

That's scene is absolutely amazing, and to be perfectly honest, I am quite amazed at what some of you SU guys post day in and day out. My only question would be whether doing something that complex and intricate is easier to create and work with in SU. I'm not talking just the modeling, but the environment and workflow. I believe that if someone is talented enough to create a scene like that, then they can make the transition to a program that can actually help them create complex, intricate scenes like that. And the workflow benefits and time savings to an artist like that would really be worth the initial hurdles of learning a new program.

Personally, as someone who's been working in other 3d applications for a little less than 4 years now, I find SketchUp rather counter intuitive. The way it chooses to do things typically goes against the grain in terms of normal/average 3D workflow. This is probably why beginners like it, but this is also why it can be very hard to move into the complexity that is achieved by industries that need a lot of things from their 3d work (like vfx studios, engineers). I know that most people aren't looking for things that are even close to what other industries need, but there is something to learn from them, even if you don't want to work like them.

On things that are not really even that complex, SketchUp really fights you on. Mapping is a great example of this. Yea, SU's solution is easy in terms of one thing, but mapping a whole scene is very intensive and can be very time consuming, and thats assuming everything is a box. My real point is that if you're really looking to do more with your 3D work, and your willing to compromise a little of how you work to get more back in terms of workflow, time savings, and productivity, then you'd be better off looking somewhere else other than SketchUp.

Thats my 2 cents.
(btw, I can keep going for a while)

[dkendig]

Re: rhino vs sketchup

I agree whole heartedly, I started playing with some modeling apps about 8 years ago (max, rhino, brl cad, acad). Then I moved on to Maya a year or two later, and have been primarily a Maya user ever since. Moving from an application like Maya or Max, to SketchUp isn't a very comfortable move at all. It feels like you're paralyzed or lost all of your tools. It doesn't take too long to figure SketchUp out though, the learning curve is nearly non existent.

So from a beginner's perspective, SketchUp would be a breeze to learn and jump in to the 3D world. It's all about what you're going to be doing in the application. If your goal is architecture visualization, either application would do the job. Free Agent is absolutely right, there are lots of 3rd party add-ons that have added functionality to SketchUp. Our application is a prime example. Not everyone needs fluid simulation, fur, and all the other bells and whistles that the "big boys" have. Plus, not everyone wants to have to take out a second mortgage on their homes in order to model office furniture. I lean more towards Rhino just because I feel more comfortable with the tool set than I do with SketchUp. It has a lot more in common with the other applications that I'm familiar with and the workflows that I'm accustomed to. The architecture firm down the street from us leans more toward SketchUp, because they find that the application allows their architects (not seasoned 3D artists, never used Max or anything of that sort) to quickly create a solid visualization of their projects.

It all depends on your previous experience, and the direction you want to go in.