Multiscatter or Forest Pro?

[plastic_]

Usually the last thing a programmer wants to do is working on someone else's code.

[BBB3]

I own both Forest and Multiscatter and keep both current on my install.

Like Peter, though, I've been using forest more often lately. This is going back to the days where MS was giving me big instability issues, though I believe these have since been fixed. MS seems to be slightly more RAM efficient, which may be a factor these days, when Vray is growing ever more RAM hungry. But if there is such a difference between the two plugins (and it may be completely in my head) this is offset by Forest allowing to constrain the distribution of proxies to the camera field of view.

Other than that, I think both plugins might be basically equivalent. Support for MS is also pretty good. It's rare not to get a reaction on their forums within hours of posting a technical question.

RailClone is great too. I use it all the time although, like Tricky mentioned, half the time I don't really know what I'm doing (I guess I could read the manual).

[peterguthrie]

Usually the last thing a programmer wants to do is working on someone else's code.

like working with someone else's 3d model? OK then, start from scratch!

[Itoosoft]

Yes! That would be so good!

Well, i have not more information about Materialwerk than other users of this forum. Does someone know what happened exactly to them ?

[JohnVK]

From what I have read the owners have had some "internal issues" and have decided to break up and are now going through some legal stuff. Other than that I don't really know.

I also kind of doubt if they would be willing or even able to give up the code, paid for or not. It's a very complicated matter in this case since there are most likely several legal owners of the code. Maybe it's even owned by the company (or any other legal entity) and not by a person which would make it even more complicated to sell / transfer the code to another owner. But like I said, I really have no idea. Just some random thoughts. It would definitely be nice if the code doesn't just die...

[duke2]

I doubt it would be worth contacting them yet as they do seem to be in the thick of it. Until that's over, the chances of striking a deal to take over development are slim at best!

On the subject, I own both, but use Forest 99% of the time. The only feature of MS that forest doesn't have is the way it places instances according to the surface. Forest can't align instances to UV's - it can only place/center them on the UV's. Yes you can use the placement tools, but then you lose the procedural part of it - it's no longer automatic.

[JohnVK]

Yes, indeed, the UV instancing is still a little limited, which is a shame. But I'm sure that'll work itself out in time.

There is one other thing I forgot to mention that is also kind of limiting in its own way and that is the way the copy protection / licensing works. It is not portable at all and you can have only one workstation activated (no "home use" or portable license available). One can't export the license and re-activate it on another workstation, like with the License Transfer Utility of Autodesk for example. If you want to take it with you on, let's say, a laptop for use on the road, then you'd have to do a full activation. This deactivates the license on your regular workstation and only a limited amount of activations are allowed by default. Itoo does add more activations for you if you ask for them though, so it's not impossible to work this way but it's not the most graceful either. I find myself actually not taking it with me because it's kind of a hassle if I have to do that several times a day. And what if you run out of license activations... at a bad time... you'd have to wait for Itoo to add more. Kind of a risk I do not want to take. Too bad, because I would love to be able to make much more use of the tool then I am able now. I hope Itoo will take a closer look at that.

[trick]

Licensing/copy protection with Itoo Software may not be ideal but I'll prefer it anytime over iCube's !!!!!!! With iCube you're simply NOT allowed to transfer the license to another computer more than once per half year....with Itoo you can at least discuss it next to the fact that you have 5 activation without the NEED for discussion !!!!!!

[JohnVK]

That's definitely true! I have purchased VRayPattern from them and their system is really awkward, to put it mildly. One of the main reasons I will never purchase any other tool from them. So in that respect Itoo is doing VERY well. But I would still like some portability, simply because I love Forest Pro and want to make more use of it

[Itoosoft]

Yes, indeed, the UV instancing is still a little limited, which is a shame. But I'm sure that'll work itself out in time.

There is one other thing I forgot to mention that is also kind of limiting in its own way and that is the way the copy protection / licensing works. It is not portable at all and you can have only one workstation activated (no "home use" or portable license available). One can't export the license and re-activate it on another workstation, like with the License Transfer Utility of Autodesk for example. If you want to take it with you on, let's say, a laptop for use on the road, then you'd have to do a full activation. This deactivates the license on your regular workstation and only a limited amount of activations are allowed by default. Itoo does add more activations for you if you ask for them though, so it's not impossible to work this way but it's not the most graceful either. I find myself actually not taking it with me because it's kind of a hassle if I have to do that several times a day. And what if you run out of license activations... at a bad time... you'd have to wait for Itoo to add more. Kind of a risk I do not want to take. Too bad, because I would love to be able to make much more use of the tool then I am able now. I hope Itoo will take a closer look at that.

We have not problems if you activate the license on the laptop besides your main workstation, provided that both computers are not used simultaneously. Although this case is not described in our licensing agreement, we are flexible about it. Also you can request additional activations if the counter is low, so it never runs out.

Anyways, if you have computer available to be used as server, we suggest to use Network/Floating licenses. They need to be activated only on the server, making much easier the installation and use of the software on the workstations. We offer both types of licenses at the same price, and if you have already purchased a Stand-alone license and want to convert it to Network, please write us and we change it without cost.

We want to unify both types of licenses in the future, including also a deactivation system and other improvements, but this will require a full rewriting of the licensing code. At this moment i cannot estimate when we will start to work on it.

[Smalerbi]

This may be a stupid question but will MS work with Vray 2.0? I thought there was a recompiling issue. That’s one of the reasons I have not upgrade to 2.0. Perhaps someone could confirm.

As for the comparison, I have no experience with Forest Pro but I love MS especially the multi-painter tool. I seem to use that 90% of the time. It provides the ability to place the plant proxy exactly where you want it. You can also mix your plant species and paint them on the mesh in a random pattern. I’m not sure if FP has this option.

Scott

[peterguthrie]

yes, multiscatter is updated frequently. Check the forum on rendering.ru

http://forum.rendering.ru/viewforum....d84871d2244208

[JohnVK]

We have not problems if you activate the license on the laptop besides your main workstation, provided that both computers are not used simultaneously. Although this case is not described in our licensing agreement, we are flexible about it. Also you can request additional activations if the counter is low, so it never runs out.

Anyways, if you have computer available to be used as server, we suggest to use Network/Floating licenses. They need to be activated only on the server, making much easier the installation and use of the software on the workstations. We offer both types of licenses at the same price, and if you have already purchased a Stand-alone license and want to convert it to Network, please write us and we change it without cost.

We want to unify both types of licenses in the future, including also a deactivation system and other improvements, but this will require a full rewriting of the licensing code. At this moment i cannot estimate when we will start to work on it.

Hi Carlos,

That's awesome news! Thank you very much!

I know about increasing the activations but the problem is that I travel daily and would therefor need to activate twice a day (when I leave at the laptop and when I return at the desktop), so that would mean that my 5 activations run out in two and a half days. And if 5 more would be added each time I would have to bother you with this every 2.5 days. I'd rather you not waste your time on that and keep doing what you're doing

I will contact you very soon to change the license type to networked. It would indeed be very helpful for the local network. And if I can activate one extra computer it would basically solve most of my problems! At no time will they be used simultaneously, ever.

The new licensing method you mention sounds GREAT. Exactly what I think most people would like to see happen. So I will happily wait until you have that working.

Again, thank you very much! Prime example of how great Itoo support is! Even in this place problems get solved quickly

Cheers
John

[plastic_]

Why do you need to activate daily? You can activate Forest on the desktop and on the notebook. That's it.
The activation doesn't kill a previously activated version.

[JohnVK]

Why do you need to activate daily? You can activate Forest on the desktop and on the notebook. That's it.
The activation doesn't kill a previously activated version.

Activating on two machines wasn't allowed (when I bought Forest Pro anyway). So I would have to reactivate each machine every time I wanted to use it. It's a license thing:

Although this case is not described in our licensing agreement, we are flexible about it.

So basically I didn't even consider that the other activation would stay active. I never tried that because I was simply acting according to the license agreement. Now I know this works and that it is actually allowed! and like I said in my last post, that solves a big part of my issues. Not all though.

Because other than that, it's not just one desktop and laptop. I change workspaces regularly. We have implemented flexible workspaces in our offices so employees won't have to drag a computer with them when they need to work on another location. In my job as manager ICT & Media I travel a lot between different offices so it would be nice if I can take Forest with me.

I simply just want to be able to move my licenses as I see fit. Just like with the Autodesk software. And I'm not the only one with this wish either