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Affordable alternative to Keyshot
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I know a lot of effort has been put into a bridge with Keyshot and it is indeed a very nice render engine but... It is $2000 for the pro version, more than SharkCAD Pro. I understand that the conection is good for SharkCad, it brings the application in line with IronCAD and ZW3D as well as the other big CAD packages. However for a lot of us it is out of reach. I quite like Simlab Composer and have been using it for a couple of years now. It has connections to all the big CAD applications as well as IronCAD and ZW3D. The render quality is not quite level with Keyshot but has VR output for Vive and Rift and good publishing features to pdf, web and mobile devices. So it would be nice to see a connection with SharkCAD and ViaCad.
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Originally Posted by: bbuxton ...It is $2000 for the pro version, more than SharkCAD Pro.
KeyShot HD is U$ 999.- Originally Posted by: bbuxton ... it brings the application in line with IronCAD and ZW3D as well as the other big CAD packages.
IronCAD and ZW3D are not the 'big' CAD packages...
Edited by user Thursday, August 31, 2017 3:46:15 AM(UTC)
| Reason: tagging error
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I did not say that IronCad and ZW3D were the big CAD applications. You misunderstood. Simlab works well with Shark but a plugin connection would be better. The renderer uses similar technology to Keyshot. Most of the CAD applications with a Keyshot bridge also have a plugin for Simlab. Many of those CAD packages also have a special bundled price which Tim mentioned as a possibility but this has not materialised yet. Hence the relevance of a Simlab connection.
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It seems Sharkcad and Viacad are just not interesting enough for the developers of render engines. I don't know the sales numbers of punchcad, but they are certainly far away from big guys like solidworks, rhino, 3ds max etc. But if you can live with an standalone render engine, you have a lot of cheaper (and even free) engines, which are on the same level as keyshot. For example: V-Ray, Octane, Thea, Maxwell, Iray, Blender cycles (free), ...
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Originally Posted by: bbuxton I know a lot of effort has been put into a bridge with Keyshot and it is indeed a very nice render engine but... It is $2000 for the pro version, more than SharkCAD Pro. I understand that the conection is good for SharkCad, it brings the application in line with IronCAD and ZW3D as well as the other big CAD packages. However for a lot of us it is out of reach.
Owlet isn't bad.. I think its $99 for the commercial license option.. quite similar in operation to keyshot but a bit stripped down in some features.
https://boxshot.com/owlet/ You can also render in Strata 3D – its renderings are fairly high quality. Has a free version but not sure if it has rendering.
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I have amazing results with Blender. But I had the advantage someone already made a template with all the right settings, so I really didn't need to know much about the settings.
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I think Strata was my very first 3D application, still a lovely program though I don't use it now. SharkCad does a pretty decent job of exporting files for rendering elsewhere, it even has Fact format for those still using Electric Image. The list of available rendering software is very long. My interest was in the live linking that SharkCad has with Keyshot. Most of the applications that have a livelink connection with Keyshot aslso have a connection with Simlab. Simlab renders are not quite as nice as Keyshot but it does have numerous other useful features like output to Vive and Rift VR, 3D PDF (with a few more features than from SharkCad). Simlab can also create moving part mechanical animations with an easy to understand constraint system. Simlab can import a number of the CAD formats supported by SharkCad but.... Retaining part names and hierarchy along with instanced symbol or block definitions is something I have no success with in SharkCad
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Hi, very cheap and usefull is a DAZ Bryce 3d. Funny interface, import of .obj files, own polygonal-like modeler, predefined sceen and a lot of materials inside, material lab, IBL lighting similar to hdri, four render engines inside. Many video tutorials and online shop. See Gallery on this forum, i add my renderings by DAZ Bryce 3d. Enjoy
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Cheetah 3D is another good one (Mac-only)... rudimentary polygon modeler though it has excellent rendering/animation tools..
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After years of experience, I think there is no better than Keyshot for rendering. Definitely. Antoine
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Originally Posted by: Antoine After years of experience, I think there is no better than Keyshot for rendering. Definitely. Antoine
agreed – KS is both simple to use and extremely powerful.
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I'm old KS user. Bit I use SimLab for two years too.
SL is not so a powerful like KS(materials, hdri editor etc..). But the quality of rendering is quite decent and the program is constantly in development.
Some SL's renderings:
digitalphaser attached the following image(s):
simlab_rendering.jpg
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Originally Posted by: Antoine After years of experience, I think there is no better than Keyshot for rendering. Definitely. Antoine
Perhaps I'm mad, but results, which I like most, i got in.. unreal engine. Maybe, because I usually render models made for game-dev.
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I have to agree with Antoine, I came from maxwell and changing to keyshot my productivity shot through the roof, I only regret all the time I spent with Maxwell trying to setup a renderfarm or getting the licence to work - and all the bugs. I know this is not really an answer to your question, just had to say it. Claus
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