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Luxus Render questions...

WsCGWsCG Posts: 391
in Carrara Discussion

Hi there,

So after spending time in DS, Blender and poking around in Poser a bit, trying to find the "best fit" for a workflow, I've decided, finally, to move my work into Carrara (probably some PhotoShop or Howler for post-work).DS does some beautiful renders, and has mountains of newer features/assets. However, I miss the ability to build directly in the editor, and I'm really not a fan of exporting/importing assets.

One thing that I'll miss about DS, though, is the IRay rendering. I like having photo-realism as an option. I know Carrara has some pretty advanced rendering capabilities, but it's still a little behind the times. I've seen Lux Render available for Carrara, and what I've seen from it looks really really good.

I'm curious if anyone who works with Luxus Render here can share their experiences working with it? Pros? Cons? Likes? Dislikes? Maybe show off some renders? It's in my shopping cart, but would like to get some insight from those who use it.

Thanks a bunch!

Comments

  • Scorpio87Scorpio87 Posts: 82

    The Luxus and Luxcore render is a progressive  and unbias render engine. Carrara's native engine is bias with precalculative lights and shadows to speed up the process.

    I do not use Luxus , however I do use it's updated engine called Luxcore.

    https://carraracafe.com/luxuscore-for-carrara-plugin-unofficial-manual-2015-02-15/

    https://app.box.com/s/2g03wx4j6y3lyw7uzhxgq6ifnk3hnxga

    I've noticed there are additional options in Luxus that Luxcore does not have in render lights and options. I plan on buying Luxus when it is on sale again.

    I'll post some Carrara and Luxus/Luxcore images.

     

  • WsCGWsCG Posts: 391

    Thank ya, Joanght. Look forward to seeing them!

    I'm getting used to using Carrara again a bit since I have to wait 'til next week to purchase Luxus anyway. So, in the meantime, I hope to see/learn some cool stuff.

     

  • Bunyip02Bunyip02 Posts: 8,688

    Did a quick search for Luxus, hope these threads are of use/interest:-

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/57266/luxus-for-carrara-should-i

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/622429/

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/29998/

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/247726/luxus-for-carrara-initial-experiments/p1

  • Scorpio87Scorpio87 Posts: 82
    edited February 2020

    One huge difference between Carrara and Luxus(core) render engine is that Carrara has the bucket render method where it renders small sections at a time like poser to complete the image. Luxus uses OpenCL progressive sampling render method that it keeps rendering forever until you stop the render. Sampling , resampling , helps refine the image, however you can set a "Time" , "Sample Level" to stop at , very useful when youre animating so youre not stuck on the first frame for days. Carrara uses strictly CPU to render where I believe Luxus uses CPU and GPU, but recommended to use just GPU when using Luxus/Lux(core) render engine.

    I personally like to use both renders on one project and layer the passes in GIMP or Photoshop.

    One large note is I still cannot get Scene > Filter > Tool! part III or 3d Aura to work in Luxus/Lux(core).

    Cavat 

          Carrara shaders vs Lux shaders: Most shaders need to be rebuilt using Lux shaders.

          Occlusion and Ambiant lighting: Lux has a sort of built in indirect lighting because it is an unbias render it considered all sources of "physial" lights. Carrara lighting will not apply in this case and would need to be redesigned in the scene. To create realistic lights IE: Street Scene with light poles (street lights) , a moon. You can physically model a bulb in vertex modeler room for the lamps and create an emission level to produce actual physical light. Moon is that way as well , you can create an actual moon ( :) ) with textures and all producing physical light!

    Huge benefit is the IPR Realtime render window. It's an incredible feature that I sure wish Carrara had natively. Render as you work is a huge time saver.

     

     

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    Post edited by Scorpio87 on
  • WsCGWsCG Posts: 391
    Bunyip02 said:

    Did a quick search for Luxus, hope these threads are of use/interest:-

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/57266/luxus-for-carrara-should-i

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/622429/

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/29998/

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/247726/luxus-for-carrara-initial-experiments/p1

    Thank you for those links. You just searched "Luxus"? I tried that search and didn't come back with anything. I was surprised, 'cause I could have sworn I'd seen discussions about it here. Weird.

    Well thank you for searching and sharing!

     

  • WsCGWsCG Posts: 391
    edited February 2020
    Joanght said:

    One huge difference between Carrara and Luxus(core) render engine is that Carrara has the bucket render method where it renders small sections at a time like poser to complete the image. Luxus uses OpenCL progressive sampling render method that it keeps rendering forever until you stop the render. Sampling , resampling , helps refine the image, however you can set a "Time" , "Sample Level" to stop at , very useful when youre animating so youre not stuck on the first frame for days. Carrara uses strictly CPU to render where I believe Luxus uses CPU and GPU, but recommended to use just GPU when using Luxus/Lux(core) render engine.

    I personally like to use both renders on one project and layer the passes in GIMP or Photoshop.

    One large note is I still cannot get Scene > Filter > Tool! part III or 3d Aura to work in Luxus/Lux(core).

    Cavat 

          Carrara shaders vs Lux shaders: Most shaders need to be rebuilt using Lux shaders.

          Occlusion and Ambiant lighting: Lux has a sort of built in indirect lighting because it is an unbias render it considered all sources of "physial" lights. Carrara lighting will not apply in this case and would need to be redesigned in the scene. To create realistic lights IE: Street Scene with light poles (street lights) , a moon. You can physically model a bulb in vertex modeler room for the lamps and create an emission level to produce actual physical light. Moon is that way as well , you can create an actual moon ( :) ) with textures and all producing physical light!

    Huge benefit is the IPR Realtime render window. It's an incredible feature that I sure wish Carrara had natively. Render as you work is a huge time saver.

     

    Luxus sounds a lot like IRay, then.. It will keep going 'til you stop it, unless you set a hard time/limit on when it should stop.  Also, the emissive objects acting as light sources sounds very similar to working with Cycles in Blender; you can set up flat planes, give them an emissive material, and then use them as area lights. So that will be familiar as well.

    GPU usage is one big thing making me look into Luxus. I'm getting a fairly beefy GPU in the coming week or so (should have had it already, but.. "life happens" lol), and would really like to take advantage of it for rendering. I didn't see or expect anything about Carrara using GPUs, given its age.

    As for materials, I believe Lux comes with its own materials, and there's an addon pack I saw in the store, too. I could probably make do with those for a time. Will probably have to learn how to configure skin shaders, though. All in time.

    I downloaded the free version linked above. Going to experiment with that and see what I can learn in the meantime.

    Thanks again!

    Post edited by WsCG on
  • Bunyip02Bunyip02 Posts: 8,688
    TwoCats said:
    Bunyip02 said:

    Did a quick search for Luxus, hope these threads are of use/interest:-

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/57266/luxus-for-carrara-should-i

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/622429/

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/29998/

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/247726/luxus-for-carrara-initial-experiments/p1

    Thank you for those links. You just searched "Luxus"? I tried that search and didn't come back with anything. I was surprised, 'cause I could have sworn I'd seen discussions about it here. Weird.

    Well thank you for searching and sharing!

     

    I do a "Google" search, with keywords such as " DAZ3D Forums Carrara Luxus "

  • Persona Non GrataPersona Non Grata Posts: 1,365

    Yes - I don't use the forum search box either:

    To search this site I use the following "site:www.daz3d.com [search term]"

    To specifically search Carrara Discussions use "site:www.daz3d.com » carrara-discussion [search term]"

    The search term can be more than one word like "OUT THE BOX"

  • WsCGWsCG Posts: 391
    FENgari said:

    Yes - I don't use the forum search box either:

    To search this site I use the following "site:www.daz3d.com [search term]"

    To specifically search Carrara Discussions use "site:www.daz3d.com » carrara-discussion [search term]"

    The search term can be more than one word like "OUT THE BOX"

    Ahhh helpful tip. I didn't know the search here wasn't that effective. Would explain why nothing came up for me.

    Thanks!

  • Persona Non GrataPersona Non Grata Posts: 1,365

    Just to clarify - this is a Google search string.

  • chickenmanchickenman Posts: 1,202

    THere is also the plug in for the PBR testures using PBR lighting model that Philemo made.

    The two Lux versions dont see it. but it can render very nice images and quickly as well.

     

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/240836/new-beta-available-pbr-microfacets-disney-fresnel-and-tutti-quanti#latest

     

     

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