[brodie_geers]

hrm...ok Tom, still trying to decode what seems like an overly cryptic answer. So in your analogy, the midpoints get mucked around with but you don't really seem to suggest that points A and B change. So, are you saying that the reason you would still (ever) use the standard engine is because either way it's going to take the same amount of time to reach the target SL?

Even if that's right though, it still doesn't show why you'd ever not use the interactive engine since, presumably, you'd get a better idea of what the final SL will look like much faster than with the default engine.

There must be some sort of drawback somewhere to the interactive engine or else it would simply be replacing the current engine altogether. But your answer isn't very clear (to put it mildly) as to what that is.

-Brodie

[Greg]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys, I've lurked around here for years and am excited to finally learn the program. I love it that the licensing policy is similar to Luxology's (great for studios like mine with a lot of duel booting Mac Pro's).

I don't want to swerve this thread off topic so I'll shut up - but let me finish by saying this.

I had an opportunity to attend a press dinner the other night (I actually sat in ILM extraordinaire John Knoll's seat - he had to leave early) and I sat across from Henrick Wann Jennsen (the programmer behind keyshot...I believe the inventor of photon mapping and author of some famous papers on subsurface scattering....really nice guy too). Anyway, I was able to talk to him a bit as well as Allen Hastings (the author behind modo's engine and rendering luminary himself) and there was a lot of talk going on about CPU vs GPU. I'm not an expert by any means but there's been some discussion about GPU's here on this forum and I have to say Next Limit is taking the right approach IMO. The press and to a certain extent a lot of the users are having a bit of a love affair with GPU's right now...even though they haven't 'proved' much yet. I think there will be a place for GPU's beyond the tech demo and specialist application at some point and I think the 'practical' approach taken by Next Limit, Luxology and Luxion is refreshing. They could very easily feed the fires of hype - but they are instead taking a very level headed approach to this rapidly maturing technology.

Regarding using the interactive render for output - I think people will certainly take advantage of this for 'daily's', in the sense that there's a certain threshold of 'good enough' to move the project forward with some approvals on direction, lighting, shading, colors and so forth. From what I saw I think you will still have to do a 'final' render for the finished project. I don't know the technical reason for this - in modo I believe it's the AA passes. I don't think the interactive view will scale larger than the screen resolution either.

best,

Greg

[juan]

All looks really great, but one question, if we can do everything with this interactive preview engine like with the default one , full resolution and save it to disk, what is the interest to continue to use the default engine, if the interactive one converges to the same unbiased physically based results, but faster ?

I think it is clear enough here:
http://www.maxwellrender.com/pdf/Maxwel ... w_Info.pdf

What are the limitations of this new preview engine? Is it biased? Does it provide a different set of parameters that users have to learn? Can users use normal Maxwell materials...?
The same as the Maxwell Render v2 core render engine, the interactive engine is unbiased, so in the end it converges to the same solution as the normal core engine. The main difference is that it provides a much faster preview than the normal engine so it is perfect for scene setups. For complex indirect lighting, caustics etc. the normal engine might provide better performance.

As Tom says it is not a feature limit thing because such a think does not exist in Maxwell (i.e you cannot just skip reflections) but it is a way of summarize it. Somehow it is similar to the old RS0-RS1 difference in v1.x, with the critical difference that this time the preview engine is unbiased. Both will converge to the final solution but the interactive engine will show a much faster result so it is perfect for adjusting materials, camera, sky, etc. But for providing the same level of quality given by the standard engine it could need more time to converge and solve scenarios where complex lighting is involved. You will see it clearly soon when you give it a try

Juan

[alexxx_95]

thanks Juan, is very clear for me right now... I can't wait to test it on with the release;)

[zdeno]

Thx Juan now it all have much sens.

simple and clear explanation

[PaZ]

Hi,
this preview thing sounds terrific. One question (i apologize if it's been already covered): does preview work also with instances ?


thanks,
Paolo

[tom]

does preview work also with instances ?

Yes, sure.

[Richard]

I'm gonna bust a nut now waiting!

[JorisMX]

in other words. WOW!!!

[Richard]

I've got a tech question in regards to this new preview!

Does it use max cores or threads? I ask to help with decision i7 or 2x xeon?

So would it be best served by max speed or max threads?

Thanks in advance! This will be my decision maker!

[brodie_geers]

I've got a tech question in regards to this new preview!

Does it use max cores or threads? I ask to help with decision i7 or 2x xeon?

So would it be best served by max speed or max threads?

Thanks in advance! This will be my decision maker!

Wouldn't it be nice if all decisions were like deciding between an i7 or a couple xeon's?

-Brodie

[Richard]

Mate I'm still working on a pentium D it aint even dual core, so a new machine has been a LONG time coming!

[brodie_geers]

Holy smokes!? A what? Lord help us all if the stuff you've produced on the path was with a...what did you call it?...a shingle core? Make sure and take your heart medication before testing out the machine for the first time.

-Brodie

[Tea_Bag]

Holy smokes!? A what? Lord help us all if the stuff you've produced on the path was with a...what did you call it?...a shingle core? Make sure and take your heart medication before testing out the machine for the first time.

-Brodie

[Bubbaloo]

Pentium D's were dual cores. I remember many years ago getting a "top of the line" Pentium D. You were probably a young boy at the time.