[sdiy] Best program for photo realistic renders of synths?

Tue Nov 1 14:07:59 CET 2022

As an alternative for step input for the Linuxers out there I would also 
recommend Opencascade CAD Assistant for the conversion from step to 
something Blender-compatible, like obj and the likes.

I also have to say that I agree with Mike's conclution that blender has 
an idosyncratic UI. What I do not agree with is, that this is a bad 
thing, or in any way less consistent than any other 3D software out there.

The Blender UI is different from a lot of software out there, but it is 
A) not different for difference sake, but because somebody thought long 
and hard about how to solve certain problems, and B) it is the most 
consistent UI I have ever experienced in any media application period. 
If "g" moves something in the 3D-viewport you can bet it will also move 
things in the Timeline, the Node-Editor, the Video-Editor, the Animation 
Graph, ... That means if you learn how to use Blender like that, it will 
become very fluid once it is in your bloodstream.

I switched to Blender from Maya doing professional day back when Cycles 
was introduced and I have never regreted the decision for even a bit.

Cheers,
David

On 2022-11-01 13:47, Stephen Petoniak via Synth-diy wrote:
> Hey there,
> 
> I also use blender for this. But I would recommend getting the STEPper 
> add-on so you can import STEP files with relatively clean geometry. The 
> STL/OBJ workflow was always too janky for me when animating, especially 
> for things like knobs with complex geometry.
> https://ambient.gumroad.com/l/stepper 
> <https://ambient.gumroad.com/l/stepper>
> 
> Project UVs from view is 100% the way to go for aligning panel graphics. 
> I use the @4X png asset exporter in illustrator and I’ve never had 
> pixelation issues even with big 4K macro renders. SVG may seem nice 
> because of the infinite scaling but it always is more trouble than it’s 
> worth in render IMHO just use pngs they’re faster and easier to work with.
> 
> As for the UI, they’ve come a long way from how it used to be and you 
> can configure your interface to your specific workflow, which I find 
> greatly cuts down on the clutter and speeds up my rendering process as a 
> whole.
> 
> This is all just my two cents, but I’ve been using blender to do this 
> professionally for about 4 years and I think it’s fantastic.
> 
> Cheers,
> Stephen Petoniak
> 
>> On Nov 1, 2022, at 5:02 AM, Mike Bryant <mbryant at futurehorizons.com> 
>> wrote:
>>
>> 
>> I use Blender for an entirely different reason but I have to say it's 
>> the most idiosyncratic UI yet invented.  Also it often changes from 
>> version to version, as though there are two competing teams working on 
>> it that don't talk to each other.  So unless you need new features 
>> best thing is to learn one version and stick to it.
>>
>> Also how photorealistic do you actually need ?  Several PCB programs 
>> have 3D rendering solutions with simpler models that can be used to 
>> generate quite a good image.
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> *From:* Synth-diy <synth-diy-bounces at synth-diy.org> on behalf of Oren 
>> Leavitt via Synth-diy <synth-diy at synth-diy.org>
>> *Sent:* 31 October 2022 23:00
>> *To:* synth-diy at synth-diy.org <synth-diy at synth-diy.org>
>> *Subject:* Re: [sdiy] Best program for photo realistic renders of synths?
>> Another +1 for Blender.
>>
>> I use it mainly for 3D print models. You do need to set some things up
>> in Blender to optimize workflow for precision modelling and correct
>> scaling. There are many tutorials out there.
>>
>> Tutorials at https://makertales.com <https://makertales.com> are excellent
>>
>> - Oren
>>
>> On 10/31/22 2:49 PM, Davide Romboli via Synth-diy wrote:
>> > +1 for Blender ... free and Open Source
>> >
>> > Il giorno lun 31 ott 2022 alle ore 18:10 Danjel van Tijn / intellijel
>> > <danjel at intellijel.com> ha scritto:
>> >> I want to start making photo-realistic renders of synth projects but I am trying to choose which program is worth focusing my learning efforts on.
>> >>
>> >> We do all our 3D CAD work in Fusion 360 (PCBs are in Altium) and all our panel graphics in Adobe Illustrator.
>> >>
>> >> One step that is really important for me is to be able to take my panel graphic from illustrator and add them as decals to the 3D models. This needs to be precise in scale/position and should be easy to do or else it will be a real bottleneck for productivity.
>> >>
>> >> If I import graphics to Fusion, it is a real pain to try and scale them to the correct size and there is no option for 1:1 import. Fusion has very poor tools for this; they only allow coarse, concentric scaling (unless you manually try an enter scaling values but then you are just guessing) and it is very slow. Also, Fusion 
>> does not allow the import of vector images.
>> >>
>> >> I have taken a quick look at Blender and Rhino so far as alternatives.  Rhino allows for import of native Ilustrator files and will import at the correct scale.
>> >> Blender will allow SVG import but not at the correct scale. The scaling too is a bit easier to use than Fusion but it is still not ideal.
>> >>
>> >> In terms of Blender vs Rhino,  it is difficult to know which one is worth the time investment. Blender seems deeper in features, is free and has a large support community. Rhino at least offers a one-time purchase option that is not unreasonable and I like the interface better but the user community seems a lot smaller and I 
>> need to understand the NURBS approach.
>> >> Also, a lot of people, whether they are using Blender or Rhino, seem to do the final rendering in Keyshot (which is quite expensive).
>> >>
>> >> Does anyone have experience with these or another program?  What would you recommend?
>> >> I still need to make photo realistic models of UI elements like knobs and switches and for this, I am probably always going to be more familiar with the parametric cad modeling approach.
>> >>
>> >> thanks!
>> >>
>> >> Danjel
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