XENOPHONZ opened this issue on Aug 18, 2008 · 74 posts
XENOPHONZ posted Tue, 19 August 2008 at 1:05 AM
The settings used here weren't --strictly speaking -- "default" settings. But it's true that I did not spend the additional time that could be spent going into the more esoteric places that someone can go to with these renderers.
I can't speak for others, but in my case time is a big factor when it comes to producing renders. I don't have hours upon hours to tinker, tweak, and fine-tune an average scene. I'm playing around more in-depth with this particular scene primarily for comparison & educational purposes. I'm fully cognizant of the fact that there's more to be known & more that can be done.......fully cognizant. The need to "know more" would be at least a part of the motivation behind the idea of a "universal" scene -- so that we could be shown how it's done, and how different apps compare with one another across the lines.
On the subject of default settings -- IMHO, there's something to be said for render capabilities which reveal themselves "out of the box" -- with any application. Sure, it's also fun to dig down deep into all aspects of a given render engine's functionality. But sometimes (at least for some of us), deadlines and other matters get in the way of the time needed for the perfect. So -- under such circumstances -- it helps to have a renderer that doesn't require a ton of tweaking to get you where you want to go quickly, and not after many hours spent fine-tuning on one scene.
Sure -- learn all aspects of what a renderer can do. Not a problem -- in fact, it's a great idea. But -- unfortunately -- in an imperfect world: time is money. If one program shows that it can crank out good-looking renders without a huge amount of tweaking required and without a large-ish investment of personal time needed, then I'm all for it. I'm looking at it from a purely practical standpoint -- not from the standpoint of "ideal art".
I've always been amazed by how much time you can kill in 3D, trying to get the "perfect" render. Heh -- it can be almost as bad as an addiction to PC games. 