Raylectron V3 for SketchUp – the latest
Raylectron is a low-cost, simple, fast and powerful Sketchup render plugin. Suited to professional artists, hobbyist or anyone who creates 3D designs in SketchUp and wishes to turn their models into photorealistic presentations, and/or to view their models in 3D stereo as if they were real, now have this opportunity with Raylectron V3.
Raylectron provides the user with four different rendering modes. Depending on the scene being rendered, one can use ray-tracing with true shadows, path-tracing with or without direct illumination and photon-mapping, each creating a unique effect. Shadows are not fake or simulated like “Soft shadows”. Caustics are also real, not fake or simulated. The material editor in Raylectron is simple, yet powerful. With the editor you can produce different effects, such as reflection (like a mirror), refraction (like glass), transparency, glossiness, shininess, bump maps, normal maps and background images.
You can also create your own grass or fur, and creating animation couldn’t be simpler now. Animation will give you give you a hands-free tour of a model (there are two different ways to make an animation). Raylectron also utilizes all CPU cores and threads (user selectable) to greatly improve your render times. It can also use slaves by installing Raylectron on remote computers further increasing the rendering speed. Looks like they have everything covered! Raylectron is free, providing you do not mind the faint watermark. You can download the latest version and read more about Raylectron V3 from SoftByte Labs here.
We managed to grab an interview with the John Friesen, Project Manager at SoftByte Labs and threw a few questions at him…
So…what’s new with this latest update?
With Raylectron this is a major upgrade, version 3.00…
- New graphical user interface (GUI).
- GPU acceleration.
- Runs faster on the CPU.
- Animation.
- FPS style navigation.
- Grass and Fur.
- Physical sun and sky.
- Transparent background.
- 2 point perspective.
What now are you offering and how do you stand out above the rest?
Most importantly, the model viewer. Pan, zoom and rotate as you do in Sketchup. No need to re-export your model every time you change your materials or camera position.
Is the core technology the same?
For the most part, no. It has been updated for GPU and runs faster on the CPU.
Have you been listening to your customers and does this release come as a direct result of feedback and in-depth conversations with customers?
Absolutely.
People look for intuitive/fast/clean/simple workflow, how have people been finding the workflow with your software…is it easy to use?
Very easy to use.
Can physically accurate light sources be applied, including the use of IES lights?
Yes, but no IES light support. Basically, design your light fixtures and light bulb(s), and you get the same effect. No complicated settings and no files to load or acquire.
What kind of support do you offer and is there Forum support as well?
Support is free for anyone. Customers get priority support. We do have a forum and Q&A as well.
Have you managed to release a mac version yet?
No. Over the years, we only had 2 requests.
What are your priorities for 3D modelers/artists and what comes next?
We can not disclose this information at this time.
Render engines are mostly judged on their final image quality, which is fair enough, but what if you need something that is good enough, fast and reasonably priced, do you fit this bracket? Industry render times of hours are simply not realistic.
Yes we do. With GPU acceleration, you can produce photorealistic renders in minutes, not hours.
Some renderers now have the advantage of integrating with SU and have materials ready to go, excellent quality, fast and good with development/feedback, how does Raylectron compete with this?
For now, we do not offer materials ready to go. There are already millions of free materials online. You simply set the properties such as reflection, shininess etc. Very easy and fast, and it works on any and all materials you currently have, and, you can save those settings globally (with a single click), to use in all your models later.
Thanks John for answering our questions and we look forward to seeing what comes out of the lab next time!
A big thanks also to Diane Duclos (Sales & Marketing) for supplying us with some great images.