SimLab instead of Keyshot

[burnandreturn]

I have Keyshot and SimLab.  I use Simlab nearly exclusively.  Simlab uses the same rendering engine as Keyshot.  It has pretty much the same capabilites but costs a fraction of what  Keyshot costs.

With Simlab's new physics engine simulatons on my assemblies are easy and fast.

My question is why doesn't Autodesk use Simlab instead of Keyshot or at least also.   I think for the demographics of Fusion 360 Simlab would be a better fit.

No connection to Simlab.  Just a very satisfied customer and thought I would give some of you a heads up on Simlab.

The reson I don't use Keyshot more often is it is a real time rendering setup so it hogs resources when it really isn't necessary.  Simlab will also work in real time but you can set it to render only when you want.

[colin.smith]

Hi Burn,

I've moved this post from "Questions" to the IdeaStation to allow other forum members to comment and vote.

A bit of background on the development of the Keyshot plugin.  The  plugin was created early on in Fusion's development when the software didn't have its own rendering capabilities.  Also, Keyshot argualbly the more commonly used 3rd party rendering software in the industrial and mechanical design space. 

[cekuhnen]

Colin thats very subjective. Yes KS is used a lot more, and so? What does that mean? It is great - the best?

Everybody uses Word and who really loves it?

Before KS other engines were used software changes and evolves. There were actually better engines to

select from with more render abilities and creative tools while still being able to offer the same ease of KS workflow.

Because of the KS decission I feel you missed out on many opportunities and limited yourself to the most common but

lower dominator.

[Anonymous]

According to the Keyshot website, they developed and support the plugin for Fusion. There's nothing stopping Simlab from doing the same thing. They already have integration with Inventor, Maya, etc. So vote for this idea, and tell Simlab too that you want it. But there's no point complaining that Keyshot got there first...

By the way, Simlab hasn't used the Keyshot render engine since 2103. They replaced it with their own renderer based on Intel's open-source Embree.

[cekuhnen]

SimLab and Hypershot all used the Keyshot engine till Keyshot decided not to license it anymore and said by by to them. Another engine to maybe look out for is Thea renderer because I think they got an interest and are working on an integration with Fusion 360. Thea is cheaper has a better UI a more logical material system and renders dramatically faster than Keyshot. I don't know when the plug-in will be ready to use but they support today nearly most of the common 3D authoring applications and also SketchUp - so I would keep an eye on their development.

[colin.smith]

We have a partner program for 3rd party developers to make plug ins for Fusion 360. If Simlab is interested they can become a Fusion 360 partner.