GPU Rendering

[Anonymous]

OK, I understand that Inventor uses all CPU to render.  I also understand Studio uses CPU based ray tracing.  So, 3ds Max has iRay which is GPU based, I just got a M2000 Quadro card.  So that should be nice to use there.  The only issue is I don't have a clue what I'm doing in 3ds Max.  It's clunky to use to me, and the units are all weird and trying to scale them really doesn't work well.  I just want to have software, to assign Materials, and use GPU rendering.  This has to be possible??

[dgorsman]

Quadro 2000 is an entry level card, not the best choice for GPU rendering even if Inventor had the same renderer selections as 3DSMAX.

But lets back up a step, and start with a stupid question: why do you want to use a GPU renderer?

[Anonymous]

Speed. I'm using an i3 so, it's a bit crazy. And yeah I know i7 recommended but my company not in the position of spend that kinda money. On a new system.

I use inventor, autocad just fine. Sometimes a little slow yeah but I get by. Mostly simple assemblies and parts. But new products/prototypes I like to give that nice visual with paint and pretty stuff.

[-niels-]

3DS Max is a daunting program to get the hang off, but once you know the basics it's not that hard to get nice renders.

(just check my friday pictures...)

It helps a lot if you have a standard template set up in which you can import your models and apply materials too.

I have a few links that might help out:

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If you're interested in using 3DS Max to make renders, but don't know how to start, try the tutorial on Jakub Reichman's blog:
http://jreichman.com/blog/
(until he posts the video on his blog here's the direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8p6L6TZkOY )

The people over at Design&Motion also have a Tutorial on this, you can find it here:
http://designandmotion.net/autodesk/max-morgan-a-minimalist-guide-to-rendering-in-3ds-max/

And you can find some more tutorial videos by Marion Landry here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLowqs8sl9-jv_B1VIOBrWd89aCf6DjbDW

Happy Rendering!

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It might also be good to look into setting up your own material library in Max, so you can easily apply the colors/materials you use often.

There's enough to find on 3DS Max if you google, plenty of tutorials and the help (F1) is pretty good as well.

Also, if you're doing it for speed and want good renders even though your system is a bit slow, you could look into doing networked renders with the Backburner software that comes with Max to divide the load over multiple computers.

Hope this helps somewhat.