YafaRay rendering plug-in

[Puybaret]

Here's the version 1.0 Beta 7, probably the last one before I release a final version.

This version brings support for Windows 32 bit and Linux 32 bit, the reason why it's almost twice larger (24 MB) than previous Beta. From my tests, it requires at least Windows 7 and Ubuntu 16 to run. I wonder though if it's worth supporting 32 bit systems, because when a rendering runs out of memory, the program will crash and this may happen even with some examples of the gallery.

I also added the Depth of field lens (still with focus at 2.5 m) as shown in the screenshot below, and managed the silk effect of colored materials at the best quality level. I wished I could get a nicer effect, but similarly to SunFlow Uber shader, it seems to be complicated to get a good solution.



Finally, I improved the copy of 3D models into YafaRay at rendering launch, added the ability to resize the rendering dialog box and saved its location / size in properties separated from the default photo creation panel ones.

Is there a good reason for keeping the “official” render windows of SH3D so tiny?

It's mostly for aesthetic reasons, because I didn't like the space around the small group of controls at the bottom of a very large dialog box, and managing a minimum size isn't so easy. And not everybody has a large screen...

The bucket size of the YafaRay renderer, is it dynamic?

It looks like, and it's interesting at the end of a rendering because it helps to continue using all the power of the CPU.

I'm wondering if that's the reason why it outperforms the Sunflow renderer.

I don't think so.

Thanks again for helping me testing this new plug-in [:)]

[Puybaret]

I just released the final version 1.0 of the YafaRay rendering plug-in.
The final version should show some less blue images when the default sky is used in aerial view, thanks to a little more power set on the sunlight source.

Thank your all for your tests and feedback. Hope you'll enjoy this new plug-in [:)]

[enkonyito]

About the light panel color, maybe you could apply a [font=courier new]light_mat[/font] material on the mesh (see the end of [font=courier new]exportAppearance[/font] method)?

My first tests were inconclusive because all the objects in the scene had the 'light_mat' material.
By applying it only to opaque light sources, I get this result.

You will notice that unlike SunFlow, the YafaRay rendering engine does not take into account the light power for the "glow" effect.

I just released the final version 1.0 of the YafaRay rendering plug-in.

For a first version, this plug-in keeps its promises!
In order to finalize the integration of YafaRay with the PhotoVideoRendering plug-in, I still have to bind this rendering engine to the photo panel at points of views and the video panel.

[rontant]

Thank you for the wonderful work! I love the speed of Yafaray.

First thing I noticed from my very first comparison test, is that the the reflection on the red cabinet surface is missing but I guess it's not a bad thing...


Yafaray rendering


Sunflow rendering

[Ceciliabr]

Absolutely a good version.
Unfortunately I have hurt my hand, so I haven’t been able to do the tests I wanted. (I am writing this with the wrong hand)

I have made a very fast test and gotten some unexpected results.

I wrote earlier that YafaRay outperformed Sunflow on the speed.
I no longer think that is right. I have tried the SPR(v1.9) on some older projects that are quite big and complicated, and I found that Sunflow is A LOT faster. Especially glass, mirrors and glowing surfaces seems to slow YafaRay down.

On SH3D-demo projects, YafaRay is absolutely faster, but as soon as things start to demand more of the renderer, Sunflow can be more than ten times faster. ( 6 hours compared to 29 minutes)


Have a look at this ( small) project file: Boxes.sh3d ( 49 kb).

This is basically a very simple project, containing four boxes, placed 50 cm above a mirror, everything resting upon a white backdrop ( [font=courier new]illum 0 [/font] ).
Boxes from left to right : 1 coloured white, 2 textured with a white texture , 3 same white texture applied to each side, 4 red texture applied to each side.

The renderings:

Default YafaRay = 1 min 30 seconds ( manually timed)





SPR(v1.9) YafaRay = 2 mins 48 seconds ( plus some strange texture effects)





Spr(vi.9) Sunflow = 5 seconds (!)




I will do some more tests when my hand is working again


Cec

[hansmex]

Using Cecilia's test file, I get slightly different results.




Tests with a file I shared before, now repeated.



All tests done under Windows 10.

Based on the second test, I prefer the colours of Sunflow, but the reflections from Yafaray.
Also, it's surprising that Enko's plug-in takes 30 secs longer for the renders.

Hans

[bdfd]

Here are my tests with the Cecilia's file :



I didn't remark none anomaly.

Like Hans, I share his comment :
"Based on the second test, I prefer the colours of Sunflow, but the reflections from Yafaray."

[;)]
.

[enkonyito]

With version 1.0 of YafaRay plug-in, there is a difference in the rendering of transparent textures compared to SunFlow.

[Xiste]

Yafaray is certainly producing some nice results, but the quality is still not at the same level as with the best settings for sunflow, especially regarding the antialiasing.
For sunflow there are some extra options so we can get better quality. Will these options be available for yafaray as well, at some point.

[Xiste]

BTW: I get the same results as Cec when rendering her project on Mac. No texture problems though.
On an old Windows 7 PC from 2006 everything renders in 2-3 seconds. So this might be an issue related to Mac only.
Anyone else using Mac care to do a test?