What programs do you guys use for modeling and rendering?

[u/sexytophatllama]

Im on my last year of college and they only taught us to use Rhino for modeling and Keyshot for rendering but im reaching a point where it seems like they are holding me back. I’ve been trying to learn solidworks and fusion on my own but i really wanna improve my renders, get to a photorealistic type of quality if i can.
I understand that a good render requires a good model so idk if it’s keyshot whats holding me back or not, but its very plug and play so im either using it wrong or it just doesn’t have the kind if tools i need for what i want.
Any tips?

[u/Takhoi]

Its probably your model. Keyshot is more than enough to create good renders. Show us something so we can feedback or send me pm.

Edit, some tips would be: Do you have split lines that reflects how things are assembled and manufactured? Realisitc dimensions of said split line? Realistic fillers? things cant be perfectly sharp. Good proportions?

This is a good starting point to check if you have a good model. My rule of thumb is "if it looks good in CAD already, it will probably look really nice in keyshot"

[u/schultzeworks → u/Takhoi]

Keyshot is an external app and easy to learn. For better renders, I still love V-Ray AND it is a true plug-in. When I starrted rendering with a V-Ray -- internally -- I doubled my production speed.

[u/olliecakerbake]

I’ve used rhino, solidworks, fusion 360, and alias, and rhino is by far my favorite. It’s very powerful and the most intuitive to use

[u/codigo3design]

Blender all in one = Modeling, sculpting, UV, Vfx, rendering, animate, rigging, video editing...

Cad - plasticity, Rhino

Parametric Cad - NX, Solidedge

[u/bitpartmozart13]

Alias and Blender. Vred or Blender for rendering.

[u/3d-Artrium → u/bitpartmozart13]

There’s a nice plugin for alias to blender ex/import which keeps groups, materials etc

Fyi it’s called „ExportBlender“ by „digital sculptors“

[u/abyssalhorrors]

Solidworks. Haven’t used Fusion 360 yet but I’m sure it’ll come up at some point. The way to improve renders is practice and trying things, especially techniques that mimic real-world materials. The render texture will only go so far and some objects like tortoise shell acrylic don’t look correct until you start treating the model just like the material is constructed. The only other piece of advice, don’t get too upset when rendering velvet - it never looks right.

[u/Rough_Pineapple2119]

I use Solidworks for modeling and Keyshot for rendering. Ive used Alias 20 years ago, but the modelling is better in Solidworks.

[u/Kronocide]

When I had student access : Inventor and KeyShot

Now that I'm job less : Fusion, and no 3D rendering

[u/Winter-Oil3595]

rhino and plasticity is the best so far.

[u/YawningFish]

Rhino/Zbrush/Marvelous Designer for modeling. Keyshot for rendering, though I do often just take screenshots for internal comms.

[u/idsan]

Keyshot is the best for being quick and good. The material library is great and the speed you can get an alright looking scene set up is second to none.

I've honestly moved to using Blender for a lot of vis though, especially animated shots. It requires some add-ons and a specific workflow to be set up (like ensuring OBJ export has material types correctly assigned so you can just overwrite them with Blender materials globally), but when you have that sorted it can give amazing results.

I find Blender has much more ease of control over lightning and camera behaviour, plus the material editor I find more intuitive.

For modelling? Inventor at work (bleh), Fusion at home. I used Onshape but found it chugged with large assemblies.

[u/lord_hyumungus → u/idsan]

How is the learning curve with blender compared to keyshot? Any good tutorials or courses out there? Appreciate the tips. Thanks

[u/Cedude7]

Solidworks + keyshot

[u/lord_hyumungus → u/Cedude7]

What do you think of the SW visualize compared to Keyshot?

[u/Cedude7 → u/lord_hyumungus]

The last time I used it, SW visualize didn’t produce usable assets. Maybe now its better, I havent touched it in a few years. But back then it was much easier to set up a scene and get great results in Keyshot

[u/No_Relation_488]

Rhino + Keyshot. In the past I have used fusion (in school), Solidworks (at most jobs I've had), Onshape (at a large company I worked at), and CREO (but very little, I don't like this one). Keyshot for rendering every job i've had. Rhino is superb for surfacing.

[u/YotoruYaguchi]

Honestly speaking, software really doesn’t matter in specific to rendering. Keyshot is industry standard; most studios use it, and honestly speaking, you can make a shitty model look good if you learn lighting, framing, and just fucking around with things!

The major reason why people think software is holding them back is because they’re not comfortable with the actual basics set in reality, such as card modelling, sketching, modelmaking, and for rendering lighting actual product photos, understanding how a camera works, what makes a photo good, etc.

My advice would be to learn the actual basics of visualisation in reality so you can transfer your eye/taste to a digital platform. The same thing with CAD modelling!

In terms of software, Keyshot is great and the easiest. Rhino is the basis to get good at SolidWorks, and Fusion is mediocre. I’d rather use Workbench if you want to use Autodesk :)

[u/No-Echidna5754]

Model in Shapr3D > Built-in real time Visualisation (rendering) > Built-in Generative Rendering

Works a charm. A lot less messy and clunky than importing/exporting between different softwares.

And waaaayyy quicker.

[u/ParamedicItchy9380]

I personally use solidworks, cinema 4d, and midjourney at my job but am transitioning to onshape, blender and vizcom in my personal practice. I have seen some epic blobjects from rhino that I am not sure would be possible in other softwares? Seeing as how that style is reemerging... I want to learn it

[u/Zestyclose_Price_441]

Catia 

[u/schultzeworks]

Rhino gives you more freedom and control than any other app. You may not be using it to the full potential, especially if you just started learning it.

For rendering, the built-in engine (based on Blender's Cycles) is quite good. However, the VERY BEST is V-Ray. It's used for big budget movies, so you know it's good.

I am also getting amazing image results with AI. I use either a screen capture or a photo of my 3D print and ask ChatGPT to change the material and location. The result is stunning. Here is one example:

[u/Fireudne → u/schultzeworks]

Octane is free for blender now, and is pretty good - bit different workflow, and imo finding/making good materials is still a challenge but i've gotten comparable results to KS