Getting started with NOX Renderer in Blender
Now that the NOX physically based renderer is available as open source, let’s learn how to set it up!
Alexander Bilz writes:Recently NOX Renderer went Open Source. Thats why I’ve put some information together to get Blender users started with amazing NOX render-engine. During this tutorial you will learn how to install NOX Render standalone, how to configure Blender, setting up the lighting and how to create appealing materials.
Yet another open source, physically based, renderer.
Open source is good, but, do we really need this many renderers?
What is it that entices people to, over and over, start another renderer project from scratch?
How about more consensus, more joint effort to produce the ultimate renderer?
Is there a good reason for Blender users to swap
the well-integrated Cycles for something else?
Is there something that these other renderers can do that Cycles can not?
Hello TomTelos,
On the one hand your absolutely right cycles is a very well integrated render engine, where Blender users can easily achieve nice results.
On the other hand NOX is offering features the you will not find in Cycles.
To name a view:
-adjusting the image (filters, coulercurves..) while rendering
-Render Brush (A tool which allows you to select areas with a brushstroke and to enhance the quality in the selected area) while doing youre render. Its especial useful, to keep rendertimes low and at the same time get a good result
-Very good integration of skymaps (Hosek-Wilkie etc.) with exact location and time/date data
Alex
Those three features sounds really cool. I think they should add these to cycles. Is these kinds of adds possible? Is cycles that flexible?
processing the image while rendering is totally possible in cycles. you can adjust the exposure, gamma, rgb curves as well as apply a variety of looks while the viewport render is progressing.
render brush is a nice feature for stills for sure, although blender’s ability to set sampling for various types of rays gives a fair amount of control as well.
anyway, i’m not complaining as i welcome people experimenting and offering their own options. but i do love me my cycles!
Location, date and time for Cycles is available.
http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Extensions:2.6/Py/Scripts/3D_interaction/Sun_Position
It’s a must have for architectural visualizations. I’m not sure, but I think it also works with BI.
Things that are not available in Cycles, off-the-shelf,
can usually be kluged together with all those node options.
Volumetric shading, for example, could be set up in Blender 2.64
using the ray length and math nodes: http://blenderdiplom.com/en/tutorials/419-tutorial-absorption-in-cycles.html
What worries me about yet another renderer is two things:
(a) yet another learning curve;
(b) most of them fall by the wayside after a year or so.
The other thing is, does it support CUDA or OpenCL? And will it do volumetrics and SSS on the GPU?