NVidia Iray (Unbiased) now native to Daz Sudio.

[Hydra]

http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/53671/

http://www.nvidia.ca/object/nvidia-iray.html

Well, isn't that special.

[Spectralis]

Will this be free with DS or do we need to buy it as a plugin? Does it work in the same way as Octane Render - as a GPU renderer?

[leblancd]

Will this be free with DS or do we need to buy it as a plugin? Does it work in the same way as Octane Render - as a GPU renderer?

This looks like an unbiased physical renderer, just like Octane, that will be included with Daz Studio, just as 3Delight is. Iray is made by nVidia, which uses CUDA (just like Octane), and is free (just like you can download CUDA from nVidia). You might also know "mental ray", from nVidia. Iray is nVidia's next generation render engine, and is comparable to Octane. Daz Studio Iray integration is in Daz Studio 4.8 BETA (which you can download right now).
Incidentally... Iray is what a lot of 3DS Max users are using via Iray Manager plugin.
So, this seems to thrust Daz users along side Poser/Octane users.

According to Daz...
The nVIDIA Iray integration has a big impact on user experience:

• Massive simplification of lighting (clearly a big challenge to most users as seen on our gallery)
  Default sun/sky system (1st time users get a much more compelling experience out of the box)
  Huge quality boost on interior environments (auto converts to Iray lighting)
  Smarter lighting system (combines sun/sky and headlamp) to eliminate black renders (no light)
  New IPR workflow (eliminates need for test renders, makes creative process more interactive)
  Faster render times with nVIDIA hardware
  New physically based shaders (easier to reproduce real world surfaces)
  Default environment as render background (sun/sky and ground with shadow) provides a more finished image without adding an environment

As per their BETA documentation, the roadmap is:

In the works:

• More user friendly skin shader
  More user friendly hair shader
  MDL mixer allows DAZ Studio to generate MDL materials for Iray (new product type for our store)
  New Home screen (introduces IPR workflow and Iray)

[Spectralis]

Based on your post this looks like it might replace Octane plugin? Thinking about how much I invested in OTOY and now every DS users will be getting a fully integrated GPU renderer before we do makes me feel a bit sick. Having said that, I'd gladly sacrifice all that wasted cash for a GPU renderer that actually works - asap!

[leblancd]

Based on your post this looks like it might replace Octane plugin? Thinking about how much I invested in OTOY and now every DS users will be getting a fully integrated GPU renderer before we do makes me feel a bit sick. Having said that, I'd gladly sacrifice all that wasted cash for a GPU renderer that actually works - asap!

Yes!
It will take time. Iray renderer is only in the BETA channel of Daz Studio, so there will be bugs in the beginning. Also, Daz will probably have to rework their shaders, since the current shader mixer et al is designed to work with 3Delight. But, they seem to be on path to give Octane (and Reality/LuxRender) a run for the money.
The best part of all this: It will still be free, because Daz is focused on selling *content*.

[Hydra]

Its looking pretty good.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/ ... 75/#777642

Although I'm still in the "It'll take them 6 months to get it working" camp.

[Squirtle]

Been playing with the new DAZ Studio Iray for the last hour or two. It's extremely impressive (try it out, it works!), and it feels almost eerie to have this level of integration between the DAZ UI and a live unbiased viewport. I've only just been moving a couple of lights around a figure, and it's a blast. (I've wanted this forever in DAZ or Poser, lights as easy to use and position as the ones built into DAZ which also work well with a photorealistic renderer. These are like a miracle.)

I have a great love of Octane, and I'm sure that (for a while at least) there will still be things that I can do faster and better in Octane than DAZ. But this release is so impressive (and free) that it has me wondering what the incentive is for new users to purchase the Octane DS plugin from this moment forward. (that goes triple for Pret-a-3D's Reality DAZ plugin) Does Octane have a trick hidden up its sleeve? This beta release from DAZ feels a great deal less buggy and better featured than the current state of the DS Octane plugin.

The fact that Iray is DAZ's new default renderer, replacing 3Delight is really going to change a lot of things in the DAZ/Poser realm. Superfast unbiased rendering has officially reached the masses, now that the price of entry has dropped to zero.

[BTLProd]

Its looking pretty good.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/ ... 75/#777642

Although I'm still in the "It'll take them 6 months to get it working" camp.

Try it, it works now.