ProE rendering - Best program?

[spadez]

Hi!

Im a Brunel university product designer, ive been using pro engineer for a while and it is my faviourite CAD package. However, im quite new to this, so I have some questions if you dont mind.

1. Is it a good idea to study pro engineer and become very comfortable with it, or am i better off learning another package, like solidworks? I used it for modelling and rendering to demonstate how a product will look and sometimes I get parts products from the CAD files on the CNC router.

2. I want to learn some advanced rendering in Pro Engineer. If i want my products to look the best that they can, do i use the tools included in ProE or are there extra components that I can add onto ProE to do more realistic renders? If there are, can you please recommend some?

3. Is wildfire 5.0 much better than 4.0? Ive looked at the release notes but it all seems to be stuff for large buisnesses, nothing particually useful to someone in my position.

Thanks

 

[spadez]

One more question:

Can anyone recommend a book to buy to learn ProE wildfire better. I know there are plenty of tutorials on the net, but I do like being able to pick up a book and read it. Here are three that ive been looking at:



http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pro-ENGINEER-Wildfire-Gary-Lamit/dp/ 0495411191/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257162189 &sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pro-Engineer-Wildfire-4-0-Instructor /dp/007352266X/ref=pd_sim_b_3

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pro-ENGINEER-Advanced-Tutorial-Wildf ire/dp/1585033804/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=125 7162189&sr=8-5


Edited by: spadez

 

[tobbo]

1. go on with pro/E. Try to learn pro/NC too!


2.arx is good, makes pretty good renderings...., but if you want a quick rendering program, thats pretty easy to learn, then try hypershot.


3.Rendering is way much better in WF5 , since they use mental ray as the rendering engine.


//Tobias

 

[spadez]

Thank you for the reply. Im glad you said continue with Pro E, I do have a bit of a soft spot for it!

For the rendering, the speed isnt important to me, the end result is much more important. Ill look into ARX. I sometimes use 3Dsmax and that has Vray, is there Vray for ProE because I find that sometimes looks better than metal ray.

 

[[-Skint-]]

Download the trial of Hypershot ( Bunkspeed ). You wont regret it. Make sure you download the pro-e plugin too, direct rendering from your pro-e window.

 

[78finn]

I'm an Ex Liecester Uni Product Design Student - now working full time as a Product Designer for a consultancy in Melbourne. I would recommend the following for you - hope it helps.

01. I would stick with what you know and what you like to use regarding a CAD package and dont worry about what you 'should' be learning. Most design consultancies will have provision for both Pro E & Solid Works - and there the BIG two. I think its just really important for you/any product designer to not be constrained by how well they know a CAD package, so pick one and learn it inside out and back to front.

02. For a really easy to use rendering package I would serisouly consider you look at Keyshot 2. It has the most realistic light engine of all the simple rendering packages and it is SOO easy to use. You can download the trial verison and Pro E pluggin from there web page:
http://www.keyshot.com/keyshot/

03. For some really good text books i.e. they come with CD's and a step by step / click by click approach I would try CAD Quest books - they are very very good - the best I have ever come accross and cover almost everything you will ever need. there web page is:
http://www.cadquest.com/



Edited by: 78finn

 

[zpaolo]

02. For a really easy to use rendering package I would serisouly consider you look at Keyshot 2. It has the most realistic light engine of all the simple rendering packages and it is SOO easy to use. You can download the trial verison and Pro E pluggin from there web page:
http://www.keyshot.com/keyshot/

Agree 100%: for product design and product visualization Keyshot is now the best option. Shot is too young, other engines are too complicated for the task or younger. I think Pro|E will soon integrate iRay, but in the meantime Keyshot is definitely the way to go, also because if they don't redesign the camera control interface, integrating iRay will be almost useless

Paolo