YafaRay Rendering Software

[oort]

Here is a link to YafaRay, another good Rendering software...YafaRay Website.

Here is a link to the YafaRay Gallery so you can see what can be done with it...YafaRay Gallery.

YafaRay replaced old Yafray. YafaRay is much faster than the old Yafray. The official Wings3D 1.4.1 still contains a plug-in for the old Yafray.

You can still get the old Yafray software for windows on my Wings3D page... oort's Wings3D page.

If you want to use the new YafaRay with Wings3D you will need to get the Wings3D YafaRay plug-in, which is also on my Wings3D page...oort's Wings3D page. Most everything in YafaRay is available through the Wings3D YafaRay plug-in. Here is a pdf that lists all the available features...Supported Features.

In the old Wings3D users forum you can see some renders I have done with Wings3D and my Wings3D YafaRay plug-in...Wings3D/YafaRay examples. Most images are of SSS (Subsurface Scattering) renders. You will need to install YafaRay 0.1.3 Experimental in order to use SSS.

I have started a thread in this new forum as well...Wings3D YafaRay renders

Go to the following link for more info on my Wings3D YafaRay plug-in... YafaRay plug-in.

Edit2: You can download the latest Windows, Mac and Linux versions of YafaRay here... YafaRay

Make sure you download the version of YafaRay that is compatible with your PC. Download the 32bit version for 32bit PC's and the 64bit version for 64bit PC's.

And the latest OSX versions of YafaRay here...OSX Version of YafaRay

Edit3: To install the Wings3D YafaRay plug-in, you simply File > Install Plug-In > Browse to the tar file. If you have previously installed the plug-in with the beam file, make sure you delete any older Wings3D YafaRay plug-in files in the Wings3D plug-in folders before installing the tar file. If you don't you may not see the updated version of the plug-in.

To configure the Wings3D YafaRay plug-in, you simply Edit > Plug-in Preferences > YafaRay > Browse to the Executable ("C:\YafaRay\bin" folder).

Depending on the version of YafaRay you are using, you may need to add "-pp C:\YafaRay\bin\plugins", without " ", so that YafaRay can find the YafaRay plugin folder. Your path may vary...

Note: YafaRay cannot output images if the output path or file name has spaces. Use "_" instead of spaces in your folder names... Edit4 : This problem was solved thanks to help from Micheus. You can use spaces in file names.

Note2: Your YafaRay folder has to be listed in your computers path. BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN ADDING IT. RMB on My Computer > Properties > Advanced Tab > Environment Variables > User Variables (Top window) > Path > Edit > Variable Value > add "C:\YafaRay", without " ". notice that each added item has a semicolon ( ; ) before and after it. Your actual path may vary and it is case sensitive. The installer for the YafaRay rendering software should be doing this but it seems it doesn't... These instructions are based on Windows XP Professional.

oort

[Wegg]

I have downloaded yafaray, and your plugin. . . but I am having trouble connecting the two. In the plugin preferences in Wings3D it asks me to find the .exe for yafaray on my system but when I try and search around within the yafaray folder I don't see any executable. Did I download the wrong yafaray? (Kind of confusing). :-(

---

I got a little further along. Managed to find the .exe in a .bin folder. But then when I tried to render something a window came up and said that there were some registry settings in my system that needed to be changed. Sheesh. Ok. . . I'll chase that rabbit down the hole.

[oort]

Look in the YafaRay\bin folder.

Also, depending on which version of YafaRay you are using you may need to add the plugin path under Options. "-pp C:\YafaRay\bin\plugins" without the " ". Your path may vary...

I have not tried the plugin path option yet. If it works let me know. If that doesn't work then move the plugins folder from under \bin to directly under YafaRay.

Edit: You might want to mention which version of YafaRay you are using in case someone else has questions.

oort

[oort]

I added direct links to the download sites in my first post of this thread... and directions for installing and configuring the Wings3D YafaRay plug-in.

oort

[Wegg]

Thank you for updating your instructions. But they appear only replicate what I have already done. Still getting this error.



I put my thinking cap on and did this. . .



I appear to be rendering now. Phew!

---

I appear to be limited to a single thread on my machine. So I'm only using 17% of my computing power. It looks like an option for the blender plugin is to have an "auto thread" checkbox. Is that something you can add to your plugin?

[micheus]

I appear to be limited to a single thread on my machine.
...
It looks like an option for the blender plugin is to have an "auto thread" checkbox.

I believe that oort would add an option to exporter dialog in order to enable the user define the number of threads, since this information should be included in the xml scene description (reference)

But, I don't think we can get the automatic detection as used in Blender, just because Wings3d still don't have this capability implemented. (at least, I didn't find it)

[oort]

Wegg,
Glad you got it working.

You can add "-t 2" or what ever number of threads you want to use to the Options next to the -pp (I assume you had to use that). It may be that if you had installed YafaRay directly under C:\ instead of under all the sub folders you might have gotten there quicker but that may not be true...

I could add threads to the dialog but not sure it is worth it since once set most would never change it again. Maybe something to add after Wings3D 1.5.1 gets a final release.

What version of YafaRay are you running?

I will be away for a while today...

oort

[Wegg]

I'm using. . . 8958_yafaray-win64.zip

I don't know any more than that.



Maybe you know something that I don't. . . but . . . my render always looks like this. No matter how many bounces of light I pick. . . it always looks like it is using direct lighting only. :-(

And I'm not sure how to get my anti-aliasing to look any better. It's very nasty right now. Considering how long it takes to render. . . this isn't good. :-( I'm 99% sure I'm doing something wrong. . .

[oort]

Wegg,
I mostly just use Direct Light for my rendering. I assume since you are talking about "light bounces" you are using either Photon Mapping or Path Tracing. I do not have enough experience with those to help you. You will probably get better information in the YafaRay forum... YafaRay Users Forum

For anti-aliasing, have you tried increasing the AA_passes setting? The default is low, since increasing this increases render times. You could try changing Box Filter to some other option. The ones lower in the list are better if I understand them correctly. Although I think your choice may also depend on what kind of scene you are rendering.

YafaRay render times are not the fastest compared to other rendering software but they are not the slowest either. I just like the final result you get from YafaRay. Also, unlike other "free" rendering software it has remained Open Source for a very long time. Kerkythea, which is/was free, is pretty much abandoned since they started working on Thea Render...

Edit: It looks like you downloaded and installed YafaRay 0.1.2 Beta 7 Windows 64bit.

oort

[boredom]

Great plugin, but it could use a nice coat of polish.

Personally, I'd given up on installing it long ago because of the lack of instructions (correct download location - surprisingly not the official yafaray site and not something you find by googling variants of "yafaray standalone" - registry modification, plugin path passed as a plugin parameter...). It also can't output images if the output path has spaces.

Don't get me wrong, you've done a great job, oort! But your plugin would get a lot more much deserved attention if people knew how to set it up. It'd be great to focus on a quick polish pass to get more users on board with your work.