Michael Lord

If you are reading this post and have looked across to your right (and slightly down) you would notice that I like to Render.   I produce renders professionally for the company I work for but also for my own interests,  Some of it is to better learn and understand the process .  Others are for my own interest and enjoyment.  It fascinates me what the software can create.

Over the years I have had the opportunity to use a number of different photorealistic rendering software.  SOLIDWORKS PhotoView 360, KeyShot, Lagoa and the latest SOLIDWORKS Visualize

I’ve enjoyed using all of the programs and they are all capable of producing quality images.  Each of the software have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Anyone who has done any rendering knows that the rendering abilities of the software relies on the Materials and the HDR Environments.   Materials for PhotoView 360 can be a little restricted at times,   PhotoView 360 does have the ability to use Modo assets  but these are very restrictive,   Most of the assets have either none or limited ability to adjust the material.

The limitation of Materials in PhotoView has lead a couple of blokes to do something about it!

Enter PV360X

PV360X is the creation of Rob Rodriguez – Axis CAD Solutions and Ron Bates – Whitehall Digital  (who in a previous life was – Dassault Systemes SOLIDWORKS – Senior Manager of Graphical Applications).  Anyone using SOLIDWORKS would have seen some of Rob’s renders either on the “splashes” or DVD Covers.

In short what these two gentlemen don’t know about PhotoView 360 (and rendering is not worth knowing)

PV360X has just released the first of their Materials for PhotoView 360 – PV360X Paint Pack

PV360X – Paint Pack is a collection of Paint Base Materials.  A range of Car Paints which include Metal Flake (both Silver & Gold), Pearlescent, Matte and a range of Powdercoats.

Rob and Ron have kindly provided me the PV360X Paint Pack to try out.  It is a simple Copy & Paste proceed to have them show with the standard PhotoView Appearances

The best way to show the abilities of the PV360X Materials is to let them speak for themselves with a couple of PhotoView 360 Renders.

Black – Pearlescent Red – Silver FlakeDark Blue – PearlescentThese quick samples really highlight the “depth” of the paint and it’s clearcoat finish.  The Dark Blue Pearlescent images shows how realist the effect of light has on the pearl paint with it’s reflective colour change

Whilst the Car Paint – Metal Flake and Pearlescent add a new dimension to Paint Materials I believe the real success will be with be the Powdercoat and Matte Materials.  These materials use procedural texture to provide the most realist product surface finish

I understand that the Paint Pack is just the start for Materials by PV360X,   Additional Pack we are likely to see are  Coatings & Packaging.   These would include such materials as black oxide, brushed black oxide, anodize, zinc chromate, chrome and the like.