Keyshot 7 release date?

Started by pizzalover2, February 12, 2017, 02:22:46 AM

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pizzalover2

When does keyshot 7 releases? Or at least, which part of the year?(Q1/Q2/Q3)?

I didn't seen any informations on this.

guest84672

We are planning to release KeyShot 7 in Q2.

sushil2010

still no signs of releasing it. are you guys working on GPU acceleration thing?

DriesV

#3
Quote from: sushil2010 on June 24, 2017, 05:01:04 AM
still no signs of releasing it. ...
A release is not too far off.
There is a KeyShot 7 Preview webinar coming next week.

Quote from: sushil2010 on June 24, 2017, 05:01:04 AM
... are you guys working on GPU acceleration thing?
No. Not at the moment.

Dries

SK1107

Quote from: DriesV on June 24, 2017, 05:16:38 AM
Quote from: sushil2010 on June 24, 2017, 05:01:04 AM
... are you guys working on GPU acceleration thing?
No. Not at the moment.

Dires

But is it possible at all?

DriesV

It might be possible when it makes sense. Currently it doesn't for the majority of our users.

We have many users running KeyShot on laptops. GPU rendering isn't an option there (realistically).
Compatibility is still a major issue with most GPU rendering tools. If Nvidia releases a new architecture, you need to make sure you're running the right driver AND that the GPU rendering software supports the new cards. Usually it takes these companies several months of coding to support the new architecture. This isn't the case with CPU rendering.

GPUs do have the benefit of sheer computing power if you put, say, 8 of them in a workstation. A major drawback is that such setups take up a lot of space, draw a lot of power (+1 kW for just the GPUs).

Also, there is the persistent myth that GPUs are faster than CPUs by huge amounts, consistently. They can be faster for certain simple tasks, like path tracing, but are not necessarily smarter than CPUs. Some algorithms in KeyShot simply cannot be handled by GPUs at the moment.

I can see the attraction of an 8-GPU monster machine for a single freelancer though. Such machine can indeed render very fast in realtime. However, as said before, it is a very impractical and hard to maintain solution in many office and corporate environments.

Dries

mattjgerard

Having been on both sides of the CPU/GPU rendering fence, what Dries said is very very true. We are looking to get the Network Render set up in our office and the IT dept said CPU render? No problem. GPU render? Forget it. They run everything virtualized, most of the servers don't even have GPU's in them. We asked about setting our own machine for multiple GPU cards. Nope, wont' even allow it.

GPU rendering is a tricky beast, when it works, its fantastic. But when it doesn't, its nigh impossible to get it working if drivers have been updated, render software must match the current NVIDIA driver down to the thousandth of a point. The GPU render I used to use was notorious for this, and heaven help you if you accidentally had your NVIDIA drivers auto update and the plugin wasn't updated yet. When using GPU rendering there are so many more points of failure that are possible, its a wonder it actually works. And, you are limited to the amount of VRAM with textures. Using poliigon textures, you can burn through 3gb of vram right quick. Animations? hope your render software is ready to reload every frame into the GPU's. That takes time. For simple scenes, procedural textures and low poly counts, GPU rendering is a great tool. But huge scenes, lots of bitmap textures, animations, huge poly counts, CPU rendering actually is more efficient.

GPU rendering isn't a magic bullet, it can be for some situations, but man, its just a finicky monster to have to deal with in a production environment.

TGS808

#7
One of the things I like best about KeyShot is it's use of the CPU over the GPU. Like Matt said, who needs all those additional problems? To the people clamoring for GPU support in KeyShot I would ask, what is KeyShot not doing fast enough for you in its current state?

mattjgerard

Usually people perceive GPU rendering as getting the same thing faster for cheaper. But its not an apples to apples comparison. I'm no expert but I've read enough blogs and papers by the people using the systems (and a little experience myself) to know that each has its place.  Large workflow based shops tend to steer towards CPU rendering, as it is less dependent on drivers matching video cards matching software matching plugins. So, keeping 10 workstations and 100 render nodes all on the same everything isn't as critical with a CPU render solution.

Now, on the other hand, smaller shops like the guys at brograph.com have long been GPU render people, (and on macs, nonetheless!, but have since transitioned to PC based systems) Foe them, it works, as they have to only sync up the 2 of them, and they are both nerds that can troubleshoot thier own systems, and rarely work on the same project at the same time.

The big houses (Sony, Pixar, etc) are all still on CPU renders, as the ray-tracing and stuff they custom code runs all on CPU render farms. Coding for CPU renderers aren't dependent on a 3rd party (NVIDIA), so it is more stable and flexible for them. Can't imagine what would happen if they were GPU, and a driver update knackered up the render for some major movie.  Its just not that stable yet, especially with NVIDIA holding the monopoly on the market.

TGS808

Maybe it's me (it probably is) but I kind of feel like using the GPU has become – for lack of a better term – the "trendy" thing to do. People seem to want it whether they need it or not. Like you said, each has the their place but it seems to me, many people want the GPU because they want the new "cool" thing, not because they need it. KeyShot is rendering in real time on the CPU. Win, win.

SK1107

Thanks for calrification.

P.S.: it would be great if  we will see new Core i9 with 18 cores on some laptop.

Jikkk

It's sad it won't be working on Windows 32x :(

DriesV

#12
Quote from: Jikkk on June 28, 2017, 02:51:43 PM
It's sad it won't be working on Windows 32x :(
32 bit OS support has been discontinued for many packages.
A quick overview of software that only runs in 64 bit:

  • SOLIDWORKS (since version 2015)
  • Creo (since version 4)
  • Rhino (from version 6 onwards)
  • SketchUp (since version 2017)
  • Maya (since version 2014)
  • ZBrush (since version 4R8)
  • etc.

There are significant memory limitations by running in 32 bit. It is in your best interest to upgrade to a 64 bit OS. :)
Furthermore, supporting legacy operating systems detracts from developing actual KeyShot features.

Dries

quigley

Other issue is cost. We just bought a dual processor 40 core machine for £2500. That benefits every application we use on that machine. GPU only works if the software is specifically written for it...and most are tied to NVidia, yet (for us) we find AMD more reliable for SolidWorks. As for stability, reliability, capacity etc, you need to compare Visualise to Keyshot. We get Visualise free with SolidWorks. It is not even installed now. 'Nuff said.

Speedster

In KeyShot I can set up and render a SolidWorks file in a minute or two, that takes at least an hour to do in Visualize.  Visualize is not on my radar, and I don't mean that despairingly, just fact...  And I'm in SolidWorks 8-10 hours a day.
Bill G