Tibbs

Hi, I was granted access to these files in Sept 2016, but I can't seem to find the link anymore. Could you please help? Thanks! EDIT - looks like the link is dead. No more access?

Though you're not entirely wrong on the stability issues, I've been beta testing the next update (releasing soon) and there are a LOT of fixes there. The Cycles rendering system is unique in that it gives your more flexibility than Octane does, and that's not including the very deep x-particles integration. There are also a TON of resources in the already established blender community regarding how to work with Cycles. A majority of the issues in the initial release have been due to incompatibilities in the Cycles core, not the Cycles Cinema 4D bridge. It's also fast, renderes beautifully, and works on CPU / CUDA fantastically with solid OpenCL support coming in the next Cycles Core now that the split-kernel is complete (and then integrated into Cycles 4D), Small forum activity isn't really an issue. I've found that there are a few posts a day, but again, this is a brand new renderer in a sea of rendering engines. Also the developers frequent the threads and will usually get back to you within the same day. Also the users that do participate are generally very knowledgable. Octane is a fantastic renderer, and pretty much the industry standard for now, but Cycles is deep and I think their nodal system and the way you create shaders/materials is superior to the rest solely for the level of intricacy that you can control. For anyone in Motion Graphics/Design, I think Cycles is one to look out for as I feel it has a lot of growth potential.

Absolutely. You should be able to get a lot of miles from the CUDA rendering. I jumped on both XP and Cy4D during last years promotion. I do not regret it. We all know XP is a great system; Cycles 4D I feel has the potential to eclipse Octane. It's THAT good. There is a slight learning curve beyond Octane, but that's because the node editor in Cycles is extremely versatile allowing you to make materials and shaders that would otherwise be prohibitively difficult to make or downright not possible.

UPDATE So it turns out that I was affected by a very rarely occurring bug (squashed in the upcoming core update) that was crashing a particular render I was working with. I eventually was able to diagnose and report the problem to the very helpful guys at the Cycles4D forums (shoutout to Mario and Mohammed) for working with me to identify this bug. I am redacting my original position as the renderer works great now. (updated my original post to reflect as much)

Cycles user chiming in. So far Cycles 4D has been a mixed bag for me. It's very affordable, fast, has lots of great features, tight x-particle integration, pretty speedy and great quality. Right now it feels pretty buggy though. The node editor is kind of a mess right now, and Cycles has frequent and hard to replicate stability issues. If you're looking at cycles, I'd get into it now to play around, but imo it's not stable enough for production. Too many random crashes in Cycles 4D to make it worth using currently. UPDATE So it turns out that I was affected by a very rarely occurring bug that was crashing a particular render I was working with. I eventually was able to diagnose and report the problem to the very helpful guys at the Cycles4D forums (shoutout to Mario and Mohammed) for working with me to identify this bug. I am redacting my original position as the renderer works great now.

I'm not 100% sure but I think the Cycles core support for OpenCL is lagging behind CUDA a lot. You're probably not going to get fast, quality results with GPU rendering on a Mac.

Not so sure about CPU since I'm on GPU, but I have noticed that if I don't pause the preview viewer and quickly change the settings to CUDA before I open a scene, my copy of C4D completely freezes up. I have to go to Task Manager on Windows 10 to close the app. Not sure if it's a bug.

Pulled the trigger on Cycles 4D last night. On my single 980ti + 5820k 4.4Ghz, it's really fast. Maybe because I'm coming from the Advanced/Physical rendering world of C4D, but regardless, my initial impression is fast. I also ordered a GTX 1080 to compliment my 980ti so I'll report back with rendertimes etc as soon as I can play around some more. First impression was really good. This looks like a fun and exciting rendering engine. The Nodal texturing is definitely a plus!

Thanks! I've been eyeing GPU rendering for awhile. I have a 980ti in my machine now, and I think I'm going to pick up a copy of Cycles + an additional 980ti. I was on the fence but I too really like the Cycles aesthetic and already having x-particles makes this almost a no-brainer. Thanks! Does Cycles support GPU net rendering?

So has there been any info on how Cycles4D fares against Octane in regards to speed? Maybe something along the lines of a single and dual 980ti/1080 setup?