"New rendering engine with improved quality and performance" in HD 2022?


michaelf
 Share

Recommended Posts

The Whats New page seems to say there's a new rendering engine in HD 2022. Could you please provide some details about what's new? I'd like some examples of improved rendering and figures for rendering performance improvement if possible, pleae. This would help me decide whether to upgrade, because at the moment there's really not enough reason. I'm using HD Architectural 2020 at the moment.

 

I hope the following rendering problems with HD 2020 are fixed in 2022?:

 

  • often a very visible lighting discontinuity on the floor in a passthrough or doorway, especially with shiny wooden floors (sunlight or lights don't shine properly through doorways)
  • incredibly slow Physical Rendering speed when compared to games which achieve 60+ FPS (HD takes about 5s to render initially)
  • walkthrough video rendering is only managing ~1 FPS - yet I can achieve 10+ FPS by simply moving the mouse (why is walkthrough rendering so slow in comparison to simply navigating through the model?).
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You are welcome to download a free trial version of any of the three new versions of Home Designer software and see for yourself. I downloaded Home Designer Pro trial and saw that they added "Physically Based Rendering" render type that was not present in earlier versions. It has been present for years in Chief Premier and Interiors as well as photo realistic "Ray Tracing" but these have never been available to Home Designer software titles.

 

The other complaints you listed are solved mainly in Chief Architect Premier and Interiors software or are merely shortfalls of competence with end users. No software anywhere delivers a perfect product without a lot of competence applied by its end users.

 

DJP

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Physically Based Rendering was added 2 versions ago in the 2020 version.  So unless the 2022 version has gone to Photo Realistic  Ray Tracing I also don't know what is being offered in the new version.  It would be nice to get more precise information of the improvements since the web site doesn't make the upgrade sound to desirable.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello and thank you for the question.

 

The new rendering engine has migrated from being based on OpenGL over to Direct X 12 for Windows and Metal for Mac.  If your graphics card supports real time raytracing you will see benefits in the rendering quality.  Specifically, there will be improved ambient occlusion.  This provides more realistic shadows, soft shadows and enhanced detail that result from shadows created by ambient light in the scene.

 

There are also speed improvements to the watercolor rendering technique (this process has been moved over to the graphics card rather than the CPU) and there are general speed improvements to rendering if your graphics card supports real time raytracing.

 

You can test our the new 2022 version by downloading the trial.  In the 2022 trial version, you can see if your video card supports the enhanced rendering by clicking on the dropdown menu "Edit>Preferences" then click on the "Video Card Status" panel.  In this panel you will see a listing for "Hardware Ray Tracing."  If there is a "yes" next to this item you will see the ambient occlusion improvements.

 

There are significant improvements to the walkthrough feature including efficiencies in producing walkthrough videos, the ability to preview the video and edit keyframes more efficiently.  You can't record a walkthrough in the trial but you can see the new walkthrough preview and editing features.

 

Feel free to contact us in sales at 208-292-3400 or email sales@chiefarchitect.com with any questions.

 

Kind regards,

 

Derek

Chief Architect Software

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for your response Derek.  I have been updating HD Pro every year since I purchased it in 2007.  I love the program and look forward to every years' new version.  I will be upgrading  to the 2022 version soon.  As a side note It would be great in the future to expand the number of layout pages in the HD series.  Thanks again for your quick and informative reply

 

Mark Bartholomew 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/27/2021 at 4:41 AM, ChiefArchitect said:

The new rendering engine has migrated from being based on OpenGL over to Direct X 12 for Windows and Metal for Mac.

I have the 2022 updated HDPro version now and the rendering is noticeably better, the ambient light is more balanced, the materials are crystal sharp and clear. I'm impressed with this alone for the price. You can't knock it for value for money compared to other runners in the field in my opinion. After dollar conversion it cost me $140AU.

The saving of unique text notes to library is also a nifty addition for my work. One simple tool that means a lot.

Well done Chief.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you, Derek for the comprehensive explanation. I downloaded 2022 trial. Unfortunately, for me, rendering in 2022 is a lot, lot worse than in 2020.

 

2020:

 

image.thumb.png.3c7d530f81e55e6049f8eaefc373e32c.png

 

2022:

 

image.thumb.png.3476b0ff341dfffb0bf1bd6ce8a254e8.png

 

Note at least these issues:

  • the far room (dining room) has the exact same Teak floor material as the foreground kitchen, yet clearly something odd is happening with the reflection being totally different at the room boundary - and it's a lot WORSE in 2022;
  • in 2022, the bench top under the plant on the left of the images appears to be two different materials, even though it's the same Teak material;
  • in 2022, there is no reflection of the stools or (distant) chairs;
  • in 2022 the window edges are jagged, despite Edge Smoothing When Idle being on;
  • in 2022, there don't appear to be any shadows from the light fittings.

It appears I don't have GPU Ray Tracing (GTX 1650, 4GB), but even so would you expect rendering quality to get worse in 2022?

 

Thank you,

 

Michael

 

 

image.thumb.png.cd43f894445eac9e8f6e076f3e682286.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

After upgrading to 2022, rendering crashes my Laptop.  I have an HP Spectre 13 with an Intel 620 card, 16 MB RAM and 1TB SSD.  It worked in version 2021 and now crashes my computer.  This is not an improvement.  Contacted tech support and the recommendation was use a different laptop.  Not helpful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/17/2021 at 7:33 PM, JJBJR55 said:

This is not an improvement.  Contacted tech support and the recommendation was use a different laptop.  Not helpful.

Try going to preferences, and under 'Render'  turn on 'Manage GPU Residency'....

Solved an issue for me as advised by support services at CA.

It may work for you.

Preferences snip.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share