Whats the Difference

[Killoskate13]

So i am using 3ds max9 direct 3d...

so i am wondering what is the difference between direct 3d and opengl
.... also...



MENTAL RAY and V-RAY...
i use mental ray... wondering whats the difference...?

[Need_Help]

It doesn't have much difference. However, if you are using Vray 1.5 RC3, you are advised to use OpenGL as it has some problem with DirectX (as in my case). OpenGL also appeared to be faster than DirectX. If you have some kind of 'plug-in' (like Vue XStream) you are also advised to use OpenGL as it is compatible to almost all kind of software and operating system.

As for the renderer, Vray can render more realistic scene, as well as having more options and faster rendering time. It is better to learn Vray if you are using Max (now they have released the Maya version too) because it helps a lot in rendering (for me, I feel that it's easier to use than MentalRay, probably because I start with it).

Thanks.

[Novak]

Direct is the norm, since it's so fast with any of the decent spec Geforce cards.
But apparently OpenGL isn't developed anymore by autodesk in 3ds Max since
version 3.

For really heavy scenes, the mesh caching of Direct made it really impressive on
high Poly flyarounds and some of the new real time feaures, like shadows seems to
be done using Direct shaders.

You cannot do any of the advanced viewport lighting stuff in OpenGL.
The OpenGL driver in Max does not support mesh caching on the graphics card memory.

So unless you are moving around 10K faces or so, OpenGL should be much slower than DirectX 9 in Max.
With millions of faces on static meshes, the difference should be orders of magnitude in favour of DX because
OpenGL would have to send the polygons to the card on each frame, while DX would keep them in the card's memory.

Also, DirectX 10 is not fully supported or even recommended to be used YET.
Stick to DirectX 9.

Hope this helps you further.

Greetz and regards,
Novak

[Killoskate13]

thanks y'all... i am using directX 9 its just i wanted to know the difference...