We asked Evermotion to answer few question about their unbiased renderer called NOX. The renderer is still in development and in beta stage (currently version 0.3.41) but already the first results are looking very promising. About the updates which Evermotion did on NOX you could read also before here at 3D-Sphere, now you can read something about the renderer himself. We would like to thank again Evermotion for answering our questions. Be sure to check NOX and try yourself. Read the whole interview below.
What made you decide to make your own renderer for 3DsMax?
- NOX itself is a stand-alone application that may be partly integrated with 3ds Max. That integration came in early versions because in our studio it is the most often used software.
Why renderer? Why not a particle system or other plugin?
- Evermotion is associated with high-end architectural rendering. On our forum there is hundreds of thousands of artists whose works are really breathtaking. New rendering software with sharing material library could bond our society even more.
Its pure Evermotion production\development?
- Omitting usage of other libraries (like XML parser, compression or EXR libraries) NOX code is pure Evermotion work. However big help came from testers out of company, we can't deny their contribution.
Do you have a team of programmer’s which develop just NOX 24/7?
- Actually NOX team is one developer employed full time - not 24/7, rather 8/5 :) - along with volunteer beta testers.
How long is NOX already in development?
- Almost 4 years. The whole project was made from zero.
How many Beta-testers do you have?
- Only few before public release but mainly one person do it systematically. We hope to get more with open-beta announcement.
Where did the name „NOX“ come from? Does the letters or the word mean something?
- We had a funny brainstorming while creating a name for the renderer. Many ideas were proposed and it was chosen. Nox in real world is also a unit of illuminance.
NOX renderer is for free, where is the catch?
- Not all products have to be commercial. Good company should also work on the off market. NOX is not our first project like that. We want NOX to bring more people to our site. We believe that their presence there will give a good support to our community.
NOX has already very promising results; do you think you can compete with renderers such as V-Ray or FinalRender?
- NOX is classified as a physical renderer, so competition with biased ones is a misunderstanding. For now competing with other unbiased software gives us poor results on the field of speed or some features. However some other features give a new approach to the problem, like very well received post-processing. Competition itself is not our purpose, we simply want to give you another tool that you'd love.
Can you tell us something about the rendering method by NOX?
- For 3d-environment independence NOX was designed as stand-alone application with plugins for creation and export of scene. Rendering is based only on unbiased methods. There were a few approaches to the rendering technique. There was implementation of Path Tracing, Bidirectional Path Tracing and Metropolis Light Transport. Currently only last one is turned on because of full compatibility with other NOX features. However it is in quite early stage and anything can happen - it is possible to rewrite and turn on Path Tracing in the near future as second engine.
Do you also made some speed performance tests comparing NOX renderer with V-Ray or others?
- NOX does not have any performance measuring tools. Any potential comparisons are made by eye.
Is NOX or will it be able to use the newest HW technologies like GPU cores to speed up the render?
- Currently there is no GPU support. For the future... it depends on community requests. If some features will be needed, it will be added with time. This also concerns GPU usage.
Is NOX using any kind of unique technology developed by you which only NOX has?
- Actually it is hard to say. We simply don't know how other software works underneath. Some features can be compared by interface or results but real algorithms are each company's secrets. Some are based on publicly available documents and works the same. Others were invented basing on observations and still may work quite similarly.
Is NOX primary meant for architectural rendering?
- There is no special architectural purpose, it can be any kind of art. Also there are no animation tools, it's meant to be used for still images.
Do you plan to expand the renderer also for other 3D Applications like Lightwave, Maya, Cinema4D or other?
- We're thinking of releasing scene file format so community would create exporting plugins for their favorite 3d environments.
Is there any deadline for the final release?
- There is no deadline. A lot of code lines ahead before we call NOX final or complete. First we need to fix a lot of bugs, add some features like bump or displacement and optimize speed. When we will be pleased with results we will nominate NOX to release candidate for final version.
Will NOX be free also after releasing some final version?
- Of course – Yes. If there is enough interest in NOX we will continue to develop it even more. But it will be always free. Evermotion as young company gives a lot of effort to improve itself. We want to be a friendly company and bringing any fee for NOX would be a big disappointment.
What after releasing the final version of NOX, do you have already some plans for the future?
- NOX development is a real fun for us – we're enjoying every new image rendered with NOX. However there is still a lot of time before we could call NOX finished and make any other stuff. Some other small projects can come out in the meantime.
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