This rough guide describes how to do photorealistic rendering of Alibre Xpress and Alibre Design parts. This is not a step by step tutorial rather a high level guide about the knowledge needs to be acquired.
I found an opensource modeling and rendering software called Blender which can read 3D models exported by Alibre. Currently the only export import format supported by both Alibre and Blender is STL. There is an option in Alibre to change STL export settings under Tools->Options->File Types->STL. Lowering the Normal Deviation value will produce smoother curves but the file size will increase. Blender is very complex but for our purposes we only have to learn a few basic functions. Like moving, scaling objects, set up the scene with one camera. I recommend reading the Blender wiki tutorials. Blender has a built in rendering engine but I never quite figured it out. I spent hours of learning it but I still could not get metal colours right. Then I found Indigo Render also free for commercial use but not opensource. Indigo Render allows assigning NK Materials to objects. NK Materials are lab measured optical properties of materials. With NK materials you do not have to guess for example the colour of aluminum anymore.
Blendigo a GUI frontend for Indigo provides a smooth interface between Blender and Indigo.
About lighting the scene: I found that it is easier to light up the scene with HDR (High Dynamic Range) images than with lamps or light emitting objects.
Pros:
Free
Superb render quality
Cons:
Steep learning curve
STL is currently the only supported format
Assemblies are problematic
Slow rendering time could be more than 6 hours (3Ghz dual core)
Gallery Images:
The two Alibre parts used in my example were created by following the Istructables Alibre tutorial. –highly recommended free Alibre tutorial site-
http://www.instructables.com/id/Inlet-Manifold-Tutorial
http://www.instructables.com/id/Filter-Box-Tutorial
What needs to be learned?
Basic Blender functionalities: Setting up scenes moving, rotating, scaling images, camera settings, using exporter scripts. (Blender wiki)
Indigo Render : learn about reflection models (phong, diffuse, NKdata) . Illuminating scene with HDR environment maps. No need to learn the XML interface because blendigo takes care of that.
Blendigo exporter usage.
Software required, should be installed in the following order:
Python (to run Blendigo script): http://www.python.org
Blender (to create the scene) : http://www.blender.org
Indigo Render (to render the scene) : http://www.indigorenderer.com
Blendigo python script (runs inside Blender, provides a smooth interface between Blender and Indigo) : http://www.indigorenderer.com
