Twinmotion is a powerful real-time visualization tool that allows designers to create high-quality rendering and interactive experiences for architectural design, product design, and more. One of its current most powerful rendering features is the path tracer, which produces photorealistic images through precise lighting calculations.
However, many Apple users wonder how to take advantage of Path Tracer in Twinmotion, as it currently only supports Windows computers. This article discusses the functionality of the path tracer in Twinmotion, its requirements, and provides Apple users with a solution for rendering with the Twinmotion path tracer.
Path Tracer in Twinmotion
Path Tracer in Twinmotion is a progressive hardware accelerated rendering mode. It is an unbiased, physically-based rendering technique that goes beyond the limitations of typical real-time rendering. It uses the hardware acceleration capabilities of modern graphics cards to simulate the lighting in a scene through a physically accurate process called path tracing.
Path tracing calculates how light travels throughout a 3D environment, including effects such as reflections, refractions, and indirect lighting. This provides a more realistic depiction of global illumination than the approximation used in realtime.
The path tracer in Twinmotion helps generate high-quality, realistic images with accurate lighting and global illumination (GI). Twinmotion continues to improve its Path Tracer functionality with each new release. Path Tracer was first introduced in Twinmotion 2022.1. It allows users to generate final pixel images comparable to offline rendering and switch between it and real-time rendering with a single click. The current Twinmotion 2023.1 release builds on this foundation with several enhancements to the path tracer. It now supports decals, including hundreds of high-quality Quixel Megascans. Volumetric fog effects are also supported. Additionally, sky rendering has been improved. Transparent objects now render accurately even with depth of field effects.
Why does the path tracer in Twinmotion not work on Apple
Currently, macOS does not support Path Tracer.
The main reason path tracing isn't currently available on Macs is because Twinmotion is based on Epic Games' Unreal Engine. To date, Unreal Engine has not implemented support for path tracing on macOS or other Apple platforms. Once this functionality is available in Unreal Engine, the Twinmotion developers will be working on integrating it.
Currently, macOS users may see an error message like "PathTracer is not supported on your platform". ” or “ Path tracing is not supported. "
Let's explore the Path Tracer hardware requirements to better understand why it won't run on macOS computers.
Path Tracer Hardware Requirements
To use the path tracer in Twinmotion, certain hardware and software requirements must be met.
operating system:
Currently, Path Tracer is only supported on Windows machines.
Graphics card requirements:
To use Path Tracer, your computer must have one of the following devices:
- NVIDIA GPU: RTX 2000 series or later AMD GPU: RX 6000 series or later
Additionally, your graphics card must meet some of the following requirements:
- Have at least 8GB of dedicated video-access random memory (VRAM). DirectX12 (DXR) is supported. Install all latest drivers.
DirectX12 support
Twinmotion is designed to take full advantage of the GPU's capabilities by default. If your GPU meets or exceeds the minimum requirements above, it will use DirectX12 by default. However, for GPUs below the requirements, Twinmotion reverts to the more widely compatible DirectX11. You can manually change this setting in the Preferences pane. However, this is not recommended as it creates a risk of Twinmotion instability.
To verify that your GPU supports DirectX12, follow these steps:
- On the Windows taskbar, click the Search icon Type dxdiag in the search bar In the search results, select "dxdiag run command"
After launching, the DirectX Diagnostic Tool will analyze your system configuration. To find out which version of DirectX your graphics card supports, go to the System tab. There you will see a system information box showing details about your hardware. The DirectX Version line item in this box will specify whether your GPU supports DirectX12 or earlier.
To verify that your Twinmotion uses DirectX12 , follow these steps:
- In the menu, go to Edit > Preferences > Open the Preferences panel. In the Settings tab under Graphics Hardware Support , if your GPU supports DirectX12 , the DirectX12 checkbox is selected by default.
How do I render Path Tracer in Twinmotion on an Apple computer?
The main options for Apple users to access Twinmotion's Path Tracer are:
- Bootcamp: With Bootcamp, Windows can be installed natively on Apple computers. You'll also need a DXR-capable eGPU, as AMD-based GPUs in Apple computers are not DXR-compatible.
- Remote Rendering: Create a project on an Apple computer, then transfer the project file to a powerful Windows computer with a DXR GPU for remote path tracer rendering.
Twinmotion Cloud Design Platform--Zanqi Cloud Workstation
If you want to use many other software in Twinmotion at the same time, you still need a PC with a large memory. On the Zanqi Cloud workstation , we have machines with industry-leading configurations. All models are equipped with Nvidia professional-grade graphics cards , which help local computers become supercomputers at low cost and can perfectly cope with various harsh computers even when the budget is insufficient. configuration requirements.
Different from traditional PCs, Zanqi Cloud Workstation uses cloud workstation, Zanqi super cloud disk, software center, cloud rendering and other full-process applications and tools to improve creative efficiency. Users can easily deploy Twinmotion, Blender, SketchUp, 3ds For Max, AE, Unreal Engine, CAD and other software, Zanqi Cloud Workstation Software Center provides some software, all of which are trial versions. If necessary, please purchase genuine licenses and install them one by one.