Online gems rendering service

[yesbird]

Greetings !

Although I am not related to gemology and gem cutting, being a software developer in the
graphics domain, I am very passionate about gemstones, as they are very interesting objects for
rendering.

Exploring present gem cutting design software I discovered that the most popular - GemCad and
GemCutStudio have no serious modern rendering engine (GemRay is good, but outdated, IMHO).
Maybe https://www.ijewel3d.com can perform better, but I have not tried it yet.

I also see that Tom Herbst in his famous book (http://www.facetingbook.com) suggests using a
Blender for rendering, but this process is not straightforward for people that are too far from
graphics software and workflow is not very convenient.

Attempting to fill this space, I started the following project:
https://gemview.yesbird.online

It can be extended to more realistic server-side rendering (like here: https://povlab.yesbird.online/?scene=gem_2.pov)
and possibly integrated with https://www.facetdiagrams.org.

I would like to know a professional's opinion - if this service will be demanded ?
Is it worth continuing coding ?

Thanks in advance for your answers.

[HenkRijneveld]

It all depends on the purpose of the rendering. Gemcutstudio may not have the most modern rendering machine, but is shows what you will get. The problem with too good to be true renderings IMHO is, that you show something that "the real thing" can not accomplish. Thus leading to disappointment. So from my point of view, it can be useful sometimes, but it can also be somewhat dangerous. I for myself would never show a perfect rendering to a customer, because he/she will inevitably become (very) disappointed when he has the finished gems in his hands. Apart from that, you cannot show the effects of inclusions and other "ïmperfections", which sometimes give a special touch to the stone.

[yesbird]

Thank you for your reply, I understand you very well.
For professionals a simple sketch can work better and say more than a well-rendered image.

[yesbird]

GemView now completed and contains all 2265 designs available for free at Facetdiagrams at author's permission.
It supports geometry-only exports to OBJ and POV formats, POV-Ray scene includes spectral rendering features
from POV-Ray gems rendering extention.

I will be happy to get suggestions and any kind of criticism from you.