I Just Wanted to Post an Image Thread

[Miss B]

Oh would I ever love a resume feature. Not sure how the Poser dev team would/could implement that, but it sure would be nice.

 

[seachnasaigh]

Oh would I ever love a resume feature. Not sure how the Poser dev team would/could implement that, but it sure would be nice.

Well, Lux has that feature; you can stop the render (in case of thunderstorm, for example) and save an .flm file. Then later, you can resume the render from that .flm and pick up from where you left off.

 

[James R.]

You would give the same attention to samples and bounces regardless of whether you render progressively or by bucket.

In short, give samples and bounces to those effects which your scene uses, and minimize samples/bounces which are less important. For effects which your scene's materials don't use at all, you can save render time by zeroing out samples/bounces.
For example, my scenes above had no volumetric materials, so I set volume samples and volume bounces to zero.

I also recommend that you set the overall pixel samples high (80?), and after some time, when the render cleans up, cancel the render and export your render.
If you set the pixel samples too low, the render will finish and still be grainy, and there is no way to resume a render from where you left off. I have filed a request for a "resume" feature.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Speaking of old (Firefly) habits... In Firefly, to optimize render speed and memory use, your bucket size should be an integer power of two, i.e., use 8, 16, 32, 64, 128. In timed comparisons, I find that 32 usually is the best choice.


Yes, that would be nice. With a manual override option, in case I'm doing something oddball, which I often am.

Yes, absolutely - if I don't need certain effects I reduce or disable them in render settings.

I must admit that I find the idea of buckets of 25 or 50 a wee bit counter-intuitive. It seems natural to choose numbers like 16, 32, etc. when my system has a 64-bit processor, has 4 cores, etc. Know what I mean? I don't disagree with you, it's just different from what we've been told for so long.

Regardless, I'll give your suggestions a try. Cheers!

 

[seachnasaigh]

I must admit that I find the idea of buckets of 25 or 50 a wee bit counter-intuitive. It seems natural to choose numbers like 16, 32, etc. when my system has a 64-bit processor, has 4 cores, etc.
... it's just different from what we've been told for so long.

We were told to use buckets sized as integer powers of two (8, 16, 32, 64, 128) for a long time because we had Firefly for a long time, and that rule still holds for Firefly, even in P11, if rendering in Firefly.

Superfly is an adaptation of Cycles, a Physics based renderer; Firefly is a Reyes, or "skin" renderer, and they are two very different animals. The Superfly bucket size rules are only concerned with cutting up the render without leftover pieces at the edges; hence, choose bucket size as a common denominator of render height and width.

It's actually quite impressive that the devs manged to merge the Firefly material nodes with the Cycles material node system.

 

[quietrob]

I always thought a 'bounce' was when the light would hit an object and then reflect onto any other object depending upon lighting. Raytracing, in other words. Is a bounce the same as a render pass?

Sorry for the basic question.

 

[Rokket]

I always thought a 'bounce' was when the light would hit an object and then reflect onto any other object depending upon lighting. Raytracing, in other words. Is a bounce the same as a render pass?

Sorry for the basic question.

Bounce is the light source. A render pass is a different animal.

 

[James R.]

The Superfly bucket size rules are only concerned with cutting up the render without leftover pieces at the edges; hence, choose bucket size as a common denominator of render height and width.

Awesome info. Thank you again!

 

[Miss B]

The bucket size should be a common denominator of both the height and width of the render (in pixels).

Yes, I started doing this after reading your comment about how to determine the size of the bucket. I always assumed it should be a number divisible by 8, so yes, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, and so on. Funny how I always wondered why some of the buckets on the outer edges were so skinny, when the others weren't. Now I know why.

 

[seachnasaigh]

I always thought a 'bounce' was when the light would hit an object and then reflect onto any other object depending upon lighting. Raytracing, in other words.

A bounce will be any contact of a ray with a mesh surface, be it either a deflection (bounce off) or a penetration (ray passing through surface of glass).

Is a bounce the same as a render pass?

No. A "pass" renders one particular effect of a render, such as shadowing, or indirect (glow) light casting. The full render will be a composite of all of the passes.

Yes, I started doing this after reading your comment about how to determine the size of the bucket. I always assumed it should be a number divisible by 8, so yes, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, and so on. Funny how I always wondered why some of the buckets on the outer edges were so skinny, when the others weren't. Now I know why.

Yep, those scrawny edge buckets cost render time! Lots of numbers would be (integer) divisible by eight, yet not be an integer power of two. E.g., 24, 40, 48. Don't use those as Firefly bucket sizes.
Use integer powers of two for Firefly bucket sizes: 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256.

I choose render dimensions with bucket size in mind. So, if I make a 900x900 Superfly render, bucket size is 30 (render is 30 buckets wide x 30 buckets high). For Firefly, I would make the render 896x896, with a bucket size of 32 (render is 28 buckets wide x 28 buckets high).

 

[Rokket]

My poor old laptop got really hot so I had to stop the render, but James makes a pretty convincing Joker, especially the Joker from the animated Dark Knight Returns.

 

[quietrob]

He reminds me more of the Joker from Suicide Squad who was a good Joker nonetheless. I can't imagine Heath Ledgers Joker ever choosing a partner like the devastating Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie). All this guy needs is a 3 piece suit!

 

[Rokket]

He reminds me more of the Joker from Suicide Squad who was a good Joker nonetheless. I can't imagine Heath Ledgers Joker ever choosing a partner like the devastating Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie). All this guy needs is a 3 piece suit!

In the works. Part of his clothing is a suit.... just got to color it purple and find a good flower for it...

 

[quietrob]

Don't forget his vest is Green!


Just a guide. You don't need to be obsequious.

 

[Rokket]

Don't forget his vest is Green!
View attachment 29239

Just a guide. You don't need to be obsequious.

I don't think the suit for James has a vest. But yeah, he really should have one.

 

[Miss B]

My poor old laptop got really hot so I had to stop the render, but James makes a pretty convincing Joker, especially the Joker from the animated Dark Knight Returns.

That's looking pretty good Rokket.

 

[Rokket]

That's looking pretty good Rokket.

Yeah, got a wild hair and went for it...

 

[Rokket]

The Joker from "Dark Knight Returns".

 

[Rokket]

He reminds me more of the Joker from Suicide Squad who was a good Joker nonetheless. I can't imagine Heath Ledgers Joker ever choosing a partner like the devastating Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie). All this guy needs is a 3 piece suit!

Actually, only the hair is similar. I left off the tattoos, piercings and the gold teeth...

 

[quietrob]

View attachment 29240

The Joker from "Dark Knight Returns".

That's the one where Batman kills the Joker, isn't it? After he shoots and paralyzes Batgirl?

 

[seachnasaigh]

ghost and wireframe materials for Firefly & Superfly

Some of these single-zone materials are intended for general use, and will require you to browse/load your particular doll/prop's texture/bump/transmap. The Pauline full mc6 material collections are fitted to Pauline's UVs specifically. The single-zone Pauline MT5s (circular icons) can be applied to another doll, but you'd need to supply your own circuit maps, etc.