AA saves the day

[N-drju]

Hi all,

Just a relaxed question... Of course we use AA feature in most every render except for test renders perhaps but what are the guidelines for using it?

Frankly, in my renders I usually keep AA at 5 no matter what is on the final render. Still I suspect it is not always a good way to go. Is it, like, that AA should be set at greater values the more plants and trees you have in your render? Is it a good criterion? Right now I am rendering a pic with quite overgrown vegetation and AA is at 6.

[Hannes]

For final renders I usually use an AA of max. 9 depending on the detail and the resolution. I don't know if this is reasonable, but it was OK so far.

[kaedorg]

I usually use an AA=8 for final renders. Satisfied with it.

[N-drju]

Perhaps I should be more precise.

I meant what factors should usually be taken into consideration when determining what AA value should be used for this or that final render? Resolution, number of objects, lighting, your bank account?

[Dune]

Basically, if you have many fine objects, such as foliage, and much (heavy) clouds, higher AA is better. If you have just procedural ground structure, and hardly objects or atmo, detail is more important. Comparing small testcrops will give many answers. There's not one 'best way', it all depends on what the scene is like.

[N-drju]

Hm, so from what you are saying it is a good idea to decrease detail for the sake of AA in case of veggie-rich renders? Somehow I'm not convinced whether det=0.5, AA=9 would work right. I usually keep my settings around det=0.7 & AA=5. I think you've seen the results in my image posts.

[Dune]

If you set up a simple scene with both ground and a patch of veggies, and do some testing, it might yield interesting results....