Excavating the Deep Cut

[sboerner]

The total render time was about 17 hours the last time I did a full frame at 3840x2400, which I'd consider working size for this image because of all the detail. I don't think that's bad at all. Since the image is tiled I can do sections overnight and keep the machine free during the day. So a couple of overnight sessions and it's done.

Right now I'm rendering small patches of the image at that resolution to find the optimization sweet spot. So custom sampling settings, etc., are animated over a series of small crops. Those run overnight too. It's a gradual process but it lets me move on to other projects during the day.

[sboerner]

Revisited this scene to add the improved character models at right. One thing led to another and I ended up rebuilding the cut and replacing the rock walls. (Had some help with that. Thank you, Ulco.) Much happier with the result. A few other large- and small-scale changes. Tidied up the node network. Finding legacy -- non-PBR -- default shaders in the object networks was a bit of a surprise and a reminder of how much TG has changed in the last two years.

[Kadri]

Great work.

[sboerner]

Thanks, Kadri. Should have a new one to show in a couple weeks.

[pixelpusher636]

This is looking really, really good! I can't wait to see where this ends up, great work.

[sboerner]

Thanks! And my bad, my previous post was not clear. This scene is finished for now. The "new one" is an entirely different scene, the Seneca River crossing that is posted in a different thread.