Autumn Tree Line

RArcher · October 09, 2011, 04:22:17 PM

That time of year again I guess... This image, like most of my images is 95% models and 5% lucky positioning. Included are:

Oak from Klas
Norway Maple, Sycamore Maple, Honey Locust and Smooth Elm from Xfrog
Dry grass, fresh grass, shrubs and dirt objects from Walli
and one population of the internal rock object.

A smaller compressed version is attached, but you can view the full-size uncompressed image here: http://www.archer-designs.com/zp/albums/digital-art/terragen-2/autumn-tree-line-full.jpg

Hetzen · October 09, 2011, 04:36:13 PM

Very nice Ryan. Loads of contrast there. It looks like it wouldn't flicker too much if you'd animated the camera, out of interest, what were you AA settings and render time?

Cheers

Jon

RArcher · October 09, 2011, 04:52:16 PM

Thanks Jon,

Rendered at 1920 x 1080 - Detail 1, AA 6 (default sampling), GI 1/6 - 11 hours on my system, so likely around 5 hours on one of the new fancy computers I would guess.

Hetzen · October 09, 2011, 04:56:45 PM

Thanks fella. Out of interest, why did you go detail 1 when models are influences by AA?

RArcher · October 09, 2011, 05:52:47 PM

Unless I am quite mistaken (possible), detail level still has quite a bit of influence on the entire scene even when using ray-traced models. I will have to do some tests soon.

Hetzen · October 09, 2011, 07:30:26 PM

As I understand the Ray Trace side of things, AA defines the quality of objects, detail defines displacements. So AA includes atmosphere as well as objects, high AA means you'll need less quality in atmosphere/cloud settings. With the new ability to define the sampling, we have a lot of power on how things render/AA/speed.

RArcher · October 09, 2011, 08:20:32 PM

The detail setting does influence GI, shadows and other things not related to the objects themselves. Quick test here using all the same setting except detail. One image the detail is at 1 the other the detail is at 0.1.

From my posted image using a detail of 1 was probably totally not useful, 0.5 or so would have likely given good enough GI and shadow detail.

Hetzen · October 09, 2011, 08:58:25 PM

Thanks Ryan. Interesting comparison. I tend to render at 0.5 with model heavy scenes. I don't see much difference with 0.6 or 0.7. The GI side of things is probably something else. Something I need to do some tests with.

As an aside, I've been experimenting with insane AA settings and playing with the Edit Sampling. My work tends to have moving cameras, so flicker control between frames is paramount. In some scenes, I've had to knock up AA to 32 to deal with render inaccuracies, which was a lead that a post from Oshyan had lead me to. More 'mean samples' gives a more accurate initial pixel. But you need to dial up the pixel noise threshold to compensate for render times. 0.2 has been a common value.

Hetzen · October 09, 2011, 09:03:12 PM

Try the same scene with....

Detail 0.5
AA 32 (Edit Sampling / First Sampling Level 1/16, Pixel Noise Threshold 0.2)
GI 2/4

At 720p it should take about 2hrs to render tops

Hetzen · October 09, 2011, 09:12:49 PM

Sorry Ryan, it's not going to make a difference to how your scene looks. It's just interesting to see if we can knock down your render times.

RArcher · October 09, 2011, 11:45:26 PM

No problem Jon, I'm always interested in finding ways to speed things up. Doing a test at 1280 x720 with your suggested settings.

Henry Blewer · October 10, 2011, 08:47:57 AM

The compressed image really does not do this justice. Awesome scene. As for luck, I think your skill has much more involvement.

RArcher · October 10, 2011, 12:00:56 PM

Hi Jon,

Tried your settings, the render took 12h 09m for a smaller image (1280 x 720) than my original render (1920 x 1080). Quality as expected was very similar.

Hetzen · October 10, 2011, 03:41:23 PM

Wow. I didn't expect that. Hrm. I was getting 2 hrs on some of my plant heavy scenes.

I was told that model quality in the node's drop down, didn't effect quality anymore, so I've kept them low. I wonder if this is the reason. I'll have to do some tests when I get back from holiday.

Sorry to have led you up a garden path. Thanks for giving it a go though.

Cheers

Jon

Tangled-Universe · October 10, 2011, 04:38:58 PM

Quote from: Hetzen on October 10, 2011, 03:41:23 PM
Wow. I didn't expect that. Hrm. I was getting 2 hrs on some of my plant heavy scenes.

I was told that model quality in the node's drop down, didn't effect quality anymore, so I've kept them low. I wonder if this is the reason. I'll have to do some tests when I get back from holiday.

Sorry to have led you up a garden path. Thanks for giving it a go though.

Cheers

Jon

Hi Jon,

Model quality settings only apply when you're NOT using raytrace objects.

Enjoy your vacation!

Cheers,
Martin