rendering questions

[cribbidaj]

I have attached a file of a short scene rendered in 'Final' output. The 'shag emitter' used to simulate grass displays unwanted changes in the background during the animation (beginning on 2nd frame, and then again at about 2 1/2 seconds in). This anamoly does not appear when rendering in 'shaded' mode. Could the problem be that 'dynamics' is defaulted to "on" in the 'shag emitter'? I'd like some advice before rendering again - this 3 second shot took 17 hours to render at HDTV 1080 resolution. Which brings me to my next question. What is the recommended rendering resolution to bring my targa files into Adobe Premiere 2 for compiling. My intended output will be DVD and web. I am under the assumption that rendering at HDTV resolution would give me a high aspect ratio that I could then compress to other formats. I burned a DVD of this scene at HD resolution and played it on my widescreen TV (which is HD compatible). My DVD media is not HD. The animation on the TV was not at all as nice as the output on my VGA monitor. I have read and re-read Adobe's Video Primer, but digital video jargon is still pretty lost on me. Can anyone direct me to a simple explanation?

 

Also, I'd like to render the background of my scene separately than my main characters, then create a composite. I know this is possible, but I'm still unsure how to do this in A:M. Because rendering times can become tiresome, I need more information before I proceed.

 

Thanks,

Chris

grass_problem.mov

[PianoMan]

Without knowing exactly what your project is doing with the grass I can't say for certain, but it sounds like a bug I reported a while back about rendering dynamics with multi-pass rendering. If you "bake" the dynamics into the scene (be sure to save a copy of your project before doing this) everything works just fine.

 

-- Galt

[goodguy20k]

One, do you have your extra's CD? There's a tutorial on compositing on there. (Just found that last night, actually. )

 

Two, you're not going to get HD quality off of your DVD. DVDs are what, 720X480, for the cinematic ratio? Unless you can burn Blue-ray or HD-DVD discs, and have a player that can read those, you're not going to reach HD res. (720p/I, 1080p/I) VGA connections are the best way to go for viewing HD resolutions, for now. I render at 1080I just so that I have great quality for future format changes. (I.e. When/if I get a Blue-ray/HD-DVD burner/player, I'll be able to burn full res.) Also, when I convert from format to format, I have a LOT of data to work off of, causing less degrading over conversions (if done properly). Still, you need to know what your target format is. If it's regular DVD, why pay for extra render time when you don't/won't need it? The film competition I'm fixin' to enter requires submission on miniDV tapes. That's like a DVD on tape. So, I can either shoot for my target, or shoot for a future target, or even hit somewhere in the middle.

 

Three, if you composite, you won't have to worry about the grass. Just render one grass frame and use it throughout (unless the camera moves. *tries to remember if it does*)

 

Four, awesome looking!

[cribbidaj]

I do have the Extras CD, but can't find the compositing turorial you mentioned - mostly filled with models and projects. Where do I look for it?

 

Also, there is camera movement in my scene - does this really mean I can't composite? Is there a way to render the scene with the camera pan over just the models I want in the background (ie. the sky and the grass), then render same scene with camera pan but just the foreground characters (tree and accordian creature) present and layer that render over the other?

 

In answer to Piano Man's reply, MultiPass rendering is turned off, so I don't know if my problem is related to this. Honestly, MultiPass rendering is one of the subjects I don't have a grasp on. If MultiPass is selected, won't my rendering times be even longer?

[goodguy20k]

Scratch that, found the tutorial online, too! http://www.hash.com/am2005/Composite/tutorial.htm

 

Yes, you can composite still. (Sorry for not making that clear.) You do it exactly as you mentioned. Render the background, then render the foreground, and stamp together. The reason I mentioned the compositing as I did is that it would save render time. Render 1 frame for the background, instead of many. But this still works!

 

Multi-pass rendering DOES take more time. It also makes it look better, too! (Usually.) For example, most the time I render 1 pass multi-pass (turns off Anti-Aliasing, "blurring the lines", as I like to call it.) But, that gives me sharp edges, right? So if I don't want sharp edges, I either need to alias, or I can add another pass. With the additional pass added to the first, it gives it a slight blur. The more passes, the better the blur. For my scene, if you haven't seen it, take a look, I'm using depth of field. It performs badly with AA, but with Multi-passing on, it looks much better!

 

For what you're doing, I don't think you need multi-pass. For me, PB's fur couldn't live without it.

[cribbidaj]

Thanks, Daniel. This helps.

 

I have not viewed your scene - where do I find it? Your models in your other posts are awesome.

 

-Chris

[goodguy20k]

'Tis here.

[Bruce Del Porte]

It does look like a hair dynamics issue. Opening the dynamics flag in the PWS, are there keys?

[cribbidaj]

I don't see a dynamics flag in the PWS. The Terrain (which carries a shortcut to the Shag emitter) shows that Dynamics are 'ON' in the Properties Panel, but there are no keys on the terrain except for 'frame 0', when I manipulated it into position.

[cribbidaj]

'Tis here.

 

Nice, Daniel - that's cool how the background's softness creates a workable animateable space for your main character(s).

[cribbidaj]

Daniel -

 

Thanks for the link to the tutorial. I was able to render to EXR files and 'right-click' to access the 'make new composite' option once. Now every time I render to EXR ar Targa when I right click on the file in the PWS I get a 'apply new post effect' in place of 'make new composite'. If I choose that option I receive a dialog box saying something about 'v.11' incompatability'. I'm confused.

 

The tutorial itself is a bit confusing to me as well - I have yet to understand which options of which image files to choose to create a composite. Yet another example of A:M's flexibility giving me too many options for my feeble mind to comprehend. I truly need a 'paint-by-numbers' approach to this process. I'm in that state where I am so close to getting satisfactory results, but am falling short due to a process I don't understand.

[goodguy20k]

Ignore the v11 incompatibility thingy, as far as I know, it's a bug. I've worked around it just fine.

 

As to doing the deed, I know, there are a lot of options, and it gets confusing, especially your first time out. (But you'll be glad of the extra options when you find you need them. ) Here's the basic sequence of actions:

 

1) Create a new composite.

2) Import your front image/animation.

3) Import your back image/animation.

3.5) Double click the composite to view it.

4) There's a little plus next to each image/animation, click it. You should see a XXX Color Alpha item under it.

5) Drag the Color Alpha of the background into the composite. This should add a few items, including a Post-Effects folder with the Color Alpha inside it.

6) Right click the Color Alpha under the Post-Effects folder and select "Insert Post Effect"->"Hash Inc"->"Over". This adds a overlay in, bumping the back Color Alpha to be it's child (under it and further right).

7) Drag the Color Alpha of your foreground onto the Over effect. You should see it added below the background Color Alpha.

8) You MIGHT have to "refresh" the view. If you click the blue circle next to the Over effect, it will just draw that effect and it's children. You can then click back on the (now empty) circle next to the Composite title.

 

Save the composite as an animation and you should be good to go!

[cribbidaj]

Thanks, Daniel - I'll give it a go and let you know how I do.