AM render resolutions...

[new guy]

Hi Everyone,

 

Does anyone know the biggest resolution AM can render? I tried to render Panavision (2048x871) and AM crashes every time. It does render 1080 every time. Is 1080 the highest resolution AM will output/render?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Tralfaz]

I've rendered 1680 x 1050 to a JPG, without any issues using ver 14.c and Windows XP Pro (both 32 and 64 bit), with 4 GB RAM.

 

Al

[Gerry]

I've rendered some pretty large stills successfully, but never video. Not sure if there's a physical limit but it may be related to your RAM and processor speed?

[new guy]

Thanks for the fast replies guys!

 

Not sure if it's my comp. I have a MacPro 8 core with 10 gigs of ram. I'm trying to render an object flying across the screen from right to left with an alfa channel at a resolution (hold on to your hats) 3840x768! I know, it's huge. Can AM handle high res custom renders like that? Maybe I need to export as a pict sequence?

[Gerry]

Good point: What format are you trying to render to? A targa sequence may be the way to go. Also, how long a sequence is it? Can you post a still? Maybe the content will give some clues to a solution.

[number]

I'd highly suggest an image sequence for you video output. You're not at risk of losing your work w/ a failed video render. At the very least, you'd pick up on the next image after the failure. You can choose a nice lossless format like .tga or .png.

 

Also, many of the video editors will accept an image sequence.

[KenH]

I've had a crash with a large image....for the mascot contest. Sent a report. I've 8mb.

[Tralfaz]

When rendering for video, I always choose a lossless format (e.g. bmp) as a sequence of stills. It allows me to run multiple copies of A:M to get multiple renders going, as well as the benefit of stopping and starting again at a later time without losing all the work that has been already completed. The same would apply in case it crashes.

 

Al

[robcat2075]

I just tried a 4096x1742 (double the Panavision res) render of my lighting test scene and it survived fine. So it's not the res that's the problem but probably a combination of a complicated scene and the hi res.

 

If you submit an A:M Report on it, include a PRJ with all objects embedded and all the necessary texture maps in a zip, so your specific case can be tested.

[Fuchur]

I think it is a RAM-problem.

I can render resolutions up to 3750 x 3500 (stills) anything above that will not render. But that is pretty huge and works for most printprojects you will need.

 

*Fuchur*

[HomeSlice]

I think it is a RAM-problem.

I have a MacPro 8 core with 10 gigs of ram.

 

If rendering to Quicktime or AVI, that might be the problem, but surely 10 gigs should be able to render a series of 4k still images? ... if indeed A:M can access all that RAM...

[photoman]

Ive rendered up to 6000x3200px once. It depends on the complexity of your scene and how much memory you hafve on your computer.

 

For my current project, anything above 2000px will stop at 1% and crash! BUT in that project I have heavy displament, particles, and AO!

 

In short, memory is where it is at.

 

Photoman

[Fuchur]

Dont forget that A:M isnt able to use anything over 1.5 - 2 GB of RAM under 32 bit-OSes.

 

*Fuchur*

[John Bigboote]

Firstly- I'd recommend always rendering to individual frames, if you can.

 

Secondly- I seem to remember a similar thread about 1 year ago when Martin Hash was 'among us' (have we lost him for good??? I hope he returns SOMEDAY!) I seem to remember him saying that 2000 pixels was about the biggest A:M would render. He could'nt imagine anyone needing anything bigger.

[Fuchur]

The thread was about DPI and Resolution and so on.

 

Realtimrenderings would be based on the graficcard-power, everything else seems to be mostly based on RAM-amount useable (you can install 16 GB but if the OS cant handle that or the programm can not, that wont help anything...).

 

2000 px x 2000px is pretty much already, but for example for photo-printers or other high-resolution-prints such resolutions have to be used.

I know that for most other stuff you dont need it... There are some myths about DPI which are (if you ask me) mostly based on the algorithms photoshop uses for resampling images.

 

In reality, the only thing that really counts are pixels. an image printed at 300 dpi with 3000 x 3000 px has still 3000 px and like that the same resolution and quality.

The DPI-setting will determine the actually printing width so. 30 cm for example printed at 300 dpi need a certain amount of pixels if they should not be resampled (which looses some quality).

 

-> 300 dpi = about 120 dots per cm.

-> an image of 1200 px width and height can be printed in a size of 10 cm x 10 cm without interpolation.

 

300 dpi is much so... often 200 dpi are enough to give a nice printing-result, anyway most printers want to get data at 300 dpi to be sure that it is enough.

On the other hand large printings are often not seen from a very close distance and for example a poster on a housewall (the big once) dont need these kind of DPI-amounts.

 

Anyway: There are circumstances when you may get ask for very large renderings to for example be able to use only cutouts of the rendering.

It is just more flexible to have a high resolution-rendering.

 

What size A:M can render is althought highly based on the complexity of the scene.

 

*Fuchur*

[photoman]

John I believe you are thinking of this thread: (Where I got virtually scolded (and maybe slapped ) at for my (at the time) inferior/poor knowledge of resolution and DPI.

Starts at post #2

 

Photoman

[new guy]

SUCCESS!!! I rendered a .tga sequence and it turned out to be wonderful! I then took it into After Effects and rendered out a QT w/alfa and it's just amazing! AM did a wonderful job! Smooth and clean at that whopping resolution 3840x768!!!

 

Thank you all for taking the time to read and reply! This forum and AM rocks!

[Rodney]

This forum and AM rocks!

 

You know... I've been noticing that too.

 

Glad you got the solution you were after.

 

While movie formats like .MOV and .AVI are handy for rendering previews it is wise to final render to sequential images.

Programs like AE are awesome for smashing those sequences together.

 

For those that want to keep the whole process in A:M this still applies to you... create your movie files but render to sequential images first before you do. After you've rendered your sequence of images, Right Click on the PWS container and Save As Animation and you'll have a copy in movie format too.

[Gerry]

Congrats, new guy! One of the great features of this forum is being able to help newcomers with what often seem to be insurmountable tech problems. Stick around, you'll learn a ton.