render artifacts

[Hubert]

Hi all,

 

I was asked to do the opener animation for the local film fest here and had a blast animating the fesival's logo rocking out. However, 'm getting unwanted artifacts in my renders that I aren't visible when rendering a Quick Render (file below, "quick_render.jpg). When rendering the same frames to any format (AVI, BMP, TGA), they always come up with these unwanted artifacts, most visible in the light circle on the floor and the character's shaded side but if you look closely you see it's all over the character (test_render.jpg. I tried adjusting different render settings, changinging to Multi-pass (16x), etc., but no real change.

 

My render settings are:

Quality: final

Motion blur: off

Depth of field: off

Shadows: on

Ambiance occlusiojn: off

Reflections: on (2 levels)

All other option: off

 

I'm stumped and could use some help...

[robcat2075]

Welcome to the forum!

 

I don't know what's causing that. Possibly you have radiosity on with odd settings or some other unnecessary render setting set oddly.

 

If you can post a sample PRJ (with everything embedded) someone might be able to do detective work.

 

 

Meantime... since that's a Kleig light, try changing the Options>Cast Shadows>Type>Z-buffered/Ray traced setting to whatever it isn't set to now.

 

Test that.

[John Bigboote]

Yeah, weird. Maybe delete that klieg altogether from the chor and drag a new instance of it back in...'afresh'. Of course, you will need to re-aim it and set all it's particulars.

[HomeSlice]

When you say "Quick Render", do you mean the green button with the plus sign and the little lock? (Render Lock Mode)

Or do you mean the button with the blue cube? (Render Mode)

 

... those two buttons could be renamed for better clarity...

 

Anyway, the *Render Lock Mode* button renders without some render settings, such as Radiosity, MoBlur, Dof and a few others I can't remember.

The *Render Mode* button should include all the render settings, so would give a more accurate representation of the final rendered frame.

 

My initial guess is that you have accidentally set some radiosity options, like Robcat suggested. Try setting Radiosity to OFF in the Choreography properties.

Since the affected area is only within the lit area, you may want to see if you have a light gel (rotoscope or material) applied to the light.

 

As a test.

Create a completely new camera in the container in the Project Workspace.

Leave all the *Render Settings* at the default values for now. You can change the *Output Options* to suit your needs.

Drag the new camera into your the Choreography - make sure you are looking through the new camera - and render a test frame.

 

If the problem persists:

Delete the light(s) from the choreography and add new ones. Render one frame and see if the problem persists.

Try rendering a frame without shadows and see if the problem persists.

 

If the problem persists:

Create a new Choreography and drag your camera, light(s) and model into it. Render one frame and see how it looks.

[Rodney]

As Robert suggests, it looks like your Radiosity sampling setting for that light is set too low (not enough samplings).

I'm not sure you even meant that setting to be on.

[John Bigboote]

Radiosity will make for an extra long render too... how long was your render?

[Hubert]

Thanks all for the prompt and very helpful responses. I should have posted my question on the forum right away instead of spending 3 frustration-filled nights trying to figure it out myself. Turned out "radiosity was on and at unworkable settings. I turned it off and render time dropped from 16 minutes per frame to 38 seconds and with perfect results...!

My first forum experience has been a very positive one, thanks again for all the helpful suggestions & pointers!

[robcat2075]

We're glad you didn't go away mad!

 

Be sure to show us that clip when you get it done.

[Meowx]

My first forum experience has been a very positive one, thanks again for all the helpful suggestions & pointers!

The guys on these forums are ridiculously knowledgeable and friendly. If you have any sort of question, never hesitate to ask - responses are far quicker than most message boards. I browse new threads multiple times a day, you never know what random helpful thing you might learn!