Thread for 3dsmax questions

[BuddyB309]

Originally Posted by Ryo Chiba

Well, I need to put the animation together by the deadline, and am wondering about specific software. Does anyone know any particular free software items that can be used to compile individual frames? A neighboring robotics team (WBI, Team 461) uses Sony Vegas. Can that compile as well?

Or is there a more convenient solution than saving it as a folder of images? A holy grail file format that I haven't discovered yet, perhaps.

My rendering resources include a single home desktop computer that renders all night. I'm trying to get it finished fast, because I know with the resources available, this rendering part will likely drag on for a long time.

I got your back,

Targa files are numbered in a very specific way when they come out. Normally premeire is able to recognize them when you import them as a sequence. But I dont suggest useing premiere for you final compressor, its horrible with the NSTC codec. Use avid dv pro.

[animatorkid]

You can also do this using the Ram Player in 3dsmax. It's been a while since I've done this though, and I don't recall exactly how to do it. But, I know you can do it and I will look in to it.



Also, sorry for not searching for another post like this. I can't believe I broke the number 1 posting rule! Sorry guys!

-Mark

[Mazin]

Originally Posted by BuddyB309

I got your back,

Targa files are numbered in a very specific way when they come out. Normally premeire is able to recognize them when you import them as a sequence. But I dont suggest useing premiere for you final compressor, its horrible with the NSTC codec. Use avid dv pro.

Just in case anybody else hasn't known, we fixed the Premiere/QuickTime problem in a different thread already. Open up QT Player, go into the Preferences, and choose Use High-Quality Video when Available (or something like that). The QT quality controls in Premiere don't actually work.

Originally Posted by Ryo Chiba

My rendering resources include a single home desktop computer that renders all night. I'm trying to get it finished fast, because I know with the resources available, this rendering part will likely drag on for a long time.

That's why render times should be optimized. There are little tricks and things to make rendering take 20 sec/frame instead of, oh, 10 min/frame.

#1: Only care about what the camera can see.
#2: Remember that this is for Standard Definition Television (SDTV). Some corners can be cut.

Originally Posted by Ryo Chiba

I am rendering my animation as individual .tga files.

I keep telling people that Targa images are a waste of disk space. Use PNG instead.

[Kevin Thorp]

About rendering times: I just did a quick check on our scenes. To render them using Mental Ray will take approx 45 computer hours . Using the default Scanline renderer will take about 5 computer hours.

Mental Ray looks better, but we'll have to make that decision in a couple days.

We have access to 6 computers so we can divide the rendering up. Remember: you can install Max on as many computers as you want. No registration required if you only use the program for < 30 days.

[Mazin]

Originally Posted by Kevin342

About rendering times: I just did a quick check on our scenes. To render them using Mental Ray will take approx 45 computer hours . Using the default Scanline renderer will take about 5 computer hours.

Mental Ray looks better, but we'll have to make that decision in a couple days.

We have access to 6 computers so we can divide the rendering up. Remember: you can install Max on as many computers as you want. No registration required if you only use the program for < 30 days.

I always use mental ray. Don't look at this as a scanline/mental ray decision. Both renderers are highly configurable. I have always had faster times with mental ray, so obviously it's not mental ray's fault that it's taking 9 times longer.