Thread for 3dsmax questions

[animatorkid]

I remember when it was my teams rookie year for animation. We recieved 3ds Max 6 a week into the season, and we had to learn how to use the software while we were making our animation. It was really hard, but we got it done, thanks to the help of the online community.
As we all know, The Chief Delphi community helps student with serious questions, not just about the robot, but also questions about the animation process. I suggest we make it even easier.
I know that I try to push for something like this every year, but I think it would be helpful if we started a thread where rookie teams for animation could ask questions, and have veteran FIRST animators answer. I feel that this would be extremely helpful to these new FIRST animators.
However, it will take some participation from the veteran animators here, but I feel it is worth it if it is helping students who need help.
So, if any new animators need to ask a pressing question, I suggest that you post it here.

-Mark

[BuddyB309]

Please search before you make a new thread. The 3ds max help thread has already been started.

3Ds max help thread

[Brandon Martus]

One suggestion: Post a new thread for any question you may have .. more threads mean less digging through huge threads of multi-questions. This forum would be the most appropriate place for 3ds Max questions.

[Ryo Chiba]

I have a question:

I am rendering my animation as individual .tga files. I remember hearing somewhere that this was the best way to do it, as if a rendering session goes halfway through, you can start where you left off. How do I put the images back together as a video file?

How does everyone else save their renderings? .avi files are of sub-par quality or are ungainly large when I render to them.

[Testament-Doom]

Well, everyone has their own preference of how to render their animations. I do prefer the rendering of each frame into their own individual frames, just because rendering does take long and if the computer crashes, you don't have to start all over... Think if you have like a 10 minute animation and you're on the final scenes trying to save it to a movie file, then all of a sudden BAM, your computer goes out, you are forced to restart. What a horrid nightmare .

To put them back together, you need any kind of video editing program. In most cases I'm sure any would do (I never really dealt with this situation before.. well, for a REALLY long time). You just stick them together, make the video go 29.97 fps, and there you go .

[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.

[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.