Messages

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[Max] General Discussion / Re: Varied Render Speeds

« on: 2016-11-30, 00:11:41 »

Ive checked that as well. I'll post the evidence I gathered when I have time to do a re-render and show it.

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[Max] General Discussion / Re: Varied Render Speeds

« on: 2016-11-28, 01:38:09 »

Yes.. I've finally resolved the issue!

I'm sure this issue won't apply to all, but for some, it may be helpful.

I'm rendering on a i-7 Microsoft Surface Book Laptop. I render while I travel, as well as when I'm at home. The problem that I was having is that at seemingly random times, my render speeds would vary greatly. A frame that took 2.5 hours would suddenly (magically) only take 1.5 hours the next day.

So here's the solution:  When I was rendering on an external monitor (with laptop monitor switched off), my render speeds were almost twice as fast as when I was rendering on my laptop monitor.

I think there are two reasons for this: 1. My laptop CPU ran a little hotter when using my laptop monitor, and I know that heat affects performance. But the REAL difference was in CPU utilization. 3D Studio Max was utilizing 100% of the CPU when I was using the external monitor, compared to only 80% utilization when using the laptop monitor.

So a combination of CPU temperature (as suggested by a previous post), as well as CPU utilization (less when using the laptop monitor) negatively affected my render speeds.

So the takeaway is that when you're using a laptop, utilize an EXTERNAL monitor and TURN OFF YOUR LAPTOP MONITOR. It will significantly increase render speeds.

Thanks for everyone's input and suggestions.

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[Max] General Discussion / Re: Varied Render Speeds

« on: 2016-11-07, 20:16:02 »

You had only noise level as stop condition? Can you please show the actual number of passes for frame 90 and 105?

Yes... I verified that the frames, before and after finished at 20 passes.

If you have no render stamp element configured you may still find it in the logs. Even if cam movement is very subtile it´s possible (and likely) that your reach those 10% noise at different pass numbers, thus at different render times.

This scenario wouldn't account for the fact that the frame EXACTLY before this restart was 60 minutes, and the frame EXACTLY after I stopped the render started back up again at 50 minutes plus. Further, I performed another test render on the shorter frame times, and it rendered at 60 minutes. Interestingly, however, the frames are IDENTICAL. So the frame rendered, same passes, same elements; just 3x faster.

This render time was SPECIFICALLY attributable to ONE of 9 start/stop render sessions between October 27 and today. EVERY other session was consistent. THis one was not.

I think if we could isolate the event that TRIPLED my render time, possibly everyone could benefit from this. I simply know that from my end, nothing changed.

To further add to the head-scratching, I save my project file after each render session, so had I inadvertently changed something in this session, It would have manifested itself in the next render session as well.

Something happened here that SIGNIFICANTLY increased my render times with the SAME renders.



Good Luck



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[Max] General Discussion / Re: With all due respect to the Corona team

« on: 2016-11-07, 16:39:14 »

I just finished a 60 second animated commercial for a solar company. It's GORGEOUS.

But I have NO FREAKING CLUE how I got the lighting right. And some of it, frankly, I didn't.

I couldn't figure out how to get some of the opacities to render correctly, so I cheated.

I enjoyed playing with the material editor; plugging all the cool different options into all the cool different other options. But at the end of the day, if I ended up with something usable, I was awestruck.

This is NOT my day job. It's just something I do around my investing and international travel. It's a wonderful hobby that can pay pretty well if you hit the right clientele.

-I'm a professional level photographer; so I understand ISO and parallax and f-stops.

-I'm a technologist so I understand optimizing render times and the such.

-I taught photoshop in University, so I know the Adobe suite and post production.

-I'm a early adopter of 3D animation (I owned Crystal Graphics before 3D Studio was launched and got the very first version when it first came out) but have since taken an 20 year hiatus and have just returned to animation. So I understand rigging and keyframes...

So I'm no slouch. And certainly don't want stuff easy and cheap. But I DO want to learn and strengthen my deficiencies, and GOOGLE SEARCH doesn't do it.

So, if it's not the job of the Corona team (and I'm not sure it is either, but it's still a gaping hole in connecting their product to quality renders from the masses), then I'm simply asking for direction.

Where can we find some of this stuff? What IS a good repository for all things animation that would apply specifically to 3D Studio max and Corona?

Are there good books? Websites? Suggestions?

Cuz like this other guy,aside from a few youtube tutorials by various artists (and some are terrible at best), I'm not finding a really good cohesive resource for some of this stuff.

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[Max] General Discussion / Re: Varied Render Speeds

« on: 2016-11-07, 16:25:13 »

First, thanks for the reply.

Each time I start a render, I restart the surface book, I clear all the cache, I turn off all non-essential startup applications, and I even disconnect from the Internet (as I don't want any CPU being utilized for system updates etc.).

So.. I know it's not a Ram issue.

I literally did EVERYTHING the same way I always do.

I'm using the current version: Corona 1.5 hotfix.

I have attached a document showing the different render times (based on when each files was saved after it was rendered by the system).  I have also attached an image of both the 60 minute and 20 minute render times. Aside from SLIGHT camera adjustment, there is NO difference.

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[Max] General Discussion / Re: With all due respect to the Corona team

« on: 2016-11-07, 04:20:46 »

I think this thread has gotten WAY off topic.

The initial post wasn't about making Corona easier. It was helping some of us understand the basic 101's of rendering, color picking, different color selection choices, etc.  and the "how" and "why"  these things hang together.

Albert Einstein once said, "If you can't explain something simply, you don't understand it well enough."

I'm a technologist by trade. I've architected elegant solutions that were complex in design, but fairly simple to explain to the board of directors who were PAYING for it. 80% of corona users aren't that technically savvy but they're still paying customer and want to become better.

When I read the INITIAL thread that started this post, I saw a messages saying "Pretend that the average Corona user is a guy who doesn't understand all of this stuff by default, but still does (or wants to do) alot of 3D work." Then he went on to say that if the average user can understand some basic fundamentals, the quality of their renders would skyrocket and would better help promote Corona. I saw NOTHING in there that said he wanted CORONA simpler. He want's to UNDERSTAND fundamental concepts THAT MOST OF YOU ALREADY KNOW BY EXPERIENCE, more simply.

The biggest problem (from his perspective) and I happen to agree... is that all you brilliant animators and programmers and artists take for granted how much you know about the basics that you're flying 50,000 feet over the head of the average user who doesn't even know where to begin to look to understand this.

His post, to me, wasn't a request to simplify corona. It was a request to explain some of the more simple concepts that so many of you assume we all know. And, like him, many of us have no idea where to even start to look to find it.

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[Max] General Discussion / Varied Render Speeds

« on: 2016-11-07, 03:59:24 »

I own a dual-core i7 surface book. While rendering a 120 frame scene, I set my noise parameter to 10% and did several test-renders. I found that each frame came in under 1 hour. The scene has no moving objects, just a very slow rolling camera (just for movement effect). So from that, I determined that the entire render would take approximately 120 hours.

Because it's so processor intensive, I would refrain from using the computer for other things, to try to maintain render times around the hour mark. That number has been pretty consistent, even though I've had to start and stop my rendering as I moved my computer or needed to use it for other things.

However, something strange happened last night. I started the renderer, like I always do, and the renderer just started pumping out each frame with blazing speed. It was rendering every frame, at the same exact settings, at 20 minutes per frame. In other words, it was rendering 3x faster than any other time. I watched this go on for about 8 hours and had to stop the render to take my Surface Book to work.

it is now back to the 1 hour render frame, and nothing I do will give me those screaming render speeds again.  I have looked at the faster render frames and they are the exact same as the frames that took 3x longer.

Can anyone account for this phenomenon? Is there some setting in Corona that tells it to optimize both cores, or optimize memory, or that would in any way account for this anomaly?

I'd love any suggestions, because I'd do anything to get those render speeds back.

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[Max] General Discussion / Re: REBUS RenderFarm

« on: 2016-10-20, 09:02:49 »

I've used this render farm for three separate projects.  The process was smart and painless.  I had one frame render incorrectly. Customer service isolated the node and rerendered the project.  Quick and efficient.  I would like to see some kind of volume discount; meaning the more I use it, the cheaper it becomes.  This would incent me to get to the highest tier. 

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[Max] Corona Goodies - User Contributions / Re: Corona Material/Lights Converter (continuous updates)

« on: 2016-10-17, 21:16:55 »

Hello, and thanks for the wonderful conversion tool.

I did a straight conversion from a V-ray file to Corona using your utility and did a straight render.

As you can see, there are two glaring differences. First, the semi-transparent curtains in the background aren't rendering properly.

Second, the ceiling lights are not cascading onto the walls, and materials like the satin bed cover are not reflecting (gleaming?) the shimmer of the light.

Can you suggest changes I need to make to these after conversion that will bring the image closer to the V-Ray render?

Thanks, and what a great tool.