Massive 90k pixel rendering size

[Dfenton]

Hello guys,

A client who I previously did a set of images for wants to use one of them on a gigantic wall banner that will be 400" x 600"(approx. 10x15m). They have stipulated that this needs to be 150dpi.

I've calculated that this equates to an approximate 63,000 x 90,000 pixel image - which is ridiculously vast. Incidentally, I've mentioned to them that it may not be necessary for the image to be 150dpi if it is to be a wall banner at such a large size, but this is the requirement from their signage department apparently and they are unwilling to adjust it.

Even if I render out at less than this 90,000 pixels and upscale it in post - I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to do a large pixel output in Corona and 3ds Max. Has anyone encountered such a problem before? I did a couple of tests just to see how the software would respond, and Corona, Max and my 64GB RAM machine crashes every time in the pre-calculation phase on a 90,000 pixel output (no surprise really).

There must be a better way of achieving something like this? Any wisdom you could share here would be wonderfully appreciated!

Thanks a lot guys!

Douglas

[TomG]

Strip rendering is the first thing that comes to mind. Note that the "farm" in question could just be the one machine :) https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/3ds-max/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2017/ENU/3DSMax/files/GUID-0A49D59A-313C-438F-9698-71C1263AD432-htm.html

[pokoy]

I've rendered images for a 150 meters banner a few times and after calculating costs, render time etc I convinced the client that 45K width will do. If the banner will not be viewed from a distance of 1 meter, 150dpi is not needed at all.

If Max crashes you can render out tiles. You'd set the resolution to the final values, and then render tiles in 'crop' mode to save memory.
But with 64GB you may run out of memory when comping the image at the desired resolution - it's going to be ~21.1 GB for RGB with Alpha (~16GB without). Whatever it is that you need to do in PS, it's going to be *very* slow and saving alone will make for a nice coffee break.

FWIW, Max' UI will not allow you to use any number higher than 32K for output resolution, you can override this by using maxscript, however.
Also, PS used to have a 65K limit in the past, not sure if they changed it in more recent versions, so keep in mind this could be limiting the output resolution...

[Dfenton]

Tom, Pokoy - thanks a lot for the feedback.

I'm looking into the strip rendering option now. The slowdown in PS does worry me somewhat though. I don't think I'll render the full 90k - I'll do a few tests at lower resolution like you say and hopefully get away with that.

D.

[pokoy]

Just a note on the strip rendering in BB - there used to be a bug where the last step in backburner (combining the strips into one image) would erase all HDR data. Make sure to make a few tests if you render to any HDR formats such as EXR or HDR. Also, not sure if it'll support CXR if that's what you want to use.

In any case, make sure to uncheck 'Delete Temporary Images...' if the process fails and ends up deleting your original strips. If you keep them, you can still combine them manually in PS.

[Dfenton]

Ah ok! Thanks for the heads up. I'll definitely run a few tests first - I've fallen into the trap of not doing so before!

[sprayer]

Even if you can manage so big file , how you know what printer will handle this? ) Is there printer exist  for print more  then 3meters in width? 150dpi is too much for banner, it's journal paper quality. You should know for that quality you need material like paper(and not cheap), what is fragile for this size list, so banner material can't take that quality because it was made to be more stronger

[mferster]

They usually print in strips and then assemble them. The biggest printer I've seen was only able to print in 3.5m strips.

What you could do is find out what dimensions the printer prints its strips in and then render your files at the same seams. honestly for a banner that size I would render at 30-50 ppi then just upscale it to what they are asking for.

[arqrenderz]

[Jpjapers]

This is one of the instances where the customer isnt right haha.
If their signage company is printing at 150dpi for an image that big then the signage company is taking them for a ride.
We print flexface fabric panels that cover entire warehouse sides and the images are usually about 10,000px maximum.

[dj_buckley]

Tell them it will cost £15k to render it.  They'll soon change their mind.  Also something that size, you'd get away with 12dpi lol.  The distance it's intended to be viewed at, you'd never notice the difference.

[burnin]

[lolec]

The way I handle ignorant clients requesting resolutions that make no sense...

Render at half or even 1/3, then scale in photoshop.

I find that a huge number of designers don't understand what DPI means. And ask for 300 DPI images as if it meant something on its own.

[Dfenton]

Yes it seems like it is excessive!

I've tried several tests and my machine keeps crashing out when I try to stop the render in the VFB. Whether I click stop - to begin the denoise - or cancel, 3ds Max crashes. This is at 10k pixels.

[pokoy]

Any extra channel (Masks, elements and extra channels that the denoiser uses) will take up extra memory, how much depends on the type of element (high or low dynamic). If max crashes, it's probably due to RAM limit, and you could try to minimize RAM consumption by getting rid of extra elements (you can render them out later without rendering the main image maybe) and avoiding denoising. If you know the render settings are good you can also disable the VFB (which will stop it from allocating memory for the display buffer), render, save and view the render in an external program.