Rendering Animations

[Otuama]

Hi. 

I think we're going very wrong with our animation rendering method in the studio.

I've been reading up over the weekend and have started to doubt the way we're doing things.

It's also got me a bit worried because we're rendering a job for an important client and we're having to use an extra denoiser in AfterEffects to fix things.  I think the way we're doing things is a big reason for this.

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We've come from using Vray to Corona and I think we're coming in with some habits from Vray.

I need to find the best way to have flicker/noise free animations, with a good render turnaround.

I need to make a set of guidelines for different scenarios so everyone in the office knows what to do.

The following method is used for both internal and external animations.


Current Process

Rendering out the cache (FIRST STAGE):

Common tab:
Set to single frame

Scene tab:
Set the time to 2secs

Performance tab:
Primary Solver = Path Tracing
Secondary Solver = UHD Cache

Performance Settings section = Default (GI vs AA = 16, light samples multi = 2, max sample intensity = 20, ray depth = 25)

UHD Cache:

Preset = Animation (flicker free)

Precision = 0.4 ------------------- This is the first thing we're doing wrong (I think).  I read somewhere a while ago that lower values improved quality.
 That's wrong isn't it ??!!  FFS.

Save/load = Calculate from scratch & save to disk

Rendering out the cache (SECOND STAGE):

Once the initial cache file is made:

Common tab:
Set to Range (enter timeline range)
Every Nth (just camera movement (NO objects moving)) = 10-15
Every Nth (objects moving (for example, a shot that will be rendered will have a fountain with Realflow fluid)) = 1-3

Scene tab:
Set the time to 2secs

Performance tab:
Primary Solver = Path Tracing
Secondary Solver = UHD Cache

Performance Settings section = Default

UHD Cache:
Preset = Animation (flicker free)
Precision = 0.4    -----------------------  ??!!  FFFS.
Save/load = Load from file

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I'm rendering out a shot of an interior swimming pool.  The scene has been optimised as much as possible.

Here's a screenshot of the frame



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So, I had previously done a cache using the above method/settings.

I seem to remember there being about 40% success rate when doing the cache.

It took over an hour per frame with a noise level of 6%

Since reading up about this, I decided to set the precision to 2.  ----------- Again, not sure if I'm doing the right thing.

I'm now using a noise level of 6.5%.  It's still going to take over 50mins per frame.

I was getting a success rate of about 48%  when doing the cache.

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Can someone give me some guidance with this?

We've got 8 pc's rendering different shots for this job.  We've also had to buy another system to get more power.

Below are frames from other shots:















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Thanks

[Otuama]

Hi...

Any advice from anyone?

What I'd currently like to know is:

I have some Realflow fluid (fountain).  Do I need to cache it every frame or is it ok to cache it every 2 frames, every 5 frames, every 10 frames or even every 50 frames.

As I said before, we're coming from a Vray background.  How different is the caching in Corona?

Thanks

[sprayer]

At least write your cpu and ram, we can't judge if you rendering on slow pc or with low ram.
The more difference  in  corona is not cashe but setup scene, if you doing something wrong it will rendering the same but it will need more time to clear noise,so if you think  what it's rendering too slow depending of you pc, you need to check albedo, materials, and objects what may produce noise what is slowing your rendering

[agentdark45]

In situations like this I would use an online renderfarm like rebus, unless you are running about 20 behemoth workstations in the office, and even then you'll be waiting a while.

Rebus can throw about 200 systems at each scene, so if speed is a concern it's an obvious choice. However the cost can rack up quickly!

Complex interior animations with heavy bounced light will be a killer for most render engines. However, I have seen some insane render times with FStorm in the 5-10 min region per frame for 1080p noiseless complex interiors so it might be worth looking into. The workstation cost would also be significantly cheaper in terms of performance return (just load up a barebones system with 2080ti's). The newer releases of FStorm also have distributed rendering.

[arqrenderz]

Hi man,  The first thing i saw can be a type error, but you say, the first thing is "Rendering out the cache (FIRST STAGE) common tab:Set to single frame"
You need to put the same range as for the second stage in order to make all the cache

Your scene succes rate is very low from 20 to 45% You need to place some portals where possibe