About "Bucket Mode" performance and improvement!

[M.S.Referee]

In fact, "Bucket Mode" is better than expected, but there are some point maybe can got better.

1).Improvement the performance. For now, bucket with 1 sample and does more than 3 passes, the performance will got bad, and each pass will got times time for render. And if start with more samples, more pass will = series times time to spend, for example, if I set sample to 8, pass to 2, and the first pass got 1min 40sec, but the second pass is 5min 20sec, and the total time is 1min 40sec +  5min 20sec. Well,,,, I don't know why you team code like that, and I found this algorithm just like "Chessboard Multiplication", more = series times. So, I think this algorithm maybe improvement or changed. My idea is that keep every pass is setted sample, and keep the sample range to do the fast pass. I think if like that, every pass will spend the same time, and we can do some test first, and found the best sample setting for this scene, and to set the final pass amount, and then we can got the best quality and fast render time! Follow my example, if I did the test, and to get the final sample of each pass to 1min, and I just know how many pass I need.

2).Bucket type selectively and size adjustable, that's means just like Vray can provide user to choose the different types (Top to Bottom, Bottom to Top, Checker, Left to Right, Right to Left, Random....) and also can adjust bucket size whatever you want. I think Corona should provide user to do that too. That's because different bucket type and size can got different render time for different scene, so Corona should be able user to free to alter them and got the better performance for different scenes.

So, conclusion, for me, I think Bucket more useful for production, especially for animation, and I suggest corona team more think about up the speed for animation, that's the real big reason to let people to join corona. For still image render, in fact, there are many renders can do that and if corona still put focus to still image, I think it's no a real superiority, but if people who used Corona will told everyone the same point: Corona Render is real BIG great render !! And the reason is what fast performance and great quality for rendering ANIMATION!!
That's the real domination!

[juang3d]

What Corona version are you using?

Right now with 1.001 I find bucket mode linear and pretty predictible, in fact I asked here about the current implementation and Ondra confirmed it was linear, plus bucket mode is not completely developed, it's adaptivity is not full fledge, as Ondra said, some times it could work, sometimes not, then thing is that at least there is some kind of adaptivity.

What you say sounds pretty similar to how it used to work in 7.2 or prior releases, there bucket mode was working in some of a quadratic fashion (I'm not sure if it was quadratic, but it was not linear for sure) hence each pass could take a lot more time than the previous one ebcase it was refining A LOT more than the previous pass).

Right now I'm rendering a project and my bucket settings are 18 samples and 7 passes, and as I said it is pretty linear.

Cheers!

[M.S.Referee]

Well, thanks, you are right, those feeling and test from including v7.2 version and before.

I'm no test 1.0 version yet, but I saw you said, the Bucket Mod of v1.0 is absolute good than those old version.

So, that's a big point!

And by the way, how many time you render a pass from the 18 samples setting?

[juang3d]

The time depends a lot on the scene, and I don't get a completely clean scene, but I use a noise reducer in post-production and it end pretty clean.

An interior scene can go from 15 minutes to 40 minutes per frame at 720p in a 2600k, in a 5820k it usually lasts 50% less time, 7 minutes to 20 minutes per frame at 720p
As I say it does not end completely clean, but it is clean enough for me and clean enough to use a noise reducer in post production, bear in mind that to use a noise reducer you will need to uncheck the stable noise pattern (I think it was called that way, I cannot check it now).

Bucket mode has been improved, but it's not finished yet, it needs more love, but is the main system I use, I prefer it over progressive, progressive is great for interactive, but I prefer bucket for final rendering (personal choice).

Cheers!