I know it is just an alpha release, but how are the render times looking so far? -for simple and complex (if anyone has done any) scenes.

for normal scene included in this alpha version it take 1 min for me for rendering without shadows and 1.20 with shadows if I good remember. I rendered image on standard 800x600 pixels, the render works quick if you don't use to much transparent materials but that is with all software around. Michale 3 with high resolution textures, time 1.44 with shadows and 0.24 without shadows so very quick. No crashes and everything working fine. I run D|S on: Operating System: Windows XP BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG Processor: Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.00GHz (2 CPUs) Memory: 1024MB RAM Page File: 295MB used, 2166MB available DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0b (4.09.0000.0902) DxDiag Version: 5.03.0001.0902 32bit Unicode ---- --------------- Display Devices --------------- Card name: RADEON 9800 PRO Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc. Chip type: RADEON 9800 AGP DAC type: Internal DAC 400MHz Display Memory: 128.0 MB Cath

About 3 minutes for the egypt scene on my Poser machine: a PIV 1.7 ghz, 512 mb ram. Nvidia GEForce2 MX 200 32 mb ram. XP Pro. About 5 minutes on a brand new Compaq Presario 2.7 ghz, 512 Ram with an on board intel chipset....no video card (my job computer and not designed for graphics) and about 10 minutes on an old PIII, Windows 98, 256 mb ram, old ATI Raedon card :)

3 Minutes 13.9 seconds 800x600 full scene with everything on (no open GL). 5 Minutes 1.7 seconds full scene and everything at 1024x768 (full screen) with open GL on.XP Professional on a Dual Athlon 2.8 plus with 1.5 gigs of ram with a Radeon 9700 Video Card. arrow1

Forget open GL ON 1025 X 768 Test.I got confused!It was rendered to screen with Render to custom size. arrow1

I just tried with the Egyptian pic. The one it opens with. Clicked nothing but Render and it took 6:38 minutes on my laptop, 2.1 Ghz P4, 256 Mb Ram, WinXP. Graphics card is apparenty something caled SiS, with 32 Mb Ram (according to what it says in the properties for it :o) )

Same as TrekkieGrrl - just clicked Render and it took 2'38", Win XP, Athlon 1700XP with 768MB RAM which I suppose shows the importance of memory.

Using same procedure as TrekkieGrl - 3'20" Machine: WinXP Home, 1xP4@1.8GHz, 512MB Ram Video: NVIDIA TNT2 64 w 16MB onboard

According to the .pdf, memory, followed by video card, followed by processor size are the order of importance.

Just to reiterate... the graphics card has absolutely NOTHING to do with render times. Previews, yes, render, no.

I'm simply quoting the DAZ .pdf file which, under system requirements states, in part: "....Computers that exceed the following specifications will be able to process scenes faster and/or store more content. For processing speed, RAM is largest contributing factor followed by your graphics card then your processor speed......"

Hmmm I dunno.. It must have SOMETHING to say anyway. I just tried the same on my main "real" computer. 3:46 minutes. Almost same specs as the laptop, except for the graphics card, and actually the processor on the laptop is a tad faster. This computer: 2.0Ghz P4, 256 Mb Ram, WinXP Home, GeForce4 MX 420, render time is almost HALF of the laptop.

TrekkieGrrrl: Notebooks are usually much slower at transferring data between RAM and the CPU, their CPUs in general have smaller caches and 2.5" harddrives are slower than 3.5" drives. That could be a reason why your computers differ so much in render times, despite similar clock speed.

You're right ernyoka 1. I have 3 computers and have tried the program on all three. Read post 3 above and you will see that I encountered the same thing you did which is why I believe the video card has a lot to do with it. All of my machines are desktops....not a laptop in the bunch. The brand new Compaq Presario with the 2.7 ghz processor is significantly slower at rendering than the PIV 1.7 ghz machine. Both have the same amount of DDR Ram (512 mb). The difference: The Presario has an intel video chipset on board and the PIV has an NVidia GEForce 2 MX 200 video card with 32 mb of ram independent of the system. Even the old PIII with 256 ram runs the program better than the brand new Presario. I can't even use the camera tools on the Presario......they barely move anything.

The reason the Presario would be slower is that the memory is shared for graphics; every MB you have allocated to the onboard video is removed from your RAM pool. Which is the only way the video card can make a difference; if you HAVE a video card, you aren't sacrificing system RAM a CPU cycles to emulate one. Seriously.

Yeah it seems my laptop has shared Ram on the graphic card too :o( I hate that! But well, with laptops/motebooks you rarely have a choise, at least not if you have to keep it within payable limits :o) after all this laptop cost the equivalent of 1650$ not a year ago :o) - and that was a BARGAIN sigh

I agree RealDeal....that is exactly what happens. Having a "real card" and not a chipset does make a difference. Laptops are way over rated in my view. You pay way to much for the convenience of portability.....the hardware options are pretty limited compared to a desktop, unless you want to spend a whole lot of bucks.

Yeah but... I HAD to get one... How should I bring Poser with me on camping trips otherwise?! Seriously... Ok ok I admit being an addict :o)

Indeed you are! :) I use a laptop for work....when I'm on the road or for presentations. When I go camping.....I leave the computers behind :)

:o) Speaking of render times, I am right now working on a HUMONGOUS render. Not that the image itself is big or anything, but the render has been going on now for something like 6 hours and it' still only 53% done!! It's Steph Petite with her high rez texture and Arizona hair. I did mix the lightning (I guess that's what is called shaders?) So that it's a mix of Glossy, Skin and Plastic for the various parts, I assume it's why it's taking so long. On the plus side, it IS working, haven't crashed and my computer is working too so I can do other things like this while it's rendering. I just gotta leave it overnight (it's midnight here) becourse I NEED to see the result - and the total rendertime too LOL I'll post the pic once it's done.

Sounds like it's hung up to me. I had that happen on a render when I tried to do depth of field. You can do other stuff, but the program is actually not responding. Hopefully you saved the file before you started to render? :)

Oh but it IS responding, and rendering, jusst very very slow. It's at 94% now, seems to be speeding up as we speak, probably coz it's near the bottom where there's little hair :o) But yes, Poser has taught me to ALWAYS save before hitting Render... :o)

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH It got to 99% then shut itself down! No trace of it :'( WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

Shoot! Are you sure it didn't just minimize itself and go sit on your task bar? It will do that sometimes :) Mine does not like Shazam for some reason. Tries to load her and then disappears. Of course.....I haven't tried her in P5 yet....so maybe she's broke. I think I better check it out. Hope you eventually get a Steph render....would like to see it!

No it really DID shut down :o( And the saved file loaded without textures, so I got so annoyed that I deleted it too :o/ After all it's 1:30 am so... I'll make a new one tomorrow :o)