OK....I give up....would some kind person spell out in simple terms how I can save a good quality jpeg?......Perhaps tell me what render settings to use??

I have tried all manner of settings and haven't got a result yet.

For a quick render of say, a human form, the render takes say 25 seconds max....From this I can save a jpeg of usually 55kb to at best 112kb (the larger file occurs when I 'crop' / close-up the view)

With settings for a longer render.....Ha Ha (3hours 23mins) I got an error message 'render failed to save'.

I have tried saving 'Scene', 'Last Render', to another window (always fails).

Just how can I get the complete image saved at say, 1.0Mb?

Thanks Al

That sounds odd. Have you tried saving to another format (PNG or TIFF) and then converting to JPG - if it renders - in animage editor?

Quote - That sounds odd. Have you tried saving to another format (PNG or TIFF) and then converting to JPG - if it renders - in ???animage editor?????

Tried everything.....and here I am with Photoshop files as big as 1G!!!!!  and jpegs at 30Mb!!!

Al.

How big are the images (in pixels)? I take it from your first post that you've tried both rendering to a new window and then going to File>Save last render and rendering to a file directly?

Sorry for the delay......

I have tried with virtually all the rendering settings including Custom, with anything from 200 to 10000 pixels (proportions constrained).

I have tried quick render / 3D software render / hardware render / altered buckets etc and I still end up with sh.te quality images / small files...or none at all as the render fails after an hour or more!

It is not as though it is a seriously complicated image either....it is just a customised human form that I am using to get used to how 3D progs work.

Al.

AlLewis, this may not help you but its something i have dealt with before and found it works. When you do the render do you have other things running, EG: anti-virus, firewall software, system monitors, messenger (yahoo or msn) or anything else running in the background that can take up ram usage or cpu usage. If so try closing them down. Now for your jpg problem, i use one program for converting images to jpg and have done for over 6 years without any trouble, mind you its not free and i got what i paid for(a great program). I use ACDSee. I do my renders in bmp then convert them in acdsee.

I will list the render settings i use and maybe you can give these a try.

General
Speed = Software Render
Style = Normal
Dimensions = Presets(Display standard/cine 35mm(4:3))
Pixel Dimensions 1024x768
Timeline = Still Image

Advanced
Use Software - 3Delight
Bucket Order : Horizontal
Bucket size : 16
Max Raytrace : 6
Pixel samples(x): 4
Pixel samples(y): 4

Now i am no expert on this program nor do i claim to be on anything in the 3d art world but i have found over the last 2 years i have been involved with it plus using D|S that if you use a few lights, reflections and shadows in your render they will take quite some time to do and may cause problems on some computer systems. You may need to look at these few pointers i have given you and see how things go.

Goodluck hope you sort it all out.

Thanks CrazyDawg....Yes I do have other things running, but I am using a PC with dual core CPU (AMD 64 X2 4600) plus 2G DDR2 RAM (AM2 Motherboard) so it ought to be fast enough.

I have ACDSee.....So I will try your settings and thoughts asap.

Many Thanks Al.

Well, I tried those settings of Crazy Dawg and I got an image file size of about 24.5kb!

It wasn't very good quality at all.

...if I bring the image closer and crop off the bottom half of the person, I can get the file up to about 100kb.....Even so, it still isn't what I would call good quality.

I have to confess, I am baffled......Any other ideas, please?

Al.

File size doesn't really tell us anything - especially as you haven't said what format you are saving in. It sounds as if it's getting bigger because there is less background, so the compression doesn't shrink it down as much - if so that has absolutely no bearing on quality.  

Saving as jpeg (TIFFs no better).....All I am trying to do is save a decent full height image of say, one standing female, no background, so I can use it with other applications.

The jpeg image I get is foggy, jagged edge, which seriously deteriorates in close-up when opened with any imaging program.

A head only close-up in DS will save at approx 137kb and is pretty good and sharp, albeit slightly rough around the edges (which I can get rid of with pShop) Image size is approx 519 x 562 pixels......(full height person similar 572 x 572)

Al.

Al, can you do a render for me and post it here, don't do anything but render it and save it to jpg please. Reason i'm asking for this is i'm thinking your problem might be something else other than a software issue.

what is your pixel size?  I know it sounds excessive, but I almost always render with 2500px on my longest side for any render.  I can always (and usually do) make it smaller in photoshop.  That way, I get a crisper image.

Size approx 519x572.

If I increase the pixel size, the render takes ages.

In Photoshop, I am working with files that are 330Mb (large images say, 8000x3500)....It isn't my PC (or I don't see how it could be)

Thnaks Al.

Photoshop isn't rendering anything, it's manipulating the bitmap data. When you render a scene in D|S (or any other 3d application) you are handling huge chunks of data, from the mesh and bitmap textures, and intensive calculations to generate the image data from them. There's no point in rendering all that blank background, and you need to make the elements you are rendering close to the size they will need to be in the finished artwork (or larger). If you want to render a significant piece of a large image you are going to have to bite the bullet and render large (pixel-large, file size is a consequence not a goal). You also shouldn't be saving as jpg, since that degrades the image every time you save and reopen - stick to non-lossy formats.

Of course that still leaves the problem of not successfully rendering and saving, but for that we need more information on your system, what applications and background toolsa re running, and what error messages you are getting. Can you render a scene with a few primitives at high resolution? How about a single figure (human or clothing) with the basic textures applied?

Hi again...

I am aware that Pshop isn't rendering anything....I just mentioned it to show that this PC is quite capable of handling huge files at speed....Your comment re jpegs is noted, but in Photoshop much of what I do is left as psd or Tiff, depending on what I need....However, I have had no success with D/S using Tiffs either.

There is nothing untoward running on the PC other than the OS (XP Pro), normal Windows services etc....and the NVidia Graphics card when it needs it.

I have tried turning off/disabling the AV and Malware programs (which I sometimes do for Pshop) as I am also aware that these sometimes can have an affect on speed....although I would not expect this to show up much on anything other than 'smaller' PCs.

This PC is also networked to another right next to it and have even severed that connection without any noticeable improvement.

If you can bear with me please, I will have another look at an even simpler image later today and post it.

Thanks Al.

Al, reason i was looking at something other than software is because of a graphics problem i had. At first i thought it was graphics card so i replaced that, still had the problem and after weeks of trying to figure out what it was and nearly throwing in the towel my wife told me to change my monitor over with hers. Low and behold my problem was fixed so next morning we went out and picked up a 19" lcd monitor for my computer.

I know it can be very frustrating when you render something and all you get is an image that looks bad after you put in the time to set everything up in the scene.

I know exactly what you mean....I sometimes think that the image on my old PC with a CRT monitor looks better than the images on my two lcd flat screen monitors on the big PC, that is until I stuck a similar lcd monitor on the old PC.

I can assure you that it isn't monitor problems and I doubt it is the graphics card, otherwise I think I would have Photoshop problems.

Al

I have been having another mess around. I have set render settings to CUSTOM.

I have set the pixels @ 2000 x 1500.

The SAVE button at the bottom left of the D/S Window does nothing regardless of  whether I am in Content or Scene.

If I render to Active Viewport and SAVE LAST RENDER, I get a really bad image regardless of file type.....say 30kb to 50kb, which is about as much use as a rubber screwdriver.

If I render to a new window, I don't get an option to SAVE the image.

If I render to a FILE, I have to over-rite an existing file, by doing this I have managed to get the full height person saved at a slightly better file size.....171kb (the largest yet!)

Even so, I would expect the image to be better quality than the attached shows when you scroll 'in' to a head shot....to me, there is no sharpness to it ie, foggy....not enough pixel size, I guess?

The image, you will no doubt recognise, is straight out of DAZ Vicki Content, unchanged and just rendered....it took 15 seconds to render.....a bit better than three hours just recently, when a more 'dressed' image was required....and then, the error notice said "Render failed to complete".

Al.

When rendering to file, click the ... button to change the file name and format. If it isn't letting you enter a new name but only click on an existing file to overwrite it then something is seriously wrong somewhere.

The save as button is for saving scenes and presets, not images, and will be active only when viewing a DAZ|Studio content folder (since it isn't possible to save Poser format files).

Active viewport is limited to the size of the viewport, regardless of the size selected in render settings - to get a larger image you need to render to new window or file. To get a good qulaity render you need to be using 3Delight, not OpenGL (I know you've been doing this at least some of the time, just a reminder).

The default V3 is of course limited by not having a texture, so there's not a lot of point in rendering large other than to show there isn't a general problem with doing so - the next thing to try is applying a texture and se if you can still render to that size.

One possible source of flatness in your renders when loaded into Photoshop is the colour settings - if PS is set to assign a limited gamut colour space to untagged images (which your render will be) and then convert to a wide gamut space (if you're working in Adobe RGB for example) then the colour range of the imported image will be heavily clipped. A bad monitor profile could also cause the image to look bad in PS as it makes unhelpful corrections to the display.

Yes, you are right....I cannot enter a new name for the file, I only get a Browse option, from which I have to overwrite an existing file.

Regarding Save to another Window.....I get another window with the image, but no Save option...its just a window, but the image isn't too bad.

And again, I cannot use the Save option for Content or Scene.....I am beginning to think I have a corrupt D/S program.......sound like it to you?

Regarding the rendering facility, I have tried Open GL, 3Delight and Hardware (in Advanced) but these only appear to affect the time rather than significant improvements in quality.

I tried the default V3 really just to judge the image quality...to see how sharp the image was...

As yet, I haven't even bothered to import the renders into PShop, because they just aren't good enough....I can do better with my airbrush, in fact I can do better with my paintbrush or magic markers, sorry, Pantones.

If you want to see what I mean, you can go to my website, but to avoid sticking the URL here, we will have to go by private messages/emails...up to you.

I think I will do another D/S and V3 download....maybe I didn't turn off my AV and Malware when I installed it from the desktop.

Thanks Al.

Having rendered to a new window, you then use File>Save last render to save the image.

When you say you get a Browse option with Render to file, what does the dialogue look like? It should be as tandrad Windows file dialogue - big area showing the current files, entry line for you to ttype a name, drop-down list to select file type. Does the filename space not appear, or not accept typing, or fial to update the Render settings dialogue? Or do you not get a proper save dialogue?

As I said above, the Save as button on the Content palette is active only when viewing a DAZ|Studio content directory. If you are looking at a Poser content directory (which is likely if you are using Victoria 3 and clothes) then it is greyed out.

Hardware is the same as OpenGL - using the graphics card to render the image. 3Delight is software, using a Renderman compliant engine to render and supporting features not available in OpenGL.

Hi....I have reloaded D/S and can now type a file name to save a render....It wouldn't accept the file name previously.....I reckon AV or Anti Malware processes affected installation.

So, we are getting nearer to be able to use this....the next thing will be how do I get a jpeg background of my choice loaded into the scene?!!

I'm off to experiment again.

Thanks Al.

Edit>Backdrop. Click the button at the top, labelled Image, select Browse for image... and select your image. To get rid of it, click the Image button again 9it will now show the texture name) and select None.

Sounds like it might have been a corrupted install. But I feel the need to comment on the large image size. What would you need a 8000 pixel image for, unless a poster or banner that someone might look at so close that their nose will press against it. Except for test renders I save in TIFF format and turn it into a JPEG at the last step after editing. Almost all images, whether from a digital camera or 3D software benefit from some brightness and contrast adjusting. People have made usable 20x30 inch prints from 2000x3000 pixel digital camera images. Unless you are making a life sized poster that will be viewed close up, I dont see the reason for a 8000 pixel image.

Henry

My main business is architectural illustration. I have clients that require their images printed at AO size (sometimes larger) for display and inspection at Appeals and Public Inquiries. Officials and the Public inspect the images not only from a distance but also close up. My clients expect extreme accuracy with their images and in consequence, high resolution is necessary.

Regards Al.

Quote - My main business is architectural illustration. I have clients that require their images printed at AO size (sometimes larger) for display and inspection at Appeals and Public Inquiries. Officials and the Public inspect the images not only from a distance but also close up. My clients expect extreme accuracy with their images and in consequence, high resolution is necessary.

Regards Al.

Well in that case a program like DAZ Studio is not a good choice. I would suggest something like Form-Z, 3DMax, Lightwave, Rhino 3D, or one of the various CAD programs. But those are $1000 and up but will give you more professional results. DAZ Studio is more of a beginner 3D starter program.

I have an old copy of Form-Z. Its often used for architecture. Actually did some architectual rendering once. You will likely want something that does precise measurements and snaps to grids and objects, and global illumination (also called radiosity) rendering.

But still, I have heard of pro photographers doing 2-page spread magazine photos with a 6MP (3000x2000) digital camera.

Henry

Looking at the examples you posted, it looks to me like they are all openGL renders. Your file sizes,being as small as they are and the very short render times reveal this also.You may want to try using another rendering engine or program like Vray or some more sophisticated program. If you have tried the 3d delight render engine that comes with Daz you certainly would not have pixelited jagged edges, but more like smoothed vector edges. Even so, I had this same problem in the beginning because all I was aware of was OpenGL and preview renders. What I did was I opened the finished .jpg up in photoshop and enlarged it greaty and using the smudge tool (with a very small setting) manually smoothed out all the jagged edges. When I sized it back down to original size it was smooth as silk and looked great. Surely not the way to do things right,but it may help until you can pinpoint the problem. Anyway,these examples really look like openGL preview images to me.