I was trying to render a Poser scene to size A2 at 300dpi but encountered the size limitation. Is there any workaround on this? I can only get as far as A3 (almost A3).

Not sure what you mean, you can set your render to any size you want with the "render dimensions" tab!

Just for reference, these are the 'A' sizes (in millimetres and approx inches)

2A0 -- 1.189 x 1.682 mm -- 46.8 x 66.2 in

A0 -- 841 x 1.189 mm -- 33.1 x 46.8 in
A1 -- 594 x 841 mm -- 23.4 x 33.1 in
A2 -- 420 x 594 mm -- 16.5 x 23.4 in
A3 -- 297 x 420 mm -- 11.7 x 16.5 in
A4 -- 210 x 297 mm -- 8.3 x 11.7 in
A5 -- 148 x 210 mm -- 5.8 x 8.3 in
A6 -- 105 x 148 mm -- 4.1 x 5.8 in
A7 -- 74 x 105 mm -- 2.9 x 4.1 in

To get A2 at 300 dpi you need render at 4950 x 7020,
but you might have to allow for "bleed" depending on
how you want the render to fit the papers.

Is Poser give you actual error message for this? or just appear to stop?

I had to looks this up; but I knew it had to do with paper size...

Definition: 'A' size or 'A' series is a set of paper sizes established by the International Standards Organization (ISO) that ranges from 2A0 (the largest) to A7 (the smallest). The size of the paper goes down as the number goes up, and each is half the size of the previous e.g. two A4 sheets make up an A3 piece and two A5 sheets make up an A4 sheet.

'A' size -- size in millimetres -- approx inches
2A0 -- 1,189 x 1,682 mm -- 46,8 x 66,2 in
A0 -- 841 x 1,189 mm -- 33,1 x 46,8 in
A1 -- 594 x 841 mm -- 23,4 x 33,1 in
A2 -- 420 x 594 mm -- 16,5 x 23,4 in
A3 -- 297 x 420 mm -- 11,7 x 16,5 in
A4 -- 210 x 297 mm -- 8,3 x 11,7 in
A5 -- 148 x 210 mm -- 5,8 x 8,3 in
A6 -- 105 x 148 mm -- 4,1 x 5,8 in
A7 -- 74 x 105 mm -- 2,9 x 4,1 in

Sorry for the repeat.... I think we posted at the same time.

Well I was able to set one up at 20 inches by 20 inches under the "render dimensions" but haven't had time to try to render it, it could take a long time at that size and 300dpi, I rendered a 600dpi at 6 x 9 inches yesterday and that took 5 hours!

I gotta say I wasn't aware of any inhibiting size except for the window size in your workspace, I always thought you could render any size as long as you had the guts in your machine to do it!

I will try this size tomorrow at a low dpi setting to see.

Have you tried the "render dimensions" setting as a matter of interest???

If you are using Poser4 (Poser Artist) or ProPack there is a size limitation of 4090 ppi.
You can work around that by rendering a single frame animation which does allow for larger sizes.

SWAMP

4090 ppi is quite sufficient even for billboards! ;)  Most printers are doing 2400 or 4800 dpi - the latter for things like photo-quality prints.  If you need that level, you are using the wrong software. :)  What really matters here is the maximum pixel dimensions.  4090 ppi or not, 4800x4800 (as an example) is only going to get you so far in print resolution.

Ah, A sizes (there are other names for these sizes too).  Eh-hem, as a degreed and experience designer/draftsman, I know exactly what these are.  Try working on E-size paper (A0 as shown above). ;D  I haven't had the misfortune of drawing on 2A0 size.

Something to remember as well - there is almost always a forced border on prints (a region where the printer or plotter cannot reach either for mechanical reasons or paper feeding/holding).  So, making a render at exactly A2 might not be a good idea.  You also must consider the border region unless the printer/plotter software can take that into account and you have accounted for it with border regions in the render to avoid clipping.

Robert

"4090 ppi is quite sufficient even for billboards! ;)" Sorry that was my mistake! I didn't mean to type "ppi" but "pixels"...Poser 4/Artist/ProPack has a limitation of 4090x4090 for the maximum pixel dimensions (but can be circumvented by rendering a single frame animation). Trying to set a dimension size larger than 4090 pixels in any version of Poser before Poser5 will result in this Poser error message.

SWAMP

I was sort of hoping you would correct that - though I hadn't decided to check either. ;)

What a strange number for maximum render dimensions.  4096 seems to be more in line with power of 2 laws.  Even still, this curtails any quality at larger dpi sizes.  At 300 dpi, you'll only get up to about 13.6" in either dimension - which won't even work for A3 (legal) in one of them.  And for print, you really don't want to go below 300 dpi.

Considering Poser's render limitations and speeds - this looks to be good reason to have an alternative renderer available (D|S, Bryce, Carrara, Vue, C4D, etc.).

I just checked the "Animation Output Settings" (ProPack) and it does allow a max of 10000 pixel dimension, so that will give up to an A1 (23.4 x 33.1 in.).
Urr...that is "IF" Poser is up to it.

So it seems the best route here is a single animation frame to get 10000x10000 pixels.  That is weird.  Why limit the still render more than the animation render?

I dunno...
I always thought it a bit odd that to do a Sketch Style Render larger than the Document Window size, you had to also do a single frame animation render.
BTW,This is a P4 render engine thing, so if you use the P4 render in Poser5 or 6, you have the same limitations.
So I guess I shouldn't have singled out P4/ProPack.

Guess that's why God created Cinema 4D...(grin).

SWAMP

Note: God and Cinema 4D are registered trademarks.

Thanks a lot for the replies. I tot no one really bothered. =)

I tried rendering a single frame movie at 4950x7020px, and took me just around 5secs with FireGL graphics card. ...Uhm.. that is the correct pixel size for A2 right?

Oops..typo : should be 50seconds. And i guess that size is correct.

50 seconds? It would take my computer longer than that to just start the render.

It is strange that larger screens can be made with AVIs with most programs it is usually still images that can be made larger.

OK, I do this large format printing stuff for a living, so here's my advice:

the printer resolution of 1440 dpi, 2400 dpi, 2880 dpi or whatever is NOT what you should be aiming at; for example, throwing anything more than 360 ppi (pixels per inch) at a 1440 dpi (dots per inch) printer will achieve nothing in terms of print quality.

I work at 240 ppi for 99% of the work I do; 360 ppi for images with REALLY fine detail; 180 ppi is ideal for most photographic / CGI images. A 3000 x 5000 pixel render should be perfect.

Have you thought about interpolating rendered images? You can get away with a 200% size increase in Photoshop in many cases (using a dedicated interpolation engine such as PhotoZoom Pro or Genuine Fractals, up to 400%).