caisson posted at 4:29 PM Fri, 31 March 2023 - #4460231

The Superfly render engine has changed a lot under the hood. In P12 one thread would render one bucket, so you'd set the number of buckets to match the threads available for CPU rendering. However in P13 that has changed - all threads render one single bucket at a time.

Two options - either increase the size of the bucket (more threads = bigger bucket, though RAM will play a role too) or switch Progressive Rendering on which will then ignore the bucket setting.

The Log will give you an exact time for each render to compare different settings.

In addition, I've found that P13 needs less samples than P12, I'd suggest try halving the setting first. With both P12 and P13 installed you should be able to do some comparisons. Also the Denoise post-process option is imo better than P12.

Basically I've found that P13 is significantly faster for me.

I know this is an old thread, but I'm not finding that to be the case with the last update of P13.  It does render one bucket at a time, but watching resources, it only uses a couple of threads per bucket, significantly slowing things down.  It does the same in progressive mode.  Previously, it would use all available cores and render much faster.

The Superfly render engine has changed a lot under the hood. In P12 one thread would render one bucket, so you'd set the number of buckets to match the threads available for CPU rendering. However in P13 that has changed - all threads render one single bucket at a time.

Two options - either increase the size of the bucket (more threads = bigger bucket, though RAM will play a role too) or switch Progressive Rendering on which will then ignore the bucket setting.

The Log will give you an exact time for each render to compare different settings.

In addition, I've found that P13 needs less samples than P12, I'd suggest try halving the setting first. With both P12 and P13 installed you should be able to do some comparisons. Also the Denoise post-process option is imo better than P12.

Basically I've found that P13 is significantly faster for me.

The Superfly render engine has changed a lot under the hood. In P12 one thread would render one bucket, so you'd set the number of buckets to match the threads available for CPU rendering. However in P13 that has changed - all threads render one single bucket at a time.

Two options - either increase the size of the bucket (more threads = bigger bucket, though RAM will play a role too) or switch Progressive Rendering on which will then ignore the bucket setting.

The Log will give you an exact time for each render to compare different settings.

In addition, I've found that P13 needs less samples than P12, I'd suggest try halving the setting first. With both P12 and P13 installed you should be able to do some comparisons. Also the Denoise post-process option is imo better than P12.

Basically I've found that P13 is significantly faster for me.

We seriously need the ability to select specific GPUs in SF render. Currently the pull down menu lets you select one or all, but not individual. I have two fast GPUs I use for rendering, but have to select my slow display GPU in order to run more than one.

Believable3D posted at 6:56PM Tue, 15 December 2015 - #4244356

It looks like you've about got the material on the eyes zeroed in. I really struggled with the eyeball shader. It kept coming out waxy or too shiny. I'd be interested to see what other folks are doing for their SF eye shaders.

Here's my first try at skin. I took BB's shader model and omitted the Spots function. I then added Miki's specular map node to the Specular_color attribute. As you can see, I'm getting the red shadow artifacts too. It can be better or worse depending on the angle and type of the source lights. Point lights really seem to cause problems. The hair is the default SF black hair shader with the colors tweaked to be more auburn. I'm also getting some persistent artifact on the lower eyelashes. Like a little shiny spot. I have not been able to trace the cause yet. 50 samples per bucket, GPU SF render.

bagginsbill posted at 8:09AM Mon, 14 December 2015 - #4242928

Here's the shader. The scatter Radius doesn't display - it is set to .7, .2, .1

Excellent!

wolf359 posted at 8:00AM Mon, 14 December 2015 - #4240439

.....And here is the free SIBL GUI for managing your HDR source collection![SIB-GUI.jpg](https://bw-1651cf0d2f737d7adeab84d339dbabd3-forumpro.s3.amazonaws.com ..BTW the bald dude render was set at 100 samples per bucket

Beautiful render and great information. Thanks wolf359.

bagginsbill posted at 10:30AM Fri, 04 December 2015 - #4242275

I have a script that makes ceiling boxes with recessed lighting (cans with point lights in them.) I used it here to make six lights in a 2 by 3 grid pattern six feet apart.

This is the most believable lighting for this kind of space, IMO. An area light looks nice and is easy to set up, but easy isn't best - it's just easy.

Note that point lights are not actually points in SuperFly. They're spheres. I'm going to call them sphere lights from now on, although the UI still says "Point". I scaled these sphere lights to fill the cans and carefully adjusted the yTran of the lights so the tip of the sphere was flush with the can opening.

Look at the reflections on the leather - compare to the first of this series where I used an area light. (Top of this page)

That looks really sweet BB!

I'm liking it so far. This is one done with branching turned off and 50 samples. Maybe could have gone a little less than 50, but this was enough to almost eliminate grain. Not IBL - just a side spot and ambient light. About a 6 minute render with GPU. Not quite as fast as Octane, but very reasonable. WDJ bottles and sky.

Great tip, Seachnasaigh! Thanks.

Thanks for sharing the info, Bantha!

Hi folks. For anyone that wants to play with them, I uploaded another set of Superfly materials. This is a small set of glass materials. There's no intention of being scientifically or physically accurate as far as refraction, anisotrophy, volume scattering, or any other glass-like characteristics. These looked the way I intended in test renders and maybe others will find them useful. Have fun, experiment, and perhaps share your own materials when you make them. Best Regards, Jerry

Beas62 Freebies

I know this thread is about the materials, so I'll try to avoid treating it like a gallery, but here's just another idea to get the creative juices going - I'll add any further examples to a proper gallery. This is using two of the freebie textures, the "Plasmoid Hot" and "Return to Cinder". "It appears poor Andy has wandered into the Plasma Engine reaction chamber mere moments before ignition. Nothing survives in the reaction chamber, and within microseconds, Andy's cinders will be nothing but glowing vapor." Rendered in SF and a quick radial blur added around the edges in PS.

I love this kind of shader goofing. It's so fun. Your concoction reminded me of a similar post I made in 2006

Disgusting Gels and Offensive Liquids

LOL! I love it (I guess I shouldn't say that too loud)! I like the way many of your materials in that post look like fat cells. That could be very useful in surgical renders or gastronomical illustrations. Heh, heh! ;)