What some good DAZ Studio render settings are for portraits?  I am wanting to render mostly full body and/or head shot portraits and I find that either my settings are set so that it renders fairly quickly but looks bad (pixelated shadows and hair and edges) or it takes literally 3 days to render a head shot at 800 x800. :(  I don't mind waiting for a render but 3 days is a ridiculous amount of time to wait for anything on my machine, which is not a slow machine by any means.

AMD 1090T 6 core CPU @ 3.61 GHZ

16 GB 1333 DDR3 RAM

2x Raid 0 Intel x25 Solid stat HDD

2x Seagate Baracudda 1.5 TB HDD

Dual Channel ATI Radeon HD 5700

Any help on what render settings should be in DS3A would be wonderful as I am still a floundering newbie in it and really would like to be able to at least once produce something out of it that I could feel encouraged about :(

Can you tell us what lights you are using?

How are you lighting the scene? I suspect you are using more than one light with ray-traced shadows, or an environment light with Ambient Occlusion on, or both. Raytracing and transmapped hair really slow the system down. One solution you might look at is using uberSurface on the hair, since that allows you to tell it not to respond to ray-traced shadows or occlusion: Whether the result is acceptable or not you will have to decide for yourself.

Opps sorry I thought I put that in there.  Generally I use Lantio's lights (a preset one as I said.. I am a newbie..LOL)

Hmmm I did not realise that I could use ubersurface on the hair and then tell it to ignore the raytrace shadows.  I will have to give that a try!

I love Lantios lights, but they really, really come to a DEAD STOP on transmapped hair and water surfaces. 

When I'm using a long or closeup hair style, I generally go to Vex lights or to Calida Light Play.  Both of those light sets are excellent for indoor/promo renders and complete a render very quickly with raytracing.

Ok I'll give Vex's lights a try because to be honest I just canceled my latest render.. it had gone for 4 hrs 42 min and was only 8% done..o.O

Quote - Ok I'll give Vex's lights a try because to be honest I just canceled my latest render.. it had gone for 4 hrs 42 min and was only 8% done..o.O

Yeah, I gave up on one after 16 hours and <50% done.  That's just not reasonable.

I hate to admit to defeat but really I could not wait any longer for it to render.. still I hate even more that I gave up 4 hours of my time and have nothing to show for it.. Off to try the render with Vex lights fingers crossed

Thanks for all your helps :)

Quote - I hate to admit to defeat but really I could not wait any longer for it to render.. still I hate even more that I gave up 4 hours of my time and have nothing to show for it.. Off to try the render with Vex lights fingers crossed

 

Thanks for all your helps :)

Good luck!  And you are quite welcome.

I cannot imagine a six core machine rendering so slowly.  Is there some way to tell if DS is using all those cores?

I run a sidebar widget which monitors my 4 cores, and when I'm rendering, all 4 cores are at 90% during most of the render. 

I rendered this yesterday, using IBL lights, and canceled the render at 80% after 10 hours.  Note the hair.

Yep D|S was running all 6 cores at around 98%.. Its the damn hair that apparently kills it.. Sigh  I had thought that meybe it was my settings or something because Poser just flies through renders, however it appears that it is simply just a matter of heavy lights coupled with transmapped hair...but at least now that I know that I can plan accordingly and render while I am asleep..LOL

Isn't ALL hair transmapped?

Well hair grown in the hair room in Poser isnt and I dont think Dynamic hair is , but in all fairness, yes most all hair that is worked with in Poser and D|S is transmapped :)

Quote - Yep D|S was running all 6 cores at around 98%.. Its the damn hair that apparently kills it.. Sigh  I had thought that meybe it was my settings or something because Poser just flies through renders, however it appears that it is simply just a matter of heavy lights coupled with transmapped hair...but at least now that I know that I can plan accordingly and render while I am asleep..LOL

Not just hair....any transmap.  On the image above, the hair, water and transmapped stockings all contributed to a very long render.

Yes, Reality is on my wishlist.. but I just can not justify another purchase for DS until I actually am comfortable in the program enough to get a render that at least looks like I have some basic idea of how to use it..LOL  Or at least that is what my husband keeps telling me

Quote - Yes, Reality is on my wishlist.. but I just can not justify another purchase for DS until I actually am comfortable in the program enough to get a render that at least looks like I have some basic idea of how to use it..LOL  Or at least that is what my husband keeps telling me

LOL, yeah, I know the feeling.  The one nice thing about Reality, though, it that you can start the render and then move on in D|S to setting up the next one.  When I'm doing promos, I find that a valuable option. 

But, the bottom line is simple.  When I'm creating promos, Vex lights are my goto lights.  Renders are done quickly with a professional look.

It just dawned on me..........I'd be happy to volunteer to do some Reality promos for you.  Just site mail me and I'll send you an email address.

I downloaded the new Softbox add-on and would love to play with it anyway. 

Can you link me up to the soft box add on for Reality?

Quote - Can you link me up to the soft box add on for Reality?

Sure can: http://www.preta3d.com/wp/resoftbox

Be sure to have your order # and serial number handy.  You'll need those to download the feebie.

Thanks.

You're welcome.  Anytime.

Rebelmommy, I just noticed something in this thread that made me cringe.

this:

2x Seagate Baracudda 1.5 TB HDD

Do me a favor and check the Seagate website for a recall on these drives.  If they are 7200.11 drives, trust me when I say you need a very faithful backup process.

The seagate 7200.11 drives have been under a silent recall for more than a year.  I say silent because they didn't bother to notify even registered customers.

These drives go into test mode with no warning.  At that point, your motherboard can no longer communicate with them.  I know because I had a main drive do exactly this. 

Now, none of my data was lost, but it took 60 days to get my drive back from Seagate, which is the only way the drive can be brought out of test mode.  It's a factory setting and only the factory can reset it.  Not to mention, they provide no warranty against lost data.** **

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Rebelmommy, please look at my tutorial for portraits using Reality and the Soft box, the videos are at http://preta3d.com Also you will see that it doesn't take 3 days to render them, I have a marginally faster machine than yours, Mac Pro with 8 cores, and you can get an HD portrait like the one that I show in the video in a few minutes. With some prop in the background it might take a few hours, depending on the lighting, but not three days. Also, I'm always available to work with artists and content creators to help them get the most out of their products by using Reality. I can be contacted directly at phciccone at gmail dot com. Cheers.

I have noticed the softbox does not work on DAZStudio Advanced.

Quote - I have noticed the softbox does not work on DAZStudio Advanced.

Which version of D|S are you using?  I'm using 3.1.2.19 and it works fine.

Quote - I have noticed the softbox does not work on DAZStudio Advanced.

That is not correct. You need to have 3.1.2.16 ore above. If you have an older version it will not run.

There is a link to the DAZ site where to download the latest Studio, otherwise just go to the Studio page at DAZ and follow the link.

Cheers.

Hey, UVDan, here are the links for the downloads:

D|S 3.1.2.19, Win 32 No Content: http://freedownloads.daz3d.com/DAZStudio_3.1.2.19_No_Content_Win32.exe

Win 64, No Content: http://freedownloads.daz3d.com/DAZStudio_3.1.2.19_No_Content_Win64.exe

Mac32, No Content:  http://freedownloads.daz3d.com/DAZStudio_3.1.2.19_No_Content_Mac32.zip

I have 3.1.2.19 installed on one machine and it works fine there.  I have DS Advanced 64 bit installed on the other and the soft box does not work there.

Quote - I have 3.1.2.19 installed on one machine and it works fine there.  I have DS Advanced 64 bit installed on the other and the soft box does not work there.

Strange.  The render above was created on a 64 bit box running DSA 64 bit yesterday with the softbox.  I'm doing another softbox render on it now as well.

It's worth double checking the installation. Any indication on whatr happens? Any detail? Is the Soft box visible in the content manager? What happens when you double click on it?

As mentioned before, you need Studio 3.1.2.16 or above. The issue you see is not related to Advanced vs Free, you are just using an older version. Studio "signs" its files with the version number and I made those with 3.1.2.16.Unfortunately there is no way of telling Studio to "relax" :)

Fortunately, you can simply install the latest 3.1.2.19 and everything will be fine.

Quote - It is visible in the content.  I am using the version of DAZStudio Advanced that was recently on sale.  Here is a screen capture.

Dan, that version of D|S was VERY buggy.  It's 3.1.1.73 and you need to replace it with the version in the links I posted earlier.

I have no idea why they are still selling and delivering a product they KNOW to be buggy.

And, don't download 3.1.2.20, either.  It's buggy as well.  If you do get that one, check NO to install Animate 2 or everything you load will crash D|S.

Quote - > Quote - It is visible in the content.  I am using the version of DAZStudio Advanced that was recently on sale.  Here is a screen capture.

 

Dan, that version of D|S was VERY buggy.  It's 3.1.1.73 and you need to replace it with the version in the links I posted earlier.

I have no idea why they are still selling and delivering a product they KNOW to be buggy.

And, don't download 3.1.2.20, either.  It's buggy as well.  If you do get that one, check NO to install Animate 2 or everything you load will crash D|S.

I did not see a link to DAZStudio 64 bit Advanced in your links.

Quote - > Quote - > Quote - It is visible in the content.  I am using the version of DAZStudio Advanced that was recently on sale.  Here is a screen capture.

 

Dan, that version of D|S was VERY buggy.  It's 3.1.1.73 and you need to replace it with the version in the links I posted earlier.

I have no idea why they are still selling and delivering a product they KNOW to be buggy.

And, don't download 3.1.2.20, either.  It's buggy as well.  If you do get that one, check NO to install Animate 2 or everything you load will crash D|S.

 

I did not see a link to DAZStudio 64 bit Advanced in your links.

As long as you have your serial number already in your current version of D|S anything you install which is more recent will be the Advanced version.

So, that link to the 64 bit version will be the Advanced version when you install it.

Thanks, I will try that.

The program is one, the serial number that you install activates the Advanced features or not.

Quote - Thanks, I will try that.

You're welcome, but I forgot to mention..........you may have to re-install some of the plugins.  I think Figure Setup Tools was the only one I had to re-install in the 64 bit version during the last upgrade, but it may have been others as well.  None of the 32 bit plugins had to be re-installed.

Thanks Pret-a-3D.  I wonder why I did not see that on any of the documentation from DAZ?  Maybe I was in a hurry and overlooked it?

Thanks tokejr I will check on that since I do have the figure setup tools bundle.

My content directories are hosed.  I have numerous repeat instances of everything and some that go nowhere.  But at least the Reality plug in and softbox are working properly now.

Given that Studio provides a very flexible content management I take advantage of that by installing each product in a separate directory. There are a couple of exceptions for packages that need to be grouped together but the general rule is: one product, one dir.

That keeps it easy to identify what you have and trivial to uninstall products, especiallyu for the ones from Rendo, that don't have installers/uninstallers.

The only downside is that you have to manually add the directory to the Studio configuration but that is a simple task and well worth the peace of mind.

Just a friendly suggestion :)

Quote - Rebelmommy, I just noticed something in this thread that made me cringe.

this:

2x Seagate Baracudda 1.5 TB HDD

Do me a favor and check the Seagate website for a recall on these drives.  If they are 7200.11 drives, trust me when I say you need a very faithful backup process.

The seagate 7200.11 drives have been under a silent recall for more than a year.  I say silent because they didn't bother to notify even registered customers.

These drives go into test mode with no warning.  At that point, your motherboard can no longer communicate with them.  I know because I had a main drive do exactly this. 

Now, none of my data was lost, but it took 60 days to get my drive back from Seagate, which is the only way the drive can be brought out of test mode.  It's a factory setting and only the factory can reset it.  Not to mention, they provide no warranty against lost data.** **

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Thanks for the info I will have to check now as I have no desire to have to go through that!

Ohhh thank you for pointing out that there was a new version of DS available!  I am still running 3.1.1.73, Does anyone know why it is that when I reset my DS download it still gives me that version though?  I always figure that a reset should give you the latest and greatest version and I just re downloaded and reinstalled DS a week ago hoping to fix an issue I was having with getting DS materials to apply to characters

Well off to download the new version

Quote - > Quote - Rebelmommy, I just noticed something in this thread that made me cringe.

this:

2x Seagate Baracudda 1.5 TB HDD

Do me a favor and check the Seagate website for a recall on these drives.  If they are 7200.11 drives, trust me when I say you need a very faithful backup process.

The seagate 7200.11 drives have been under a silent recall for more than a year.  I say silent because they didn't bother to notify even registered customers.

These drives go into test mode with no warning.  At that point, your motherboard can no longer communicate with them.  I know because I had a main drive do exactly this. 

Now, none of my data was lost, but it took 60 days to get my drive back from Seagate, which is the only way the drive can be brought out of test mode.  It's a factory setting and only the factory can reset it.  Not to mention, they provide no warranty against lost data.** **

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Thanks for the info I will have to check now as I have no desire to have to go through that!

You're welcome.  Glad I could be of some help.

Quote - Ohhh thank you for pointing out that there was a new version of DS available!  I am still running 3.1.1.73, Does anyone know why it is that when I reset my DS download it still gives me that version though?  I always figure that a reset should give you the latest and greatest version and I just re downloaded and reinstalled DS a week ago hoping to fix an issue I was having with getting DS materials to apply to characters

 

Well off to download the new version

I doubt anyone can figure out why Daz does what Daz does..........it's simply beyond our comprehension, I guess.

What you get when you reset the download is the newest updated stable version of the program you bought.  The newest version that I downloaded is still in beta and I had to get it from the support page where the downloads are available.

the first version on the page is the latest stable version the second is the beta and newest version.  hope that makes sense....lol

http://www.daz3d.com/i/support/downloads?product=studio&_m=d

Ahhh I see.. then according to that page I have the latest public release version.. I don't play nice with Beta releases so I guess I will just hang tight to my 3.1.1.73 until the 3.1.2.20 becomes the stable public release and not the beta :)