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📄 Contents

  1. RAY TRACING: SPEEDING UP THINGS (OBJECTS)
  2. RAY TRACING: SPEEDING UP THINGS (GLOBALS)
  3. RAYTRACING: INDEX OF REFRACTION (IOR)
  4. RENDERING: FILTERS FOR STILL IMAGES VERSUS VIDEO
  5. RENDERING VIDEO: RENDER FRAMES, NOT FIELDS
  6. RENDERING VIDEO: MAKE SURE VIDEO COLOR CHECK IS ON
  7. RENDERING VIDEO: CHECK YOUR GAMMA!
  8. RENDERING GREAT BIG, GIANT, HONKING, ENORMOUS IMAGES SUCCESSFULLY
  9. DON'T RENDER MOVIES—RENDER FRAMES!
  10. SPEAKING OF THE RAM PLAYER...
  11. RERENDERING FROM THE ENVIRONMENT BACKGROUND
  12. OKAY, SO YOU REALLY WANT TO RERENDER YOUR ANIMATION...
  13. IFL = IMAGE FILE LIST
  14. YOU CAN'T CREATE .IFL FILES ON READ-ONLY MEDIA!
  15. MANIPULATING IMAGE SEQUENCES USING .IFLS
  16. CREATE NESTED .IFL FILES
  17. A CHICKEN AND EGG PROBLEM: HOW DO YOU SET UP AN ANIMATED BACKGROUND FOR A SCENE IF YOU HAVEN'T RENDERED THE BACKGROUND YET?
  18. COULD YOU MAKE THINGS MORE COMPLICATED, PLEASE? (WHAT ABOUT USING A COMPOSITING PROGRAM?)
  19. COMPOSITING USING VIDEO POST
  20. RENDERING WITH SCANLINE MOTION BLUR: MULTI-PASS AND IMAGE
  21. RENDERING WITH SCANLINE: MIX IMAGE AND MULTI-PASS MOTION BLUR
  22. RENDERING IMAGES FOR PRINT: TEACH THOSE PRINT FOLKS A LESSON (OR TWO...)
  23. RENDERING IMAGES FOR PRINT: OH YEAH, ANOTHER THING...
  24. "THOSE PRINT PEOPLE"—MAKE IT EASIER ON THEM WITH 3DS MAX 6
  25. THE PRINT SIZE WIZARD (ENOUGH WITH THE PRINTING STUFF ALREADY!)
  26. MENTAL RAY IS IN THE BUILDING!
  27. MENTAL RAY IS ON THE COUCH!
  28. USE MENTAL RAY'S IMAGE SAMPLING WISELY
  29. IN MENTAL RAY, CONTRAST CAN SAVE YOUR DAY!
  30. HIDDEN LINE RENDERING: RENDER TO VECTORS IN MENTAL RAY
  31. TRIM YOUR (BSP) TREE IN MENTAL RAY
  32. MENTAL RAY PREFERENCES: PLEASE LEAVE ME A MESSAGE
  33. RENDERING AESTHETICS: OUTER SPACE SCENES
  34. RENDERING AESTHETICS: UNDERWATER SCENES
  35. RENDERING AESTHETICS: DISTANT LANDSCAPES
  36. RENDERING AESTHETICS: STILL LIFE AND MACROPHOTOGRAPHY
  37. "HELLO... YOU'VE GOT RENDER!"
This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

COULD YOU MAKE THINGS MORE COMPLICATED, PLEASE? (WHAT ABOUT USING A COMPOSITING PROGRAM?)

Yes, the previous example was pretty verbose and complicated for such a simple trick. And yes, most 3D professionals would say that ultimately you're probably better off rendering all your sequences as separate passes (with alpha channels) and then compositing them with a program such as Discreet's Combustion.

However, not all 3ds max artists can afford a full-blown compositing program (although Chapter 10, "Aftermarket Accessories," offers some inexpensive substitutes). Consequently, tricks such as those listed previously are necessary if you want to break down your scenes into more easily managed layers and use 3ds max as your final compositor. Just remember: You need to make sure you have your sequences and their respective (proxy) backgrounds set up properly in your network rendering before you commit it; otherwise, you'll get a "Missing External Files" warning, and that sequence will fail.

Figure 6.20Figure 6.20

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