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Setting Up a Render
Bryce offers a number of options and controls that let you control rendering.
As you work on a scene, you can use settings that produce fast renders. When you're ready to produce your final image, you can choose settings that produce the highest quality image.
Setting Quality Mode Options
These options let you control the quality of the rendered image by setting the level of anti-aliasing.
Anti-aliasing removes the jaggies on the edges of objects within the image. In Bryce, anti-aliasing is performed using a super-sampling method. This means that for every pixel that's raytraced, more than one ray is used to determine the pixel's color. The increase in rays increases the quality of the raytraced object.
Anti-aliasing can greatly improve the quality of your image, but it is time-consuming. It can also eliminate some desired roughness from high-frequency textures. anti-aliasing is performed on the last pass of the rendering process.
There are four quality modes available in Bryce: Default, Regular, Super, and Premium.
To set the quality mode:
- Click the triangle icon beside the Render controls, point to Quality, and choose a quality mode from the menu
Click the triangle icon beside the Render controls and click Edit Rendering. Click one of the quality modes at the top-left corner of the dialog.
Default (No anti-aliasing)
In this mode there is no anti-aliasing performed on the image.
Regular (Normal anti-aliasing)
In this mode, after the image is rendered, Bryce scans the entire bitmap to determine which areas require anti-aliasing. Only the areas of high concentration are antialiased.
Super (Fine Art anti-aliasing)
In this mode, you can control the number of rays Bryce uses to trace every pixel in the image. Higher values produce a higher quality image, but can slow down the entire rendering process. You should probably only use this mode to render showcase type artwork-not normal working images.
To set the number of rays per pixel numerically:
1 Click the triangle icon beside the Render controls and click Edit Rendering.
2 Click the Super quality mode. With the Super quality mode selected, the Rays per pixel option becomes available.
3 Click the triangle beside Rays per pixel and choose a value from 1 to 256.
Premium (Effect anti-aliasing)
In this mode, you can use a variety of premium effects, such as Soft Shadows, Blurry Reflections, Blurry Transmissions, True Ambience, and Depth of Field.
- Soft Shadows - Softens the edges of the shadows.
- Blurry Reflections - Blurs reflections.
- Blurry Transmissions - Blurs the transmission of light, for example, when light passes through frosted glass.
- True Ambience - Computes the ambient light for a surface using the color and intensity of nearby surfaces, resulting in color blending from one surface to another.
- Depth of Field - Lets you focus the camera on a particular object, blurring those closer and further away from the camera's focal point. You can control the Lens Radius and Focal Length numerically, or you can have Bryce calculate these values based on a selected object.
To turn on premium effects:
1 Click the triangle beside the Render controls.
2 Point to Quality and select the Premium quality mode.
3 Click the triangle icon beside the Render controls.
4 Point to Quality and select a premium effect.
To turn on premium effects and set effect options using the Render Options dialog:
1 Click the triangle beside the Render controls and click Edit Rendering.
2 Select the Super quality mode.
For the Depth of Field effect, type a value in the Lens Radius and Focal Length fields or click Set To Current Selection to set the values based on the currently selected object.
Document Size and Render Resolution
The menu commands at the end of the Render Options menu are quick ways to resize your document. Values shown are expressed in pixels, and are for customizing the size and aspect of your document and the resulting render.
The render resolution options control the resolution of your final image. These options do not affect the resolution of your working document; they affect only the final rendered image.
To choose a document size:
- Click the triangle icon beside the Render controls and choose a document size from the bottom of the menu.
To choose a render resolution:
- Double-click the Render All control, or choose File menu> Document Setup. Click one of the render resolutions at the bottom of the dialog. The selected resolution appears highlighted. Click the OK icon.
Setting Optimization Options
Bryce 5 includes several new optimization options. These options change the mathematical algorithm used by Bryce to raytrace your image depending on the contents of your scene. There are two types of optimization, BSP and Grid, and each has three levels of optimization to choose from, Minimal, Normal, and Aggressive.
Bryce maintains an internal grid that is comprised of 3D cube increments, 2048 x 2048 x 2048 Bryce units in size. The grid gives you a common reference for all positioning operations within a scene. The grid is also used by Bryce when rendering.
Bryce performs a multitude of mathematical calculations to raytrace a scene. These mathematical calculations use the grid to determine the position of objects in relation to each other. When you create a scene, depending on how objects are distributed in the scene, you may want to specify a different mathematical algorithm to increase the efficiency of the rendering operation.
Bryce uses two different mathematical algorithms for rendering:
- For Clustered Scenes (BSP) - the BSP algorithm is most efficient when rendering scenes that include clustered or overlapping objects.
- For Uniform Scenes (Grid) - The Grid algorithm is most efficient when rendering scenes that contain non-overlapping objects evenly spaced within the Bryce grid.
Levels of Optimization
There are three levels of optimization to choose from for each of the above optimization types:
- Minimal - This mode is best used for very simple scenes with less than five objects. In this mode, Bryce predetermines the areas where your objects reside and shoots rays only through that area.
- Normal - This is the best mode for most scenes. In this mode, Bryce determines where your objects reside and then examines the concentration of objects within the larger area. This eliminates the computation of unnecessary rays.
- Aggressive - This is a more extreme version of Minimal mode. It is best used for complex scenes with localized concentrations of objects. If you have imported DXF objects in your scene, this mode will speed up rendering considerably.
To set optimization options:
- Click the triangle icon next to the Render controls, point to Optimization, and choose an optimization type and level
Click the triangle icon next to the Render controls, click Edit Rendering, and choose an optimization type and level from the Render Options dialog.
Setting Post-Processing Options
Bryce includes two post-processing options to compensate for the differences between viewing images on a computer display and on paper.
- 48 Bit Dithering - helps you work around the limitations of computer displays. It is a process that allows you to avoid color bands by smoothing. Evening skies or moon rings are good candidates for this option.
- Gamma Correction - allows Bryce to compensate for some of the shortcomings of computer displays. Your images will be brighter and contain colors that are more true to nature.
To set post-processing options:
1 Click the triangle icon next to the Render controls and click the desired post-processing options
Click the triangle icon next to the Render controls, click Edit Rendering, and click the desired post-processing options from the Render Options dialog.
Render Reporting
This option, when selected, produces a summary report when your image is finished rendering.
The report tells you how long the render took, including the anti-aliasing pass. It also provides statistics on how many rays were shot to create the image and breakdowns for the different types of rays, including a per-pixel breakdown.
To produce a render report:
Click File menu>Document Setup and choose Render Reporting from the menu.
Projection & Masking
Bryce offers several rendering modes that can be used to create different effects. For example, the Mask Render mode lets you produce an image that can be used as an alpha channel in other graphics applications.
To choose a projection type and mask mode:
- Click the triangle icon next to the Render controls and choose a projection type and mask mode from the menu
Click the triangle icon next to the Render controls, click Edit Rendering, and choose a projection type and mask mode from the Render Options dialog.
Projection Types
There are two projection types available in Bryce:
- Perspective Projection - renders a fully raytraced color image, based on your current camera's position and view.
- 360° Panorama Projection - produces an image that looks as if your camera has a 360° lens. The left and right edges of the resulting image join seamlessly.
360° Panorama Projection is intended for use with the Bryce 360° scrolling screensaver, or QuickTime VR technology. Refer to "QuickTime VR" for a description of Apple QuickTime VR.
An example of an image rendered using 360° Panorama projection.
Rendered 360° images will have little resemblance to the wireframe working window behind it; this makes flipping back and forth between wireframe and bitmap modes during composition fairly difficult. For this reason, we recommend working in standard Perspective Render mode as you compose your image.
For a good 360° panoramic image, you need a natural distribution of objects on all sides of the camera.
To prepare a 360° panoramic render:
1 While in Perspective Render mode, switch to the Top view using the View controls and position objects around the camera.
2 Display the Document Setup dialog using File menu> Document Setup, and either select the Panorama preset aspect ratio, or type in the dimensions that you want.
3 Do a quick test render in Perspective Render mode to check composition.
The horizon should be level at the vertical midpoint of your window. If it is not, double-click the Trackball, enter "0" in the Rotate X field and exit the dialog.
4 Adjust your camera position and Y/Z rotation.
5 Switch to 360° Panorama render mode and render your image.
Mask Modes
There are three different kinds of Mask Render modes for rendering available in Bryce, Object Mask, Distance Mask, and Altitude Mask.
Object Mask
In Object Mask mode, Bryce renders any selected objects as antialiased white shapes against a black background. You can use the resulting image as a mask or alpha channel in other 2D image editing programs.
Distance Mask
This mode results in a grayscale image, with objects represented in shades of gray based upon their distance from the camera. Nearby objects are black, distant objects are white, and objects in-between are progressive shades of gray.
This mode can be used to create several distance effects. Refer to "Adding Depth" for more on using Distance Mask images.
Altitude Mask
This mode results in a grayscale image, with objects represented in shades of gray based upon their height.
You can use Altitude Mask images in the same way you can use Distance Mask images to create special effects in other applications.
Setting Optics Options
Bryce includes a number of optics options that can help increase the realism of a rendered scene. The optics options include:
- Reflections - Lets you choose whether to render reflections in a scene.
- Transmissions - Lets you choose whether to render light transmissions in a scene. For transparent objects with a light source behind them, you must render transmissions for light to shine through the objects.
- Refractions - Lets you choose whether to render light refractions in a scene. When light is bent by an object such as a prism or a glass of water, you can see distorted views of the environment behind or to the side of the object due to the refraction of light. For Bryce to render these refractions, you must enable this option.
- Shadows - Lets you choose whether to render shadows in a scene.
- Maximum Ray Depth - Lets you control the depth of rays during rendering. For example, if you place a series of transparent objects one in front of the other, the Maximum Ray Depth setting determines how many of these objects the light will pass through.
- Total Internal Reflection (TIR) - Lets you control the amount of TIR in a scene. When you have reflective objects such as prisms or mirrors in a scene, you can encounter situations where light rays bounce back and forth an infinite number of times within the object or between two objects. By limiting the TIR depth, you can produce realistic scenes that include a certain amount of TIR. This lets you avoid creating an infinite number of internal reflections, thus speeding up the rendering time.
To enable Optics options:
1 Click the triangle icon next to the Render controls and click Edit Rendering.
2 Click an optics option to enable or disable it. When a checkmark appears beside the option, the option is enabled. When there is no checkmark, the option is off.
3 Type a value in the Maximum Ray Depth field.
4 If you have enabled the Total Internal Reflection (TIR) option, type a value in the Maximum TIR Depth field.
Preview Render Modes
Preview Render modes are accessed using the Render controls or the Render Options dialog, and provide lower quality renders that you can use to preview your image.
Fast Preview
When this mode is enabled, the renderer ignores areas of low frequency and only raytraces areas of high frequency. This results in accelerated renders that are great for previewing during a session. However, it also results in some patchiness in certain mid-frequency areas, so it should not be used for final output.
To enable Fast Preview mode:
1 Click the Fast Preview button in the Render controls. When the button turns blue, the mode is enabled. When the button is silver, the mode is off.
Click the triangle beside the Render controls, click Edit Rendering. Select the Preview Render option to enable Fast Preview mode, and select the Full Render option to disable it.
Textures On/Off
When this mode is enabled, all textural parameters are disabled. This mode performs the following procedures to speed up a render:
- Objects with properties like transparency, reflection, and bumpy textures are rendered in flat opaque shades.
- Fog, Haze and Clouds are disabled.
- Any item with a procedural texture is rendered with a color drawn from the ambient color channel in the Materials Composer.
- Any item with a simple color texture is rendered in that color.
The Textures On/Off mode is available in any mode.
To enable Textures On/Off mode:
1 Click the Textures On/Off button in the Render controls. When the button turns blue, the mode is enabled. When the button is silver, the mode is off.
2 Click the triangle beside the Render Controls, click Edit Rendering, and click Render With Textures. When a checkmark appears beside the option, the mode is enabled. When there is no checkmark, the mode is off.
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