Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Particle array count
The number of objects you replicate can have a drastic difference on your render
times. This mostly speaks back to the polygon count (as the number of objects
affects the overall polygon count of the scene). Spend the time tweaking particles.
Why have 1,000 footballs when you can get the job done with 500? Let's use the
following screenshot as an example:
On the left-hand side of the preceding screenshot, there is a scene with 500 footballs.
On the right-hand side, there is an identical scene with 1,000 footballs. They don't
look all that different. However, for only one second of the video (30 frames), the
render on the right-hand side took 1:56 while the render on the left-hand side took
1:33. This means that to render one second of a finished video, it will take you more
23 seconds. Now, what if this was a 30 second scene? That would be an extremely
significant render time difference!
Summary
We learned about optimizing your system for renders, polygon counts, samples,
and particle array counts. This is one area where we're actually kind of lucky that
Element 3D doesn't have physics or ray tracing. These are areas that can really
impact rendering (even more than what we've seen here).
As you can see, the difference between making a deadline and missing one can be
as simple as some optimizing. A good friend of mine (Fon Davis, a top-tier miniature
maker in the high-end film industry) once said, "I get these guys showing me amazing
models and boasting that it took them two years to make! I always reply saying yeah,
but what can you do for us in two weeks?". That says it all right there.
In the next chapter, we're going to learn some more techniques in Element 3D.
These will include 3D text and flying logos, interacting with live action footage,
and playing around a bit with some other features of Element 3D. You're well
on your way to being an Elemental Deity!
 
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