Do more even values produce better results?

XoechZ

Hello!

Ok, maybe this is a stupid question, but I cannot get it out of my head, so I simply have to ask.

Do you think that even values for any kinds of parameters in DAZ Studio produce better results and better looking renders?
For example: If you have a spotlight, is it better to use a light strength of 88 instead of 87.957? Or Shadow softness: is 20% better than 20.074%? You can use any other parameter, it is always the same.

On one side it really does not matter because the render engine can use any kind of value to calculate the render.

But on the other side (and that is the one thing that does not go out of my head) the final result (the rendered image) does NOT contain any uneven values. We only have whole pixels. There are no half pixels or 3.785 pixels. The same with color. Color information (R,G,B) only contains whole numbers. So any uneven result has to be rounded for the final image (correct me if I am wrong here, but I cannot imagine anything else). And the more uneven values, the more rounding, the more "unprecise" the result (image).

And as a final thought: Are renders with even parameters easier to handle for the render engine and therefore faster to calculate? Keep in mind that for a render, the render engine has to do millions of calculations, not only a handfull.

What do you think?

murgatroyd314

Computational difficulty: as far as the computer is concerned, one floating point value is much the same as another.

Rounding: Let's consider light strength (on a basic point light for simplicity). Brightness on a surface is that strength divided by the square of the distance between the light and the surface. Even in the simplest cases, that's not going to give a nice round value in most places. So, there's no real advantage either way.

Mathematical philosophy: For most purposes, you're best off if you start with the right values, and don't round until after you've finished all the calculations.

StratDragon

depending on the lighting of your scene, the objects in your scene and the effect you are trying to get those numbers can make or break the realization your looking for. Don't always assume higher values equal better renders, often they equal longer render times with little or no change. Ray traced bounces may be beneficial in scenes with mirrors, glass and water but may offer little or no change for portraits except for exacerbating the render speed.
3Delight is a render engine that requires a little bit of experimentation to get used to, along with lighting there's an art to it and just using the default settings is not always the best case scenario. If you ever used a non-based rendering engine like LuxRender there are only controls over your exposure once the render takes place which you can change mid-render (there really is no mid-render in Lux, it's either rendering or you've shut it off, it doesn't stop unless you tell it to.) The trade off is that in LuxRenderyour lights behave like lights, your shadows behave like shadows. 3delight allows for changes that are not possible in real world physics, like the distance of a shadow can be offset by a light or a form may be excluded from casting a shadow when light is pointed at it.
one of the most interesting things about 3Delight is actually how powerful it is and how many Daz Studio users may not realize this because in order to keep Studio simple and usable to the general public the application limits what you might have available to you. 3Delight is not a Daz product, they own a general license for use in Studio. 3Delight is actually a 3rd party solution from 3Delight and its been used in a number of mainstream motion pictures.

http://www.3delight.com/en/index.php

here was a thread I started on what engines you can use in Studio, it's probably sorely out of date by now though
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/17897/