Setting time limits for iray rendering?

Bobvan

I just aquired batch rendering for DS which does not seem to have a time limit option I am wagering this needs to be set in DS iray seetings. I have set iray to render with limitless hours so far. I am wondering if there is a timetable somewhere where one can set the settings for how long one wants a renders to run ie; Render 1, 5 hours render 2, 8 hours render 3,  3 hours ect..

mjc1016

By defaut Iray stops at 7200 seconds...Render Settoings > Progressive Rendering > Max time.

Bobvan

I know the only way I accomplished unlimited time rendering was to se the settings at

Max samples 1008214

Max time 0

Render quality 70

Convergence ratio 99.9

Would I need to simply change the max time equalling 3600 minutes for each hour rendered?

Tobor

Max Time is what you want, where 7200 minutes (2 hours) is the default. Your other stop-at settings are very high, so basically the only thing that will restrict the render to a realistic amount is time.

Bobvan

Actually if I use the default settings it often stops in less then 1/2 hour with LOADS of noise left. Hence thr reason for the crazy settings cause I use it like I did luxrender. Now having added batch rendering from Rendo I am wanting to know how to set different lenghts as needed.

Richard Haseltine

Time is seconds, not minutes (two hours is 120 minutes).

mjc1016

The problem is, if it is finishing before all the noise is gone, is that it usually is a light or materials problem.

Tobor

Right, should be seconds, not minutes. My bad, as they say.

I agree that you should look into lighting and materials settings, as the best way to get rid of the noise is to fix the scene, not run the render for an ungodly amount of time, or use settings that are way out of the norm. Once you get your scene optimized, you can set the Render Quality to something over the default of 1. You should seldom need anything above 4 or 5.

To recap:

1. Max Time: Stops the render when this value, yes in seconds, is reached.
2. Max Samples: Stops the render when this value, in sample iterations, is reached. 
3. Convergence Ratio: Stops the render when this value, an estimate of the number of pixels in the scene that have converged (according to Iray's internal logic), is reached. When possible, leave it at the default 95%. This is the optimized value.
4. The Render Quality control is not a stop-at value. It is a threshold that stipulates how finely Iray will interpret converged pixels. The higher the value, the more strict the interpretation of convergence. 

Personally, I'd go back to the defaults, and then if you want to control solely by time, set the iterations to its highest value (so it doesn't come into play), and then set the time to whatever you want. Leave the others alone. If the scene is still too grainy, try to find out why that's happening. Iray is intended for commercial production purposes, and should render quality scenes in a relatively short period of time -- relative to the horsepower of your rig, of course. 

Bobvan

Thats's one thing I like about the luxrender better one can set times in real world values and does not need scientific calculations LOL. I see alot of people post noisy renders including promo pics it's just something I cant stand.. I have a 32G tower with a GTX 980

fixmypcmike

Bobvan said:

Thats's one thing I like about the luxrender better one can set times in real world values and does not need scientific calculations LOL. I see alot of people post noisy renders including promo pics it's just something I cant stand.. I have a 32G tower with a GTX 980

Seconds isn't a real world measurement?

Bobvan

Yes but the other settings play into it I am going to experiment with Tobor's suggestions. I have reset what he has suggested on my current render and set it to run for 5 hours I want to see what happens..

Rafmer

Bobvan said:

Yes but the other settings play into it I am going to experiment with Tobor's suggestions. I have reset what he has suggested on my current render and set it to run for 5 hours I want to see what happens..

If you don't want to stress yourself go to Render settings -> Presets and double click on Advanced Iray Render Settings. It will set up a decent quality for your renders and add a Noise Filter configuration that might help you with your problem. Only thing you will have to change is the Max Time setting.

Bobvan

Where? For the record I never had problems with longer times I am simply interested now since I can batch aka queue render...

 

Tobor I did as you suggested setting the mex time for 5 hours but it quit in less then 90 minutes

Tobor

Bobvan said:

Tobor I did as you suggested setting the mex time for 5 hours but it quit in less then 90 minutes

Well, that really doesn't say anything. Iray will only stop at the first stop-at condition that is met. 

After your next render, open the log, go to the bottom, and read what it says after all the iteration loops. It'll tell you how the render was stopped. If it says "Convergence threshold reached," then that 95% was reached. Don't adjust set both the ratio and Quality -- you really only need to do one. If anything, pick Render Quality. Start with modest increases -- 2, 4, 8, etc.

A 90 minute render on a 980 system should yield pretty speedy results, unless your scene is very complex, contains the sort of scene elements (like indirect lighting) that is hard for Iray to process, or is not optimized in other ways. Without the specifics about your scene or what's in it, it's really hard to say. My renders always go to completion without noise, and take <2 hours. I have a system with less than 500 cores. In other words, pretty pathetic. I'm sure yours can do better, given the right scene setup.

Rafmer

Bobvan said:

Where? For the record I never had problems with longer times I am simply interested now since I can batch aka queue render...

 

Tobor I did as you suggested setting the mex time for 5 hours but it quit in less then 90 minutes

Strange. It's there in my program. Anyway, you should be able to find it in My Daz 3D Library -> Render Presets -> Iray in your Content Library.

Bobvan

Thanks for the tips will expriement batch rendering seems pretty buggy so I am going to forgo it for now...

Bobvan

Thanks Rafmer and Tbor with both your suggestions

Bobvan

After playing with it I am sticking with my original extended times I just like how clen and crisp my renders come out.

Mattymanx

rendering forever is no longer required.

 

I am finding that render quality plays a big key in ensuring a better quality render then massive amount of time at lower render quality setting.  I have my renders set to 18000 max samples, time is 36000, 99% convergence and render quality is NOW set to 3.

 

this image - -http://mattymanx.deviantart.com/art/Sheer-Elegance3-610655914 - was render quality 3 and took about 10 min.  That is post worked and it brought a little bit of grain back into the image but the original render has almost no grain at all.  Its very smooth just like 32 pixel samples in 3DL.  The same image at render quality 5 took about 17min but I could see next to no difference between them.

Bobvan

I also get much faster results (6 minute) when using HRDI 

http://fav.me/d9vpg2a

it seems longer with actual rooms

Having said that, I have noted down your recommended settings I know you have been at this a long time & am a fan so thank you for your input..

The good news is if I dont feel a render is complete after trying such suggested values. I simply increase them and resume..