Hi there
I have here a question I don’t really know where to adress, maybe it’s not the right section…I don’t even know if it is doable!
Here it is:
I’m working on a quite complex scene and I want to optimise render times in cycles (who doesn’t?). The scene is a landscape. Detailed rocks on a ground that generates particular systems (pebbles and grass)…classic scene. There is a camera in the center of the scene, rotating to make a panoramic view of the landscape. The animation takes approx 600frames in 1920px. The render times are quite high due to subsurf levels on each of these rocks (about a dozen) and the particles calculations. But, these rocks are not all seen at the same time by the camera.
SO, Would it be possible to make the subsurf levels automatically vary in function of what is actually seen by the camera (camera and glossy rays). Same thing for the particles, is it possible to activate their renderability in function of their visibility by the camera?
In the tests I have done by hand, this could divide the render times by almost 5! Is there a way to script this or use drivers? I must say I have never coded in python (yeah, I know, shame on me) and I’m not a specialist in drivers neither.
Has anyone ever done this before?
Cheers
Fredhystair
Hi there
There are difficult moments in your life when you have to confess publicly that you are a goddamn DUMMY!!!
The solution is so simple that I had not come to think of it sooner. The renderability of particles or subsurf levels are animatable via simple keyframes!!!
The trick for improving drastically your render times when playing a camera travelling animation remains valid…this is my consolation.
Cheers
Fredhystair