Daz Exploring the effects of DAZ render settings using the Iray engine

[galora]

Hello all!

I'm looking at how some settings in the DAZ rendering tab influence the results of the render .

I have only looked at Max Path length for now, but was thinking it might help other newbies like me, to get an overview of the effects without having to do all the renders themselves.
Being a beginner myself I'd love to hear from more experienced users, settings I should look at and scene elements I should include.

I'll keep playing with the settings saving all the renders, if anyone wants I can add them here (maybe a basic html/javascript allowing for more precise control over the settings changed).

Thanks to 2nd Circle and gremlin_shaman for the advice they gave me, leading to this idea.
I hope I'm in the right forum.

Spoiler: This is the scene I'm working with at the moment

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Spoiler: Further renders I did yesterday in higher definition

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And I poorly made a short video with the renders I made with 500 iterations, changing only the max light path, and all other settings on default.

View attachment New video.mp4

 

[ShamanLab]

Hi, galora!

Why you didn't using simple studio backdrop (at least small white floor and white backwall)?

upd. I didn't know reason but usually depth of field adding noise too. At least those kind of noise which cost you additional iterations.

 

[Deleted member 1121028]

iray_max_path_length Bounds the maximum number of vertices (bounces) of light paths to contribute to the result. Since this setting cuts off indirect lighting contributions (one example would be the headlight of a car that depends on a lot of indirect effects to look correct), it should only be applied when the rendering has to be accelerated at the expense of physical accuracy.

Should be say that Max Path length default to -1 is not unlimited but 21 (from the guy that run ~1000 SSS render test), with a maximum of 255. To put that in perspective Cycle default is 12 (4 for diffuse and gloss ).

Reducing it is a good way to 'crank' render time. Not an expert but not sure there is a good way to find a general rule - as result may vary greatly depending on types/complexity of surfaces you rendering and where you set the barrier in term of quality.

 

[galora]

Hi, galora!

Why you didn't using simple studio backdrop (at least small white floor and white backwall)?

upd. I didn't know reason but usually depth of field adding noise too. At least those kind of noise which cost you additional iterations.

I've been looking for one, I came across one at some point but somehow didn't manage to find it again... That was made with the backdrop environment type.
Alright the depth of field noise is really good to know!
Thanks

 

[galora]

iray_max_path_length Bounds the maximum number of vertices (bounces) of light paths to contribute to the result. Since this setting cuts off indirect lighting contributions (one example would be the headlight of a car that depends on a lot of indirect effects to look correct), it should only be applied when the rendering has to be accelerated at the expense of physical accuracy.

Should be say that Max Path length default to -1 is not unlimited but 21 (from the guy that run ~1000 SSS render test), with a maximum of 255. To put that in perspective Cycle default is 12 (4 for diffuse and gloss ).

Reducing it is a good way to 'crank' render time. Not an expert but not sure there is a good way to find a general rule - as result may vary greatly depending on types/complexity of surfaces you rendering and where you set the barrier in term of quality.

Alright that is definitely good to know, though I don't understand the -1 = 21 bit.

It uses a minumum of 21 but can automatically go up to 255?

Does using the max path length just stops at the max but will not stop earlier? And -1 is automatic to a certain degree?

 

[Deleted member 1121028]

Alright that is definitely good to know, though I don't understand the -1 = 21 bit.

It uses a minumum of 21 but can automatically go up to 255?

Does using the max path length just stops at the max but will not stop earlier? And -1 is automatic to a certain degree?

It will stop earlier if it doesn't need more, but you may want to use max path length to prevent render from going any further and crank rendering time.

What I mean is -1 is the default max path length on Daz Iray setting. I've long time thought it was meaning "infinite light bounce till the pixel is flagged as fully rendered" but in fact use a value of 21 (which is certainly more than enough).

Max path length has a soft cap of 64 in render settings, but you can remove limit and increase it to 255. Going higher won't do anything anymore.