Shade 10 The Image Window
From ShadeCamp
Rendering results and the progress of the image being rendered are displayed in this window. Use the buttons at the top of the window to perform operations such as starting rendering.
Rendering Options Show/Hide Button
This button is used to show / hide the rendering options, where you can specify various settings related to rendering.
Render Button
Click this button to begin rendering using the current settings. Holding Shift while clicking Render will render all objects in the scene, whether or not they are currently selected.
Stop Button
Click this button to pause the rendering process.
Resume Button
Click this button after rendering has been paused with the Stop button to resume the rendering process. If the rendering settings have changed since pausing, the final render result may not be accurate.
Area Rendering Checkbox
Turn this checkbox on to display a rectangular frame that can be moved and resized to specify the area of the Image window you wish to render. The default frame size and position are set to the size and position of the last area render.
Edit Pull-down Menu
This menu allows you to cut, copy, or delete the image currently in the Image window. If the Area Rendering checkbox is on, the Select All option will resize the area rendering frame to include the entire image.
If effector plug-ins are installed, the Edit menu also lists those plug-ins that allow you to add effects to the rendered image.
Save Button
Click the Save button to open a Save As dialog in which you can save the contents of the Image window as an image file. The file format can be selected from BMP, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, PNG, OpenEXR, Silicon Graphics .SGI, Apple PICT, MacPaint, Targa, JPEG-2000 JP2, QuickTime Image .QTIF, RAW, HDR, PFM, Flash .SWF, and PSD.
Merge Button
Clicking this button will display a dialog in which you can choose a file to be merged. The selected image will be merged with the background of the Image window. The Merge button provides the same function as a backdrop.
Rendering Time
The elapsed time used to render the image is displayed here. Click the downward-pointing arrow to the right of the time to select the hour:minute:seconds or seconds format.
Width Textbox
Displays the width of the rendered image in pixels. Enter a new value in the textbox to specify a different width. This is the same value as found in the Image tab of the Rendering Options.
Height Textbox
Displays the height of the rendered image in pixels. Enter a new value in the textbox to specify a different height. This is the same value as found in the Image tab of the Rendering Options.
Scale Buttons and Pull-down Menu
Use the + and - buttons to zoom in and out of the Image window, or select a specific zoom setting from the pull-down menu.
Rendering Options
The settings used to render an image of the scene are specified here. There are five tabs in the Rendering Options window: Basics, Image, G.I. (Global Illumination), Effects and Misc. (Miscellaneous).
The Rendering Style and Method settings are located above the tabs and can be accessed regardless which tab is active.
Rendering Style Pull-down Menu
When you select the Add option from the pull-down menu, a dialog appears in which you can enter a name for the settings to be saved. Selecting the Remove option will delete the current set of saved rendering settings.
Method Pull-down Menu
The Method pull-down menu contains five rendering methods: Scan Line, Ray Tracing, Path Tracing, ToonRenderer and Wireframe.
Note: Shade professional includes an additional rendering method, CALLISTO
Basics Tab
The Basics tab includes the most common rendering settings.
Surface Subdivision Pull-down Menu
The level of polygon subdivision used when rendering curved surfaces and meshes can be specified from No Subdivision, Coarse, Regular, Fine and Very Fine.
Greater subdivision results in higher-quality renders but requires more system resources.
Anti-Aliasing Checkbox
This checkbox is used to set whether or not antaliasing is performed during rendering. Anti-aliasing reduces the quantization errors observed at edges with large color contrasts. These errors result in images with jaggy edges.
Anti-aliasing is available for Scan Line, Ray Tracing and Wireframe rendering. Anti-aliasing is always done when using Path Tracing.
Over Sampling Pull-down Menu
The rate of over sampling can be set with this pulldown menu.
When rendering using Ray Tracing, the quality of antialiasing can be improved by adjusting the number of rays.
The Adaptive setting has been added in Shade. When this is chosen, the anti-aliasing level required for each part of the object in the scene being rendered is allocated automatically. This provides the most suitable setting for quality and speed.
Render Background Checkbox
The background is rendered when this checkbox is on. When this checkbox is switched off, rendering is performed with a black background.
Reflect Background Checkbox
The background is reflected by surfaces with reflection and/or transparency set when this checkbox is on.
Render Shadows Checkbox
Shadows of objects are rendered when this checkbox is on.
Render Shadows Pull-down Menu
The type of shadow to be rendered is specified with this pull-down menu.
Shadow Map Size Text Box
The size of the Shadow Maps is entered here. A larger size produces clearer shadow edges, but if the size is too large, an insufficient memory condition may occur. If the size is too small, the shadows will be jagged.
Shadow Map Bias Text Box
When a surface on which the Shadow Map is projected is not parallel to the map, the shadow map, in whole or in part, may not be displayed. By modifying the bias value, you can solve this problem.
Shadow Map Blur Text Box
The outlines of Shadow Maps will be blurred according to the value entered in this field.
Sampling Pull-down Menu
Rendering will take longer as the sampling value gets larger; shadows may flicker during animation if the value is too small.
Image Tab
This tab enables you to specify the backdrop setting which merges an image onto the background, and the size of the image to be rendered.
Presets Pull-down Menu
Commonly-used image sizes can be selected from this list of presets, or you can save a custom image size as a new preset by selecting Add.
Set Button
Click this button to open the Image Size Settings dialog, for changing the print size or the pixel size.
Width Text Box
The width in pixels of the image to be rendered.
Height Text Box
The height in pixels of the image to be rendered.
Scale: - Button
Increases the scale factor for the image to be rendered.
Scale: + Button
Decreases the scale factor for the image to be rendered.
Pixel Aspect Ratio Text Box
This setting can be used for rendering an image to bedisplayed on a device whose pixel ratio is not 1:1.
Pixel Depth Pull-down Menu
Specifies the color depth of the image. 32 includes 8 bits of data each for RGBA channels. 64 includes 16 bits of data each for RGBA channels. 128 includes 32 bits of data each for RGBA channels.
64 and 128 bit pixel depth are handled as HDRI, and result in better-looking images when using Image Based Lighting (IBL) and effectors.
Because increasing the pixel depth dramatically increases the amount of data that must be processed, 64 bits is recommended for most images.
Backdrop Checkbox
Turn this checkbox on to merge the selected image with the background of the Image window.
Width Text Box
Enter a pixel value for the width of the image to be merged using the backdrop function.
Height Text Box
Enter a pixel value for the height of the image to be merged using the backdrop function.
Backdrop Picture Box
Displays an image to be merged as a backdrop.
Edit Image Pull-down Menu
This menu allows you to load or edit an image for the backdrop.
Images Submenu
Select from a list of master images (images already used somewhere in the scene).
Cut
Removes the current image after copying it to the clipboard.
Copy
Copies the current image to the clipboard.
Paste
Pastes an image from the clipboard to the backdrop picture box.
Clear
Removes the current image from the backdrop.
Load
Opens a file browser window that allows you to select an image for the backdrop.
Save
Saves the current backdrop image as a new file.
Set Crop Area
Opens the Crop Area dialog in which you can specify an area of the current backdrop image to crop.
Play
Plays a movie file that is loaded as the backdrop. Plug-ins that modify images may also be listed at the bottom of the Edit Image menu.
Image Size Settings Dialog
This dialog allows you to specify the height and width in pixels and the print size and resolution, and calculates other values automatically when one setting is changed.
Pixel Size Width and Height Textboxes
Specifies the width and height of the image in pixels. The percent textboxes can be used to adjust the image size as a percentage of the original.
Print Size Preset Pull-down Menu
Select a preset print size or a custom size.
Print Size Width and Height Textboxes
Specifies the width and height of the print size. Select centimeters or inches for the units.
DPI Textbox
Specifies the dots-per-inch of the image in pixels/cm or pixels/inch.
Keep Proportion Checkbox
Locks the current aspect ratio of the image so thatwhen one length is changed, the other length changes proportionally.
G.I. Tab
This tab enables you to specify settings for Global Illumination to be used during rendering.
Global Illumination Pull-down Menu
Choose from None, Path Tracing, Photon Mapping and Radiosity as the Global Illumination technique.
Path Tracing
These settings are enabled when Path Tracing is selected in the Global Illumination pull-down menu.
Noise Reduction Slider and Text Box
These items are used to reduce noise generated during Path Tracing rendering. The effect of noise reduction will be more apparent with larger slider values. This effect is useful when highlights are too strong.
Irradiance Caching Checkbox
When calculating sampling, only some areas of the image are calculated, and the incident light is interpolated over the remaining areas. This process simplifies sampling and reduces rendering time.
Cache Tolerance Slider and Checkbox
Sets the resolution of irradiance caching. Large values will result in worse Path Tracing quality but faster rendering times.
Photon Mapping
These settings are enabled when Photon mapping is chosen in the Global Illumination pull-down menu.
Number of Photons Text Box
The number of photons to be skipped during photon mapping.
Gathering Scale Text Box
The gathering radius of the photons.
Caustics Checkbox and Pull-down Menu
This effect creates light patterns such as the ones you would see on the bottom of a swimming pool.
Point Light Specular Direction Map Checbox
Speeds up caustics photon map calculations for mirrored or transparent objects in a scene with point lights.
Radiosity
These settings are enabled when Radiosity is chosen in the Global Illumination pull-down menu.
Always Solve Before Rendering Checkbox
Turn this checkbox on if you wish to have radiosity automatically recalculated before rendering.
Energy Pull-down Menu
Choose the range over which the radiosity solution is used during rendering.
You can either calculate the shadows of the direct radiation normally and use the radiosity solution for the shadows of the indirect radiation (Indirect energy), or you can use the radiosity solution for both the direct and the indirect radiations (Total energy).
Reflection Factor Text Box
Enter the ratio at which the indirect radiation affects the Global Illumination.
When the value is smaller, then the calculation speed improves, but the effect of Global Illumination will become weaker.
Effects Tab
This tab enables you to specify effects to be applied onto the rendering image. Various effectors can also be set here.
Fish-Eye Distortion Text Box
When a fish-eye distortion ratio other than 1.00 is entered, the rendered image appears so as to simulate the effect of a fish-eye lens.
Panorama Checkbox
Rendering is performed for a 360-degree horizontal view, centered on the Eye point, when this checkbox is on. This enables the creation of materials for panorama movies.
Motion Blur Checkbox
Motion Blur is available in Shade professional and Shade standard. Turning this checkbox on will enable the effect. It is only available for ScanLine and Path tracing rendering.
Sub-Frames Checkbox
This checkbox is used to set the number of sampling frames for Motion Blur. The larger the value, the higher the quality will be.
Opening Slider and Text Box
These items are used to set the exposure time per frame. The larger the value, the larger the blur width will be.
Effector Pull-down Menus
Choose the effectors to use. After one effector is chosen, another one can be added by choosing “…” in the number pop-up. For details on “BlurEffector” and “Stars” which come with Shade, refer to the section on Effectors.
Multipath
This tab enables you to specify various other settings for rendering.
Misc. Tab
This tab enables you to specify various other settings for rendering.
Number of Threads Pull-down Menu
The number of threads to be used for rendering calculations can be set here.
Compatibility Pull-down Menu
Rendering which is compatible with previous versions of the Shade application can be performed. Choose a version from the pull-down menu.
Premultiplied Alpha Checkbox
This applies anti-aliasing to the background. When switched off, anti-aliasing is not applied to any channel, except for the alpha channel.
Transparency Affects Alpha Checkbox
This causes transparency to affect the alpha channel.
Render Transparency Checkbox
The transparency color will be used for synthesis with the background image when this checkbox is on.
Regular rendering will be used when this checkbox is off. This checkbox is off by default.
Single-Sided Faces Checkbox
When Scan Line rendering is being used, and the Flat Shading checkbox is on, the backsides of surfaces are not rendered when this checkbox is on. This checkbox is off by default.
Internal Reflection Checkbox
This checkbox can be enabled for Ray Tracing and Path Tracing rendering, to calculate reflections on surfaces as well as inside transparent objects.
Keep Z Checkbox
When this checkbox is on, Z values for all pixels will be saved after rendering.
A Z value is the distance between the eye and the surface of an object, expressed as an 8-bit value. These values can be accessed through the plug-in interface, or can be embedded in a TIFF file to save them.
Real Color Checkbox
When this checkbox is on, 32-bit RBG values for each pixel are maintained after rendering.
Ray Cast Level Text Box
Sets the number of times a light ray is reflected when rendering with Ray Tracing and Path Tracing. Rendering time may become too long when there are too many reflections. In Shade, in order to avoid long rendering times, the number of reflections is restricted. No reflections exceeding the Ray Cast Level are calculated; Once the Ray cast level is reached, the background is simply displayed.
Ray Tracing Quality Text Box
This text box sets the image quality for Ray Tracing and Path Tracing.
The value is related to the quality of anti-aliasing and rendering time when using Ray Tracing. For Distribution Ray Tracing, the set value is related to the qualities of reflection, transparency, soft shadow, and depth of field and rendering time.
Ray Tracing Delta Text Box
This setting is used to avoid errors when a Ray Tracing ray intersects (reflects from or passes through) a surface. Ray Tracing is resumed from a position very slightly advanced along the ray’s direction from the intersection. This tiny length is called the Ray Tracing Delta. |
