1

Introduction

After you have modeled, and perhaps animated, a scene, you will want to render it. Rendering is the process of generating a two-dimensional image of a three-dimensional scene, somewhat like taking a photograph with a camera, or filming with a motion picture camera.

In this Section:

• Rendering Workflow 2
• Summary of the Rendering Interface 4

Rendering Workflow

Rendering is an iterative and experimental process. The following steps outline the overall rendering process. You will invariably repeat some or all of these steps, both before and after rendering, until you are happy with the results.

To render a scene:

See Environment on page 53, and Textures on page 93.

1

Define the appearance of the surroundings for your scene using the environment and textures.

See Shaders on page 71, and Textures on page 93.

Define the surface appearance of objects in your scene using shaders and textures.

See Lights on page 225.

Illuminate the objects in your scene using lights.

See Multi-lister on page 9, Control Window on page 33, and Color Editor on page 41.

You should become familiar with the Multi-lister, the Control Window, and the Color Editor. These are the tools you use to create and edit the environment, shaders, textures, and lights. You can also use these tools to help you:

See Dynamics on page 281.

• animate objects realistically, using dynamics, by defining their physical properties and then creating forces which act upon them

See Particles on page 285.

• create effects like smoke, fire, explosions, water, rain, snow, sweat, grass, or hair using particles

See Warps on page 311.

• deform surfaces using warps

See PowerToon on page 529.

• create 2D cartoon style renderings of 3D objects and scenes using PowerToon

See Cameras on page 323.

2

Set up the camera to render a particular view of your scene.

See Preview Rendering on page 361.

3

Preview render your scene to help you visualize how it will look in the final render.

See Rendering Parameters on page 395.

4

Define how individual objects and the overall scene will render using rendering parameters.

See Rendering on page 427.

5

Render your scene.

See Distributed Rendering on page 445.

If you have a network of computers, you can render different parts of an animation on several computers at the same time using distributed rendering.

See Filters on page 469.

6

After you have rendered a scene, you may want to alter the rendered image, or convert it to another format, using filters.

See Optimization on page 495.

Rendering can take a long time. There are, however, several ways you can optimize your scene to minimize rendering times. It is a good idea to read the Optimization section of this book before you begin the rendering process, even before you begin modeling your scene.

See Troubleshooting on page 505.

You may also encounter problems during rendering. The rendered image may contain flaws, or the scene may not render at all. If you encounter problems, read the Troubleshooting section of this book for solutions to common problems.

Summary of the Rendering Interface

Summary of the Render Menu

Most rendering options are available from the Render menu. Use the following table to access information on its choices.

Render >	For more information...
Quick Render	Quick Render on page 362
Render	Using Render on page 430 and Rendering Options on page 433
Globals	Render Globals Window on page 396
Show render	Using Render on page 430
Abort render	Using Render on page 430
Direct render	Direct Render on page 371
Fast render	Fast Render on page 374
Sketch render	Sketch Render on page 391
Distributed render	Distributed Rendering on page 445
Modeler wire	Modeler Wire on page 393
Polyset prelight	Storing Polygon Color Information in Polygonal Modeling in Alias
Filter	Filters on page 469
PowerToon Editor	PowerToon on page 529
PowerToon Render
PowerToon Export SDL

Summary of Other Rendering Controls

Control	For more information ...
File > Export > SDL File > Edit > SDL	SDL Files on page 437
Objects palette > Lights	Creating a Light on page 226 and Light Types on page 256
Objects palette > Warp	Warps Overview on page 312
DisplayTgls > ObjectToggles > Lights	Creating a Light on page 226
DisplayTgls > Render Toggles > Particles	Using Particles on page 286
DisplayTgls > Render Toggles > Warps	Displaying Warped Surfaces on page 317
Windows > Multi-lister	Multi-lister on page 9
Windows > Edit > Cameras	Camera Editor on page 333
Windows > Edit > Light links	Linking a Light on page 229
Windows > Information > Render stats	Render Stats Window on page 419