SpeedTree question

[raterry]

Hello all,

what do you think is the best way to render speedTree trees? I'm using the trial version (EnglishOak_MD) and it takes forever (40 mins for just the tree at 400x300) using Light Tracer even with minimal settings i.e. 50 rays/sample and it doesn't look right exluding it from advanced lighting and using regular lights, etc.

I use Max 7 and my machine is a dual XEON 3.2 with 2 gigs of RAM so my machine should be the issue. Any thoughts or techniques you could share would be appreciated. Thanks.

-=Rob

[Ricardo Eloy]

I don't think the problem is de SpeedTree... Light Tracer usually takes forever to render even small scenes. Try rendering the same scene with scanline only and see if there's a difference.

[raterry]

There is a difference for sure but my whole scene is setup using advanced lighting.

[Ricardo Eloy]

I understand that, but my point is that the SpeedTrees might not be the problem. You see, the thing about them is that they do have a bunch of faces with alpha maps applied to them (leaves) which will naturally make the render slower. With LT, times can go to the roof. Now, if you really need to use Advanced Lighting in your scene, I'd suggest radiosity over LT. It can actually be faster, even for exteriors, and you have way more control over how things are rendered. Just a thought.