Billboard Print/Render Resolution

[Eric]

Hello all! I'm about to render out an image that will ultimately be put into a brochure as well as posted up on a construction site billboard (4'x8' sheet of plywood). I typically render out to 10"x16" @ 225ppi for 11"x17" prints. This particular rendering is going to take forever to process, so I want to make sure I don't render too large, but it needs to be good enough to look nice on the billboard. Any suggestions for minimal image resolution from someone who might frequently work at these sizes?

[Charles Gaushell]

Do you know the printer? If so, ask them about their rip capabilities. We know and trust our local printer. I can send a file at 150 dpi and with his rip processing it comes out with 300dpi quality.

 

Hope that helps.

[MegaPixel]

Eric,

 

Since you know your Target Print Size (8'x 4') and Target Print Resolution (225 Dpi), you can Multiply the Print Res. Value against each of the Print Size Value's to get your Image Pixel Size which should come to 21600 x 10800 (Wow that's Big!)

 

I assume you plan to Region or Crop render smaller chunks of the Overall Scene since MAX has output dimension limitations. These Limitations are dependant on Physical Memory Resources and Paging Size including Bitmap Paging if you have High Res. Textures in your scene. But judging by your Target Pixel Dimensions, there is no getting around having to render smaller chunks.

 

I suggest not trying to Render for the entire 8' x 4' Board, maybe something more like 7' x 3'-6"

and depending on the quality of the Plotter you choose to Print this out on, you may even be able to get away with 150 Dpi. Remember that this Billboard is intended on being viewed from a Distance so noone is really going to notice the Larger Half Toning or Diffusion Patterns created by the Plotter.

 

Let me know how the project turns out and how long it takes you to render the Image. Knowing your system specs would be nice too. Good Luck to you, MegaPixel

[Eric]

Thanks for the input. Please understand, I tyically render @ 225ppi for 11x17 prints, as these are intended for viewing at very close distances. What I was getting at was what is a minimum resolution that other people have done successfully for printing construction site billboards, knowing that they will be viewed from a great distance, typically no closer than maybe 10 feet? I have absolutely no intentions of printing anywhere close to 225ppi @ 4'x8'. I printed some test prints out from photoshop down to about 50ppi, and from a distance of about 6 feet, there was no visible pixelation. Also, knowing that I will probably only be able to utilized maybe 75% of the 4x8 sheet of plywood, that gives me a rendering width of approx 3600w x 2400, which is very close to my typical rendering size of 11x17@225ppi. Perhaps I'll render out to 11"x17" @ 225ppi and call it a day.

 

Success stories are welcome!

[Chad Warner]

The printer here who does the 4x8 job signs for us uses 100 dpi for the prints, which look great even at a close distance. I have printed files in house that are 72 dpi for poster size prints and they look unbelievably good...but I think a lot of that has to do with the plotter we have, same for the plotter the sign guy has.

 

-Chad