At what resolution do you render?

[javierseger]

Hi,

 

A client is asking for some architectural (interior and exterior) renders. He needs them for an online brochure, but didn't give me a specific resolution. I was wondering at what resolution do you usually render in such cases. Would 1920*1080 be ok? Is there any standard for online work?

[notamondayfan]

A good starting point would be

 

5000x3333

 

Then tweak depending on their requirements.

[heni30]

Find out the brochure/image size dimensions. Hi end commercial do 300 dpi but 200 dpi will probably do the trick.

[Francisco Penaloza]

Find out the brochure/image size dimensions. Hi end commercial do 300 dpi but 200 dpi will probably do the trick.

 

and here we go with the DPI talk again

[javierseger]

In this case I wasn't asking about dpis. The client explicitly said he wanted it for web use. However, since he doesn't know at what dimensions he wants them, I was asking what resolution should I suggest him.

[Francisco Penaloza]

In this case I wasn't asking about dpis. The client explicitly said he wanted it for web use. However, since he doesn't know at what dimensions he wants them, I was asking what resolution should I suggest him.

 

You can open the print assistant inside 3D Max, and place the final print size of your image in inches or cm. then 3D MAx will translate that to pixels, depending of your DPIs.

Having said that a 5K image should print fine, 8K should be better too but depending on your computer that may be overwhelming.

[Scott Schroeder]

8k is a wee bit overkill for web distribution. This is for the web, 1920x1080 or 2048x1536(2k) will more than likely suffice. How many non CG, non gamers do you know own 4k computer monitors? Heck, even own a home PC anymore? This will be viewed on a mobile device and it may not even be full page if it is part of an online brochure. In web only distribution, you are limited by the resolution of your average consumer's monitor.

 

4k will ensure you will cover all of the needed sizes and cover you if they ever decide to print the brochure, but as I said, 2k is more than enough for what you need if render time/power is a limiting factor. Though you will want to make sure of this brochure is indeed online only or if it will be printed at some point.

[Francisco Penaloza]

Well I thought he said print,...

if it is web only 2K is fine and Scott mentioned.

[RyderSK]

I personally render at 8k because my clients do both print and web, but I've yet to see them upload images to web higher than 2k (and even that is quite rare).

Honestly, when I watch our website statistics, I am bit depressed :- ). 60perc. is from mobile users and almost 80perc. of those are 320px and less. Yup, 320 px.

 

So much for the detail we do :- D.

 

A good advice is to always render higher than you need unless it costs you a lot more time(and money). It's safe-proof when clients come later requesting more resolution than they thought they need.

Personal anecdote: There were few jobs where we worked alongside other studios. When the work was given to printers, we were the only studio whose work was never returned with our resolution (8k) but others only submitted 5k by default (seems to be some odd industry standard, where does it come from ? A3+ 300DPI ?) and were tasked with re-rendering it to higher fidelity.

Yes all these problems wouldn't exist if clients knew exact parameters they will need, but they rarely do, so it's better to be pro-active.

[Terri Brown]

Ok, I know we aren't talking about dpi here, but it's good to realise that web dpi is generally 72, which (correct me if I'm wrong) makes a 3K image more than sufficient. In fact dpi is used pretty much only when printing. Like Juraj said, most guys these days are viewing on tiny screens and a lot of the time spent rendering is kinda lost. A lot depends on your timeframe and how much you are charging your client. If it's a really quick job at a low price it's possible to get away with 2K. But that must be something that you make clear when quoting so that the client can't turn around down the line and demand higher res for free.

 

One of the reasons I render at a min of 3K is that if you ever want to enter any competitions down the line the starting res is usually 2.5-3K. If you have the time and resources to render at 5K knock yourself out!