8

SuperSampling Rollout 1303
In 3ds Max the default is to apply a single
supersampling method to all materials in the
scene. This feature g ives you more control over
your scen es, especially larger models that make
useofmanymaterials,bylettingyoucontrolthe
supersampling at a global level from the Rendering
dialog. You can override this locally by turning
off Use Global Settings. It also g ives you fi le
compatibility and workflow replication with DRF
files imported from VIZ Render.
Note: SuperSamplingsettingsareignoredbythe
mental ray Renderer (page 3–77) ,whichhasits
own sampling method.
Use supersampling when you notice art ifac ts in
your final renderings. For example, a thin bump
map might produce scintillating, jagged bumps
that supersampling can correct. Supersampling
requires considerably more time to render,
although it does not necessarily require any
additional RAM.
Note: Supersampling is not processed when
you turn off Antialiasing in the production
renderer (page 3–27) . You can also globally
disable supersampling for all materials using the
parameters for the
default scanline renderer (page
3–37)
. Globally disabling supersampling can
speed up test renderings.
Supersampling uses sm aller sampl ing points, and returns
averaged values to increase the antialiasing effect.
Supersampling and Antialiasing
Supersamplingisoneofseveralantialiasing
techniques. Textures, shadows, hi g hlights, and
raytraced reflect ions and refrac t ions all have
their ow n preliminary antialiasing strategies.
Supersampling is an additional step that provides
a "best guess" color for each rendered pixel. The
supersampler’s output is then passed on to the
renderer, which performs a final antialiasing pass.
A single rendered pixel represents an area of
the scene’s geometry. The pixel can stand in for
multiple colors, especially when it appears at the
edge of an object or a region of color. This is where
aliasing effects occur.
When supersampling is turned off, 3ds Max simply
looks at the center of the geometry covered by the
pixel, and uses that for the pixel color.
When you turn on supersampling, a supersampler
performs an additional antialiasing pass
onthematerial. Youcanchooseoneof
four supersamplers. As the name implies,
a supersampler takes additional samples of
geometrycolorinorneareachpixel,inorderto
obtain a more accurate pixel color that is less prone
to aliasing error.
Thesearethesupersamplingmethods:
Name
Descr iption
Adaptive Halton Spaces samples along both X and Y axes
according to a scattered, "quasi random"
pattern. Depending on Quality, the
number of samples can range from
4 to 40. This method is adaptive, as
described below.
Adaptive
Uniform
Spaces samples regularly, from a
minimum q uality of 4 samples to a
maximum of 36. The pattern is not
square, b ut skewed slightly to improve
accuracy in the ver tical and horizontal
axes. This method is adaptive, as
described below.