2008

Dithering
Square on the right shows dithering.
When converting an image with a palette of a greater number of colors to an
image with a palette of fewer colors, dithering is a means of simulating colors
not in the more limited palette, by mixing different-colored pixels together.
Dithering is also a method of smoothing the edges between two color regions
by mixing their pixels so the edges appear to blend together.
If you are rendering for the limited colors of an 8-bit display (256 colors), you
have the option of turning on dithering. Dithering can help prevent a banding
effect in color gradients. Dithering does increase the size of 8-bit files and can
slow the playback speed of animations. You might want to try applying maps
to the flat areas in the scene to see if that eliminates banding before you turn
on dithering.
By default, 3ds Max renders 64-bit color output. Consequently, you also have
the option of setting dithering for
truecolor (24 or 32-bit color) on page 7960
. The Dither True Color option ensures that you get the best quality on
truecolor displays.
7760 | Glossary