Rendering High Resolution Images

Issue

You received an error message when you tried to render a high resolution image.

Solution

The highest resolution image you can render with 3ds Max is limited by the configuration of your system and will vary depending on the requirements of your scene. If you try to render a high resolution image that is beyond the capabilities of your system, you will receive the following error message:

One way to work around this error is to render the image in sections using the Blowup rendering function and then piece the rendered sections together, using image editing software, such as Adobe® Photoshop. The following steps detail how you would split up the rendering of a 6,000 x 4,000 resolution image:

1. Start 3ds Max and open the scene you want to render.
2. Click Rendering > Render Setup
3. In the Common tab under the Common Parameters rollout, set the Area to Render to Blowup.



4. Then set the Output Size to be half of your desired output resolution. For example, if you wanted to create a 6,000 x 4,000 resolution image, you would set the Output Size to 3,000 x 2,000 pixels.



5. Set the File Name of the first quarter of the image to topleft.
6. Make sure the viewport you want to render is active and then click on [+] and choose Configure... to open Viewport Configuration.
7. In the Regions tab in the Blowup Region group, set the width and height to half the Output size. In this example, you would enter:
• X: 0
• Y: 0
• Width: 1,500
• Height: 1,000



8. Click OK.
9. The marquee will move to the top-left quarter of the viewport.
10. In the Render Scene dialog box, click the Render button.
11. To render the rest of the image, repeat steps 2-10, making sure that you change the File Name each time that you render a new section of the image. In this example, the following settings would be applied under Blowup Region in the Viewport Configuration dialog box:
    
    topleft.jpg / X=3,000 / Y=0 / Width=3,000 / Height=2,250
    topright.jpg / X=3,000 / Y=0 / Width=3,000 / Height=2,250
    bottomleft.jpg / X=0 / Y=2,250 / Width=3,000 / Height=2,250
    bottomright.jpg / X=3,000 / Y=2,250 / Width=3,000 / Height=2,250
    
    
12. Using your image editing software, create a new image that is 6,000 x 4,000. Open each of the images you created and copy them into the new image, positioning them appropriately. The images should line up correctly with each other to make a 6,000 x 4,000 image, which you can then save.

This method can be used to create images of any resolution so long as your system and image editing software can handle the resolution of the final output. Your image size must be equally divisible by the number of X and Y sections you intend to render. Simply divide the image into equal sections and adjust the Blowup settings accordingly.

Note for Mental Ray rendering: If your scene uses Final Gathering, it is important that you first save a Final Gather (FG) map before attempting the procedure outlined above or else artifacts may appear where the sections are joined together. For instructions on how to create a Final Gather map, refer to the following solution:

Saving a Final Gather (FG) map to speed up rendering

See Also

For more information about memory recommendations and suggested hardware, please refer to:

Autodesk 3ds Max - System Requirements
http://www.autodesk.com/max-system-requirements

Autodesk 3ds Max - Qualified Hardware
http://www.autodesk.com/max-hardware

See also

Guidelines for using Bitmap Pager
Saving Final Gather map to speed up future renderings
You want to render an image for printing
Using Bitmap Pager to reduce memory demands of texture references in a scene