Any tips on how to efficently render a HUGE image?

[zapcat]

I have an image I need to render for a client. They want to put it on a billboard which will be 12ft x 8ft & need a resolution of 360dpi. I don't have the power here to do that, but I'm sure others come across this sort of requirement fairly regularly. How do you handle this? I've heard there maybe a photoshop plugin which can help, but I can't find it's name.

Zap

[dennis]

are you sure it should be 360dpi !!?....thats a bit over the top i would think.
if you make your image 1 to 1 ( 12ft x 8ft ) somewhere between 80 - 125 dpi should be enough.
Theres a plugin for psd called something like genuine fractals pro wich handles upsizing fairly well.

[zapcat]

Thanks Dennis.

[Dynedain]

yeah, i've done quite a few prints that large and 150dpi is way more than sufficient unless the viewer's eyes are less than a foot away from the poster.

If the viewer's eye is more than 4' away you can go even lower

[sketch]

I had to render a large file once, 3 feet squared at 100 dpi. I managed to get away by rendering the color pass in VRay (with bounced lights) and then rendering the shadows and reflections with max's scanline. It wasn't quite the same, but it looked great.

[zapcat]

Thanks guys! 150 dpi it is.

Zap

[Da_elf]

150 i would say is kinda high. 80 or 100 would be better. you would be saving yourself alot of pixels

[dennis]

yup i have delivered prints for a 'few' signs. none have ever required more than 125dpi. Most say 100dpi

[cocolas]

we use genuine fractals quite a bit here, and it's pretty good.

you need a fairly good size to start with, but then if you double or triple it can hold pretty well.

I'd say render to half or a third of what your final size will be, then geunuitne fractal that to the final size, and you should ge good to go.
I found that after genuine fractal a pic, sometimes I need to add an unsharp mask flilter to the pic to sharpen the edges a bit again...sometimes the results can be a little blurry.

paul.

[Syclone1]

I used Genuine Fractals on a recent job along with V-Ray for a project requireing a 14'x40' rendering to go on a trailer and it was output at actual size at 72dpi. Here's some images of the final project to give you an idea.

-dave