Render
From Ultrafractal Wiki
To calculate the pixels that make up a fractal image. The rendered image can be displayed on screen or saved to a disk file for later display or printing.
see:
Anti-aliasing, Rendering Time, Rendering Quality, Setting Number of Threads
also see:
Distributed Rendering Hardware-Software Networking Problems Rendering IFS Raytrace Image Rendering Error Rendering Large Images Rendering Problems Rendering with PovRay
"Cornelia said: I hate to sound ignorant, but I guess I will this time. I really don't understand why you all are trying to render such huge images. I have been rendering my pictures to disk at about 1200x1200 pixels and 300 dpi"
The dpi (dots per inch) setting is meaningless for rendering. A 1200 x 1200 @ 300 dpi image is interpreted for printing purposes by a graphics program as a 4" x 4" file. But, the dpi setting can be changed in a graphics program without affecting the file size -- you could change it to 2400 dpi, and the image would be interpreted as being .5" x .5" image; or set the dpi to 10 and the image would be interpreted as a 120" x 120" image. The problem is, there are still only 1200 x 1200 pixels of information to work with.
What you want to figure out is how large your print will be and multiply those dimensions by 300 *pixels* per inch. For instance, an 8" x 10" print would require a file that is 2400 pixels by 3000 pixels.
When I finish an image that I think I will want to print, I render it at 12000 pixels (on the longest size) by whatever the other dimension is. Then I have a file that is large enough to print at 40" (which is actually larger than I've yet to need, but I'm prepared :-) ) and I don't have to keep re-rendering for different size prints because I can always re-size down without compromising quality. The one currently rendering on my machine will take between 9-10 days. Not all are that slow. Occasionally one will take several weeks.
"they all look wonderful with no sign of pixels and all the detail that I can see by eye."
Fractal structure is often viewed from quite close (unlike many paintings that are better perceived from farther away). I have friends who examine fractal prints from distances of just a few centimeters. For smoother, softer images like this: [1] the number of pixels isn't as crucial as in other images.
I can assure you there is a huge difference in render/print quality of highly detailed images like this:[2] and [3]
Janet
