Ray trace-image size


country
 Share

Recommended Posts

I have been able to get some fairly decent ray traces from all the help on the forum. My problem now is that I'm not sure what image size or ?? do I use so my clients can put these images on their websites. They generally have very good quality photos and site pictures and need these images to be somewhat similar in quality. They will then be linked to design floor plans that I also have to supply.

Others want to use images on signage.

I haven't been able to find this info after watching and reading endless Ray trace videos and forum topics.

I am a good custom home designer but these image problems seem to be completely taking over my design time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can set the image size in pixels in the Raytrace DBX. For websites it helps to know the width to height ratio so you can size your image to display correctly. For example, in Houzz the height is usually equal to or greater then the width. The other issue is whether or not the site allows the image to be displayed in a larger format (zoom). If this is the case then you may need to generate your pic at say twice the width & height so that when it is zoomed in on it will still have a decent resolution.

 

Graham

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sherry, here's the little bit I know about such things.

 

Any time you can create an image at a very large size with a very dense pixel count the better the image will scale down to a smaller size. So just make sure you RayTrace at a high enough size to get a good quality image.

 

After that you can scale the image down (make it smaller) to fit on a web site. Most web sites will scale an image to fit but you don't want to send some giant file that will slow down their web site. So, for me, an image around 1200 pixels wide by 800 high should give the web site enough detail to produce a good online picture quality.

 

Signage is a whole different ball game and you need way more pixels to get a decent quality image. Do you have any idea who will print the signage? They can give you more information about pixel density DPI etc. needed to get a good looking sign. Heck you could even ask the web designer what he/she wants to see in resolution and set your RT's to match.

 

Here's a really arcane bit info that might help.

 

http://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/487/what-resolution-should-a-large-format-artwork-for-print-be

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Larry and Graham. This is very useful. I think I'm on the right path and will definitely check with the web designer once my client gives me that info. The sign people will vary so I will just save the cameras and do them on am individual basis.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just another note.

 

DPI - This is often misunderstood. Changing this does not change the total number of pixels in your pic. It just determines the physical size of your pic based on dividing the pixel width or height of your pic by the DPI setting. If you run your Raytrace at a 1200 width x 600 height setting and you set the DPI at say 100 then the print size of you pic will be 12" X 6". High quality printing usually runs at 600 DPI so if the physical print size is 6" X 4" the you need to set you pixel size at 3,600 X 2,400. This however will take a long time to render in Raytrace, especially if you need to run 30 or more passes. Each time you double the Raytrace pixel size the time to trace will quadruple.

 

Graham

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did understand about dpi. For now these will not be prints so I am doing the size that can be put on the website without too much slow down and yet people can zoom in for a larger view. The speed wasn't fast but manageable. Just had to take a longer lunch

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If a web designer doesn't know how to optimize an image for the web then they are a fake web-designer and you should tell your client to use someone else. The largest common size of a 2k monitor is 2048 × 1536. So giving them a 100dpi (72 would be enough actually but rounding up) at 2048 × 1536 should be sufficient for anything. 4k monitors can have higher resolution but its ultra-rare to try and design for people with that resolution.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Concerning the web designer - it's usually not whether they know how to do it, it's whether you want to pay them to do it.

 

Graham

 

I've had experiences where clients use a "web designer" that basically self-taught themselves to use the basic features of a program that created the website.  I put them in the same category as the "1-hour" design guy advertising on this forum.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've had experiences where clients use a "web designer" that basically self-taught themselves to use the basic features of a program that created the website.  I put them in the same category as the "1-hour" design guy advertising on this forum.

 

Unfortunately there are probably to many of those types out there. Goes for just about every field of endeavor.

 

Graham

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This client has an excellent website and just wants to add a new section for renders and plans. I'm sure the web designer will give me some guidance but I wanted to know where to start when working with Chief. This is so much more fun than con docs

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is so much more fun than con docs

 

The media/graphic design industry is very interesting and there are many skills that are relevant if a Chief user is involved in architectural or interior design; such as proportions, balance, visual weight, colour and many more. I was involved in this industry for many years and really enjoyed it. Depending upon how involved you intend to get you may need to expand on your software. Photoshop and Illustrator to name a few are commonly used for pic and graphics. Not sure about today but QuarkExpress was the must have publishing software during my involvement.  There are special software packages used in website design & layout. If your focus is on the Web side then some understanding of HTML5 markup language can prove to be helpful. There's a real opportunity to be creative, have fun.

 

Graham

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share