Maxwell Render | Official public forum

Good morning friends,

Still fuzzy on the concept of the film size. P. 33 of the Manual says

"The parameters in this group are used to control the size and position of the camera's film. Size w/h is specified in millimeters, these inputs simply determine the size of the film. When the plugin is set to Viewport resolution mode it will manage the film size in such a way as to maintain a perspective match between the Rhino viewport and the rendered image."

We are not sure what this means. For example, if we set the Output Resolution to Viewport does it automatically populate the Film Back Size fields or do we have to enter something and if so, what would it be? How do we determine it?

Thank you.

If you set a specific film size, then the camera must cease to be in Viewport resolution mode, and will switch over into Manual mode. The reason for this is that the Rhino viewport is showing you a particular perspective; that perspective is based on a particular theoretical film size, either 24mm high or 24mm wide, depending on if the viewport is wide/short or narrow/tall. As Rhino lacks the capability of showing you a perspective based on an arbitrary film size, the rendered image will no longer match what is seen in the viewport, once you have begun using a custom film size. The plugin provides you with a tool, the Camera Heads-Up Display, the purpose of which is to allow you to visualize the relationship between any chosen custom film size and the theoretical film size of the Rhino viewport.

The answer to your question, therefore, is yes, when you use Viewport resolution mode, the plugin takes responsibility for ensuring that you are shooting with film which keeps the perspective of the rendered image in sync with the perspective seen in the Rhino viewport.