[KurtS]

2 hours is a lot of time.
I did this quick test with my scene, using a HDRI this time (one of the HDRIs from Hyltom)

rendering time 15min 03sec, S/L 8.96, BM 52.20:

[simmsimaging]

Looking good!

b

[KurtS]

Yes, I think it clears up pretty fast.

Max: maybe your scene needs some kind of optimization?

[Maximus3D]

That's both clean and fast with a hdr Kurt how's that possible ? i never been able to get clean renderings using hdr and Maxwell. Atleast not yet..

There's not really anything that can be optimized in my scene, it has a subdivided cable mesh laying on a plane mapped with the material and lit by a hdr. That's all there is

/ Max

[KurtS]

maybe beacause I used 1.7?

[Maximus3D]

I'm bumping this thread to caryjames who's looking for displaced cables.. you can find a real nice solution here by KurtS.

/ Max

[def4d]

You carried it to me too, your cables are both really impressive
Thanks for the inspiration!

[jfrancis]

The displacement from the steel cable looks nice over red wizard satin as a decorative border or pull cord.