[itsallgoode9]

@ LarsMagusson
I don't have clocked results,comparing versions but just I was doing some SSS tests today, and SSS WORKS..it works MUCH better than in the past. The SSS actually works very efficiently (keeping in mind that it's SSS). You are now even able to use emitters as well and it works...even with SSS being***gasp*** backlit with ***gasp*** an emitter! When I tried many many SSS tests in the previous version of Maxwell I had a profanity filled rage post in the forum because I had the same very high spec system, but SSS was still unusable. I tried some backlit SSS renders using IBL and let it render for an entire day and it had TONS of noise still. Below is an image that I'm in the process of rendering with Maxwell 2.5

To give you an idea, I'm using a nearly identical system to you....Identical Processor and Mobo, 12 gigs of ram insted of 24 and the 470 instead of the 480.



It is a region render of a frosted glass bottle with liquid inside (non SSS Maxwell Preset of frosted glass plus a gloss layer, with a small bump map applied) inside the bottle is a modified color of the OrangeJuice2 Maxwell SSS preset. You can't see it in the image but I only have 10 threads running this and not the full 12. As well, for about an hour of the three I was playing Battlefield:Bad Company 2 in the background while rendering (that could've slowed down the rendering even more, but i'm not sure if the game was only using the 2 empty threads). The image is about 85% lit from the backlight, with two front lights giving a couple slight highlights on the glass front.

I feel like 2.5 is like a free processor upgrade when it comes to previewing and SSS rendering--I really cannot contain my excitement after this test!!!


I'm curious if Tom could give us an idea of the system this was rendered on and the time it took, just as a reference point since those renders came out SO clean?

[tom]

Great test and thanks for the nice words.

I'm curious if Tom could give us an idea of the system this was rendered on and the time it took, just as a reference point since those renders came out SO clean?

My renders are done on HP Z600 Workstation armed with Dual E5620. These were not speed comparisons so, I don't remember exact rendertimes but I can clearly say they are between 8-20 hrs as all of them are overnight renders. Of course, they are all raw outputs without any post correction/fix etc. Armadillos were easier to get noisefree in about 8 hours but, I left other 3 for so long just because, I wanted to make sure if they will ever get cleaned with enough time. So, they went up to 20 hours and pretty high SL like 23-24.

[Lars Magnusson]

Cool ! I wasn't aware that the 2.5 upgrade gave us this much SSS improvement!

He,he, my long brake from my SSS-head render wasn't because of performance or quality... I've spent all this time with the RPG's "Fallout New Vegas" and "TwoWorlds2", but now I have no games to play and a xmas holiday coming up....and a much faster and better Maxwell !!! Awesome

@itsallgoode9: Your solution, playing while rendering.. why haven't I tried that!? The games today, even when they say the support multicore, ONLY use 2cores. And I got several to spare

[itsallgoode9]

That's great to hear Tom! VERY happy to hear that you got such good results on a workstation and not a renderfarm! That makes me even more excited about the new SSS

[pipcleo]

would be great if we could get a 2.5 version of the entire 1.7 SSS library as a base.

[tom]

would be great if we could get a 2.5 version of the entire 1.7 SSS library as a base.

New 2.5 presets (you can find them under wizards in material editor) are derived from the old set by eliminations and additions. I'm sure you will also find them useful and helpful for creating your own based on them.

[RobMitchell]

Wow, I had no idea this was even being done. Looks amazing.

[brodie_geers]

..was a little too exited about 2.5 so I only let it run until SL3 before i stopped it and upgraded to 2.5
But that simple test gave me the feeling that 2.5 is around twice as fast with SSS ?

Actually, it was not limited to a performance drawback. There were critical unresolved issues with the subsurface light propagation and now completely fixed. So, you should expect huge differences between old and new. In short, it's like it was broken and now working. (Note: Single-Sided SSS is not affected by these changes, it's completely something else.)

SSS Presets are back! Another great little easter egg. Have you guys put together a list of all the changes in 2.5? I mean it's great finding new stuff every day and all, but it's a bit more like Hanukkah than Christmas

-Brodie

[Half Life]

There is also the new manual...

Best,
Jason.

[3dtrialpractice]

tom: is that yella cube in your examples from new presets?

[tom]

tom: is that yella cube in your examples from new presets?

No, but it's nothing special and you can grab it here:
http://www.fileden.com/files/2009/5/30/ ... //cube.mxm
FYI, it was applied to 20 x 40 x 40 cm box.

[3dtrialpractice]

Participating media (fog) is not something very practical to achieve with material SSS

yes but still i'm rather impressed by the speed and quality in this update:
this is rendered to sl 16 in less than my lunch break on my 4+ year old computer(1 processor)... maybe not a great example as i need to refine the sss to ge a crisp shadow under the ball in the box.. but it beat my expectations when i got back from my lunch

[Half Life]

Yep, I'm still testing daily over here, but my conclusions are that SSS in 2.5 is really everything I wanted it to be... Thank-you Next Limit!

Best,
Jason.

[mashium123]

Participating media (fog) is not something very practical to achieve with material SSS

yes but still i'm rather impressed by the speed and quality in this update:...

i couldn't agree more. i don't remember such a fast sss that is that useful in not "very practical" situations
a 10min render:

[JamesColeman]

I was inspired by Tom's tests to try it myself.

Using the new "Plastic Grey" SSS preset at SL20 (with HDRI from http://greyscalegorilla.com/hdristudio/):



This is remarkable on only an overnight render, a massive improvement, I'm gonna be using SSS (using "Plastic Grey" as a starting base) a lot more in the future.