Farm Scene
3-D Visualization and Render Farms
The term “drafting services” encompasses several activities. Examples are 2D drafting, 3D drafting and 3D visualization. The subject of this article is 3D visualization, and some of the on-the-ground realities associated with it.
3D visualization is the creation of a computer-generated drawing which is remarkably lifelike, so lifelike that the viewer must wonder, “Is that a computer-generated drawing or a photograph?”
The process of 3D visualization creation can be broadly divided into two steps: model creation and rendering.
Model Creation
This entails creation in the computer’s memory of a 3D object that looks exactly like the target, real-world object. The 3D visualization expert uses one or more photographs of the object or perhaps 2D drawings of it as input information. Although the 3D visualization expert will inevitably have specialized drafting skills and spatial conceptualization ability of a high order, he can take hours, days or months to create the object depending on how much detail is in it.
The completed model typically looks totally gray; also, there is no light falling on it and it therefore generates no shadows. The surface colors, lighting and shadows are created in the second step, i.e. rendering.
Rendering
During this stage the 3D visualization expert specifies to the computer the surface finish of every part of the object as well as the intensity, color and position of the various lights that shine on the object. Examples of surface finishes (also called ‘textures’) would be “metallic red”, ‘beige linen” and “green moss”. Examples of lights would be “daylight”, “spotlight” and “directional light”.
Once the computer has texture and lighting information, it pastes the specified surface finishes onto the appropriate surfaces and places lights of the specified intensity and color at the positions decided by the 3D visualization expert. It then draws light rays from every light source to its final destination. A ray could travel from a spotlight to an object, then bounce off the object at the angle of reflection, hit another object, be reflected onto a third object, etc., losing intensity as it progresses along the path. When millions of light rays are drawn in this way, the result is a very realistic illumination of the object and its surrounds, complete with shadows and reflections (this is known as a ‘photorealistic rendering’).
As one might imagine, the rendering process consumes enormous computing resources due to the very large number of light rays that have to be drawn. To render one scene consisting of a house surrounded by vegetation can often10 hours or more on the fastest desktop. If animation has to be created, which usually calls for 24 images per second, a 10-second animation would comprise 240 images, and the time taken to render these images on the computer would be 240 x 10 = 2400 hours = 100 days! Most probably by this time the client who wanted the animation would have lost faith in the 3D visualization expert and moved on to someone else who could do the job faster.
Because of the long times taken for rendering, there was at one point a to drastically speed up the process. Software engineers found, in due course, a way of sharing the task of rendering between multiple computers. This concept did not imply that when 240 frames were required, each computer worked on a separate group of frames. It implied that even a single frame was worked on by the group of computers with a result that the rendering time for a single frame was less by orders of magnitude.
A group of computers that work together for rendering is known as a ‘render farm’.
It was often not feasible for drafting services to set up a render farm in their own office using five, 10 or more desktops. This constituted another need, one for rendering systems at low cost; and just as in the previous instance there was soon a solution: the online render farm.
Online Render Farms
As you may have guessed, an online render farm is a render farm that can be accessed on a chargeable basis from any Internet terminal. Because it is online it can be used by more people than an offline farm, making it all the more commercially viable than an offline farm.
But experience shows that it is not always a good 3D visualization solution. For the one part, it’s not as cheap as one would like it to be (experience leads one to believe it costs $1.50 per second of CPU time).
Another fact is that although most online rendering render farms have online speed calculators which tell you that what takes your desktop 10 hours takes them only minutes, when you actually send them something to render you can be in for a jolt. You have to take your place in a processing queue and wait your turn, and it can often take more than one and a half hours before your turn comes! Whither the time savings?
Conclusion
The motto of the story is not to think that an online render farm will solve all your computing resource problems as concerns 3D visualization. Apparently all the farms are overbooked at this time, and it will probably be some months before enough new farms come into being to reduce the average waiting time to a few minutes.
The ideal solution would be to either have a special arrangement with an online rendering render farm for a maximum waiting time guarantee, or to render jobs on your own render farm (which of course might be subject to investment constraints, which will limit the amount of equipment and therefore the complexity of the 3-D visualization jobs you can render).
The important thing is to embrace the render farm concept and customize a solution that works for you based on the above suggestions. Be assured that such a solution is indeed out there!
About the Author
Lucky Balaraman is CEO of TMG, an experienced creator of 3D visualizations. To learn more about the subject, visit the TMG website page on it at http://themagnumgroup.net/3D_Visualization.htm.
Snatch – Pig Farm scene
|
|
Photo Negative veiws farm scenes $8.00 |
|
|
Photo Negative veiws farm scenes $8.00 |
|
|
Photo Negative veiws farm scenes $8.00 |
|
|
THANKSGIVING-TURKEY & CHICKENS-FARM SCENE-R92469 $4.75 |
|
|
Photo Negative veiws farm scenes $8.00 |
|
|
Photo Negative veiws farm scenes $8.00 |
|
|
Photo Negative veiws farm scenes $8.00 |
|
|
Photo Negative veiws farm scenes $8.00 |
|
|
Photo Negative veiws farm scenes $8.00 |
|
|
2 Yorkshire Staffordshire 10″ dinner plates. Farm Scene. 4405. Hand engraved $8.99 |
|
|
VINTAGE PLAYTIME HOUSE CHILDS JIGSAW PUZZLE FARM SCENE 50’S $5.99 |
|
|
1895 SCENE ON THE DEAR OLD FARM, MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD OLD STEREO VIEWER CARD $4.50 |
|
|
Hunting Scene Coach And Four On Open Road Herring 11″x14″ Farm and Country $19.99 |
|
|
251 SYY Farm Scene 2008 Iowa Plate Buy 1or100 Items Only Pay $4 for US Shipping $5.00 |
|
|
Farmyard scene with Goats and Chickens 11″x14″ Farm and Country canvas prin $19.99 |
|
|
TAYLOR SMITH & TAYLOR FARM SCENE PLATE $2.50 |
|
|
VT-CAMBRIDGE-FARM SCENE-SHEEP-HORSES-EARLY-R64061 $5.00 |
|
|
VINTAGE WHITE BLUE FARM SCENE WINTER CURRIER AND IVES PLATES ASHTRAY HOMESTEAD $14.99 |
|
|
MC204, milk bottle cap, Golden Products Dairy, Soo, Mich, MI, farm scene $5.00 |
|
|
Table Runner Cows Farm Scene Barns Sunflowers Roosters Pigs Lambs 68′ Long $7.99 |
|
|
Farm Scene CHURCHILL Prince Edward Island Canada 1930-40s PECO Postcard $4.00 |
|
|
Farm scene trivet/tile with pumpkin patch & round barn hand painted signed $9.95 |
|
|
chickens rooster hen Farm scene LIGHT SWITCH PLATE COVER any size $5.99 |
|
|
John Deere Row Crop Tractor Pictured On A Winter Farm Scene Tin – NEW $4.99 |
|
|
Stan Spohn -Mid Century Modern California Farm Scene $695.00 |
|
|
Kunstlershutz Sheep W. Germany- great 4 Christmas scene, dollhouse, farm $14.95 |
|
|
Jim Shore RARE version: SANTA with FARM SCENE “O’er The Fields We Go” $65.00 |
|
|
Lot 4 Painted Scene Porcelain Lattice Coasters Farm/RR Locomotive/Sleigh/Paddle $9.99 |
|
|
1910s Farm Scene Postcard Hay Cart Farmers Horses Field Divided Back Unused $2.50 |
|
|
Rural Farm Scene Tichnor Bros Photo Cows Vintage Postcard $5.75 |
|
|
Villeroy and Boch – Design Naif Sugar Bowl and Lid – Farm Scene $24.95 |
|
|
CURRIER & IVES AMERICAN FARM SCENES WINTER CREWEL KIT $9.99 |
|
|
Calendar Towel 1985 Country Farm Scene True Colors Farm Scenes $4.99 |
|
|
1966 Calendar Towel. Farm kitchen scene with a prayer on the bottom edge $4.99 |
|
|
Set of 4 Ceramic Farm Scene Canisters with Lid and Latch. Very nice set $9.95 |
|
|
Country Rooster Cruet Set Salt And Pepper Shakers Gift $8.85 Four clever containers nestle together to form a pleasing farm scene, complete with a jaunty rooster. A colorful way to keep your favorite seasonings close at hand! Includes tray. Dishwasher safe. Porcelain. 9 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ x 7 1/2″ high. – California Proposition 65 Notice: WARNING: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproduc… |
|
|
CK Products Farm Scene Chocolate Mold $5.11 CK Products chocolate molds are first quality, plastic molds. They are durable and reusable. not machine washable. Our chocolate molds are suitable for chocolate, soap making, butter molding, ice-cubes, plaster and concrete crafting. These molds are FDA approved… |
|
|
John Deere Farm Scene Mug Featuring Walter Hinton Painting Turtle Trouble $5.99 … |
|
|
Road to Perdition [Music from the Motion Picture] $10.30 Director Sam Mendes’s much-anticipated follow-up to his Academy Award®-winning American Beauty found him exploring the period gangster film–but with a moral fiber and undercurrent of family tragedy familiar from his Oscar® triumph. As he did with Beauty, Mendes again wisely entrusts the film’s music to Tom Newman, a composer with an instinctive knack for getting inside a film’s characters via i… |
|
|
Farm Country Ahead $10.99 Features include: •MPAA Rating: NR•Format: DVD•Runtime: 47 minutes… |
|
|
Alien Ant Farm: BUSted – The Definitive DVD $6.11 All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed…. |
|
|
East Anglian Farm Scenes PAL [VHS] … |
|
|
Malabar Farm The Dream of Louis Bromfield containing family photos, historic video and scenes of traditional timber framers in action … |
|
|
LED Projectables 11296 Auto-On/Off LED Plug-In Night Light with Globe Projector, Tropical Fish $5.95 … |
|
|
Sudden Shadows Tractor Farm Wall Art Sticker Mural $18.99 Crank up your home’s decor ! These simple peel and stick appliques are great for adding style anywhere without damaging your surfaces. Transparent silhouette image goes with every room color, because your wall color shows through. Re-position and reuse over and over Self adhesive, easy to apply and remove Select your theme…build a scene with two or more Overall Dimensions: 33″ x 26″ Mu… |