Maya rendering down sampling quality difference at 3k to 1080p.

In the ever proceeding quest for quality I ran some resolution tests and thought I would post the results. The next film we are shooting on Red One MX at 4k but will master at 1080p. I'm currently planning a 3k VFX workflow for a number of reasons, but as you will see from the these test renders the quality difference is definitive.

Click the picture to see the high res difference between the images shown at 100% scaling. If you right click and save you can be sure to see the image at full size. I think the blog will scale it down some if you don't.

The right most image is a 1080p render straight out of Maya. This is rendered at the "production quality" render setting in Mental Ray. So it's not just an antialising issue. The quality just isn't as good.

Rendering at 3k and down sampling to 1080p appears to me to offer the biggest bang for the buck as to quality to render time ratio.

If I have time I will do some over sampling/ render time ratio tests to see if it's better to turn up sampling or just render larger images.

Tell me your thoughts! What do you think of pros and cons to a 3k VFX workflow?

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