Images not rendering when exporting to AVI

mryantaylor · Post by **mryantaylor** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:39 am

My project has lots of large image files in it. When I render a single frame everything is fine, but when I render to an uncompressed avi many of the images are showing up as placeholder/broken link images.

How do I get it to render correctly?

synthsin75 · Post by **synthsin75** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 4:41 am

How well does it render to a compressed format? The only reason I know of to use an uncompressed format is if you plan on doing compositing. If so, how does this uncompressed render look when opened in your video editor? Most video players choke on uncompressed formats.

mryantaylor · Post by **mryantaylor** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:56 am

synthsin75 wrote:How well does it render to a compressed format? The only reason I know of to use an uncompressed format is if you plan on doing compositing. If so, how does this uncompressed render look when opened in your video editor? Most video players choke on uncompressed formats.

It's not playback I'm having a problem with (yet anyway), it is exporting the file from Anime Studio. Each frame is rendering with some of the actual images I've used (actual cutout characters I've drawn and scanned in) and then some are being replaced by image icons. It doesn't do this when I render a single frame, just when I try to export the whole sequence to a file or files (pngs).

synthsin75 · Post by **synthsin75** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 7:24 am

Have you tried relinking all of your images? Lost links should be the only reason you see image icons.

mryantaylor · Post by **mryantaylor** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 7:26 am

Here is the first frame using the "Render" command:

However, this is what I get when I use the "Export Animation" command:

How do I get it to export right?

mryantaylor · Post by **mryantaylor** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 7:27 am

synthsin75 wrote:Have you tried relinking all of your images? Lost links should be the only reason you see image icons.

As you can see from the files above, it isn't a question of linking. One command gets the first result and exporting gets the second.

synthsin75 · Post by **synthsin75** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 7:33 am

I have no idea. I guess I'd have to see the file and images (or at least a sample that is having this problem) so I could sort it out myself.

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 8:18 am

Your AS file has lost the path to the images. You have moved either the AS file or the image files to a different location, between rendereing one image and exporting a scene.

One general rule: don't move stuff around after you worked in a file. Don't change the name or the place of image files which you've imported into an AS scene. Good practice is to put the AS file and an image folder into a scene folder because this scene folder can be moved around or copied to another drive, but the import paths of mages remain intact.

mryantaylor · Post by **mryantaylor** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 8:54 am

slowtiger wrote:Your AS file has lost the path to the images. You have moved either the AS file or the image files to a different location, between rendereing one image and exporting a scene.

One general rule: don't move stuff around after you worked in a file. Don't change the name or the place of image files which you've imported into an AS scene. Good practice is to put the AS file and an image folder into a scene folder because this scene folder can be moved around or copied to another drive, but the import paths of mages remain intact.

I wish that were the problem, but I took the images above only a minute apart and did not move any files. They are in the same place as where they were originally.

heyvern · Post by **heyvern** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 12:18 pm

I think this has to do with ram. AS loads images from external files. Each of those images use resources. I think maybe AS is choking due to all the images that have to be loaded into ram to be rendered.

Rendering one frame doesn't need all that ram. Try rendering to an image sequence.

If that doesn't work try reducing the size of the images. If the images are huge resolution and that isn't needed you should make them the size they appear on screen to reduce the memory required. You want to have images that don't waste resolution. They should have just enough resolution to look good at the resolution of the animation. keeping in mind zooming and close ups etc.

-vern

mryantaylor · Post by **mryantaylor** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

heyvern wrote:I think this has to do with ram. AS loads images from external files. Each of those images use resources. I think maybe AS is choking due to all the images that have to be loaded into ram to be rendered.

Rendering one frame doesn't need all that ram. Try rendering to an image sequence.

If that doesn't work try reducing the size of the images. If the images are huge resolution and that isn't needed you should make them the size they appear on screen to reduce the memory required. You want to have images that don't waste resolution. They should have just enough resolution to look good at the resolution of the animation. keeping in mind zooming and close ups etc.

-vern

I suspected this might be the case, but was hoping it wasn't since I have 4Gb of RAM . . . there are a lot of images though.

moorsel · Post by **moorsel** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:57 pm

I once had files that didn't render either and showed the simular output you have. I suspected my issue was memory relatedl. I could render the files with the command line mode of AS. Seems this mode of AS consumes less memory and more images can be loaded. Perhaps you could give it a try using the command line renderer of AS.

mryantaylor · Post by **mryantaylor** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 7:07 pm

moorsel wrote:I once had files that didn't render either and showed the simular output you have. I suspected my issue was memory relatedl. I could render the files with the command line mode of AS. Seems this mode of AS consumes less memory and more images can be loaded. Perhaps you could give it a try using the command line renderer of AS.

I'd love to try that . . . how do you do that? (forgive my ignorance, please . . . this is my first project)

moorsel · Post by **moorsel** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 9:22 pm

see this thread in the FAQ section of the forum

http://lostmarble.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1318

mryantaylor · Post by **mryantaylor** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 10:06 pm

moorsel wrote:see this thread in the FAQ section of the forum

http://lostmarble.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1318

Thanks, I'm trying it out.