Rendering options focus on color handling of the environment map. Professionals in particular may be using linear space environment maps, whereas sRGB is more of a common color profile common to assets downloaded from the Internet. If you’re working with HDR images, though, linear color maps may be preferable. Let’s cover this group’s controls and illustrate this point.
Color Maps and Render determines the color handling of any color and environment maps. There are several options in the pull-down. Just to name two, Video (shown below, left) encompasses an sRGB color profile while Linear (right) is best for an ACES workflow . As you can see, matching the render method to the video can play a critical, obvious role in output quality. If your video exhibits artifacts or oddities such as the first example (below left), Linear or one of the ACES options is likely to help. Otherwise, experiment with the options and pick whichever is best suited to your stylistic needs.
Anti-aliasing refers to the process of smoothing jagged edges in digital images by averaging the pixel colors along those edges. The more anti-aliasing the system performs, the heavier the visual processing load. Keep this in mind as you choose from the parameter’s four options: Off, Fast, Production, and Best. Best will likely provide the best-looking results, but it may slow your application responsiveness, especially in large, complex scenes. Shown below are close-up comparisons off Off (left) and Best (right).
Enable MLAA (morphological anti-aliasing), when checked, detects your model edges and applies a bit of smoothing. It can be used on its own or in addition to the traditional anti-aliasing.
For comps under 4K resolution, Oversample, renders your geometry at double the comp size, then downsizes it back to comp size. This generally provides cleaner results in things like reflections, specular highlights, and anti-aliasing. Depending on your setup, Oversample may impact your performance. The following comparison shows Oversample disabled (left) and enabled (right), with our preview at 400% zoom. The difference is most visible in that edge between white and dark.
Shadow Quality, somewhat like anti-aliasing, involves the rendering of fine detail, this time in shadow regions. Geo offers three options — Low, Medium, and High — and each requires incrementally more processing. This example shows the difference between Low and High settings.
Texture Smoothing controls the resolution of your textures. Increasing the value lowers your texture resolution, which may be desired when geometry is far away from the camera or when overly-sharp details are creating unwanted sizzle. The below examples show values of 0 (the default, left), 2 (center), and 5 (the maximum, right). Notice how Texture Smoothing can appear like a blur effect, but only for applied textures rather than the entire model or image.
Depth of Field. Geo integrates depth of field blur functionality powered by the Universe Bokeh engine, but these blur capabilities manifest through the After Effects camera. Thus, Depth of Field needs to be enabled both in the Geo ECP controls, by selecting Comp Camera, as well as in the AE camera timeline controls, as shown below.
Note that the AE camera Focus Distance, Blur Level, and Aperture parameters have a significant impact on how Geo's blur appears.
The Clear Cache button erases all cache and reloads your assets...because sometimes you just have to turn things off and back on again.