Remember when it's set to "oversampling" the oversampling is determined by the rendersettings which we dealt with on previous posts. "per-pixel QMC Sampling" is redundant when rendering with QMC-GI.
So we only have the "QMC Sampling" left. The C4D online help recommends to use this Oversampling method for small lightsources so I was especially curious how it works out with the according scenes.
Before improving rendertime/ quality I did a lot of testrenderings to examine how oversampling via materialmanager affects the general outcome.
Here's what I found out along doing these testrenders:
What first struck me is the different result when using Oversampling via Rendersettings versus Oversampling via Materialmanager. The latter will give you a much more defined and contrasty illumination. Pixelsharp shadows are possible. This can result in a more dramatic look:
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At some spots Materialmanager Oversampling appeals somewhat unrealisitc to me. Take a look at the last pic. The area where the GI portals meet the floor there's a brightly illuminated area (Rendersettings Oversampling) that's missing in the Material Manager Oversampling rendering.The "QMC Sampling" Oversampling will give you clearer shadow/ light definition (primary bounce) but it can not make up for an overall low samplecount (grain) that shows elsewhere in the picture (secondary and further bounces). Take a look at the following examples:
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Note the crisp shadowline at the right! This scenario has a lot of areas that are influenced by first bounce rays thus profiting a lot from the Material Manager Oversampling. Even though the lights are pretty big and the manual recommends to use Material Manager Oversampling for smaller lighsources it was faster to render than with the Rendersettings Oversampling enabled.
More in depth renderspeed/ quality comparisons is what we're going to take a look at next.
