TIPS
APPLE SHAKE
Phyx currently does not directly offer training or support for Apple Shake. However, we have insights regarding Shake 4.1 on OSX, which users may want to know about. This section may be occasionally updated. The tips and insights on this page are not officially endorsed or recommended by Phyx Inc., and are included on this page for informational purposes ONLY. Use at your own risk.
Issue - Quicktime export
We have found two issues which may affect users abilities to export Quicktime files; Image Resizing and File Names.
Image Resizing
Shake is unable to export Quicktime files of images which are resized during export. A simple fix is to insert a Crop node before the FileOut node.
File Naming
We have found an issue where Shake occasionally renders FileOut nodes to ‘empty’ Quicktime files. The files appear to render, but the file size remains small (33k) regardless of the number and size of frames. This is caused, somehow, by the file name. If you find you that your Quicktime exports are ‘empty’ (not openable), you may change the *imageName* in the FileOut node.
For example: you may have created a FileOut and named your imageName: “aspect.mov”. You go to ‘Render’,’ Render FileOut Nodes’, and Render out your frames-- which *should* be written into the Quicktime file. You then attempt to open the Quicktime file and find that “aspect.mov” will not open, and is approx 33kb in size. You try to Render again, and the resulting file is identical.
We suggest: renaming the file. Use a beginning letter further down in the alphabet, Or, simply name it “spect.mov”. We have also heard/read of users re-installing Shake to alleviate this problem.
If the above methods do not work for you, we recommend you check our LINKS page for more Training and Support Resources.
HOW TO MAKE SHAKE FASTER
(this info has been tested on Shake on an Intel Mac Pro with OSX)
There are several parameters in Apple Shake which you can alter to make Shake more interactive and “run faster”. Some of the ‘tips’ below may not affect the final output render speed, but should affect the interactive speed of working within Shake. Firstly, hardware is of key importance. Adding RAM, or faster hard drives, more processors, etc., all contribute greatly to speeding-up Shake.
1. GLOBALS
Go to; Globals tab
Check the interactiveScale. If it is set to ‘1’, click on the ‘1/2’ button. This should effectively double the interactive speed in working with Shake. The caveat is that you are viewing material in, essentially, half-resolution. One way to deal with this is to make your viewer image smaller. This can be easily done by moving the cursor to the viewer window and hitting the minus key “-” on the keyboard. We do not recommend using 1/2 (or smaller) for ‘fine-tuning’ composites, as interactive speed may be less of an issue after your composite tree is built.
Here in the Globals tab, you can also adjust motionBlur to a lower setting for preview purposes. This will interactively speed-up previews of motion blur within Shake.
Click on renderControls. Click the button next to ‘quality’ to change from ‘high’ to ‘low’. This should change it to ‘low’ (or 0 in the numeric box).
Make sure that maxThread shows the number of threads in the host computer. If you are using Shake with a Quad-core (dual dual-core) Intel Mac, maxThread should be set to ‘4’. If you are using Shake on a new 8-core Mac, maxThread should be set to ‘8’.
You can also change the cacheMode. Phyx unofficially recommends ‘regular’ for most purposes.
Phyx recommends that you review Chapter 13 in the Shake 4 User Manual before proceeding. (pages 343-354). You do not need the paper manuals-- you can simply go to: Help (the top of your screen while in Shake) and select the ‘Shake User Manual’.
2. CACHE NODE
Phyx recommends using CacheNodes to speed-up interactive preview. We have heard reports that
Caching is “broken” on OS X. This is not the case, as we routinely cache trees to disk for previewing. The CacheNode *saves* a tree to image files-- eliminating the need to re-render the tree during preview.
For example; you are keying a woman standing in front of a background. The background requires quite a bit of processing (defocus, etc.). Instead of Shake needing to re-render the background every time you change the foreground for tweaking your key, you can Cache the background, so it can play as if there is no processing being performed. This can GREATLY speed up interactivity as you cache different trees / groups within composites.
Phyx recommends that users read pages 344-348 in the Shake 4 User Manual to better understand cacheNodes. Phyx also recommends that users *renderCacheNodes* when cacheNodes are added to the tree(s).
3. CACHE PREFS
Phyx recommends that you read pages 352-354 of the Shake User Manual regarding Cache preferences, and pages 356-357 regarding customization of Preferences.
Phyx (unofficially) recommends modifying preferences; diskCache.cacheMemory, diskCache.cacheSize, and diskCache.cacheLocation
The resulting preference files (.h files) may be stored in the same directory as nreal.h, or the nreal User directory. Phyx recommends that diskCache.cacheMemory and diskCache.cacheSize be set as high as possible, and that * diskCache.cacheLocation* be set to a very fast HD or RAID array for fastest results.