Menu : EXTRACE

Command: Render:Batch Process

Shortcut : None

This command computes the picture as a batch process. A batch process is a job given to the computer that it completes in the background. You may continue to work on the computer but you may notice a slight reduction in response, especially with Windows NT machines.

After executing the command a parameters window appears requesting, the image name and size. The size is usually different from the size of the window on the screen but the proportions of the new sizes should be the same as the original sizes. For example, if you originally chose a size of 400x600 then new sizes of 600x900 or 800x1200 would be suitable.

The size you choose is determined by how you expect to view the picture. If you intend to view the picture on the screen there is no point making a picture bigger than the screen resolution. If you wish to output the picture to a printer higher resolutions may be needed. For example a typical printer resolution is 300 DPI or dots per inch. If you wanted to print the picture 10 inches by 8 inches then the maximum size of the picture needed would be 10x300 by 8x300 or 3000 by 2400 pixels (this image would require 3000x2400x3/1024/1024 over 20 megabytes of storage). Often you can get an acceptable result with less pixels as the printer software will smooth out the picture.

In addition, you will be asked for the delay before starting the computation. This way, you may start computing the picture at night without bothering interactive work on your workstation.

You may start several batch processes during the same session to create versions of the same scene. However, avoid running several ExTrace batch processes at the same time, otherwise all the computer time may be spent managing the processes, and no actual picture computation is done. Assign different starting hours to each batch process, so as not to overload the machine.