Decal scale causing poor render resolution

Report · May 21, 2020

Hi all,
I have looked through the posts on this topic, and I'm not sure that I've come to a conclusion. The issue is that my decals look pixelated when rendered. I've experimented quite a bit with size, render, decal file type, etc. to no avail. One thing I am trying to determine:

Why is the scale of the placed artwork showing as 800% no matter how big the placed image is, how close/far the camera is to the object, or the size of the canvas itself?

I'm attaching a screenshot of what I'm talking about, here's the specs of the project:
Canvas Size: 1400x900
Placed image size on bottle: 4000+ px (I've experimented with everything from huge to 2000 px, I understand it is auto-cropped to 2000px)

So why is it scaling it up so much? Is that causing the poor/blurry resolution when I render?

Thanks in advance!

Report · May 22, 2020

why = the image scales to 800% because that is how much the model is scaled... the rest has nothing to do with it i.e, this is not printing

Is that causing the poor/blurry resolution when I render? = yes and no... it has an effect [more so if the image is Jpeg] but other factors kick in like your system abillty to rendor on the fly, lighting etc

ime remaking the model | label to the scale you need i.e, X, Y, Z is the best option

Report · May 22, 2020

Thanks Ussnorway,

I'm having trouble getting much out of your advice - I wonder if you can clarify a few things:
1) You say that the image scales 800% because that's how the model is scaled -- based on that logic, is it right to assume that if I were to scale the model down that the scale of the placed image would decrease? Because again, to clarify, no matter what size the model is that scaling of the placed image remains at that 800%.
2) I am using a jpg, but as I mentioned in my OP, I've tried every file variation and size variation I can think of, so not sure you're helping me there. Also to clarify, it has nothing to do with how my image looks rendered on the fly, it is the final output of the rendering we're talking about here. Lastly, the last line in your reply doesn't seem to make much sense ("ime remaking the model ... X,Y,Z) Can you explain that in more detail - seems like you're offering a solution but it has no clear path.
Thanks again for your help

Report · May 22, 2020

When you print a picture on a sheet of clear plastic and pull the sheet into a new shape your image is going to look distorted... At 800% small errors become huge problems

Scenario:

Your Dimension scene has been build up, you did a test rendor and over all you are happy with the results so far. There is no noise from using custom materials and the lighting etc looks great until you try to add a decal | fill to your model... This is a common problem that new users keep hitting but kiss tells us it must be the model or the image

What i do at this point is test the model first

Test 1 = set the model X, Y, Z to show 'size' and look is the X & Z the same size i.e, is the model round or distorted... I assume you don't have a square face because that would be flat and its generally the round models people have trouble with

Test 2 having cheeked that the model is round the next thing I do is make a note of the 'sizes' so X and Z is 2000 cm + whatever Y is. Then I open Photoshop and load the default template wine bottle to get the label from it... I set the label model to exactly the same X, Y & Z sizes as my Dimension model - export it as Obj - import that into Dimension - place it into the exact same location | size on the scene as my first model [again X, Y & Z settings 'under location' gives you these] and I put my image on the label [hide the first model] then rendor a test

Why = I know for a fact the wine bottle template UV maps are correct... At that location within Dimension it has the same lighting [other] effects as my first model had and at that 'size' there is no distortion caused from stretching the model... In other words the scale [at that size] is now 1:1 and any remaining issues are in the image itself

Its not really cms, meters or inches but the dev team added those abstract options so people new to 3D can wrap their head around sizes