simple question…render/caps lock

[Todd Gillespie]

Hi Dave,
I will usually do other stuff on my computer while rendering. I don’t use Caps Lock, but I DO close out all windows exept for the render queue to the same effect. Opening and closing windows doens’t bother me, but I may not be getting in and out as much as you. But If I were, I’d probably create a windows layout template, then whenever I went back in, I would click on the template and all my windows would be back up.

Good Luck,

Todd at UCSB
Television Production

[David Johnson]

Thanks Todd. You’re right, I don’t like closing all windows because I’m often in and out of various large projects with lots of comps, precomps, effects, etc. I have several Window Layouts I use a lot for different kinds of projects that I need to view differntly, but that doesn’t help when closing and re-opening all windows for renders. The comps, precomps and effects in the Timeline, Comp and Effect Controls windows are re-ordered alphabetically each time…as opposed to the way I’ve ordered them by workflow and comp relationship (i.e., precomps next to the comps they’re used in regardless of name and with all effect control tabs available).

Someone told me once that putting the render window on top of the comp view is the same as caps lock, but I haven’t been able to verify that with a short test render and trying it both ways during a normal long render would mean not only doing that same long render twice, but also refraining from doing anything else so as not to skew the results.

[Jonathan Pitzer]

From my experience, putting the render window over the video mya help a little but it is not a significant increase in efficency. The video card still has to figure out which pixels to show on the monitor and which ones to not display. Closing the window is much faster. What may be helpful is to save your project before you close the windows and render and then just re-open the saved file when the render is complete. That way, all of your windows will be arranged the way you like them.

[David Johnson]

Thanks. Saving before closing the windows won’t work for me since I embed the projects in all of my renders, which forces me to save again as the render starts. I guess I must be the only one who uses my that workflow process so I’ll just have to keep using Caps Lock…it’s just a pain since the main things I do while rendering involve typing (e-mail, forums, etc.).