Tiff vs Jpeg in mental ray
 

Hi,
I want to know the real difference between using tiff/over jpeg in Maya.
I know that tiffs use the alpha channel and retain image quality. This type of format renders fine in software render but, I can't seem to render them out in mental ray.
When I convert them to jpeg they render just fine. Is it possible to render tiffs in Mental ray?

thanks

yes, my last competition pics have all been tiffs rendered out from mental ray.

Like you say, the main difference is that tiffs can hold alpha channel info, and jpegs compress the image quality straight off.

Chris

I|m not sure, but I think he meant something else...

When images are used as textures... am I right?

The reason tiffs sometimes don|t render is that mr is not compatible with compression or at least a specific tiff-compression. so try to use tiffs without compression. or try what works (LZW, RLE, ... ) and post it :)

greets

Tiff vs Jpeg (round 2)
 

Yes Badg3r, What you said totally makes sense. I do save my tiffs with compression (LZW). But when I save them without any compression, the tiff renders in mental ray. My texture files grew a bit larger as well. (a small price to pay).
If I am not using the Alpha channel and my character will be viewed from far away is it best to use JPEGs?
.....Is it legal to use jpegs at all in 3d? ;)

Thanks for the help.

of course it is legal to use jpegs
but as u said they dont have an alpha and they are always lossy. but the question is Do u see it?

When working with others I tend to use tga or tiff. So from my side everything is 100%.

jpeg isn|t bad but once there is data loss its gone forever.