Viewports need custom resolution

Hi guys,
I have just moved over to a UHD 2560x1440 screen at home and a 4K at work, and one thing that I now would need is an override to set a custom resolution for the viewport.

A 4K monitor is 4x the amount of pixles than FullHD and that requires LOTS of horsepower. So I would like a 1/2 button to toggle on and off, and / or a dynamic swap to half res (or lower) and then back when still.

A half res would also be great for Neon.

Iā€™m sure you know this but does creating a floating viewport and changing the pixel dimensions in object properties do what you need?

Actuallyā€¦ I have no idea what you are talking aboutā€¦
Pixel dimensions in object properties?

:slight_smile:

Like thisā€¦ the pixel dimensions are editable if you have a floating viewport.

Ah, sorry, yes I know I can set the size of the viewport, but what I am talking about is setting the resolution. In the same way we can set the monitor to run at native resolution or a set of lower resolutions, so that is what i am talking about.

Or said differently:
If I need to evaluate the feel of a concept then I want to view it in full screen, at a good frame rate, but I donā€™t need retina resolution. So full HD on a 4k monitor could do just fine. But maybe only for the perspective view. And if could swap to full resolution if not manipulated then that would be even greater!
Is it more clear now?

Yes, thanks. I have no idea if thatā€™s even possible to be honest. @jeff, do you know?

Did a fast search and looked at the first link that covers the topic. With a solution and all.

Thanks for the linkā€¦ I canā€™t say where this would fall in terms of priority given the other display work but maybe it could be a plugin or script. Have you tried to write it?

Thanks, no I have not tried, up to the ears in deadlines :smile:

I think it is worth discussing for the future 4k and 5k support on intel chips for both mac and pcā€™s.
Good luck :wink:

As long as all you want to do is go down in resolution, then this should be pretty brain dead simpleā€¦ However, if you then come back and say you want to render in higher resolutions (than that of current viewport), then Iā€™ll tell you to go pound sand :smile:

I donā€™t think allowing you to specify any arbitrary resolution would be a good ideaā€¦ It should always be a factor based on the current viewport in which youā€™re rendering. Your idea of a ā€œhalf buttonā€ is a good one. Otherwise you run into aspect ratio issues and skewing and stretchingā€¦because the end result will still need to be displayed in the full res viewport (thereā€™s nothing you can do about that, hence my sand pounding reference above ;-))ā€¦which means pixels will be stretched to fitā€¦ So if the process is simply an even factor of the current viewport (i.e. 0.5, 0.25), then I can guarantee proper pixel scaling/stretching and placement, and there wonā€™t be any kind of ā€œpixel driftā€.

I think this can probably be done pretty easily and quickly in a pluginā€¦ Maybe Iā€™ll try something over the weekend.

Iā€™ll let you know.

-Jeff

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Hiā€¦ Just to add my -1.9cents. I thought that perhaps a quick option would be to make a View Mode with View Scaling (Under Other Settings) set to 2 for Vertical and Horizontal, but this only changes the scale of the viewport, not the resolution.
It might however be a quick option for your quick zoom to set a hotkey to quickly jump back and forth between your normal and 2x view mode though? Michael VS

Sounds great, and I agree, 1/2 and 1/4 sounds perfect.

And I promise to not wish for 2x resolution even though nVidia supports super resolution to give a 4K experience on a FullHD screen:
http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/dynamic-super-resolution-instantly-improves-your-games-with-4k-quality-graphics)

I really, really promise!! :smile:

I was really hoping this was something we could do in V6 using FBOs.

@stevebaer
It can, and will beā€¦ I was only addressing Jorgenā€™s immediate needs, hence the reference to doing it in a plugin.

-J

And I love the smell of a freshly baked WIP plugin in the morning :smiley:

If Iā€™m interpreting correctly, KeyShot for Mac OS has a similar feature called - ā€˜Retina button.ā€™

So, if one is rendering @ 1920 x 1080, the window will be super small on a 4-5k without using the Retina button (2x), or, conversely without a Retina button, if the window is ā€˜sized upā€™ to fill the 4 or 5k screen (for visibility/visualization purposes even if still rendering at 1920 x 1080), when the file is saved, the window opens super big when moving the file to a low res screen. This sounds like you?

The Retina 2X button solves these scenarios.

Slick if doableā€¦but there may be some ā€˜gotchasā€™ there. Perhaps OK with an on/off preference setting.

Orā€¦just get a 4K at home too. Problem solved :wink:

I just realized that clippingplanes are one of the items that really slowing things down when the resolution goes up.
Shaded, rendered and pen mode are all super sluggish on high res, but it is not affecting wireframe speed at all.

@jeff do you know what causes that? Is it a per-pixle-calculation going on that affects rendered polygons only?

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I know nothing of Rhino internals, but from other 3d work, wireframe typically only calculates/draws the pixels on the edges, while others draw the faces as well. that takes a ton longer. drawing the background isnā€™t as expensive.

Sorry to necro a 3+ year old thread but is it now possible to down-scale viewports by a factor in Rhino 6?
Thanks in advance,
Sebastian

That is possible for the Raytraced display mode in the advanced settings - RhinoCycles.DpiScale.
But I donā€™t know about other display modes - @jeff?