Does filter Forge have by default Antialias 5 samples in all filters?

I have seen that on most (or all) the filters I have seen it has activated the Antialias 5 samples Edge Only

Is this Antialias activated by default when installing Filter Forge ?

Are there any filters that have the presets with the antialias NOT active ?

I wonder WHY is this activated ON ALL the filters when perhaps is not ALWAYS needed and this is very important for optimizing the render speed.

I think that you should be ABLE TO CHOOSE if you want it activated or not as this it realy matters a lot

AND you CAN´T change the Antialias setting as it is included already inside the factory preset of the filter and you can´t modify or update a factory preset

Yes, I know that you can turn off the Antialias BEFORE rendering, but while trying different presets you can´t turn it off because each time you click on a new preset it will be changed back to Antialias 5 samples.

AND there can be a great difference in rendering time

2000 x 2000 Actual Size Mode
Antialias 5 Samples, Edge Only
Ambient Occlusion ON
8.53 minutes

2000 x 2000 Actual Size Mode
Antialias Off
Ambient Occlusion ON
1,50 minutes

Test done with Simple Stone filter with intel i7 2600K 3.5 Ghz

Thanks Carl, good to know that you have taken care of turning it off when it was not needed.

yes it's default to 5 when you start building any filter, if you have added any presets and want the filter to have AA turned off, you have to update each preset manually

... don't you just mean you want anti-alias settings globally instead of locally?

Meaning you want to be able to just turn off AA overall instead of doing it on a per preset-basis. I'd find that a desirable feature.

Quote
Skybase wrote: ... don't you just mean you want anti-alias settings globally instead of locally? Meaning you want to be able to just turn off AA overall instead of doing it on a per preset-basis. I'd find that a desirable feature.

YES, exactly, it would be very good to be able to choose and have the option of turning OFF ALL AA overall even overriding the preset inside the filter so it keeps always OFF if you want to.

I agree that this is a desirable feature

Quote
GMM wrote: Filter Forge by itself doesn't have a default AA setting, it uses the value stored in the preset.

As said above, it would be good if FF could have a checkbox with a AA default settings

1 - Use preset´s AA (this would be by default as it is now)

2 - Use your own AA configuration (if you put 10 AA would be applied on all presets even it is stored 5 AA on the preset)

3 - Turn off all AA overriding any presets configuration (so you if you want to just test and make some experiments that do not need much quality, you could be able to turn off any AA configuration stored on the presets)

Quote
GMM wrote: On the contrary, Filter Editor does suggest a default setting of 5 AA samples. As only few filter authors care to select the optimum AA value, most filters retain this default setting.

Curious that the 5 AA samples setting is put in the Filter Editor and not in the FF normal use, that I suposse uses for the presets whatever AA setting you have in that moment.

I agree with the idea of the default 5 AA Samples to keep the quality of the filter, but I suggest that also when USING this filters presets we could choose to override this settings if we want

Quote
GMM wrote: As only few filter authors care to select the optimum AA value

Well, I would care If I could new what could be the best and optimum AA value in each filter, and how to choose the best setting in each filter and see if it is not needed or it would need a higher one, knowing that this is very important also for the speed of the filter but also for the quality, so there should be a balance of the two.

what?

AA is totally up to you, it's a consideration of quality vs time. I mean sure, there is a optimum way of looking for that one AA setting that works with both time and quality but my point is you'll just have to do it manually. Fortunately there are some rules of thumb.

When you see Jaggies or "edges that look pixelated" you raise AA one notch. If those wonky pixels go away you can stop and call it "optimal."

Here's a example, if your filter has a ton of hard edges densely packing one small area, you'll need to increase AA samples to avoid fuzzy pixels. You can also attempt to solve part of this issue by enabling "Jitter sampling" in your FilterForge Options > Render tab but that doesn't get rid of every problem.

Here are some "rules"

1. If you get fuzzy edges (see post above) and you don't like them, your samples are too low, bring it up a notch until you don't see fuzzy messy edges in high contrast areas.

2. Edges only is a good measure. It's faster than all pixels since it only applies anti-aliasing where it needs to be.

3. Use diagnostics to see what FilterForge is doing so you get a better sense. There are times when FilterForge will do wonky things. The point of "show diagnostics" is to display the data driving the anti-aliasing. If you don't get what you're looking at and what you should do with it... don't bother with this tip.

4. Default settings are generally good enough for everything. 5 Samples, edges only... preeettyy much the best. I've rarely set my sample count above 17 and rarely use all pixels.

5. If it looks good, so be it. There are "Happy settings" you'll always land on just keep that to yourself.

You know you can do AA in post? outside of FilterForge?