Compositing layers after each rendering in mental ray/3ds max

[padre.ayuso]

COMPOSITING LAYERS AFTER EACH RENDERING IN MENTAL RAY/3DS MX

 

By this I mean that I can render and then add an AO pass layer to that render (for example) or any other sort of layer that I'd usually add in Photoshop without burning it and allowing for changing those layers within MR or Max itself. Maybe asking for too much, but man is it annoying having to open up PS and then change something and then PS again and then and then... With this method, you can literally have all of your layers in one file and then import that whole file, with all layers attached into PS and work from there. It would be faster because half of my compositing job is done in max rather than having to switch programs. Just an idea, maybe someone else out there agrees?

[datacrasher]

Alex

You can do some Compositing in max but you really need Compositing program like combustion or after effects max is not a Compositing program. If you want layers in PS then they wont be tranfered over to max b/c photoshop is a 2d program and max is a 3d program i think your asking to much of both program i know these programs are pricey. but if you want to Composit then these are the best to do Compositing in but there are a lot more Compositing programs out there that are cheap but you need to find out if they will import/export a 3ds or .max files... . I would do some research on Compositing programs

　

Good luck

DC

[Stan Zaslavsky]

hey guys

check out cebas PSD manager - awesome tool for doing exactly what you Alex mentioned - it allows you to output a range of layers out of max straight into a .psd file and then you can make changes in PS. ao, individual objects as layers, you name it - its pretty powerful

 

good luck

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

Don't forget that Max2011 also ships with a supplemental program called "Composite." You still have to launch a seperate app, but it is a dedicated compositing app. Composite was previously called Toxik.

[padre.ayuso]

Thanks to both. Travis, yeah, I was told afterwards about Composite and I'll have to check it out more thoroughly, as it might just as well do the trick. Also, I found something called Vanilla Seed, which apparently does a bit more and better than Cebas, but at double the price... Anyhow, I'll be checking it all out!

[PiXeL_MoNKeY]

You could always try LPM, which is now free. If you go about a minute into the video you should see exactly what you are looking for. Or simply use the Composite Map and do it all there, just like you would in PS.

 

-Eric

[Cyberstyle]

If you save using the OpenEXR file format that is in Max2011

you can have multiple 'render elements' all in a single file.

 

If you open it in Photoshop you will have each element on a seperate layer.

It uses Floating 32 bit as well.

 

Just read about this last week in a Mental Ray book, but have not tried it yet.

[DanGrover]

If you save using the OpenEXR file format that is in Max2011

you can have multiple 'render elements' all in a single file.

 

If you open it in Photoshop you will have each element on a seperate layer.

It uses Floating 32 bit as well.

 

Just read about this last week in a Mental Ray book, but have not tried it yet.

 

On my current project, we're using multi-channel EXR's to kick out VRay passes (reflections, refractions etc) into a single EXR, and it's all working fine when we open it in Composite, Nuke, AE etc. But opening the still in Photoshop only brings in the RGBA channels, none of the others. They're 32bit and appear to work fine, but I can't get the others to show in PS. It's not a big deal, as I use Composite for mostly everything now anyway, I'm just curious if there's an extra step you have to do to get them opening in Photoshop or if it's perhaps a VRay thing?

[Cyberstyle]

On my current project, we're using multi-channel EXR's to kick out VRay passes (reflections, refractions etc) into a single EXR, and it's all working fine when we open it in Composite, Nuke, AE etc. But opening the still in Photoshop only brings in the RGBA channels, none of the others. They're 32bit and appear to work fine, but I can't get the others to show in PS. It's not a big deal, as I use Composite for mostly everything now anyway, I'm just curious if there's an extra step you have to do to get them opening in Photoshop or if it's perhaps a VRay thing?

I'll have another read through the book (Mastering Mental Ray) and see what it says,

and also try it out for myself on Monday. Will let you know what I find.

[odouble]

On my current project, we're using multi-channel EXR's to kick out VRay passes (reflections, refractions etc) into a single EXR, and it's all working fine when we open it in Composite, Nuke, AE etc. But opening the still in Photoshop only brings in the RGBA channels, none of the others. They're 32bit and appear to work fine, but I can't get the others to show in PS. It's not a big deal, as I use Composite for mostly everything now anyway, I'm just curious if there's an extra step you have to do to get them opening in Photoshop or if it's perhaps a VRay thing?

 

Photoshops native openexr plugin cannot see nested channels at least as of CS3. You can use the fnord open exr plugin (ProEXR) to get the channels you are looking for.

http://www.fnordware.com/ProEXR/