Back to beauty comp with 16 bit?

[Richard7666]

Is this doable, or is it impossible by definition?

Reason being, I currently work in Photoshop in 16bit, as I can still get good control of exposure etc AND still use things like the magic wand and various other tools that don't work in 32bit. Currently, I only use a beauty pass.

However, I'd like to start comping my passes separately, so I can edit my lighting pass individually and so on.

Is there a way to comp 16bit passes back-to-beauty so I can still use all Photoshop's tools?

[Morne]

No, try Affinity Photo, can do anything in 32bit without being limited like PS, plus they have some cool Panorama editing also!

[stevesideas]

Think I'm going to invest in that too. Looks great and for that price you can't really go wrong.

[NicoC]

Hi Steve,

You could also take a look at PSDManager. The new version is simply amazing (with several VRay-oriented features) - IMO definitely a must-have in any archviz artists toolset.
If you guys are interested in it, I can get you a 10% discount voucher (for both subscription or full lic), just send me a PM.

[stevesideas]

Cheers. I'll take a look at that.

[dans]

Is this doable, or is it impossible by definition?
Reason being, I currently work in Photoshop in 16bit, as I can still get good control of exposure etc AND still use things like the magic wand and various other tools that don't work in 32bit. Currently, I only use a beauty pass.
However, I'd like to start comping my passes separately, so I can edit my lighting pass individually and so on.
Is there a way to comp 16bit passes back-to-beauty so I can still use all Photoshop's tools?

Yes, you can. Let me explain:

The main problem with render elements (reflection, refraction...) is that they need to be composed in linear space. If you take a high dynamic range image like a 32-bit PSD or EXR file this will always be linear (so no gamma correction baked in). If you display such an image it will be gamma corrected automatically - just for display purposes (like the sRGB button in the V-ray Framebuffer). After Effects, Nuke etc. can do that, Photoshop does that too for 32-bit PSD images.

Your typical 8-bit or 16-bit PNG/TIFF/JPG saved by 3ds max already has gamma correction applied to it (Output Gamma 2.2 is the default). Your image editor or compositing software does not need to do anything special to display the image for you (ignoring color management here). But to combine several render elements these calculations need to be done in linear space - otherwise everything will not match your beauty pass (too bright). Compositing software like After Effects can do this (by internally converting into linear space when combining layers) but Photoshop does not do this (it has always been like that to make it fast).

The trick is to save your 16-bit images without gamma correction and calculations will be correct in Photoshop. You just lack a way now to get the image to display correctly by applying gamma correction (like that sRGB button in the V-Ray Framebuffer). You will find the Exposure Adjustment layer in Photoshop has a Gamma correction option - but it does not match 3ds max.

The just released psd-manager version 4 can automatically save render elements in linear space and add a special constructed adjustment layer on top that matches 3ds max gamma correction. You just need to add your render elements to your 3ds max scene - the blending modes are assigned automatically. Have a look at the Trial version - it should help you do some tests. (Note: I'm the developer) You can also save a 32-bit PSD and compare.



If you do standard back-to beauty compositing like outlined in the V-Ray documentation this will work in 16-bit PSDs. In simple terms if you just combine any of these: VRayLighting + VRayGlobalIllumination + VRayReflection + VRayRefraction + VRaySpecular + VRaySSS2 + VRaySelfIlumination + VRayCaustics + VRayAtmosphere using the Linear Dodge blending mode then you will be fine.

If you need to do Advanced Back to Beauty Compositing version then things get problematic only in areas where render elements have clipped values (so would have values above 1.0 in an HDR image). This problem has nothing to do with Photoshop itself - simply a low dynamic range limitation.

Daniel

[crazy homeless guy]

The only thing that matters at the end of the day is how the pixels look on the screen, or the dots of ink look on the paper. How you get there is up to you.

My most common current workflow is rendering to 32bit EXR's, then switching to Fusion for all masking and lighting adjustments in 32bit, and then Photoshop for final color grade and adjustments. Lately my PS file has been in 8bit format for speed and reduced file size. By the time I get to PS I 80% dialed in and only need to color grade and add additional entourage/effects.

[Richard7666]

No, try Affinity Photo, can do anything in 32bit without being limited like PS, plus they have some cool Panorama editing also!

Will definitely get the trial!
Is there anything it currently doesn't do in your workflow that Photoshop does? One thing I've been using in PS lately is the Camera Raw filter as a one-step shop for colour correction/grading, does Afinity have something similar?
Though, that may not be as useful anyway if I'm coming individual layers.

EDIT: agh, trial is only for Mac a present, they don't have a Windows one yet.