How to get cleaner Cryptomatte in dark areas

[nicolas_fuminier]

Honestly, one of the biggest reasons we don’t do this separate pass more often is that render elements can’t be controlled individually with state sets, and the separate scene method can be difficult to keep in sync.

I like the turn off Lights trick! Does that automatically disable GI as well? I had been disabling GI for this type of pass as well as manually disabling lights.

Been trying to find a decent pass manager for a while. Just never have the time to research fully. Pulze looks promising, but is a non starter because their licensing requires an internet connection to work (last I checked).

We tried pulze as render pass manager (we use it as render manager), but it doesn't fit our requirement (no ability to switch automatically for a matte shadow setup for a layers or a group of layer for exemple).
We had a quite good script for render pass manager once, back in 2018/2019. But it wasn't updated for newer version of 3Dsmax.
We also are looking for a good render pass manager (for film render, not only still frame). If someone find something (I don't even talk about state set ...) I'm really interested.

Best,
Nicolas

[Vizioen]

We tried pulze as render pass manager (we use it as render manager), but it doesn't fit our requirement (no ability to switch automatically for a matte shadow setup for a layers or a group of layer for exemple).
We had a quite good script for render pass manager once, back in 2018/2019. But it wasn't updated for newer version of 3Dsmax.
We also are looking for a good render pass manager (for film render, not only still frame). If someone find something (I don't even talk about state set ...) I'm really interested.

Best,
Nicolas

I use Pulze Scene Manager as it fits my needs almost. But maybe you should try RenderStacks (renderStacks 3.64 - renderStacks), not sure if it can do what you need it to do, but I'm sure if it can't that Changsoo (the developer and admin of the stacks Facebook group) could add it if it's a nice addition.

[^Lele^]

We tried pulze as render pass manager (we use it as render manager), but it doesn't fit our requirement (no ability to switch automatically for a matte shadow setup for a layers or a group of layer for exemple).
We had a quite good script for render pass manager once, back in 2018/2019. But it wasn't updated for newer version of 3Dsmax.
We also are looking for a good render pass manager (for film render, not only still frame). If someone find something (I don't even talk about state set ...) I'm really interested.

Best,
Nicolas

I am not affiliated, but RPManager 7 works up to max 2025, and with a number of farm managers Deadline, Smedge, etc.
I've used and seen this used in production with great success for decades.
If you want complex, you can get it done with it.
Here's the link to their feature page: http://rpmanager.com/featuresRPManager.htm

[nicolas_fuminier]

Thanks a lot ^Lele^
I'll definitely give it a deep look into it. I'm begging for a strong Max render pass manager for years.

Best,
Nicolas

[^Lele^]

It's not something one can pick up and learn out of the blue with a leisure read of the documentation, that's for sure.
But if you have had specific needs for a while, then the software will speak to those quite immediately.