Denoiser

[JuhaW]

and Vray standalone.

[andybot_cg]

Thanks for the tips. Glad to know it's as simple as adding the denoiser render element and everything else is automatic. I've got some questions about the denoiser settings - how best to adjust the strength of it. I got a problem in the denoising of a reflection. It seems the reflection got really smeared. Is there anything to do about this?

[vladimir.nedev]

Thanks for the tips. Glad to know it's as simple as adding the denoiser render element and everything else is automatic. I've got some questions about the denoiser settings - how best to adjust the strength of it. I got a problem in the denoising of a reflection. It seems the reflection got really smeared. Is there anything to do about this?

If you are using the V-Ray Material, there should be an option Affect Channels or Affect Alpha.
Two options actually, one for reflections and one for refractions.
Try settings these options to All Channels.

This way the normals render element for your reflecting object will have the normals of the reflected objects, not the reflector itself.
This will help the denoiser "see" that there is geometry detail there and blur less.

Greetings,
Vladimir Nedev

[andybot_cg]

Try settings these options to All Channels.

That's it! Thanks for the assistance Vladimir!

[andybot_cg]

There's some error when using "all channels", the denoiser comes out overbright. Is there some other setting that needs to be adjusted when I switch from RGB to All Channels?

[vladimir.nedev]

There's some error when using "all channels", the denoiser comes out overbright. Is there some other setting that needs to be adjusted when I switch from RGB to All Channels?

You will need to use the Single pass denoise on RGB only type of denoising, the type that works separately on the render elements will not work,
since by modifying the All Channels option, you no longer have render elements that can be composited properly
(the lighting and GI elements have the reflections inside them, meaning the composition will have the reflection added 3 times).

Greetings,
Vladimir Nedev

[yolov]

Do you by any chance have any color mapping set to be baked to the image? In other words, see if setting the mode to "don't affect colors" will help.

[andybot_cg]

Do you by any chance have any color mapping set to be baked to the image? In other words, see if setting the mode to "don't affect colors" will help.

Ah, That works a treat! Of course - the color mapping was getting baked into the channels as well. Yep, checking "don't affect colors" and instead using a LUT is just right for what I need. Many thanks!!

[yolov]

Type=All channels means that the denoiser will try to denoise the render elements and then combine them into a denoised RGB image, unlike the RGB only mode, where denoising is done on the RGB image with the help of the special channels (like noiseLevel and defocusAmount). For the "All channels" mode to work properly, color mapping should not be baked into the render. (sorry if that long explanation has already been posted in the thread, haven't checked. But putting it here for reference on how those modes work just in csae).
We need to build some help pages for vray/blender about this I guess