file formats and 16bit vs. 32bit

[X14Halo]

For those of you in the industry, what file format does your company generally render out? We are using 16 bit exr's. Is there a benefit of using something else? I realize that 32 bit has more information in it, but the file sizes are huge...Also, do you render everything out using linear workflow for every project?

[Yannick]

For those of you in the industry, what file format does your company generally render out? We are using 16 bit exr's. Is there a benefit of using something else? I realize that 32 bit has more information in it, but the file sizes are huge...Also, do you render everything out using linear workflow for every project?

we use linear workflow and render out 32bit open exr (multichannel) for motion so all the passes are included in one file and 16bit png for print (sometime 32 bit exr but then we change then to 16bit).

[X14Halo]

Could you tell me exactly what your linear workflow is?

[Morbid Angel]

you only really need 32 bit full float for depth and alike passes. Typically we render 16 bit half exrs for beauties and utils, like zdepth, normals, point positions, are full 32 bit.

[Dariusz Makowski (Dadal)]

Hard to say.

At one point I used 32bit EXR for all passes - I did go mental in post work and the 32bit depth saved my ass a lot.
Then I moved to 32Bit ZIP - to save space (the 32bit EXR was like 900mb a file...) zips are tiny as hell...
And now I'm at 16bit EXR ZIP - and only if I see that light pass is very dark and I will need to touch it up its then I put the 32 bit for it...

[hellobard]

how are you guys rendering out different bit depths on your passes? as you say, your beauties are 16 and your utils are 32 bits. Do you render everything twice or are you using some sort of script to specify individual bit depths on your render elements?

[Dariusz Makowski (Dadal)]

Go to render elements, click 3 dots next to patch to file. Pick ur name, format and format settings.

I save to separate EXR, not 1 massive file...

[Yannick]

Go to render elements, click 3 dots next to patch to file. Pick ur name, format and format settings.

I save to separate EXR, not 1 massive file...

??? in 3dsmax?
DADAL could you show us a screen grab?

[hellobard]

Yeah, I can't find this option either. Is it a nightlies feature or are you talking about 3dsmax?
I'm running the official 2.20.01 build myself.

[Morbid Angel]

This is a maya thread. But in anyways, no we run 2 render layer jobs, one for the beauty, one for the utility only. There is a benefit in that, if you need to change the util, you don't need to re-render beauty and vise-versa.

[Dariusz Makowski (Dadal)]

Hahahah I did it again =D Yea sorry... I thought I was in max section. In maya - I dont know sorry :s

[hellobard]

hmm... sounds like this would be an excellent addition to the Wish List. Having to render twice shouldn't be necessary.
Surely if you're already rendering 32 bit, saving out a 16 bit version of passes of your choice would be a simple operation?

[vlado]

saving out a 16 bit version of passes of your choice would be a simple operation?

The saving is not a problem, passing the depth options for the different render elements from the UI to the exr writer is a bigger problem

Best regards,
Vlado