I have read a lot of posts and tutorials but I don’t get it to work properly.
I would like to get a step by step tutorial for composing the render elements in photoshop.
nothing complicated just a basic idea how to get the same result as the rgb channel is.
let’s say we want to comp a Direct lighting + Global illumination + Reflection + Refraction
like
the vray help says their all added, but I don’t get the same result with add. In all my tests I could not rebuild the rgb color channel at all with photoshop.
does anybody have some tips to get a clean composed image with render elements?
if youre comping less than 32bit image in PS, you need to change the PS gamma profile to 1 instead of 2.2…after that the Linead Add will work properly as it does with 32 bit images
To do this go to Edit > Colour Settings.
Under working spaces RGB choose custom and change the gamma from 2.2 to 1
IMHO it is not worth the time to use Photoshop as a compositing tool since it was never made to do it properly. I can’t tell you how much time I have wasted trying to use it as a compositor and it just doesn’t cut it for me. Too many, work-arounds/hacks needed to even get close to the final render output.
A better option would be using Composite from Autodesk. It comes free with Max/Maya 2011. It is basically Toxic. It is a true compositor and will be MUCH more flexible than anything you can do in Photoshop. Obviously, you could use Fusion or Nuke, but those options can be expensive. I use Nuke because it supports multi channel EXRs without the need to shuffle the passes out to RGBA.
I would seriously give Composite a try. There will definitely be a learning curve, but in the end, it was meant to do compositing work.
8bit png with a customized gamma curve to 1.0 instead of 2.2
32bit exr comp (correct result)
realRGB channel out of VFB
@Martin
that wont work, because I only work in linear space in max and not in the other apps. your workaround is affecting the gamma also in the realRGB channel what’s not correct. but thanks for the idea.
@Troy Buckley
I can’t believe it can’t be done with PS. I work all day with PS and it’s my first choice when composing images…
here is my scene, if anyone would like to test it.
I have something to add.
I have made some tests yesterday and what’s strange is when rendering the render elements without color mapping and composing these in PS the result is to dark, what’s correct, BUT when I add a exposure to gamma 2.2 then everything looks correct apart from the terrible quality (8bit)
It basically boils down to the fact that Photoshop still doesn’t do the proper math when compositing images together. As long as you are okay with that then plow ahead. Linear Dodge is still not a true Add which is what is needed to comp properly.
I will take a look at your files a little later today and see what I can come up with. I am not docking photoshop because I do use it quite regularly, but I never use it to composite in because there are much better tools to do the job much easier and WAY faster. Plus I am not stuck with 500+MB photoshop files.
with nuke it works, but that’s not satisfying because it doesn’t work with PS. I work a lot for a photographer and he wishes to get all the render elements on a separate layer in PS. I can’t tell him to use nuke. AND my business competition can deliver a psd file with all the render elements…! that’s bad for me. but they doesn’t render with max and vray.
well I am searching still a solution…
I’ve tried this a number of times, with varying levels of success (and disappointment!).
We use Phostoshop CS2, and the problem there is that you can’t have layered 32bit files. You need CS3 or higher for that. Without layered 32bit files, we have been unable to match the VFB to the Photoshop image.
Shimakaze tools (search the forum) should help, but again, we had limited success I think because of the version of PS we are using.
Mmm. Seems a bit random. The process of stacking the render passes in Photoshop should be a standard process without the need for manual tweeking. This tutorial seems to suggest adding noise removal, levels, colour tints etc to various layers. IMO, this is not the way it should be done.
I think it would be really nice if an exr could be output in the same way as vue does, basically it puts all your layers in order with the correct blending modes applied for photoshop.
There is pro exr which will pull in a layered exr into photoshop or Ae so that may be worth a look
AND my business competition can deliver a psd file with all the render elements…! that’s bad for me.