Is there a way to access exr save settings like this via Maxscript?
Not sure if we have an option for this at all. Why do you need this?
So here’s my situation — I render to VRIMG to keep the full 32-bit multilayer file with all my render elements. I also use VFB color corrections (mainly Filmic Tonemap) to dial in my final look. In Photoshop, I like to have the raw beauty pass on the bottom for exposure control, then layer the color-corrected version on top so I can adjust its opacity and blend to taste.
The issue is there’s no way to get that corrected pass into the VRIMG as its own layer, so I wrote a MaxScript that hooks into #postRenderFrame and calls vfbControl #saveimage to auto-save the corrected pass as a sidecar file alongside the VRIMG. It works, but I ran into two things I can’t control via script:
- EXR saves as RGBA instead of RGB — the manual save dialog has an RGB option but vfbControl #saveimage doesn’t seem to expose it. The alpha causes transparency issues when compositing in Photoshop.
- TIFF saves as 8-bit — no way to set 16 or 32-bit via script either.
I’ve tried fopenexr.setLayerOutputType, saving dummy bitmaps to commit the settings, and poking through the VFB layer manager properties — nothing affects what vfbControl #saveimage actually outputs.
What would really solve this cleanly is if VFB color corrections could be saved as a render element inside the VRIMG itself — raw RGB, Denoiser, and corrected pass all in one file. But even just having access to the EXR/TIFF save settings through vfbControl would be a big help. Something like how output_rawExrUseHalf already works for the raw file save.
Saving the filmic tonemap as a LUT was a bust too, it doesn’t seem to produce identical results in Photoshop.
heh. so much easier to do in in PS. but chapeau bas for for the other solution.
Which Filmic are we talking about?
Understood. You convert the .vrimg to .exr so you can import it in PS, right? EXR-io plugin has an option to “split alpha”, if you turn it on, the .exr will be read as two layers - RGB and A.
Ah, I didn’t realize you could expose the exr options on import in Photoshop by holding shift on import! Thanks that helped a lot!
@piotrus3333 The filmic tonemap layer in the Vray Frame Buffer. I can never seem to accurately reproduce that look in photoshop.
Hable and AMPAS, rendering in linear sRGB
VRay Filmic Hable for PS (csp lut):
Oh man!! Thank you so much! Is there any way at all you could do that for AMPAS? I’ve been trying for years to crack this!
Thank you!!!