layered rendering with alpha ?
croitorumadalin
Posts: 0
Hey guys, i was wondering if it is possible to render with layers that contain alpha channel in Daz 4 ? And how wold one go about doing something like that ? Thanks
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I'm not sure of what you want to do but that may be what you're looking for?
Okay, this may be wrong (especially for DS) BUT:
When Poser and DS load a texture they ignore the Alpha Channel. Instead, they use their own transparency channels This gives you much more control over how the transparency is applied.
If you really need the alpha channel info, extract it using a 2d program and save it as another file. Use this file for the transparency channels in the 3d program.
I think it would be possible to create a camera in ShaderMixer that could possibly do it. But I wouldn't know where to start. Maybe someone like Age of Armour or Richard will see this thread and help.
If you mean that you want your final image to contain alpha channel information I am pretty sure daz studio has always done this. If I remember correctly, say you want the background to be transparent/alpha channel in your final image, set the background color to black and render your image. When done you must save it in a file format that can contain alpha information such as tif, psd, png, etc. The jpg format can NOT contain alpha information so don't use that one. I always save in png format myself since jpgs degrade the quality a lot. It won't be a separate layer as image manipulation programs understand them, but I believe most image programs can separate the alpha channel stuff into its own layer quite easily.
Wow, just understood what the OP wanted. Greymouser got the right answer. You just have to save to a file format that handles alpha channel. Png works well
This is all true, tiff or png but you will have an outline all way around your rendered image when using these formats. Then you need to sort that out in PS or equivalent.
Surface Mask Creator http://www.daz3d.com/shop/surface-mask-creator-for-ds is what I use to make a perfect mask but with all the Daz Studio updates most functions don't work anymore. But it still works when the option of "All Selected Surfaces" is selected.
Hey guys, thanks all a lot for the replys, and yes i was referring to rendering a final image with alpha channel. GreyMouser69 ho\w would you go about doing that, cause i can' t seem to find the proper " buttons " ? I' m a nubbie in Daz :D.THX
When your render has finished go to File > Save Last Render and choose your format.
But remember what I said you will have an outline when viewed in Ps/GIMP etc. You will need to learn how to remove the edge and because I use Surface Mask Creator I have no idea how to help with removing the outline.
But this outline may not be a problem depending on your final background colour. Oh and just a correction your Background colour in DAz Studio doesn't need to be black, it can be any colour. This can help with reducing the dreaded outline I am referring to.
So there's no way to remove the outline during the render process ?
Do you get this problem with Poser ?
Not that I know of accept from doing different renders like Surface Mask Creator or using the "Defringe" function in Photoshop after rendering.
I will let someone more knowledgeable about Poser to answer your second question.
OK thanks, not what I wanted t hear but thanks :)
Greetings,
Wait, what? I never get an outline around the edges of my renders, so I'm VERY curious what you're referring to...
Here's a shrunk version of an image I rendered earlier today...the background is, of course, transparent. I've also snapshotted a Preview so you can see it against a checkboard. No outline, so I'm fairly confident it's entirely possible, unless you see something I don't?
-- Morgan
Well at that size I can't see anyway...but it does happen and does depend on what colour the background is you rendered with.
ZOMG! Miracles do happen!!!! o_O This deserves a rubber duck render!
There is no longer a fringe around anything even with white background (tested in 4.5.1.56). At least not in PSP (Paint Shop Pro). There is still a very slight fuzz visible in The Gimp though.
Correct, your background color on the viewport DOES affect the transparency layer. This is because the edges of your render are anti-aliased against that color. I strongly recommend using a black background for most work because it's the least noticeable. However, if you know what the predominate color of your background is going to be, obviously, attempt to match that instead.
Defringing tools work reasonably well as ReDave has just learned, but I often skip them in favor of just using a black background (again, this works quite well unless your anticipated background is very light/bright). :)
The big news being that I didn't defringe anything. ;-)
Really? I don't recall any announcement that they'd switched to un-pre-mulitplied alphas, but they may have.
Edit: I can't see anything in the change log.
Still nice if they have Richard. This one aspect was a pain. Defringe worked up to a point but not perfect so if this is indeed true then weyhey good news.
Background color anti-aliasing is definitely still happening in DS4.5.1.56.
Here's the DAZ Horse 2 Mane, rendered over a white viewport in DS4.5.1.56, saved to PNG, opened in PS and dropped in front of a black floodfill.
The second pic is a closeup of Genesis again, rendered over a white viewport, saved to PNG, and layered over a black flood fill in PS.
Rendering over a coloured background and compositing over a different colour the latest DS gives the same results as DS3, so I don't think this has been changed.
It was too good to be true...I live in hope. Thanks Adam for testing that. God it is so frustratung not being able to use DS4.5.
Yeah I know that is why I use Surface Mask Creator so I avoid this issue.
YES you can. I do this often. But BE CAREFUL with it. What I tend to do is render a background, use that as a background image, then render my lit figures over that background image. I've found that works a little better for keeping the figure looking like they're in the scene, and not pasted into the scene. If you use Background Image, you can still preserve alpha channels in your output. So you can save the final render as both a PNG with alpha and a JPG with the background if necessary.
Oooh, what a let-down. Indeed it was just the default transparency background grid on PSP that was playing tricks on me. :-(
Simply inverting the colours gives an awful fringe effect.
Yup, use a black background or a dark gray and you'll get more acceptable (though still fringed) results.
Adam, I'm having a hard time telling if the background image colours are used in the alpha channel... do you know? Or is it always the background colour regardless of if there is an image present?
Should be the image - try using an all-white image and a black background colour to test.
I did a couple of tests, and it's really hard to tell. But I used a pink and black background image with a white background colour. And you're right, it works the way it's supposed to! The background image is what is used on the alpha channel.
What's cool about that is that when you paste in a layer rendered over a background image, assuming that background image is also the set, your figure won't look like it's pasted in!
That will be your solution to that fringe effect.
For those of you who plan to use your transparent background stills on Final Cut Pro X, I would consider watching this video so you can change duration of the stills so it can match the frame rate you want.
Final Cut X Image Sequences (duration)