Rendering out shadow pass only...

[zuzzabuzz]

Use the Render Buffer View of Render Buffer Export image filters?

[biliousfrog]

the psd export is an image filter, apply it & go into the properties to set destination & buffer export. I haven't used the latest version (apparently it's been updated?) but the psd is seperated into layers for each buffer selected......diffuse, shadow, reflection etc.

It doesn't work as expected & takes a bit of figuring out but it very helpful. You may find that all the layers are locked & cannot be edited when imported.....the easiest way to deal with this is to drag them into a new document, this removes the lock & allows you to tweak. I seem to remember that all of the layers are set to screen which is ok for some but wrong for others.

[jabbermike]

Try this little tutorial for the PSD export of LW
http://www.flay.com/getnewsdetail.cfm?ID=539
It explanes quite a bit.

mike

[MArll]

thanks for your replies.
as usual, i had to hunt through Lightwave like my shed, absolutely baffles me how people are supposed to find things sometimes. it seems this feature is not very well documented at all.
the other thing that threw me was that you do not set a destination file for the photoshop docs. so i had actually exported some images. i just didn't know it!
this is also the bit i am having trouble using the 'buffer export'. i wish there was a clear tutorial out there somewhere on the subject.... When i render out shadows from the buffer export, what format do i save that file in so that it is a mask when i bring it into Photoshop or After Effects??
anyway, thanks again for advice recieved. it helped a lot,
m.c.

[sooon]

there are some discussion on the topic. maybe u can search about in this forum.

well, talking about documenting, me myself having hard time to find some of the features too. but to me i m the one to blame for not going thru the whole manual and secondly, have a short history with lw.

but, just bare with lightwave for a while and keep reading and trying, you will get somewhere and amazed by the lw developer (which i always found some features that i m looking for for long time out of blue moon).

and thanks to this forum too. :)

[MArll]

right...
admirable sentiments... but you are mistakingly assuming that i haven't spent the last two days trawling through so many forums, websites and such that it's made my head spin...
i wil have to buy a good book when i next get some money.. maybe 'Inside Lightwave' as I had a copy of that years ago and it served me very well at that time...
*sigh

[Maxx]

I agree that there are things that are well hidden within LW, and if you don't know what to look for, you're just not gonna find it... But LW is a huge program. There's hidden features in PhotoShop that - as far as I know - have never been documented, either. I think it's just one of those things. Anyway, back on topic -

When you render your buffer export, save that as a 24 bit image (I use tiffs. No real reason why, just like 'em.). In PS, you open the initial render (which, if saved in 32 bit format, already has an alpha present) and the shadow pass. Select the canvas in the shadow pass, copy the contents to the clipboard. Now, activate the main render, create a new channel, select all, and paste. Voila! Shadow pass alpha.

If you're working with an animation, most compositors can handle using the 24 bit shadow pass as an alpha in and of its' own right, so there shouldn't be a problem with that.

It's kinda early, so I hope that makes sense and answers the question. And btw - Inside Lightwave is every bit as worrth the money as it always has been.

[MArll]

yeah, i am getting the hang of it now... thanks...

there is one really wierd thing i still do not understand inspector:
when i open my PSD in Photoshop, all the passes are there, but the whole file is in grayscale only! how can that be??
sorry to be a pain,

thanks again,

m.c.

[Hunter]

Hi,
Don't know if you've seen this but it might help. It is for dfx but still some good info.

http://www.newtek.com/products/lightwave/tutorials/videos/dfx-fusion.html

look for:
Multipass Rendering Using the .PSD Format

[MArll]

fantastic!
that looks right on the schnizzel... :)

[PixelInfected]

better solution is buffer saver from Dstorm, check flay.com.
work well and fast, it allow you to save all buffer, also a lot of buffer that lw standard plug not export.

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