Small disaster: can multi-pass help me?

[Anadin]

You'll have to put compositing tags on most things unless you put everything in a null object except the floor.

Put a tag on the null and on the floor.

Put the null in object id 1 and the floor in obect id 2.

You should then be able to just render object id 2 and you will get an alpha called object id 2, you could then comp this in.

I'm really sorry, I have been doing a lot of this recently but have just had three very long days and can't quite think the problem though. But if you use object id's and the manual you should be able to sort it out.

[Wilson-3d]

Could be a problem. You could use the comp tags and tell your objects to not be seen and still cast shadows. Group the entire object and just put the tag on the parent null object is the quickets way. Then Deselect Seen by Camera. I just did a test scene with 12 Zygote_Boy models in it with a soft shadow and the render time went form 19 seconds to 6 seconds once I added the composit tag.
Here is where you may have a problem. Do you have an alpha channel in? If you had Alpha Channel checked in the save settings then in A.E. you will be able dump this new animation in under the rendered one and go. If not you may have to take the floor out with a chroma key(if it is one color you can select) If you want email me a frame at webmaster@chrismyers3d.com and I can see how easy it would be to comp. HTH
Chris

Edit: Just saw Andins response. He was typing when I was. Object ids sound like a great way to go but It may not help the render time. I'm not sure.

[Anadin]

Thanks Wilson, you got closer than me, with the object id's I think the floor will have an alpha with a hole cut out where the objects are in conjuction with the seen by camera bit, I did something similar with some toothpaste last week.

Sorry guys though, I need to go to bed now!

[Iggy]

thanks ya'll. I pm'ed chi in my panic and he gave me very similar advice to you wilson. I have tested it and it works very well with a color range mask in After Effects. I tried a few different keys but they left a large edge that was visible. The color range makes it nearly imperceptible. I checked it on over 30 frames of a fly by, seeing several angles and it worked great. I was lucky though, in that I had a solid background color. You can see what it looks like in my WIP thread. It peeled away really easily. And the shadow frames render in about 10 seconds compared to a minute and a half for the full scene. Pheww!! After Effects saved my bacon! I knew there was a reason I talked my boss into getting it!

I'm with you on the sleep thing Anadin. I've had just a couple hours a night for the last few nights...

Thanks for the quick responses guys!

[Wilson-3d]

Real glad it worked out for you.

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