Can someone please explain to me in the simplest terms possible, what an AOV is how/if AOV differs from render passes/exr layers?
Sorry if this is a stupid question.
Can someone please explain to me in the simplest terms possible, what an AOV is how/if AOV differs from render passes/exr layers?
Sorry if this is a stupid question.
From my understanding they are exactly the same thing.
Sometimes people refer to AOVs when they are actually talking about utility passes though (Like normal pass, UV pass, etc.)
this might help…
renderman does split AOVS and LPES
https://renderman.pixar.com/resources/current/RenderMan/risAOVs.html
https://renderman.pixar.com/resources/current/RenderMan/risLPEs.html
also in arnold the called AOVs
https://support.solidangle.com/display/AFMUG/AOVs
vray does call them renderelements
http://docs.chaosgroup.com/display/VRAY3MAYA/Render+Elements
in redshift they are calles AOVs or render channels
http://docs.redshift3d.com/Default.html#I/AOVs aka Render Channels.html
iray light path expressions…
http://blog.irayrender.com/post/37260056351/instant-relighting-nonphysical-effects
They get referred to as AOVs (Arbitrary Output Variable) or Secondaries rather than layers or passes quite often - but it depends where you work. You’d use Primary to describe the main RGB output of the render.
Layers/Passes are used to break the different objects in your scene into different renders.
For myself, utility passes as a type of pass which only contains “data” AOVs (normals, positions, deeps, etc) and doesn’t contain any lighting or shading info.
Beauty pass would be used to describe a pass which has lighting and shading info in it.