© Square Enix © Goodbye Kansas


Table of Contents

This page gives some basic details about the Shadow Render Element and how it is used in compositing.


Overview


The Shadow Render Element is a color image that works as a reverse mask for shadows and can be used to lighten, darken or tint shadows. Shadows can be lightened in the composite by adding this pass, or darkened by subtracting this render pass from the final composite.

The Shadows render element is the product of multiplying the Raw Shadow Render Element with the Diffuse Render Element in the composite.

Note: Specific objects can be excluded from this Render Element by disabling the Generate Render Elements option in the V-Ray Object Properties for the selected object(s).


Attributes


The parameters for this render element appear in the V-Ray RenderChannelColor render channels node.

Deep Output – Specifies whether to include this render element in deep images.

Color Mapping – When enabled, the Color Mapping options in the render settings are applied to the current render channel.

Consider For AA – When enabled, anti-aliasing is used where possible.

Filtering – Applies the image filter to this channel. Image filter settings are in the Image Sampler tab of the Sampler tab of the V-Ray Renderer node.

Denoise – Enables the render element's denoising, provided the V-Ray Denoiser render element is present.

Derive Raw Channels – Generates data in the raw channels by combining the respective color and the filter color channels.

VFB Color Corrections – Applies the post render color adjustments made from the VFB.



Common Uses


The Shadow Render Element is useful for changing the appearance of shadowed areas in a compositing or image editing application. In the example the Shadow RE is subtracted from the Beauty element, resulting in a darker render.


Before
After


Underlying Compositing Equation


Raw Shadow x Diffuse = Shadow

Notes


  • The Shadow pass can be both added and subtracted with the final beauty comp at a composite level without rerendering.

  •  Shadows can be color-corrected using the Shadow element.

Was this helpful?