Render only one layer?

[guillaume_lw]

Hello,

The title says it all. Is there any way in Keyshot 6 to render only one layer?
I want the objects from the layer to be lit exactly as if the entire scene was rendered, so hiding all other objects before rendering isn't an option.

Thanks

[Will Gibbons]

Hello,

The title says it all. Is there any way in Keyshot 6 to render only one layer?
I want the objects from the layer to be lit exactly as if the entire scene was rendered, so hiding all other objects before rendering isn't an option.

Thanks

Right-click on the object/s in your scene tree that you wish to render out onto a render layer (which will isolate them to a .png with transparency). From the right-click menu choose 'Render Layers'>Add to new layer.

When you go to render out your image in the Render Output Dialogue, check the box called 'All Render Layers'. Your Render Layers can be found at the bottom of the Scene Tab of the Project Panel. 

[guillaume_lw]

Thanks for your reply, but won't this render all layers ?
I want to create a render which includes only a specific layer (my goal is to be able to render only some objects quickly without having to render the whole scene which takes hours).

[INNEO_MWo]

The a regional render option combined with all render layers will be your friend.

[guillaume_lw]

The a regional render option combined with all render layers will be your friend.

Not really, since my objects are scattered all around the scene and cannot be isolated with a single region.

[INNEO_MWo]

The a regional render option combined with all render layers will be your friend.

Not really, since my objects are scattered all around the scene and cannot be isolated with a single region.

Then I'm sorry. You have to render the entire scene or reduce it a bit with a region and use the regular render layer.
Perhaps you can speed up the render time with other options like ray bounce, sample value, changes in the materials, lighting settings, environment lighting instead of physical lights, network rendering, etc.

[guillaume_lw]

Then I'm sorry. You have to render the entire scene or reduce it a bit with a region and use the regular render layer.
Perhaps you can speed up the render time with other options like ray bounce, sample value, changes in the materials, lighting settings, environment lighting instead of physical lights, network rendering, etc.

Thanks for the advice.

So basically this render layer feature is only useful for tweaking each individual layer in an image editing software such as Photoshop. Why Keyshot doesn't allow us to select the layer(s) we actually want to render, but instead forces us to always render all layers, is beyond me.  Surely I cannot be the one to find that this feature is somewhat incomplete (not to mention counter-intuitive) ?

[INNEO_MWo]

Then I'm sorry. You have to render the entire scene or reduce it a bit with a region and use the regular render layer.
Perhaps you can speed up the render time with other options like ray bounce, sample value, changes in the materials, lighting settings, environment lighting instead of physical lights, network rendering, etc.

Thanks for the advice.

So basically this render layer feature is only useful for tweaking each individual layer in an image editing software such as Photoshop. Why Keyshot doesn't allow us to select the layer(s) we actually want to render, but instead forces us to always render all layers, is beyond me.  Surely I cannot be the one to find that this feature is somewhat incomplete (not to mention counter-intuitive) ?

I can give you only some explanations. Imagine a cube (on a layer) behind a glass bottle. How can KeyShot render only the cube without calculating the bottle and the water inside depended on the bouncing light from the neighbor objects and so on. So every object reflects the light bouncing through the scene to calculate reflection, shadows, etc. And this is the reason that KeyShot has to calculate the entire scene and trim (mask out) the pixels from the layer parts.

Layers speeds up post processing.


Hope that this explanation is right and comprehensible?!

Cheers
Marco

[guillaume_lw]

That makes sense.
I guess what I'm really looking for is a feature which allows me to specify which pixels of the image should be rendered and which should be ignored. A bit like the region feature but more precise than a basic rectangular area, more like a layer mask from Photoshop.

[Will Gibbons]

I think your use of the word 'layer' is a bit confusing. We have a feature called 'Render Layer' which allows you to select a piece of geometry (or multiple, regardless of where they are in your scene) and isolate them, rendering them only.

If you use a clown pass in addition to a render layer, you should be able to achieve what you need, using the clown pass as a mask and the render layer to render out only select items in your scene.

Outside of Render Layers, there are no other 'layers' in KeyShot. If you create only one render layer with one item on it, and render out 'all Render Layers', only one render layer will be produced.

Unless I've misunderstood, I think KeyShot is capable of producing what you want/need.

[INNEO_MWo]

I think your use of the word 'layer' is a bit confusing. We have a feature called 'Render Layer' which allows you to select a piece of geometry (or multiple, regardless of where they are in your scene) and isolate them, rendering them only.

If you use a clown pass in addition to a render layer, you should be able to achieve what you need, using the clown pass as a mask and the render layer to render out only select items in your scene.

Outside of Render Layers, there are no other 'layers' in KeyShot. If you create only one render layer with one item on it, and render out 'all Render Layers', only one render layer will be produced.

Unless I've misunderstood, I think KeyShot is capable of producing what you want/need.

Hello Will.

I'm sure that guillaume_lw want to save render time. And I'm sure that this can be achieved.
To find the solution I have some questions:
- if the "layer part" is isolated from all other scene parts - is the representation correct or do you need some reflections?
   - then scene sets will be your friend. Create a new scene set, isolate the part(s), render should be done quickly
- if the render took too long 'cause of all parts - then changes in render settings, region and the other things posted earlier can help. What are your settings that your render take too long?


Cheers
Marco

[Will Gibbons]

Hiding objects via Scene Sets or simply turning them off will change reflection, light bounces etc.

Render Layers won't reduce render time, but help in isolating parts of the final image. It depends on the end goal.