---
title: "G-Buffer Support"
canonical: "https://documentation.chaos.com/space/VMAX/113575257/G-Buffer%20Support"
format: markdown
---
This page provides information on V-Ray compatibility with G-Buffer output.
## **Overview**
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V-Ray supports multi-layered G-Buffer output required for writing *.rla* and *.rpf* files, as well as by many 3ds Max render effects. V-Ray automatically generates the G-buffer channels requested by the image output and the render effects so there is no need to select these manually.
## **Supported G-Buffer Channels**
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This is a list of supported G-Buffer channels in 3ds Max.
| **3ds Max Channel Name** | **Supported by V-Ray** | **Description** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Z** | ** **[Yes] | Depth buffer (distance to the camera XY plane). |
| **Material Effects** | [Yes] | The material ID. |
| **Object** | [Yes] | The object node ID that is set through the **Properties** dialog of an object. |
| **UV Coordinates** | [Yes] | The surface UV coordinates. V-Ray always outputs the UV coordinates for mapping channel **1**. |
| **Normal** | [Yes] | The surface normal relative to the camera. |
| **Non-Clamped Color** | [Yes] | The real unclamped pixel color, before any color mapping is applied to the pixels. Like with the scanline renderer, this channel does not store atmospheric effects. |
| **Coverage** | [Yes] | The contribution of an object to the image pixel. |
| **Node Render ID** | [Yes] | A unique ID assigned to each node by the renderer. |
| **Color** | [Yes] | The material color for the object. Like with the scanline renderer, this does not include any atmospheric effects. |
| **Transparency** | [Yes] | The material transparency for the object. Like with the scanline renderer, this does not include atmospherics. |
| **Velocity** | [Yes] | The surface velocity relative to the camera. |
| **Sub-Pixel Weight** | [Yes] | The contribution of an object to the image pixel including transparencies. |
| **Sub-Pixel Mask** | [NO] | A bit mask for the contribution of an object to a pixel. The **Sub-Pixel Mask** channel is meaningless when AA filters, depth of field, and motion blur are taken into consideration, which is why V-Ray does not support it. |
## **Notes**
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- V-Ray takes antialiasing filters into account when generating the G-buffer channels, in contrast with the default scanline renderer of 3ds Max. This may cause differences in the way some render effects work. If this is a problem, turn off the AA filter from the [Image sampler](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VMAX/pages/113587190) rollout. Also, avoid using AA filters with negative components (Catmull-Rom, Mitchell-Netravali) when generating a G-buffer; 3ds Max cannot handle layers with negative coverage, and V-Ray ignores those when creating the 3ds Max G-buffer.
- Generating a correct multi-layer G-buffer requires extra memory. This is because the 3ds Max G-buffer only supports scanline-style writing. However, V-Ray renders in buckets and cannot provide the data in scanline order. To work around this, V-Ray stores all the G-buffer data while rendering and then writes it at once into the final image.
- G-Buffer layers are now generated correctly in distributed rendering mode. This means that render effects like image motion blur now work in DR mode too.