--- title: "Render Elements" canonical: "https://documentation.chaos.com/space/VMAYA/111738952/Render%20Elements" format: markdown --- This page discusses render elements in general, with links to sub-groups of render elements. Overview Render Elements are a way to break out renders into their component parts such as diffuse color, reflections, shadows, mattes, etc. This gives fine control over the final image when using compositing or image editing applications to reassemble the component elements. Render elements are also sometimes known as render passes . Render elements appear in the V-Ray Frame Buffer (VFB) and can be viewed from the drop-down at the upper left corner of the VFB. They can also be saved out of the VFB as many common file formats. Render elements are generated at render time based on the user's selection before rendering. Most render elements have parameters that can be customized to further assist the composting process. These parameters are described on each render element's individual page, along with common uses and any notes on their generation and usage. V-Ray supports the built-in Maya Render Elements User Interface. However, V-Ray provides its own render elements and does not support the standard render elements implemented in Maya. Therefore standard Maya render elements will not work with V-Ray, and vice-versa. The list of render elements that are supported by V-Ray can be found on the List of Supported Render Elements section below. All render elements support native V-Ray materials. Some render elements also support standard Maya materials, and these are noted on the Supported Render Elements page as well. When using the V-Ray frame buffer, V-Ray will write render elements only if you specify either one of the V-Ray raw image file outputs or the Separate render channels options. If you want to specify the render elements outputs using the Maya Render Output field or using the output options of the various render elements, then you have to disable the V-Ray frame buffer. ||Display Render Settings button|| > Render Elements tab To use render elements, select from the Available render elements column and click the Add button to add the passes you wish to generate at render time. When you render the scene, the added render elements listed in the column on the right will also render, which can be viewed from the  VFB  window's channel drop-down menu. For more information on the parameters on this dialog, see the  Render Elements tab  page. Render Elements Sub-groups Render Elements in V-Ray break down into four major groups: Beauty Render Elements The Beauty Render Elements are the primary render elements that form V-Ray's  pre-composited final render pass known as  Beauty or RGB Color . These include the Lighting ,  Global Illumination,   Reflection ,  Refraction ,  Specular, etc. Matte Render Elements The Matte Render Elements aid selection masking in the compositing process.  These include the  Material ID ,  Multi Matte ,  Object ID , and  Render ID Render Elements. Geometry Render Elements   The Geometry Render Elements rely on geometry to generate geometry data for the compositing  process. These include the  Velocity ,  Z-Depth , and  Normals  Render Elements.   Utility Render Elements The Utility Render Elements give insight into how V-Ray is running and extra functionality for compositing.  These include the  Distributed Render ID ,  Sample Rate ,  Denoiser ,  Extra texture , etc. List of Supported Render Elements The following render elements are supported by V-Ray. All render elements support native V-Ray materials while some render elements support standard Maya materials, as noted in the table below. In order to render a correct Raw render pass, you need to also render the corresponding main element and filter. For example, Raw Reflection will require you to render Reflection and Reflection filter . For Raw GI , you need GI and Diffuse , etc. Render element Maya node name Color Depth of EXR floating-point channels * Description Atmospheric Effects vrayRE_Atmospheric_Effects 16bit/32bit Atmospheric effects, such as Environment Fog. Back to Beauty – 16bit/32bit Expands as all beauty elements for the actual rendering. Background vrayRE_Background 16bit/32bit Image background, such as any Background Texture specified in the Environment overrides . Bump Normals vrayRE_BumpNormals 16bit/32bit Normals generated by bump maps, in screen space (which is not the same as camera space). Use the VRaySamplerInfo utility texture node to get the normals in camera, world or object space. Caustics vrayRE_Caustics 16bit/32bit The caustics on the material. These caustics are present only when the Caustics option of V-Ray is enabled. This channel does not include GI caustics. Coat Specular vrayRE_Coat 16bit/32bit Direct surface specular highlights coming from the VRayMtl Coat layer used in the scene. Coat Filter vrayRE_Coat_Filter 16bit/32bit Reflection filter for VRayMtl Coat layer. Coat Glossiness vrayRE_Coat_Glossiness 16bit/32bit Returns a float value that corresponds with the Coat Glossiness value of the VRayMtl Coat layer. Coat Reflection vrayRE_Coat_Reflection 16bit/32bit Indirect reflections coming from the Coat layers of VRayMtl used in the scene. Coverage vrayRE_Coverage 16bit/32bit For each pixel, the final values for the render element are taken from the object that makes the largest contribution to that pixel. Cryptomatte vrayRE_Cryptomatte forced 32bit (for multi-channel files) Uses the Cryptomatte convention by Psypop to encode mattes into multichannel OpenEXRs. Custom Color vrayRE_Custom_Color 16bit/32bit A generic render element container. Use the Alias value to specify which render element it should be used as. DR Bucket vrayRE_DR_Bucket 16bit/32bit Identifies the render node responsible for rendering a bucket during distributed rendering . Diffuse vrayRE_Diffuse 16bit/32bit Pure diffuse surface color. Denoiser vrayRE_Denoiser 16bit/32bit Applies a denoising operation to the image after it is rendered (with the necessary channels). Enhancer Data vrayRE_Enhancer_Data 16bit/32bit Contains three render channels: MaterialID, ObjectID, and depth. These channels are automatically generated and are necessary for accurate AI-based image enhancement using the Chaos AI Enhancer tool . Extra Texture vrayRE_Extra_Tex forced 32bit (optional for multi-channel files) Renders the entire scene with a single defined texture mapped on all objects. Global Illumination (GI) vrayRE_GI 16bit/32bit The diffuse surface global illumination. Only present if Global illumination is enabled. Gaussian Splats vrayRE_Gaussian_Splats 16bit/32bit Isolates the VRayGaussianSplat geometry in the scene. LightMix vrayRE_Light_Mix 16bit/32bit Adjusts intensity and color of lights and light emitting materials during and after render directly from the VFB. Light Select vrayRE_Light_Select 16bit/32bit Extracts the contribution of a user-defined light or a set of lights in the scene as a separate render element. Light Path Expressions vrayRE_Light_Select – A tool for extracting specific lighting events from the scene to a separate channel. Lighting vrayRE_Lighting 16bit/32bit Diffuse direct surface lighting. Lightning Analysis vrayRE_Lightning_Analysis 16bit/32bit Provides visual representation of the lighting intensity within a rendered frame. Material ID vrayRE_Material_ID – Material ID of scene objects. Material Select vrayRE_Material_Select 16bit/32bit Renders only the object(s) assigned to a user-specified V-Ray compatible material. The material can be a top-level material or a sub-material of a VRayBlendMtl . Matte Shadow vrayRE_Matte_shadow 16bit/32bit Matte shadow part of the image. Metalness vrayRE_Metalness 16bit/32bit Creates a black and white image, which can be used as a metalness mask when creating PBR shaders. Multi Matte vrayRE_Multi_Matte 16bit/32bit Creates selection masks based on an object ID or material ID . Multi Matte ID vrayRE_Multi_Matte_ID 16bit/32bit Returns an integer value in the image that corresponds to the value of the object's multiMatte ID #. Noise Level vrayRE_Noise_Level 16bit/32bit Creates a monochromatic image showing the amount of noise in the render. Normals vrayRE_Normals 16bit/32bit Surface normals in camera space. To output the normals in screen/object/world space, use Maya's Sampler Info utility texture node. Object ID vrayRE_Object_ID – Returns solid un-shaded colors to represent a numerical identifiers set through that object's Attributes, Object Property, or assigned material. Useful for selection masks. EXR s and .vrimg formats store as integer values. Object Select vrayRE_Object_select 16bit/32bit Renders only the object(s) called out with a specific Object or Material ID. This effect is reversible to create a render element that excludes a particular object or objects according to Object or Material ID. Raw Coat Filter vrayRE_Raw_Coat_Filter 16bit/32bit Creates a solid mask showing the areas of reflection in the Coat layer without being affected by Fresnel. Raw Coat Reflection vrayRE_Raw_Coat_Reflection 16bit/32bit Pure surface indirect reflection from a VRayMtl Coat layer before it is multiplied by the reflection filter color. Raw Diffuse Filter vrayRE_Raw_Diffuse_Filter 16bit/32bit A solid mask of raw diffuse surface color information not affected by fresnel falloff. Raw GI vrayRE_Raw_GI 16bit/32bit Raw diffuse global illumination (not multiplied by the diffuse surface color). Only present if Global illumination is enabled. Raw Light vrayRE_Raw_Light 16bit/32bit Raw diffuse direct illumination before it's multiplied by the diffuse surface color. Raw Reflection vrayRE_Raw_Reflection 16bit/32bit Pure surface indirect reflection before it is multiplied by the reflection filter color. Raw Reflection Filter vrayRE_Raw_Reflection_Filter 16bit/32bit A solid mask of raw reflection information not affected by fresnel falloff. Raw Refraction vrayRE_Raw_Refraction 16bit/32bit Pure surface refraction before it is multiplied by the refraction filter color. Raw Refraction Filter vrayRE_Raw_Refraction_Filter 16bit/32bit A solid mask of raw refraction information not affected by fresnel falloff. Raw Shadow vrayRE_Raw_Shadow 16bit/32bit Raw light blocked by other objects. Raw Sheen Filter vrayRE_Raw_Sheen_Filter 16bit/32bit Holds information similar to Sheen Filter RE, but without being affected by Fresnel. Raw Sheen Reflection vrayRE_Raw_Sheen_Reflection 16bit/32bit Pure surface indirect reflection from a VRayMtl Sheen layer before it is multiplied by the reflection filter color. Raw Total Light vrayRE_Raw_Total_Light 16bit/32bit Sum of all raw lighting, both direct and indirect. Reflect IOR vrayRE_Reflect_IOR 16bit/32bit Stores floating-point information that corresponds to the Fresnel IOR values of scene objects' materials. Reflection vrayRE_Reflection 16bit/32bit All indirect reflections from a surface. Reflection Filter vrayRE_Reflection_Filter 16bit/32bit Reflection filter (the color by which the raw reflections are multiplied to give the final surface reflection). This may be considered an alpha channel for reflections. Reflection Glossiness vrayRE_Reflection_glossiness 16bit/32bit Returns a float value that corresponds with the Reflection Glossiness value of an object's material. Refraction vrayRE_Refraction 16bit/32bit Refractions through a surface. Refraction Filter vrayRE_Refraction_Filter 16bit/32bit The refraction filter mitigates the raw refraction layer. This render element returns the color by which the raw refractions are multiplied to give the final surface refraction. This may be considered an alpha channel for refractions. Refraction Glossiness vrayRE_Refraction_glossiness 16bit/32bit Returns a float value that corresponds to the Refraction Glossiness value of an object's material. Render ID vrayRE_Render_ID – Node render ID of the object that contributes most to the pixel value. Render Time vrayRE_Render_Time 16bit/32bit Shows a floating-point number for each pixel's render time measured in milliseconds. SSS vrayRE_SSS 16bit/32bit Renders just the subsurface part of the VRaySSS2 material on a separate layer. Sample Rate vrayRE_Sample_Rate 16bit/32bit Shows an image where the pixel brightness is directly proportional to the number of samples taken at that pixel. Sampler Info vrayRE_Sampler_Info forced 32bit (for multi-channel files) Provides information about various aspects of the shaded points - position, normal, bump normal, reflection/refraction vectors and UVW coordinates. Can be used e.g. for world position passes or normal passes. Self Illumination vrayRE_Self_Illumination 16bit/32bit Self-illumination of the surface. Shadow vrayRE_Shadow 16bit/32bit Diffuse light that is blocked by other objects. Sheen Specular vrayRE_Sheen 16bit/32bit Direct surface specular highlights coming from the VRayMtl Sheen layer used in the scene. Sheen Filter vrayRE_Sheen_Filter 16bit/32bit Reflection filter for VRayMtl Sheen layer. Sheen Glossiness vrayRE_Sheen_Glossiness 16bit/32bit Returns a float value that corresponds with the Sheen Glossiness value of the VRayMtl Sheen layer. Sheen Reflection vrayRE_Sheen_Reflection 16bit/32bit Indirect reflections coming from the Sheen layer(s) of VRayMtl used in the scene. Specular vrayRE_Specular 16bit/32bit All direct specular highlights coming from a surface. Toon vrayRE_Toon 16bit/32bit Stores results of V-Ray Toon rendering effect. Toon Specular vrayRE_Toon_Specular 16bit/32bit Stores Toon Specular reflection (highlights) information calculated from the VRayToonMtl. Total Light vrayRE_Total_Light 16bit/32bit Total lighting in the scene, both direct and indirect. Velocity vrayRE_Velocity 16bit/32bit Surface velocity of an object. This render element is useful for generating motion blur in post-production. Z-depth vrayRE_Z_depth forced 32bit (for multi-channel files) Z-depth of surfaces in the scene. VRScans Paint Mask vrayRE_VRScans_Paint_Mask 16bit/32bit Allows color changes to a V-Ray Scanned Material in compositing. VRScans Zone Mask vrayRE_VRScans_Zone_Mask 16bit/32bit Shows the zone that is a map of the sub-materials. The rendered image is monochrome. The white color specifies the selected zone, whereas the black color specifies the other parts of the image. * For all image formats except EXR the render elements depend on their respective channels' output settings. Notes V-Ray always anti-aliases with respect to the RGB Color channel. Therefore, other channels may appear jagged or noisy in areas where V-Ray has placed fewer samples. Render elements will render in Distributed Rendering mode. Render elements require additional storage when rendering and thus increase the amount of RAM used during rendering. When rendering to the V-Ray VFB , you can reduce this by rendering directly to a . vrimg file on disk and not storing the final image in memory. Render elements may slow down the final image rendering a little bit, depending on the number of elements that are selected. They have no effect on GI/reflection, etc. calculations. Since V-Ray Next, the Reflection Hilight Glossiness has been removed from the UI as it can no longer be controlled separately from the Reflection Glossiness in VRayMtl. As there will be no difference between the Reflection Hilight Glossiness Render Element and the Reflection Glossiness one, the Reflection Hilight Glossiness Render Element is no longer available. When selecting the Affect All channels option of VRayMtl/VRayToonMtl,  be aware that the information of the respective component will affect all render elements, therefore the Back to Beauty composition will not match the RGB result from the renderer. The Render Time render element is always forced to be stored as a 32-bit channel when saving V-Ray raw image file (OpenEXR).