---
title: "List of Supported Render Elements"
canonical: "https://documentation.chaos.com/space/VRAYHOUDINI/113280779/List%20of%20Supported%20Render%20Elements"
format: markdown
---
This page provides a list of the render elements supported in V-Ray for Houdini.

  

## **Overview**

---

<span style="color: #333333">The following render elements are supported by V-Ray. All render elements support native V-Ray materials, while some render elements also support standard Houdini materials, as noted in the table below.</span>

<span style="color: #333333">**Note**</span><span style="color: #333333">: In order to render a correct </span><span style="color: #333333">**Raw**</span><span style="color: #333333"> render pass, you need to also render the corresponding main element and filter. For example, </span><span style="color: #333333">**Raw Reflection**</span><span style="color: #333333"> requires you to render </span><span style="color: #333333">**Reflection**</span><span style="color: #333333"> and </span><span style="color: #333333">**Reflection Filter**</span><span style="color: #333333">. For </span><span style="color: #333333">**Raw GI**</span><span style="color: #333333">, you need </span><span style="color: #333333">**GI**</span><span style="color: #333333"> and </span><span style="color: #333333">**Diffuse**</span><span style="color: #333333">, etc.</span>


## **Supported Render Elements**

---

|  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Render element** | **Houdini node name** | **Color Depth of EXR floating-point channels**[*](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113280779/List+of+Supported+Render+Elements#ListofSupportedRenderElements-notes) | **Description** |
| [Alpha](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113280717) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Alpha transparency. |
| [Atmosphere](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279773) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Atmospheric effects, such as Environment Fog. |
| [Background](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279766) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Image background, such as any Background Texture specified in the [Environment overrides](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113280761). |
| [Back to Beauty](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279153/Images+Tab#RenderElements) | <span style="color: #999999">–</span> | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Expands as all beauty elements for the actual rendering. |
| [Back to Beauty Adv](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279153/Images+Tab#RenderElements) | <span style="color: #999999">–</span> | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Expands as all beauty elements for the actual rendering, Raw elements included. |
| [Bump Normals](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113280712) | V-Ray RenderChannelBumpNormals | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Normals generated by bump maps, in screen space (which is not the same as camera space). Use the V-Ray Sampler texture as an input for the V-Ray Extra Texture render element to get the normals in camera, world or object space. |
| [Caustics](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279143) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | The caustics on the material. These caustics are present only when the [Caustics ](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279136)option of V-Ray is enabled. This channel does not include GI caustics. |
| [Coat](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113280707) | V-Ray RenderChannelCoat | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Direct surface specular highlights coming from the V-Ray Material Coat layer used in the scene. |
| [Coat Filter](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | V-Ray RenderChannelColor | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Reflection filter for V-Ray Material Coat layer. |
| [Coat Glossiness](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279767) | V-Ray RenderChannelGlossiness | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Returns a float value that corresponds with the Coat Glossiness value of the V-Ray Material Coat layer. |
| [Coat Reflection](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113280706) | V-Ray RenderChannelCoatReflection | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Indirect reflections coming from the Coat layers of V-Ray Material used in the scene. |
| [Coverage](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113281520) | V-Ray RenderChannelCoverage | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | For each pixel, the final values for the render element are taken from the object that makes the largest contribution to that pixel. |
| [Cryptomatte](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113281126) | V-Ray RenderChannelCryptomatte | <span style="color: #202124">forced 32bit (</span><span style="color: #172b4d">for multi-channel files)</span> | <span style="color: #333333">Uses the Cryptomatte convention by </span><span style="color: #333333">[Psypop ](https://www.psyop.com/)</span><span style="color: #333333">to encode mattes into multichannel OpenEXRs.</span> |
| [Denoiser](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279296) | V-Ray RenderChannelDenoiser | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Applies a denoising operation to the image after it is rendered (with the necessary channels). |
| [Diffuse](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279772) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Pure diffuse surface color. |
| [Direct Light](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113280982) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Diffuse direct surface lighting. |
| [DR Bucket](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113281584) | V-Ray RenderChannelDRBucket | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Identifies the render node responsible for rendering a bucket during [Distributed Rendering](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113280777). |
| [ExtraTex](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279761) | V-Ray RenderChannelExtraTex | <span style="color: #202124">forced 32bit </span><span style="color: #172b4d">(optional for multi-channel files)</span> | Renders the entire scene with one texture mapped on all objects. |
| [Global Illumination (GI)](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113280985) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | The diffuse surface global illumination. Only present if [Global Illumination](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279796) is enabled. |
| [LightMix](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279254) | V-Ray RenderChannelLightMix | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Provides adjustment control to the lights in the scene from inside the V-Ray Frame Buffer. |
| [Light Select](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279518) | V-Ray RenderChannelLightSelect | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Extracts the contribution of a light or a set of lights to the scene to a separate render element. |
| [Light Path Expressions](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279441) | V-Ray Light Path Expressions | <span style="color: #999999">–</span> | <span style="color: #333333">A tool for extracting specific lighting events from the scene to a separate channel.</span> |
| [Material ID](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113280984) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #999999">–</span> | [Material ID](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279500) of the object. |
| [Material Select](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113280718) | V-Ray RenderChannelMaterialSelect | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | 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 V-Ray Blend material. |
| [Matte Shadow](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113281120) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Matte shadow part of the image. |
| [Metalness](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113281032) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Creates a black and white image, which can be used as a metalness mask when creating PBR shaders. |
| [MultiMatte](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279798) | V-Ray RenderChannelMultiMatte | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Creates selection masks based on an [Object ID](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279496) or [Material ID](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279500). |
| [Noise Level](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113281060) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Shows the level of noise in the scene. |
| [Normals](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113280715) | V-Ray RenderChannelNormals | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Surface normals in screen space (which is not the same as camera space). To output the normals in camera/object/world space, use the V-Ray Sampler texture as an input for the V-Ray Extra Texture render element. |
| [Object ID](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113281576) | V-Ray RenderChannelObjectID | <span style="color: #999999">–</span> | 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. EXRs and .vrimg formats store as integer values. |
| [Object Select](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279799) | V-Ray RenderChannelObjectSelect | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Stores only the object(s) called out with a specific Object or Material ID. |
| [Raw Diffuse Filter](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113281063) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | A solid mask of raw diffuse surface color information not affected by Fresnel falloff. |
| [Raw GI](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113280983) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Raw diffuse global illumination (not multiplied by the diffuse surface color). Only present if [Global Illumination](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279796) is enabled. |
| [Raw Direct Light](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113280980) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Raw diffuse direct illumination before it's multiplied by the diffuse surface color. |
| [Raw Reflection](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113281062) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Pure surface reflection before it is multiplied by the reflection filter color. |
| [Raw Reflection Filter](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113281059) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | A solid mask of raw reflection information not affected by Fresnel falloff. |
| [Raw Refraction](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113281118) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Pure surface refraction before it is multiplied by the refraction filter color. |
| [Raw Refraction Filter](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113281562) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | A solid mask of raw refraction information not affected by Fresnel falloff. |
| [Raw Shadow](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113280719) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Raw light blocked by other objects. |
| [Raw Total Light](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113281119) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Sum of all raw lighting, both direct and indirect. |
| [Reflection](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279771) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Reflections on the surface. |
| [Reflection Filter](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113280981) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Reflection filter (the color by which the raw reflections are multiplied to give the final surface reflection). This can be considered an alpha channel for reflections. |
| [Reflection IOR](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113281058) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Stores floating-point information that corresponds to the Fresnel IOR values of scene objects' materials. |
| [Reflection Glossiness](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279767) | V-Ray RenderChannelGlossiness | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Returns a float value that corresponds with the Reflection Glossiness value of an object's material. |
| [Refraction](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279770) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Refractions of a surface. |
| [Refraction Filter ](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113281117) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | 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 can be considered an alpha channel for refractions. |
| [Refraction Glossiness](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113281031) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Returns a float value that corresponds to the Refraction Glossiness value of an object's material. |
| [Render ID](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113281529) | V-Ray RenderChannelRenderID | <span style="color: #999999">–</span> | Node render ID of the object that contributes most to the pixel value. |
| [Roughness](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113281061) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Bakes the Reflection Roughness values in a scene, creating a black and white image. |
| [Sample Rate ](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113281116) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Shows an image where the pixel brightness is directly proportional to the number of samples taken at that pixel. |
| [Self Illumination ](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279765) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Self-illumination of the surface. |
| [Shadow](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279769) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Diffuse light blocked by other objects. |
| [Sheen](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279760) | V-Ray RenderChannelSheen | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Direct surface specular highlights coming from the V-Ray Material Sheen layer used in the scene. |
| [Sheen Filter](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | V-Ray RenderChannelColor | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Reflection filter for V-Ray Material Sheen layer. |
| [Sheen Glossiness](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279767) | V-Ray RenderChannelGlossiness | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Returns a float value that corresponds with the Sheen Glossiness value of the V-Ray Material Sheen layer. |
| [Sheen Reflection](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113280716) | V-Ray RenderChannelSheenReflection | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Indirect reflections coming from the Sheen layer(s) of V-Ray Material used in the scene. |
| [Specular](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279768) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Surface specular highlights. |
| [SSS](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113280219) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Renders just the subsurface part of the V-Ray SSS material on a separate layer. |
| [Toon](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113280713) | V-Ray RenderChannelToon | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Stores results of V-Ray Toon rendering effect. |
| [Total Lighting](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113281115) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Total lighting in the scene, both direct and indirect. |
| [Velocity](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113280711) | V-Ray RenderChannelVelocity | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | Surface velocity of an object. This render element is useful for generating motion blur in post-production. |
| [Unclamped Color](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113281055) | [V-Ray RenderChannelColor](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113279763) | <span style="color: #202124">16bit/32bit</span> | The unclamped or adjusted image color before Color Mapping settings are applied. |
| [Z-depth ](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113280714) | V-Ray RenderChannelZDepth | <span style="color: #202124">forced 32bit (</span><span style="color: #172b4d">for multi-channel files)</span> | Z-depth of the surface. |

> Macro (anchor)

<span style="color: #333333"> * For all image formats except EXR the render elements depend on their respective channels' output settings.</span>