No, it can be many other scene-referred file formats, like various camera raw formats which are often 12bit at best. But for CGI there are fewer: 32bit full-float .exr/.hdr/.tiff and half-float 16bit .exr/.tiff . I do not believe 3dsMax supports 16bit half-float Tiff, this is very obscure format, I think only used internally for Adobe's DNG or something along that line.
16bit integer Tiff with embedded gamma curve (regardless of in which gamma you write those colors in) is not the same thing as linear 16 bit half-float .exr.
Then it matters how you extract the information from that format. If you open 16bit .exr in Photoshop, it will open it in linear 32bit environment and will be able to extract shadows/highlights /manipulate exposure or tonemap. The file itself (16 bit .exr) will have obviously less information than 32bit file but you rarely need this for post-production (while you do need it for image based lighting with above 16+ dynamic range stops, i.e. Sunlight for example).
If you change the environment to 16bit in Photoshop, it will instantly clamp (or tonemap, it gives you options) and you won't be able to extract any further dynamic range. 16bit will still give you the advantage of wider tonal gradient to avoid artifacts and posterization effect. 16bit Tiff/PNG/etc.. will open to this mode directly unlike .exr. But even if you open them into 32bit environment, they will still be clamped.
TL:DR :- )
16bit Tiff from 3dsMax if you already used highlight compression in Corona and only want to adjust local contrast, colors, etc. Edit in 16bit PS mode. (Save as 8bit for web/print at the end).
16bit .exr if you want to composite or extract dynamic range operations (exposure, highlights, shadows, tonemaping, glare/bloom, etc..). Edit in 32bit PS mode.
« Last Edit: 2018-11-08, 00:32:12 by Juraj Talcik »
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