Author Topic: cryptomatte for AE  (Read 1172 times)

2023-04-19, 12:30:54

stoiqa

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 saw the .cxr export method from VFB for a single image in photoshop, which dos not work if you have 720 frames project and multiple passes and compositing in After effects or other compositing software

Are the crypto matte passes fixed in corona 10 ?

Thanks!!

2023-04-19, 14:45:34
Reply #1

TomG

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Fixed in what way? The only known requested change at the moment is enabling "by material ID" as an option (which is not yet positioned on the roadmap), so if something else need fixing, do let us know!
Tom Grimes | chaos-corona.com
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2023-04-19, 15:00:27
Reply #2

Beanzvision

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Hi there, can you also go into more detail about it not working with 720 frames? Please feel free to share some screenshots as well. Thx
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2023-04-19, 21:11:03
Reply #3

stoiqa

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we are in production running 3 tv opens  ,

as a general rule, most of tv opens , usually go for 30 seconds @ 24 frames per second =720 frames to be rendered,

the look and dev was done in SP and exported to c4d with corona, but this can be exported in any form or format, for any other engine,

crypto mate its a big chunk of consideration going forward, as this allows me to adjust on the fly any object in the scene, in terms of colour, adjustments levels etc,

it would be a little time consuming to save every frame to .cxr, convert it , save it to exr etc etc to get the cryptomatte pass out

in other render engines, you output an 32 bit crypto pass, as with any other pass , and extract from that in compositing

Corona outputs the colours pass for crypto , but when you try to extract the pass in AE you get this error (attached)

Thanks


2023-04-20, 04:34:19
Reply #4

stoiqa

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Fixed in what way? The only known requested change at the moment is enabling "by material ID" as an option (which is not yet positioned on the roadmap), so if something else need fixing, do let us know!

Hi Tom, appreciate the fast reply,

I figured that cryptomatte was/is mainly focused/targeted towards cgi vfx heavy production environments, making work easier when masking/adjustments are needed out of the blue for a certain element and you are to far down the process, to render again the entire thing

https://academyofanimatedart.com/an-introduction-to-cryptomatte/

Im trying to understand why someone would  assume:

"They need cryptomatte, they can export one image at the time from VFB as .cxr and then convert it to .exr

If they are doing production animation, and they are thinking of using Corona to export cryptomatte as a pass, we gonna pretend we have no idea what they are talking about "

And when brought up, sounds like a blasphemy in the room, when everyone else is using it for this sole purpose, making compositing easier,

"Apart from saving time during compositing, the tool also comes with reader plugins that are freely available for major compositing packages including:
The Foundry Nuke
Black magic Fusion
V-Ray
Houdini
Blender Cycles
RenderMan
Redshift
Clarisse
Arnold
Flame
After Effects"

2023-04-20, 14:22:02
Reply #5

TomG

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Well, Corona is archviz focused, that's our main customer base and not VFX heavy workflows. So cryptomatte was introduced for what archviz folks might use it for. No-one is pretending not to know or treating something as blasphemy, I'm just asking for specifics on what you are looking to have fixed - can't answer a question if we don't know what the question is.

I'm still not too clear on the question as there are several steps that could be causing you the most problems. The ability to render a sequence of CXRs from animation? The renaming of CXR to EXR later? Something problematic with the EXR once loaded into AE or other tool? If "all of the above" some might need more info, like what result you get on loading into AE and why that is not useful, and if all of the above a priority would be useful to know.

So yep, it's just about knowing the details when someone says "fix this".... we need to know what "this" is exactly :)
Tom Grimes | chaos-corona.com
Product Manager | contact us

2023-04-24, 16:56:53
Reply #6

Beanzvision

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Hi Stoiqa,

Does the following help at all?
1. Render the image sequence with ''Automatic saving on render end'' in the Corona preferences. This will save an .CXR file for each frame.
2. Select all the files you want to rename in Windows Explorer. File location will be: (C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\MAXON\Maxon Cinema 4D R22_06E03A84\corona\history)
3. Right-click on one of the selected files and choose "Rename".
4. Delete the existing file extension and type in the new one (in this case, ".exr").
5. Press Enter to apply the new extension to all selected files.

(If the Windows method of renaming files does not work, you could try using a third-party file-renaming tool that can perform batch operations. Here are some popular options:

Bulk Rename Utility (https://www.bulkrenameutility.co.uk/): This free tool has a simple and user-friendly interface that lets you easily rename files and folders in bulk. You can use it to change file extensions, replace text, add prefixes or suffixes, and more.

Advanced Renamer (https://www.advancedrenamer.com/): This tool offers a wide range of renaming options, including the ability to change file extensions, remove or replace characters, add dates or times, and more. It supports a variety of file formats and has a preview feature that lets you see the changes before you apply them.

Rename Master (http://www.joejoesoft.com/vcms/108/): This free tool can rename multiple files and folders at once, using a variety of renaming options. It supports regular expressions, filters, and presets, and has a preview function that shows you how the new names will look.

These tools are all free to use and should be able to help you change the file extensions in bulk.)

Also, does this sound correct to you and can you also tell us where exactly you are getting an error? Is it when importing the file or exporting from AE?
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2023-04-25, 07:40:15
Reply #7

stoiqa

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Hi Ben,

if you output a regular crypto pass, looks like its rendering correct, only when applying crypto mate in AE and trying to extract the channel, the layer (layers info ) to be extracted its not there, therefore the error.


if you have a couple minutes, follow this quick tutorial, and explains in detail how to get the passes working,

I tried trough the years, with all the other engines, and works fine, the look of corona gets you in trouble, as it looks good, but when it comes down to practical compositing you are stuck without crypto passes, obviously you remember when you hit the wall

am I making this change in system prefs for corona, and should output .cxr,

For the future, can we have a click for .cxr output,

Thanks!!

Eric

2023-04-25, 08:44:04
Reply #8

Beanzvision

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Hi there, unfortunately, I do not have After Effects but I do have Natron (an open source AE equivalent) and it seems to work well with cxr/exr's & cryptomatte's exported from Corona. I can only assume that it should also work with AE but will continue to look into it further.

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2023-04-25, 23:32:22
Reply #9

stoiqa

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"1. Render the image sequence with ''Automatic saving on render end'' in the Corona preferences. This will save an .CXR file for each frame."

I will try this, thanks much!!!

autosave interval (min) =3min or 5min ( this setting gets me confused, if I put 0, would it save regardless #of images kept on render end =1 ? )

# of images kept during render = 0
#of images kept on render end =1

should do the trick

2023-04-26, 09:29:38
Reply #10

Beanzvision

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Hi there, you shouldn't need to enable the autosave as some frames may take longer than your set save interval. Instead I would set either a pass, noise or time limit for each frame. When that limit is hit it will ''save on render end'' and move to the next frame. I hope this helps.


I also managed to install a demo of AE and had no errors when using the cryptomatte fx. Mind you, I have no idea what I'm doing in there ;)
« Last Edit: 2023-04-26, 11:36:05 by Beanzvision »
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2023-04-26, 21:19:43
Reply #11

stoiqa

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now that you have the pass in and crypto applied, try to do a selection,

to do multiple selections, shift click, for one select, just one click,

then you should see the alpha selection , in the view port ant selection number on the crypto plugin side

thanks much !

 

2023-04-27, 08:40:10
Reply #12

Beanzvision

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Hi there, I see in your screenshot that you have a png loaded and not an EXR. Have you also tried with this format?
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2023-05-01, 12:28:49
Reply #13

stoiqa

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tried in every format possible, wouldn't post 1st if I wouldn't have had tried to make it work,

doing the material ID , color  key alpha route