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Backdrop rendered but not saved?

Eric LagelEric Lagel Posts: 65
edited December 1969 in New Users

Hi, I am trying to render my character, and I changed the backdrop to have something behind.

In the render window, the backdrop appears fine, but after I save the picture, the backdrop picture has disappeared, leaving a full white background.

Anything I am doing wrong?

Comments

  • jerriecanjerriecan Posts: 470
    edited December 1969

    Are you saving in PNG format? That makes the background transparent, which shows up as white in most image preview programs.

  • Miss BMiss B Posts: 3,071
    edited June 2013

    Hi Eric. I see jerriecan already mentioned the transparency in a .png format image.

    Also keep in mind, you can add a "plane" primitive to the scene behind all the other objects you've set up, and if you rotate it so it's standing up, and then size/place it so that it covers the background of your entire scene, you can then apply the image you want to use as the backdrop to the plane primitive in the Diffuse channel on the Surfaces tab.

    Hope that helps.

    Post edited by Miss B on
  • Eric LagelEric Lagel Posts: 65
    edited December 1969

    Yes I am saving in PNG... because it's my favourite format for portability. Does that mean that I can't see the backdrop picture if I save in PNG?

    For the plane primitive, it's the obvious alternative, and I will do that if I can't figure out another way, but I'd rather understand how to ensure that my PNG images include a backdrop. I will check in the options, there might be one somewhere that fixes that problem.

    Thanks for the tips!

  • jerriecanjerriecan Posts: 470
    edited December 1969

    Transparent PNG seems to be the default, not sure how to leave the background. You might try contacting chohole, he works mainly in PNG, if I'm remembering right, and can probably help you.

  • pwiecekpwiecek Posts: 1,577
    edited June 2013

    jerriecan said:
    Transparent PNG seems to be the default, not sure how to leave the background. You might try contacting chohole, he works mainly in PNG, if I'm remembering right, and can probably help you.

    I'll bet that this

    you can add a "plane" primitive to the scene behind all the other objects

    is exactly what Chohole will tell you.

    There are also other "environment" type props that solve this problem.

    Post edited by pwiecek on
  • LeanaLeana Posts: 11,737
    edited December 1969

    I save as png all the time too. The background is in the saved image, just not visible as it's defined as transparent. I usually just open the file in MS Paint and hit "save", that "fixes" it.

  • Eric LagelEric Lagel Posts: 65
    edited December 1969

    Thanks for the added information.

    I tried to open the PNG and save it again in MS Paint, didn't change a thing. Do you do something more specific maybe?

  • LeanaLeana Posts: 11,737
    edited June 2013

    No, nothing else. I just tried again with an old render and it did remove transparency when I resaved in in MS Paint. I don't know why it's not working for you :-S

    Edit: Hmmm, scratch that... I just tried using a fresh DS 4.6 render (I had not installed it before) and it did drop the background... Looks like they broke it :'(

    Post edited by Leana on
  • Miss BMiss B Posts: 3,071
    edited December 1969

    jerriecan said:
    You might try contacting chohole, he works mainly in PNG, if I'm remembering right, and can probably help you.

    Chohole may work mostly in PNG, but "she" is a Poser user, and it's been a long time since I've used Poser to know whether the current versions 7+ have the same transparency issue with backdrops. In fact, I'm not sure that Poser even HAS a backdrop option like DS does.
  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited December 1969

    I maybe a poser user, but I only use it as a "plug in" for Bryce. I rarely actually render in poser.

    Poser does have an option to use a backdrop, but I have never used it. If I want to make "billboards" to use in Bryce then I will save as PNG purely because of the built in Alpha channels, but that is rendering without a backdrop.

    So I am not going to be a lot of help, sorry.

  • Miss BMiss B Posts: 3,071
    edited December 1969

    I knew your main renderer was Bryce, but I also knew you didn't use DS, so thought you would have at least tried rendering in Poser to make sure you have your scene set up properly before sending it to Bryce, or do you do all your scene building in Bryce as well? I've always meant to ask you that.

    Oh, and thanks for verifying that Poser does do "backdrops". I haven't used Poser since ver. 5, and haven't gotten around to installing ver. 7 on this laptop, so didn't know. Back when I was working in P5, I was too "new" at this to even consider things like backdrops, so it may have even been available back then too.

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited June 2013

    I do all my scene building in Bryce. Even when it's buildings and things I export an obj and then set it all up in Bryce. Quite often I even use Bryce mats rather than the included textures. I have been doing that since Bryce 3 / Poser 3 days as Bryce was the superior render engine. I still prefer it to the new Poser one, and I understand lighting in Bryce.

    Post edited by Chohole on
  • Miss BMiss B Posts: 3,071
    edited December 1969

    Ahhh, I was wondering. I always preferred Bryce's render engine as well, especially when it comes to water. Anything with a river, lake, ocean, waterfalls just didn't render well in Poser, though not having one of the newer versions, I have no way of testing that out now.

    The only other render engine I like for water is Terragen, though Vue is supposed to be good too. One of these days I'll install it and play. Right now I'm still trying to make sense of Carrara. ~shakes head~

  • pwiecekpwiecek Posts: 1,577
    edited December 1969

    eric.lagel said:
    Thanks for the added information.

    I tried to open the PNG and save it again in MS Paint, didn't change a thing. Do you do something more specific maybe?


    Export as .bmp
    open in paint
    save as png
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