Backdrop doesn't render

Slosh

This has been an ongoing issue for me since day one of using DAZ Studio. When I select an image to use as a backdrop (via Edit:Backdrop), it shows in the preview window just fine, but it never renders. I always end up with my background color instead. Up until now, I've just ignored it and dealt with it, but frankly I don't understand having a backdrop feature if it doesn't render.

Am I missing something?

Richard Haseltine

Are you sure it isn't rendering? If you save as png or tiff the background will be masked in most viewers, though there may be an option to change that and have the mask load as an alpha channel instead.

Slosh

Richard Haseltine said:

Are you sure it isn't rendering? If you save as png or tiff the background will be masked in most viewers, though there may be an option to change that and have the mask load as an alpha channel instead.

Well, it shows as gray even during render, which is before I decide what format I intend to save. This has been an issue for me since 4.0

Kerya

It renders for me, I checked with render engines preview, hardware assisted and 3delight ...
I looked in the General Preferences - but couldn't find something there.
So this is just feedback that it could work, sorry.

Slosh

Ok, so I just figured it out. I opened DAZ to try again, to share some screenshots, but it ended up working for me. So, I scratched my head and thought about it and realized that the only times I had a problem were when trying to see the backdrop through a window... the only time I even try using a backdrop.

So, I opened my most recent scene, with a window, and again it did not work. Turns out I had to turn IOR to zero on the glass material for any results. Kind of weird that I can't render the backdrop through glass with refraction, but luckily the refraction is not important on a window.

Thanks for trying to help me figure it out. I'm a happy camper.

Kerya

Slosh said:

... I'm a happy camper.

Good to hear!
And thanks for posting the solution!

Szark

Slosh said:

Turns out I had to turn IOR to zero on the glass material for any results. Kind of weird that I can't render the backdrop through glass with refraction, but luckily the refraction is not important on a window.

Thanks for trying to help me figure it out. I'm a happy camper.

If you don;t mind me asking and out of interest what were your Diffuse Strength and opacity settings, IOR value and strength, did you have Multiply Through Opacity still ON, and what was your Advanced Render Settings Max Ray Trace Depth set at?

Slosh

Szark said:

Slosh said:

Turns out I had to turn IOR to zero on the glass material for any results. Kind of weird that I can't render the backdrop through glass with refraction, but luckily the refraction is not important on a window.

Thanks for trying to help me figure it out. I'm a happy camper.

If you don;t mind me asking and out of interest what were your Diffuse Strength and opacity settings, IOR value and strength, did you have Multiply Through Opacity still ON, and what was your Advanced Render Settings Max Ray Trace Depth set at?

That's difficult to answer because I played with each of those settings trying to find a solution. I tried diffuse at 0 and 100, color black, white and 50% grey. I switched the multiply through opacity on and off, even though I know it's better to be off when rendering glass. I set max ray trace at 2, 4, 8, and 16. The refraction area is the only one that gave clear results (pun intended). I could either turn IOR to 0, or strength to 0, or color to black. Any of those three changes gave me the backdrop when rendered. Any variation would give me various shades of gray.

Szark

Yes very strnage indeed. I wonder if it is a lighting issue or a bug then. hummmmmmmmm

Slosh

Well, even though that problem is solved, there is another. If I try to reflect that same window in a mirror, I don't get the backdrop in the reflection. That might be because the backdrop is behind the mirror, not the window, but I think I tried it with an environment sphere as well (which also didn't render through the window until I dropped the IOR). That shouldn't have happened, since a env. Sphere is geometry with a texture. And yes, I did turn on "visible in render" first.

Szark

Yeah the backdrop won't show up in reflections. You would need to add a dome, props or planes with maps on the simulate an envrioment so there is something to reflect.