Render layers¶

A render layer is a named collection of placements rendered as one pass. Useful for separating foreground / background, isolating a subject for comp, or producing multiple variants of the same scene.

When to use them¶

A hero subject layer + a background layer that you composite with different blend modes downstream.
A shadow-only pass for compositing on a different background.
Variant renders ("this scene with the props in" / "without").

For one-layer scenes (the default), render layers are invisible.

Create a render layer¶

Rendering > Render Layers > New Layer…. Name it (e.g. "background"). The layer appears in the Project Explorer's Sets tab.

Assign placements to a layer¶

Right-click a placement > Add to Render Layer > background. Or drag-drop in the Sets tab. A placement can belong to multiple layers.

Per-layer overrides¶

Each layer can override placement properties at render time:

Visibility: a placement assigned to a layer with visible: false is excluded from that layer's render.
Material override: swap the placement's material for this layer (e.g. "render this layer with all matte black materials").
Light selection: render this layer with only a subset of scene lights.

Overrides live in the layer's Properties pane.

Render a layer¶

Rendering > Render Layers > Render Active Layer renders just the active layer (set by the dropdown in the Render Layers panel). The View Panel shows only that layer's geometry during render.

Rendering > Render Layers > Render All Layers renders each layer in turn, producing one image per layer.

Compositing¶

When rendering all layers, the Designer also writes per-layer output to separate files:

out/butterfly_render.beauty.png
out/butterfly_render.layers/background.png
out/butterfly_render.layers/butterfly.png
out/butterfly_render.layers/shadows.png

The beauty image is the composited result. Per-layer files are straight outputs ready for Nuke / After Effects / Photoshop.

Per-layer AOVs¶

Combine render layers with AOVs: each layer can request its own AOV set. Useful when you want depth pass only from the background but normal pass from the subject.

Common patterns¶

Hero subject + soft background¶

Layer "hero": the butterfly Mesh3D. Full PBR.
Layer "background": a blurred photo Image placement. No shadows.
Render All Layers → combine in comp with a slight blur on background.

Variant testing¶

Three layers all containing the same placements, with different material overrides (matte black, neutral gray, full PBR). Render once; pick the right look for the final piece.