Because it is the only way to adjust OpenEXR exports to fit your pipeline:
"I couldn't be without my exrTrader, keep up the great coding."
Mark Berge
markberge.com, Iceland
exrTrader is a suite of plugins and provides complete support for OpenEXR in LightWave 3D.
It includes free standard image loaders and savers supporting RGBA as well as an image filter plugin to save arbitrary buffers.
OpenEXR is an HDR image file format featuring:
"If LightWave is considered to be the secret weapon in Hollywood, then exrTrader is the secret weapon for LightWave."
Eric Hance - VFX Supervisor
Pixomondo, Burbank - www.pixomondo.com
In addition to the other features, exrTrader Pro allows you to write Cryptomattes.
Cryptomattes - originally devised by Jonah Friedman and Andy Jones from psyop - allow you to store automatically generated mattes for all items or surfaces in a single OpenEXR image.
These can then be extracted in a compositing application using freely available plugins.
Cryptomatte in exrTrader Pro allows you so save all Cryptomattes in a single or in separate files.
The levels determine how many different mattes may be stored per single pixel. 6 is usually a sufficient number.
You can also decide if the manifest - the file containing the names of the mattes - is stored embedded in the EXR image or as a separate file.
exrTrader Pro also allows you to select any of the OpenEXR compression types that are compatible with Cryptomatte.
Current Limitations: Volumes are not selectable via Crpytomattes. Reconstruction filters other than Box and a Filter Radius other than 0.0 will produce results differing from the LightWave 3D renders. We are working with the LightWave 3D developers to remove these limitations.
exrTrader offers an advanced saver for layered OpenEXR images, including, amongst others, the following features:
"In order to gain the maximum flexibility out of our renders it's a given that we render out layers and passes - exrTrader not only makes this simplicity itself but also combines it with bringing the CG industry's most versatile HDR image format to LightWave 3D in an incredibly robust implementation - quite simply, exrTrader is an essential part of our 3D and compositing pipeline."
Andrew G. Morgan - CG Pipeline Specialist, Cityscape, London
www.cityscape3d.com
OpenEXR includes the following plugins.
exrTrader offers
As always there is a free download that offers you a limited funtionality even without licensing ... for free. :-)
exrTrader includes basic LightWave image loader and saver plugins to deal with OpenEXR images. These allow you to load and save OpenEXR images in any part of LightWave that loads and save images.
These are included in exrTrader for free, and may be used freely without purchasing exrTrader. Just download exrTrader from the downloads section of this website.