Reference / Effects / Utility
Updated
Extract channels
Extract channels is a Utility effect.
What it does
Section titled “What it does”Four dropdowns, one per output channel, each naming a channel of the layer’s OpenEXR file: a depth pass, normals, an object id, a light group. The channel list is read off the file when the effect is added, and again only on Reload channels. On a layer that is not an OpenEXR every dropdown offers None alone.
Parameters
Section titled “Parameters”| Parameter | Control | Range | Default | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reload channels | Button | - | - | - |
| Bypass | Checkbox | On or off | Off | - |
| Matte | Layer | Any layer in the composition | None | - |
| Invert | Checkbox | On or off | Off | - |
| Channel | Dropdown | Luminance · Alpha · Red · Green · Blue | Luminance | - |
In the Effect Controls panel:
- Matte is an input to an effect, scaling the strength. Invert inverts the mattes for calculating strength.
What each control does
Section titled “What each control does”- Red from, Green from, Blue from, Alpha from: which of the file’s channels each output channel is read from. None is 0, and 1 for alpha. With all four at None the layer is the picture the file opens as.
- Reload channels: read the file’s channel list again and rebuild the four dropdowns. The stored choices keep their place in the list.
- Bypass: show the picture the file opens as, keeping the four choices.
- Matte and Invert drive the strength of the effect from another layer’s brightness; see Effects.