Canvas - only for advanced post-production or should I always use it?

tcassat

I was experimenting with Beauty Canvas and I more or less understood the usefulness of the idea, and how handy it is to generate several layers for when you edit images in a more advanced way in a program like Photoshop.

However, this left me with the following question: is it better to use Beauty Canvas 100% of the time, even if the intention is to render simple things from a single layer like the PNG you get when you render things in DAZ? The idea is that adjusting the tone mapping later in Photoshop/GIMP/etc, of the 32-bit EXR image generated, has the potential to generate significantly better results than the PNG that DAZ generates when rendering (tone mapping in this case adjusted directly in the Render Settings).

Do you think that makes sense? Should I always generate EXRs and go from there, or should the application of canvasses only be restricted to more advanced post-production?

Thanks.

Matt_Castle

There's no categorically right or wrong way to go about this.

Personally, I mostly only generate beauty canvases so I can also export Albedo and Normal canvases for denoising (and possibly Depth canvases for certain post production), because even though I tend to work from the output PNG, you need to generate the beauty to get the PNG to be a "standard" render.

That said, I do sometimes use them for advanced tone mapping.

It's really up to you, and if your method works, go with it.

3141592654

Does your computer have a good cooling system?  Canvases definitely have their uses, but rendering with them is much harder on computer resources.  [ try a render without canvases and try the same one with canvases and watch whatever monitors you have for cpu / gpu / memory / etc. usage. Because of this, I tend to avoid canvases unless I am doing something that specifically requires it [ troubling lighting situations, unique layering effects, etc. ]

dtrscbrutal

 Canvases are simply another tool for the toolbox, you use the right tools for the job. If all you are wanting to do is a full image postwork filter, lighten/contrast/monochrome, etc. it would be mostly pointless. It might be essential in more advanced work.
 Whether or not it is better depends fully on the particular image and what your goals are for your art.