Hi

Some help appreciated on this

I build a scene with a jpg file as background and render no problem.

When I come to export the image as a png filre the scene is there but no background?

If I export the image as jpg, bmp or tif the background is there.

My questions

1. Why doesent the background include when I export the as a png file?

2. I export the image as PNG to get maximum good quality resolution for post poser work, is this the best filre tormat for this.

Thanks

PNG is transparent by nature.  It is designed to render the object with a blank background so you can place it into another image without having to clean it off.  That's a simplified explanation, but basically if you want the back ground to remain as part of the image, choose JPG, or TIF.   

TIF Will give you a larger file size but also perserves the alpha layer.  

I usually never render a background in Poser, but paint them up in Photoshop or generate them in VUE, then I DO export my poser renders in PNG so I can easily place them on top of the pre-made background.     

I hope I've not been confusing.

Hi

Clear enough

Many thanks most appreciated

To quote bagginsbill, from another thread:

*This is intentional. Most people want the prop or figure to be against a transparent background when saving as PNG, so it can be superimposed on web site backgrounds and so on.

The background color setting will effect what you see on the screen (since something has to be drawn) and will be used if you save to non-transparent formats, like JPG.

If you really want to save as PNG, but you also want a solid background, then put a really big one-sided square behind your scene and color it as you like. This will fill the background completely.*

Or you could use an environment sphere/dome, such as the excellent free one from bagginsbill himself. (The quote above was from a time before he made it.)

When I want my PNG to have the background I save as JPG then use the good old Microsoft Photo Editor that came with Office 97 Professional and resave the JPG as PNG from there. It preserves the background in PNG format. Microsoft Paint will do the same thing.

My concern with using the method MetrixWorkz describes is the loss of resolution from lossy to lossless format.  I would agree with IsaoShi about placing a one-sided square as part of your background and then "texturing" in the material room with your background.  The other workaround is to save it as a tiff, another lossless format which preserves an intact alpha channel.

To put it another way, the Poser background is just something to display on your screen in the places where there is nothing visible in your 3D scene.

Since the Poser background is not a 3D object in your scene, it's actually unrealistic to include it in a render. But, just like your screen, a jpg render export must show something there, since it can't be transparent; so it uses the Poser background, or black, or white, depending on what you choose in the render options.

If you want to render a 'real' background to your scene, then you should put a 3D object there, with a suitable texture applied. In the real world, there is always something to be seen in every direction, which is why I now nearly always use an environment sphere with either a procedural or mapped image texture. In any (outside) scenes with reflective or refractive materials this usually gives better realism, since there is always something there to be reflected/refracted, just like in the real world.

Love having the .png and .tiff so I can control the alpha (and other) channels.

If you want lossless export but not .png or .tif, go for .bmt

::::: Opera :::::

bring it into an paint program and merge all layers

Quote - bring it into an paint program and merge all layers

But PNGs have no layers - so that won't do anything.

Ok, sorry, merge all flatten or flatten image then.

or add a layer, move behind the image layer, fill with the colour of you choice and then flatten :)

Think what ranman38 is implying is bring the PNG into a paint program that supports layers, insert the background as a separate layer, then flatten the image once everything is set up to the artist's liking.  That should clarify the posts.

Well, if you just want a white background, simply load the image and select flatten image in photoshop or merge all flatten in paint shop pro.

But yes, if you want something else back there then as frankt and hborre say, that is the way to do it.

Now these are pngs exported from poser I am speaking of.