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I have a scene and I'd like to render out PNG layers to make life easier in post-production. I have set up all my layers to render separately. However, Blender is also spending time rendering out a composite of all layers even though I only have the following node setup:

enter image description here

Note that there is no composite setup, but I still get one. It's adding a lot of extra time to my render.

Thanks for your attention.

DocBadwrench
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  • Does this help ? https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/155633/86891 – Gorgious Oct 19 '20 at 07:14
  • In the nodes you are showing, you are saving the composite pass, not any other render pass (like diffuse, normals. or other). And if you are looking to "make your life easier" in post production avoid png, use OpenExr Multilayer. – susu Oct 19 '20 at 14:11
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    Does this answer your question? Save all render passes to EXR image? – susu Oct 19 '20 at 14:11
  • @Gorgious - If my read on that first link is correct, then I need to uncheck Render Single Layer, correct? – DocBadwrench Oct 19 '20 at 14:59
  • @Susu - To clarify, I am going to be in a 2d workflow (Premiere & After Effects). I have been operating under the assumption that PNG is a suitable format for that. – DocBadwrench Oct 19 '20 at 14:59
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    PNG is not a format to transport linear information (which is what you should use for compositing). Plus PNG is not capable of using associated alpha channel – susu Oct 19 '20 at 15:24
  • The PNG format utilizes an alpha channel. That's the main reason I selected it. I will look into what EXR is and what benefits it confers. – DocBadwrench Oct 19 '20 at 15:47
  • Alpha on PNG is unassociated, so you won't be able to have pixels that are luminous and transparent at the same time (like fire or reflections on glass). For proper compositing you want to keep the data as linear. EXR will have proper associated alpha, and saves the images as scene referred. Think of it as a way to save the render layers intact, with no distortions created by the color management. – susu Oct 20 '20 at 15:51

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Okay, I figured out the answer:

Under RENDER and VIEW LAYER, make sure that Use for Render is UNCHECKED. This will eliminate that particular layer. In the compositor, plug in the the layers that you want to export per my initial graphic. Or, select the checkbox for Render Single Layer (while making sure you are actually on that layer).

DocBadwrench
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