Setting Bit Depth of Rendered Images

When you render the output of an operator, you usually want the rendered files to have the same bit depth as the operator. For example, a 16-bit composite rendered to a PNG image sequence should have a Depth of 16 Bit.

Three places to set this bit depth are the Render Queue dialog, the Commit to Disk dialog, and the Image Output Options dialog (which appears when you save a single image).

The file formats that can save bit depths higher than 8 bit are listed as follows.

Format:	Supported Bit Depths:
Cineon	10 bit (with LUT in Options dialog)
DPX	10 bit (with LUT in Options dialog)
Photoshop	8 bit, 16 bit
PNG	8 bit, 16 bit
RLA/RPF	8 bit, 16 bit
SGI	8 bit, 16 bit, Float
TIFF	8 bit, 16 bit

To change bit depth when rendering:

1. Choose File | Render.

The Render Queue dialog appears.

Note: The Depth list is also available on the Commit to Disk dialog and the Image Output Options dialog (when you choose File | Save Image).

2. From the queue, select the output for the operator you want to render. By default, there is an output for each branch and each unused Footage operator in the workspace.

The settings for the output appear in the Output Settings panel.

3. In the Video Output group, select one of the supported file formats from the Format list.
4. From the Depth list, select another bit depth.



You can see the bit depth of the selected output's operator next to the Depth list. Usually, you want to select a bit depth for the file format that equals the Original Depth.

5. Set other render settings, then click Process.

For more information on rendering, see Rendering Your Work.