Feature Request: Ability to include Data AOVs into main EXR File Output

[RuneMansson]

Thanks for making this tool freely available, it's a fantastic resource.

We have one feature request: would it be possible to add a toggle that includes the Data passes in the Main pass, rather than writing them to a separate _data EXR sequence?

Our workflow uses separate BTY and UTIL View Layers, with all the data passes routed into the UTIL layer. Since we also work across Maya, Houdini, Cinema 4D, and Unreal, we're trying to unify naming conventions across all rendered sequences, and the extra _data file output is the one thing breaking that convention.

A toggle to disable the separate File Output and merge those passes into the Main pass would solve this nicely.

[riouxr]

The reason I separate them is because you only need 16 bits for the color but 32 for cryptomatte and other passes. Otherwise your exr can become gigantic if you keep everything in 32 bits.

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On Tue, May 26, 2026 at 7:07 PM Rune Mansson ***@***.***> wrote: *RuneMansson* created an issue (riouxr/Render-Manager#18) <#18> Thanks for making this tool freely available, it's a fantastic resource. We have one feature request: would it be possible to add a toggle that includes the Data passes in the Main pass, rather than writing them to a separate _data EXR sequence? Our workflow uses separate BTY and UTIL View Layers, with all the data passes routed into the UTIL layer. Since we also work across Maya, Houdini, Cinema 4D, and Unreal, we're trying to unify naming conventions across all rendered sequences, and the extra _data file output is the one thing breaking that convention. A toggle to disable the separate File Output and merge those passes into the Main pass would solve this nicely. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#18?email_source=notifications&email_token=AB4VPXSMSU6ZYRSCGGRB5HT44YPTDA5CNFSL4Z3JMQ5C6L3HNF2C22DVMIXUS43TOVSS6NBVGI4DCMJRGA4TFJTSMVQXG33OVJZXKYTTMNZGSYTFMSSWK5TFNZ2KYZTPN52GK4S7MNWGSY3L>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AB4VPXTXTUPQRD7QK3UOLH344YPTDAVCNFSM6AAAAACZOLH4UCVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43ASLTON2WKOZUGUZDQMJRGEYDSMQ> . Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675> or Android <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub>. You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[RuneMansson]

That makes total sense, file sizes would get out of hand quickly.

In the other DCCs we handle this by setting bit depth per Render Layer, so the UTIL layer (cryptomatte and data passes) writes at 32-bit while the BTY layer with the color data stays at 16-bit. Each EXR ends up appropriately sized, and we avoid the extra _data file split.

We always render the UTIL layer separately with no lights and minimal sampling, specifically to keep render time and data footprint down, as a cloud-based VFX studio, we have to be diligent about both.

We're also trying to keep the number of file sequences artists have to track to a minimum, which is why everything is organized by layer name: BTY, UTIL, SHDW, ATMOS, etc. The _data suffix is the one thing that breaks that convention.

Does Blender's File Output node support per-layer bit depth? If so, a toggle that merges the data passes into the Main pass would let us keep one sequence per layer without losing the precision the data passes need.

Happy to test any builds if it helps.

[RuneMansson]

One other thing I wanted to flag, which I think might be unintentional:

When I enable the Per Pass Denoising option, it re-enables those passes on all enabled View Layers in the Render Layer Settings, including ones where I'd deliberately disabled them. Turning those passes back off from the Render Layer Settings panel then in turn disables the passes in the Per Pass Denoising section.

I'd have expected the Per Pass Denoising toggles to only add Denoise nodes for passes that are already enabled in each View Layer's settings, and skip the ones that aren't, in other words: respect the existing configuration rather than force-enable everything.

That way the toggles control denoising behavior without also modifying which passes get rendered.

Probably a bug rather than intended behavior, but wanted to mention it in case it's useful.

Also, I want to say how much of an improvement this tool is over the default Blender rendering setup, thank you for developing it.

[riouxr]

I didn’t even know it was possible to have two different bit depth on the same file! I can check tomorrow if it’s possible but I doubt Blender would support this.

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On Tue, May 26, 2026 at 9:02 PM Rune Mansson ***@***.***> wrote: *RuneMansson* left a comment (riouxr/Render-Manager#18) <#18 (comment)> One other thing I wanted to flag, which I think might be unintentional: When I enable the Per Pass Denoising option, it re-enables those passes on all enabled View Layers in the Render Layer Settings, including ones where I'd deliberately disabled them. Turning those passes back off from the Render Layer Settings panel then in turn disables the passes in the Per Pass Denoising section. I'd have expected the Per Pass Denoising toggles to only add Denoise nodes for passes that are already enabled in each View Layer's settings, and skip the ones that aren't, for example: respect the existing configuration rather than force-enable everything. That way the toggles control denoising behavior without also modifying which passes get rendered. Probably a bug rather than intended behavior, but wanted to mention it in case it's useful. Also, I want to say how much of an improvement this tool is over the default Blender rendering setup, thank you for developing it. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#18?email_source=notifications&email_token=AB4VPXV6WKSX4U56YN64H4D44Y5DPA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTINJVGAZTGMRXGEZ2M4TFMFZW63VHMNXW23LFNZ2KKZLWMVXHJLDGN5XXIZLSL5RWY2LDNM#issuecomment-4550332713>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AB4VPXVP3CF52RMACKDCXJ344Y5DPAVCNFSM6AAAAACZOLH4UCVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHM2DKNJQGMZTENZRGM> . Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675> or Android <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub>. You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[RuneMansson]

To clarify what I'm actually asking for: just a toggle that disables the separate _data File Output and writes everything for that View Layer into a single 32-bit EXR.

We never put color data in the UTIL View Layer, so 32-bit across the whole file is fine for us, we're not trying to mix bit depths within one EXR. The issue is purely that we end up with both a UTIL and a UTIL_data sequence, where the UTIL one is essentially empty and just confuses artists down the pipeline.

For what it's worth, OpenEXR itself does support mixed bit depths per layer in a single file, and Blender's main Output Properties save uses this for Z-Depth and Vector. But that's a separate rabbit hole,not what I'm asking for here.

PS. We separate out the UTIL pass so it can be quickly rerendered without having to rerender the costly lighting calculations for the BTY color passes if a compositor needs more data passes.

[RuneMansson]

This is such a cool tool, I'm so excited to get Blender implemented in the pipeline! I have one more request:

• When including Light Groups, it should be optional to include the regular combined rgba as well. The light groups will then just become additions with what is already in the EXR. It will increase the file size, but it will help Comp see the bigger picture without having to shuffle layers around.

Edit.

Disregard! I forgot to press Create Render Nodes... Doh!

[riouxr]

I implemented the Separated RGB/data and the Include COmbined RGB with lightgroups. About the denoising, Claude gave me some technical answers. i'm not sure it's possible Can you test it for me please? I'm super busy. https://github.com/riouxr/Render-Manager/releases/tag/3.0.9 Le jeu. 28 mai 2026, à 14 h 14, Rune Mansson ***@***.***> a écrit :

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*RuneMansson* left a comment (riouxr/Render-Manager#18) <#18 (comment)> This is such a cool tool, I'm so excited to get Blender implemented in the pipeline! I have one more request: - When including Light Groups, it should be optional to include the regular combined rgba as well. The light groups will then just become additions with what is already in the EXR. It will increase the file size, but it will help Comp see the bigger picture without having to shuffle layers around. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#18?email_source=notifications&email_token=AB4VPXVQL5LWT62QS7H4SUL45B6YJA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTINJWGY4TMMRYHA32M4TFMFZW63VHMNXW23LFNZ2KKZLWMVXHJLDGN5XXIZLSL5RWY2LDNM#issuecomment-4566962887>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AB4VPXSHCDSWE5ABIT4CMGD45B6YJAVCNFSM6AAAAACZOLH4UCVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHM2DKNRWHE3DEOBYG4> . Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull requests on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/ios/AB4VPXXHZTNVIKYXQTMOXP345B6YJA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTINJWGY4TMMRYHA32M4TFMFZW63VHMNXW23LFNZ2KKZLWMVXHJKTGN5XXIZLSL5UW64Y> and Android <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/android/AB4VPXTDATFDDJYNHPJ5ATT45B6YJA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTINJWGY4TMMRYHA32M4TFMFZW63VHMNXW23LFNZ2KKZLWMVXHJLTGN5XXIZLSL5QW4ZDSN5UWI>. Download it today! You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[RuneMansson]

The Separate RGBA/Data toggle works perfectly, thanks for adding it!

One follow-up:

All the denoising is handled inside Blender before the EXR is saved, RGBA at render time, and the individual passes via the the Render Managers Compositor network before write. So by the time the file lands on disk, the denoising data passes (Normal/Albedo) have already done their job and aren't needed in the saved EXR.

The problem is that enabling denoising forces the layer to 32bit float (and writes the denoising data into the file). We'd like to keep the beauty layer at 16bit and keep the denoising data out of the saved EXR.

Is the 32bit jump a hard requirement for denoising? Or is there a way to stay 16bit and/or drop those passes from being automatically added to the output? Any guidance appreciated!

[riouxr]

Well, that’s why they got separated in the first place. To get 32 bit for data and 16 for color. That’s how we work in VFX. So instead of making the addon even more complex than it already is, maybe you should try to adapt your pipeline to this method. :-)

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On Tue, Jun 2, 2026 at 8:55 PM Rune Mansson ***@***.***> wrote: *RuneMansson* left a comment (riouxr/Render-Manager#18) <#18 (comment)> The Separate RGBA/Data toggle works perfectly, thanks for adding it! One follow-up: All the denoising is handled inside Blender before the EXR is saved, RGBA at render time, and the individual passes via the the Render Managers Compositor network before write. So by the time the file lands on disk, the denoising data passes (Normal/Albedo) have already done their job and aren't needed in the saved EXR. The problem is that enabling denoising forces the layer to 32bit float (and writes the denoising data into the file). We'd like to keep the beauty layer at 16bit and keep the denoising data out of the saved EXR. Is the 32bit jump a hard requirement for denoising? Or is there a way to stay 16bit and/or drop those passes from being automatically added to the output? Any guidance appreciated! — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#18?email_source=notifications&email_token=AB4VPXR6IATYJHWJ4H5HQCD455ZP5A5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTINRQHAYTONBRGA32M4TFMFZW63VHMNXW23LFNZ2KKZLWMVXHJLDGN5XXIZLSL5RWY2LDNM#issuecomment-4608174107>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AB4VPXWMBOIDL4P5TW4I3RL455ZP5AVCNFSM6AAAAACZOLH4UCVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHM2DMMBYGE3TIMJQG4> . Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull requests on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/ios/AB4VPXUDABJZPLE2FZMJ4RL455ZP5A5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTINRQHAYTONBRGA32M4TFMFZW63VHMNXW23LFNZ2KKZLWMVXHJKTGN5XXIZLSL5UW64Y> and Android <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/android/AB4VPXXMMC4VYORKN3T6F6L455ZP5A5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTINRQHAYTONBRGA32M4TFMFZW63VHMNXW23LFNZ2KKZLWMVXHJLTGN5XXIZLSL5QW4ZDSN5UWI>. Download it today! You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[RuneMansson]

Fair point on the convention, I'm with you on it. 32bit for data, 16bit for color is exactly how we work, and Separate RGBA/Data handles that perfectly for the real utility passes.

But I'm hitting a different problem. The Denoising Normal/Albedo passes for OIDN are pure scaffolding for us, the denoise runs entirely inside Blender before anything is written to disk, so those passes are consumed and discarded. We don't want them in the EXR at all, which is why we deselected them in the Render Layer Settings.

The issue:
Pressing Create Render Nodes (needed after adding a View Layer or changing the output path) switches those passes back on, overwriting our selection, and that's what flips the beauty file to 32bit. So it's the node-creation step not respecting my pass selection that's the real issue.

The passes still need to be generated for the denoise to run, that's fine and should stay. The ask is just that Create Render Nodes leave my deselected passes deselected, so they don't get written.

For context, I head up CG at Preymaker (preymaker.com) and we're trying to use this in production, so a 16bit beauty with the denoising data discarded isn't a preference, it's just how we have to work at scale. Really appreciate your time and how responsive you've been on this.

TL;DR: The denoising data needs to be generated, but not written to the EXR when deselected. Create Render Nodes re-enables it, which forces my beauty to 32bit.

[riouxr]

Ok so the denoise data is not included anymore in the output. I also checked about having both 16 and 32 bit passes in the same EXR but it's not supported by Blender. Version 3.0.11 Le mer. 3 juin 2026, à 00 h 15, Rune Mansson ***@***.***> a écrit :

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*RuneMansson* left a comment (riouxr/Render-Manager#18) <#18 (comment)> Fair point on the convention, I'm with you on it. 32bit for data, 16bit for color is exactly how we work, and Separate RGBA/Data handles that perfectly for the real utility passes. But I'm hitting a different problem. The Denoising Normal/Albedo passes for OIDN are pure scaffolding for us, the denoise runs entirely inside Blender before anything is written to disk, so those passes are consumed and discarded. We don't want them in the EXR at all, which is why we deselected them in the Render Layer Settings. *The issue:* Pressing Create Render Nodes (needed after adding a View Layer or changing the output path) switches those passes back on, overwriting our selection, and that's what flips the beauty file to 32bit. So it's the node-creation step not respecting my pass selection that's the real issue. The passes still need to be generated for the denoise to run, that's fine and should stay. The ask is just that Create Render Nodes leave my deselected passes deselected, so they don't get written. For context, I head up CG at Preymaker (preymaker.com) and we're trying to use this in production, so a 16bit beauty with the denoising data discarded isn't a preference, it's just how we have to work at scale. Really appreciate your time and how responsive you've been on this. TL;DR: The denoising data needs to be generated, but not written to the EXR when deselected. Create Render Nodes re-enables it, which forces my beauty to 32bit. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#18?email_source=notifications&email_token=AB4VPXW42224FIFZHF7E6F3456Q7HA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTINRQHEYDCMZQGA32M4TFMFZW63VHMNXW23LFNZ2KKZLWMVXHJLDGN5XXIZLSL5RWY2LDNM#issuecomment-4609013007>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AB4VPXXOKW52DNMMI5FOXBL456Q7HAVCNFSM6AAAAACZOLH4UCVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHM2DMMBZGAYTGMBQG4> . Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull requests on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/ios/AB4VPXQHSQTDQCDGOB7BFYT456Q7HA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTINRQHEYDCMZQGA32M4TFMFZW63VHMNXW23LFNZ2KKZLWMVXHJKTGN5XXIZLSL5UW64Y> and Android <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/android/AB4VPXVL2K2OYUOVLHF5O3L456Q7HA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTINRQHEYDCMZQGA32M4TFMFZW63VHMNXW23LFNZ2KKZLWMVXHJLTGN5XXIZLSL5QW4ZDSN5UWI>. Download it today! You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[RuneMansson]

Thank you for the update, I'm still seeing the same behavior though and I think I figured out why.

Here is my Render Layer Settings Pass selection before and after pressing Create Render Nodes:

The Pass selection was changed, but this only happens when Combine Diff / Glossy / Trans is ON, when I switch this OFF the system works as expected.

The same is also true for the Denoising data an Normal passes, they get readded when Per Pass Denoising is ON. When this parameter is OFF the Render Layer Settings Pass data selection stays intact.

So is seems the update only handles the pass management, if these two parameters are OFF.

Thank you again for the rapid responses, the tool is already proving useful.