Photoshop says tiff is 8bit?

[elipsis1]

When I open my render tiff in photoshop it says it is 8bit?

Where do I enable higher bit depth renders?

I did a search, and went through the preferences in TG2, but don't see a setting.

My forum search did not really answer my question directly.

Thanks, I know I'm asking a lot of questions.

[elipsis1]

I am having issues with banding in a blue sky, and that is why I'm asking.

[elipsis1]

Looks like 32bit Tiff files do exist, however most are 8 to 16 bit according to a google search...

[Kadri]

Save as EXR elipsis1 .

[TheBadger]

Save as EXR elipsis1 .

Kardi is correct. But also save the tiff from the same render, you will always want to have both for post work.

[elipsis1]

Thanks. 

TheBadger, so when would you want to use the tiff if it is only 8 bit?

[jo]

Hi,

TG2 always renders with high dynamic range. Any conversion to a lower dynamic range, typically 8 bit (i.e. 24 bit RGB), happens when you save a render. As Kadri points out you can save a render as EXR to get a high bit depth OpenEXR image.

Regards,

Jo

[elipsis1]

Thank you Jo.

[TheBadger]

Thanks.  

TheBadger, so when would you want to use the tiff if it is only 8 bit?

When printing you will most likely be sending out an 8 bit file, so you will be scaling the image down anyway. When you do this, it is good to have the tiff for blending into the HDR image. I do this sometimes to soften the effects of tone mapping. The aesthetics of an HDR and a render tiff often differ in there very nature, and you don't want to get stuck with one or the other. Re-prosesing a tone mapping for an animation or print series can be inconvenient, and I often find tone mapping to harsh on it own.

Anyway, the short of it is aesthetics.

[elipsis1]

Thanks

You guys are all very patient and helpful.

[Oshyan]

While TIFF as a format does support 16/32bit per channel, TG2 does not currently output TIFF files at this bit depth. It does *read* such TIFFs however. To get "high dynamic range" output use EXR or SGI (.SGI/.RGB).

- Oshyan