Enable color, depth, and mask channels for rendered images

User Guide > Rendering and Render Setup > Rendering > Visualize and render images > Visualize scenes and render images > Set scene options >

Color channels, depth and mask channels are generated by default. Each pixel in an image may consist of channels representing the amount of red, green, and blue, mask, depth in the image. If channels have been turned off, you can turn them back on.

For more information about mask channels, see Mask and depth channels.

NoteDuring bump or displacement mapping, if an image file contains a mask channel, the mask channel is used for displacement and bump mapping. If the mask channel is absent, the luminance of the RGB is used to displace and, or bump map.

If you prefer to use the luminance information as the alpha, turn on the Alpha Is Luminance attribute (in the Color Balance section of the file texture’s Attribute Editor).

To enable a channel to rendered images

In the File Output section of the Render Settings window, select the camera from which you want to render from the Renderable Camera drop-down list.
Do any of the following:
- Turn on RBG Channel (Color)
- Turn on Alpha Channel (Mask)
- Turn on Depth Channel (Z Depth)