Overview

What GlowWorm Does

GlowWorm provides industrial-strength batch rendering and multi-pass rendering for Poser 6.

The interface for doing this is GlowWorm's Job Manager, the window that appears when you start GlowWorm.

Using the Job Manager, you can create a render job or multiple render jobs, and send it to Poser to be rendered and saved.

Render Jobs

When you create a render job using GlowWorm, you're giving it instructions on what files to render and how to render them. GlowWorm puts the job on its to-do list.

A render job consists of a Poser scene file or a directory of scene files to be rendered, output settings for the images that will be saved, render settings and specifications for the passes to be rendered.

Multi-Pass Rendering

Multi-pass rendering is a technique that is used by CG professionals where several different renders are produced and composited together for each frame. Each of these renders show a different attribute of the final image: Diffuse color, specularity, shadows, etc. All of the different passes are combined together in a program like Photoshop or AfterEffects to produce the final image.

Why Use Multi-Pass Rendering?

Not only does multi-pass rendering gives you unprecedented control over the quality and look of your renders, but it also allows you to make fast changes to your image.

For instance, if you've rendered out a seperate pass for each light in the scene, you can then make adjustments to the intensity and color of each light without having to re-render the entire image. With a complex scene or a professional project, the time you can save and the flexibility are invaluable.

Batch Rendering

Batch rendering is the when a program automatically renders scenes and saves the resulting images/animations. GlowWorm is capable of batch rendering the jobs on its to-do list while you do other things, like catch up on your sleep.

Compositing

You'll need additional software to do your compositing, such as Adobe Photoshop/Photoshop Elements, the Gimp, Project Dogwaffle, or Adobe AfterEffects.

Compositing refers to placing render passes on top of one another, and adjusting the layer mode and opacity. See the compositing tips & tricks section for more detailed information.