[jfrancis]

So I am surprised I've come this far without ever knowing that you can leave tiff files in layers and Maxwell (or at least Maxwell via Maya) will accept them just fine.

Are they flattened on import? Or do they take up more RAM?

Anyone know?

[vizport]

I don't know, but you can make a simple Scene with a large TIFF file (50MB+) and watch your Task Manager in Windows. Look for the mw exe.

[jfrancis]

I will post my results

[jfrancis]

I experimented with a 4K tif flat and in 8 layers. And flat mono.

If I am doing it right, I see no memory penalty for leaving the tif in layers. I suppose it flattens on import. I do see a benefit to working in mono for images when it makes sense to do so in mono - when using images of scalar roughness values, for example.

[ababak]

Every TIFF file (and even PSD file with maximize compatibilty option checked) contains a "merge visible" version inside so nothing needs to be flattened on import, it's already there. All the information about layers according to specifications is stored in extra private fields that are ignored by any applications that are not aware of them.

[jfrancis]

Interesting. Thank you.