V-Ray for Nuke
Self Illum
The Self Illumination Render Element stores the illumination of any self-illuminated materials in the scene.
Last updated 18 September 2025
The Self Illumination Render Element stores the illumination of any self-illuminated materials in the scene.
Overview
The Self Illumination Render Element isolates any objects with Self-Illumination enabled in their V-Ray Material. This render element is useful for brightening or color-correcting self-illuminated materials in the final composite.
For example, the material VRayMtl has a parameter for self-illumination. If this parameter is set to a non-black color value, this render element will show the results of the self-illumination.
UI Path: ||Toolbar|| > V-Ray Menu icon > Render > VRayRenderElement > Type: Self Illum
Properties
The Self Illum render element has no controllable properties.
Common uses
The Self Illumination Render Element is useful for changing the appearance of self-illuminated surfaces after rendering in compositing or image editing software. Below are two examples of its use.
Self Illumination Render Element
Original Beauty Composite with no Self Illumination Render Element
Original Beauty Composite with Self Illumination Render Element with no glow added
Self Illumination Render Element with added glow
Tinted Self Illumination Render Element with added glow
Self Illumination with added glow
Color of self-illuminated surface changed in composite
Notes
- This element contains only the light geometry itself, not the light emitted from it. Lighting information is contained in the Lighting Render Elements.