Cleaning Up Composer Output Files

This article walks through several options that can help to make a Composer generated video or high-resolution image more presentable.

1. Disable the Compass and Ground

By default, Composer will show the 3 axis compass, as well as the Dassault Systèmes ground logo. If not disabled, both of these items will be present in a final render.

As shown above, these items can be disabled by navigating to the "Collaboration" tab, expanding the "Environment" section, and deselecting the relevant items.

2. Change the Background and Foot Colors

Within Composer, "Background color" will refer to the color shown in the top half of the Viewport, while "Foot color" references the bottom half. 

The illustration above shows an example of how the Background and Foot colors will blend together in the Composer Viewport.

Along with changing the color of the Viewport, a custom background image can also be added.

3. Use Anti-Aliasing

In general, Anti-Aliasing refers to the smoothing of pixelated edges present in computer-generated images. Anti-Aliasing settings can be accessed via the "Anti-Aliasing" tab of both the Video and High-Resolution Image Workshops. As shown below, Anti-Aliasing will need to be independently enabled in the High-Resolution Image Workshop.

As a note, Anti-Aliasing is a resource-intensive process, so the time taken to generate an image or video may increase based on the length or size of the file.

The "Viewport" section of the Composer Help Guide contains more information on the differences between jittering and multisample Anti-Aliasing methods.

4. Change the Render Settings

The render mode of a Composer file can be changed by accessing the Render tab and selecting the "Mode" drop-down menu.

5. Enable Shadows and Ambient Occlusion

For more realistic appearing images and videos, shadows and ambient occlusion can also be enabled before these outputs are rendered. These two features are found in the "Lighting" section of the Render tab, as shown below.

Enabling Shadow will automatically enable Per-Pixel lighting, though the latter can also be enabled independently.

Refer to the "Viewport" section of the Composer Help Guide for more information on per-pixel lighting, shadows, and ambient occlusion.

If you have any questions regarding the above features, or you are having issues with the final output, please contact Hawk Ridge Systems at support@hawkridgesys.com