render layer masks

Right…im gonna try and explain my problem as best i can…Basically, ive got 2 render layers in my scene. Its for the blender guru christmas comp, so i have a layer with almost everything, and a render layer with just the lights going around the tree…ive done some composting on the lights layer but because it is rendering that layer on its own…the lights are not wrapping around the tree and i can see the lights on both sides of the tree, where it would normally be just the front…here is a pic to help understand more…


hopefully now you can see my problem…light which should be hidden behind the tree are not which just looks odd…Basically, i want to know how i can somehow mask of where the tree would be on the lights render layer, so that lights which are behind the tree and not in view are so? Thanks

If the lights are on their own layer you could use all the other layers as a Layer Mask. Simple example blend attached

Attachments

mask.blend (186 KB)


virtual high 5 That is so easy…silly me :confused: Thanks!!