Does any one know what are the difference between these two formats
and how can i use openEXR with Max?

EXR is a world-wide open standard, while RPF is an discreet/autodesk custom file format.
in 3dsmax they can do the same, but MAX has problems saving EXR extra channels while rendering with backburner, so you are forced to use RPF.
By the way, 3samax has the same network problem with the TIFF saver, occasionally skipping the alpha channel with backburner.
And this bunch of s**t they call a professional software, what a laugh.
I would like to use it, because 1000 programs can read EXR and only a few can read RPF. Then we discovered that since the introduction of the EXR import/export plugin in 3dsmax 8 or 9 the problem persist and discreet has done nothing to fix it.

PLEASE FIX IT !!!!!!!!!!!!  or soon everybody will start using blender, they manage to save files right.

3ds MAX 2011 64
Windows 7
24 GB RAM
Dual Intel Hexacore 2.66 GHz

Minus the issues of the extra channels (like Z depth) - I have had a lot of luck using the exr format and have not ran into any problems.  I do all my comp work in after affects.  If I need the extra info - I use RPF - but AE only can handle the Z depth. 

To me - the main thing is to get a format that is not 8-bit and is compatible with your comp program.  I would also look at file size if you are doing large animations.  exr lets you save as a compressed file - not sure if the hdr lets you do that in max.  If not, the files could be huge.  Even compressed - they can be huge.

Guy Galer
http://www.twist-edgames.com

Open EXR vs. HDRI?

Let me show you the name of the thread.

//

Now I prefer rpf to almost any other format (just so you know I’m biased). I have to ask tho, what program cannot read RPF and can get oEXR to read fine?

Also, bear in mind I have no clue what oEXR is or how it can compare to both HDR and RPF. It sounds good already.

I can(and do) use RPF in both adobe AE and autodesks Combustion. AE has some internal problems, but combustion works 100% fine.

EoDEo

Ideas drift like petals on the wind. You have only to lift your face to the breeze.

We have maximized the possibilities of Combustion and After Effects and we are thinking to buy Nuke or Fusion and both seems to like EXR more than RPF (EXR are faster to load, filesize is smaller). I will look into Toxic too.

There are a lot of small tools which can read EXR but not RPF. (converter, encoder, these sort of things).

Plus MAX saves 32bit EXRs with the right gamma and the right exposure (I mean as seen in the virtual framebuffer when you locally test the scene) while the RPFs are saved with a default exposure and 1.0 gamma.
I know this aren’t bugs nor really problems, compositing with RPF doesn’t feel so straightforward as with EXRs.
I also have here problems with the background in RPFs, which is saved a lot to dark, but this could be a symptom of VRay, haven’t got time to test it with other renderer.

3ds MAX 2011 64
Windows 7
24 GB RAM
Dual Intel Hexacore 2.66 GHz

Just forget about Photoshop, which loves EXR, but can’t read RPF.
I think both formats have their stand-alone arguments (I love the 3D Compositing with RPFs in Combustion, it’s unique throughout the compositing world, camera data in the pictures plus Z)
I just demand a working EXR exporter, only a piece of working software, not something out of this world.

3ds MAX 2011 64
Windows 7
24 GB RAM
Dual Intel Hexacore 2.66 GHz

Sorry to go slighlty off topic, but just read this,

“I love the 3D Compositing with RPFs in Combustion, it’s unique throughout the compositing world, camera data in the pictures plus Z”

and am slighlty confused, I’m trying to get to grips with oEXR at the mo, and am saving with all my elements from Max such as Zdepth, Obj-ID etc.  and having a massive problem with reading the extra channels in combustion, I was under the assumption that to access extra channels like this I had to use a GBuffer to pull the info, however I’ve tried to do this so many times now, and never with any success, I’ve tried lowering it to 16bit float EXR but still no difference, the eleemts are there in max, but not in combustion??? is this possible???? cause combustion and RPFs do work so fluidly, surely embedding the options is the whole point of the channels stored in an oEXR?

Many thanks,

A