Definition

ID map is a powerful tool when it comes to post-production. It is an overlay effect (pass) that helps with easy selection of individual elements, objects and materials after the final image has been rendered.

The word map in the world of 3D, also holds a variety of different meanings. It can refer to a texture that is applied to a product but it can also refer to a rendering pass – e.g. reflection map – which only shows the parts of the image that contain reflective surfaces such as marble, glass, lacquered wood and so forth, while everything else that is non-reflective is black.

This is then applied through screen transparency mode in Photoshop over the base map of the render to further enhance the realism of the 3D visualization.