BSA324, editing and compositing, 25 October, 2017

Much excitement here!  Things can be rendered as their own separate layer through Maya which means that each layer can be altered as needed.  Rachel is teaching me how to do this today.
After everything in scene is finished, everything in the warehouse except the signpost and the lanterns (light source) go into their own group called "bk".
Open Render set up window (clapper board with blue paper stack icon)

Create a layer, then a collection, which holds the first element you want rendered separately.  In my case, this is all the background stuff in the warehouse.  Second layer holds the signpost.  We tried a test render but it turns out that all of those lights I'd put into the warehouse, and there weren't that many, were actually doing something and now I'm getting a black scene for my sign.  lol.  The arnold light Rachel dropped in was unresponsive so I'll put in a new Maya light and test it out.  I am very excited about what happens next.  Previously, we test rendered four of the frames at the end of the scene.  The background, sign, and master layer all were rendered separately which meant lighting and glow on the lanterns could be treated separately from the signpost and the master layer could go over top and be tinted and otherwise manipulated to create a different look again.  Love it!  Very excited about this new development!