Hi, I know it's a bit crazy to come back to this post 5 months later... I'#m pretty sure I checked out the links back then (they are dead now), and I think one of them was the video by Dobromir:
https://vimeo.com/119848103

I understand the workflow, and flexibility of the method. However, this ...

Thanks for such a quick reply! I have one other question about this render I was working on - I have a plane under the car, which has 'matte' checked in the common parameters, yet the entire square still creates a dark area, not just the shadow from the car. Why is that? Thanks

Hi, it's version 3.06.

The texture type is a layer with a marble, and a bitmap - I've attached an screen grab.

Thanks,

Hi, I'm very new to Octane, and only been using C4D for a few months. Spent 18 years with 3D Max, mental ray & VRay, so please bear with me!

Trying to do a realistic render of a car, with a stock mesh. I've used an HDR, and created the shaders myself. In an attempt to make things a little less ...