Federer

Thanks for the reply. I'm using Redshift. Always shooting HDRI's. I'm new to C4D but used to be comp supe on features etc so I'm very familiar with integration procedures. I'm just mainly interested in how to get useable contact shadows and GI shading. When I used shadow catchers, they work great as long as I just use a dome light, the moment I add area or distant lights for example, these passes contain a lot extra shadows in addition to the hero object shadow, so it gets messy roto'ing the actual part I need. Ideally I'm hoping there is a workflow to just get GI and contact shading on my shadow catchers for the hero object. For example: In the GI pass above, the pipes have nice shadow details that get lost in the floor plane. Hope this makes sense....

New to C4D. Want to integrate CG set enhancements on live action plates. So for example, adding CG pipes and machinery to shot footage of a warehouse hallway. I've been doing tests and playing with AOV's, I can get a shadow pass no problem, but AO and GI are hard to isolate. If I'm just using a dome light and a shadow catcher the everything is easy, but the moment I add an area light and try to isolate the GI it gets really tough. What is the best way to get useable GI and AO passes that are easy to isolate and use on a live action plate? I've attached a few images from a test scene. All I want is the pipe shadows but in the passes below, the GI is really hard to isolate. Thanks so much for any advice.