What exactly are PBuffers?

[elias4444]

I know there's been a TON of talk about pbuffers lately, but I can't even figure out what they are, or find a definition for them somewhere. Could someone please explain it to me? As well as what they're advantage is?

Thanks.

[napier]

pbuffer stands for pixel buffer.  Think of it as a virtual screen that you can render into without affecting the Display.  It has similar settings like bits per pixel and depth buffer.  Once you create a pbuffer you can switch between the Display or the pbuffer for rendering.  

You can generate dynamic textures in a pbuffer, or use them to layer and composite several renderings.

I'm using a pbuffer to render in high resolution to produce images for print.  Pbuffers can be larger than the hardware display resoutions.