The Diffuse Render Element shows the colors and textures used in materials, flatly applied to objects with no lighting information. The colors are the actual colors set in the material definition, and each texture appears as it does in the texture (file) itself. There are no highlights or shadows, and any background image is not included.
Other render elements that include colors from materials are said to include the diffuse contribution or the diffuse component of the rendered scene. The Diffuse Render Element contributes this diffuse component; any render element that includes this diffuse component is a combination of vrayRE_Diffuse and other render element(s).
Note that the Diffuse Filter Render Element Element is affected by reflection and refraction combined weight. 1
Anchor
1.1
1.1
This render element is, by itself, useful for making overall adjustments and enhancements to base colors and textures during compositing without effecting things like reflections and highlights.
To use render elements, select from the Available render elements column and click the Add button to add the passes you wish to generate at render time. When you render the scene, the added render elements listed in the column on the right, will also render, which can be viewed from the VFB window's channel drop-down menu.
For more information on the parameters on this dialog, see the Render Elements tab page.