V-ray beginner question

[baw]

Sorry for such a basic question but I'm trying to figure out v-ray using the demo version before I buy the full software. How does v-rays work flow compare to using radiosity? From what testing I have done (which hasnt been very good) it seems like it computes the lighting and rendering pretty much at the same time. That opposed to viz radiosity where it computes the lighting, then you render the image while having the ability to change materials, material mapping and all. It seems as though in v-ray that in order to change just the size of the material mapping and render it again it has to go through the whole lighting process as well? Is that right or am I just way off in what I am doing. Plus justt getting a screen rendering for testing purposes it seems very slow. I can't image how long an image would take to render at 3300x 2550. Is it supposed to be faster or slower than using viz radiosity? Again, sorry for the dumb questions but I just don't get it.

Thanks,

Brian.

[percydaman]

until you figure out the settings, vray is probably going to seem slow, but its really the fastest out there. You cant really stop the lighting calculation at any time like in radiosity (if memory serves) and since the rays are shot from the camera, NOT the light, you have to recalc the light when much in the way of changes are made. The upside to calculating light starting from the camera and not the light, is alot of time is saved by not calculating light on surfaces never seen by the camera.

You can btw, save your lighting irradiance map using vray. Not sure if the demo supports it, but I frequently render out the irradiance map, make minor changes to materials, and then just render from the saved irrad map.

[baw]

Any suggestions on the best way to learn what all those settings do? I mainly work in interiors doing residential work. I've tried some of the tutorials out there with very little success. I've been using viz and lightscape for a long time now and thought v-ray would be easier to learn since I have worked with radiosity for so long. Is there any books out there yet on v-ray?

Thanks, again.