V-Ray + Vantage workflows

[FilippObada]

Hi guys.

Im using Vantage and I love it, but I also love the VFB and its compositing, tone maping and cryptomate abilities. VFB is really powerful and Im sad to have to let it behind. One could say that I could work in Vantage for scene creation as its faster and then switch to V-Ray and render the final in V-Ray in order to be able to use the VFB, but its not that simple because as we know, the image from Vantage does not translate very well to V-Ray and vice versa. There would be a significant adjustment work to be done before getting the same result and the benefits of VFB might not be worth it. Also one of the best things is to be able to perform complex compositing while the work is in progress because when the client says "change that chair" you change the chair and all the post work continues, even if we switch the camera, as we know. This is super powerful for me and its not the case for post outside VFB. We would have to do it all over again after changing the chair in order to get the same result with a different chair.
That being said, when I start in Vantage, I finish in vantage and dont even see the VFB, and when I start in V-Ray I dont use Vantage at all. My question is - what is your workflow for getting the best of both worlds? How do you use Vantage and V-Ray?
It might be a stupid topic, I mean, everybody's needs are different and everybody use it in a different way, but I came to a point when Im really 50/50 on should I go with Vantage or V-Ray for my next project.
Thought may be hearing other people experience would get me to some conclusion.
Thank you!

[rita_sobral]

I agree with your points @FilippObada. I have recently been switching back and forth between Vantage and Vray GPU, mainly because of certain features Vantage does not yet have, proper motion blur, VDB's, dirt maps, proper opacity and bump map support.

Surprisingly though there are also features missing in Vray GPU and some of those features are present in Vantage. Things like texture mapping environment fog or setting start and end distances are not in Vray GPU but in Vantage.

I complained in another post about the lack of a single GPU workflow for Vray. I will go further to complain that Vantage is now a stand-alone license on top of Vray making the cost of total GPU features too much for the average person and they have no proper indie licensing for their software.

Vray monthly solo is 74 euros
Vantage monthly is 99 euros? How can a cost of a product, that requires another product, cost more than the other product?

For a solo person who can't afford a huge upfront cost, that is 173.9 a month!

Octane render which comes with multiple GPU kernels and feature parity between them outside of the direct lighting kernel is a mere 23.95 a month
Arnold is free with Autodesk and has GPU available
Blender is free with GPU Cycles available
Unreal is free
Cinema 4d + Redshift + Zbrush is 118 a month

[hill_lam]

Click the link below to vote for my suggestion and let Chaos see it
Export .exr or .vrimg files containing | Vantage Ideas Portal (aha.io)

[glorybound]

I think it is all about the echo system. Like the Apple AirPods, which are not nearly as good as other earbuds, you'll pay for sub-par technology if you are in the Apple Echo system. Why do we pay for 3DS MAX? Because it is what we know, and change can be expensive and time-consuming. The same can be said for V-Ray and Vantage. We know V-Ray, and to stay in the echo system, we will pay for Vantage. It is a short-term play since new users will gravitate toward free, but usually, investors want immediate payback and make short-sighted decisions.

[rita_sobral]

Yeah the eco system is a big part of Vray and Chaos as a whole, the biggest part of that is assets, most assets currently and historically have been built for Vray & Corona out the box. And this extensive library of assets goes back a long time. So most companies have built up huge libraries in one or the other. Particularly for Archviz.

Rebuilding shaders in another render engine is a laborious task. Octane has built-in tools but it often never works correctly. Unreal datasmith is a similar story.

I just think Chaos's pricing will impact their market share for new users over time quite dramatically. With Maxon buying Redshift and offering really competitive pricing for independents and companies I think we will see a shift of new GPU users move to to them in the future, its production ready and already being used in large studios more and more.

[hasnain_sikandar]

I agree with your points @FilippObada. I have recently been switching back and forth between Vantage and Vray GPU, mainly because of certain features Vantage does not yet have, proper motion blur, VDB's, dirt maps, proper opacity and bump map support.

Surprisingly though there are also features missing in Vray GPU and some of those features are present in Vantage. Things like texture mapping environment fog or setting start and end distances are not in Vray GPU but in Vantage.

I complained in another post about the lack of a single GPU workflow for Vray. I will go further to complain that Vantage is now a stand-alone license on top of Vray making the cost of total GPU features too much for the average person and they have no proper indie licensing for their software.

Vray monthly solo is 74 euros
Vantage monthly is 99 euros? How can a cost of a product, that requires another product, cost more than the other product?

For a solo person who can't afford a huge upfront cost, that is 173.9 a month!

Octane render which comes with multiple GPU kernels and feature parity between them outside of the direct lighting kernel is a mere 23.95 a month
Arnold is free with Autodesk and has GPU available
Blender is free with GPU Cycles available
Unreal is free
Cinema 4d + Redshift + Zbrush is 118 a month

Look at what's happening with Adobe, People are switching left right center to other equally better programs, because of high subscription and cancellation fee charges. We have also completely switched and are Adobe free. Hope the industry learns some lessons from it.

[pablo_vinicius]

I agree with your points @FilippObada. I have recently been switching back and forth between Vantage and Vray GPU, mainly because of certain features Vantage does not yet have, proper motion blur, VDB's, dirt maps, proper opacity and bump map support.

Surprisingly though there are also features missing in Vray GPU and some of those features are present in Vantage. Things like texture mapping environment fog or setting start and end distances are not in Vray GPU but in Vantage.

I complained in another post about the lack of a single GPU workflow for Vray. I will go further to complain that Vantage is now a stand-alone license on top of Vray making the cost of total GPU features too much for the average person and they have no proper indie licensing for their software.

Vray monthly solo is 74 euros
Vantage monthly is 99 euros? How can a cost of a product, that requires another product, cost more than the other product?

For a solo person who can't afford a huge upfront cost, that is 173.9 a month!

Octane render which comes with multiple GPU kernels and feature parity between them outside of the direct lighting kernel is a mere 23.95 a month
Arnold is free with Autodesk and has GPU available
Blender is free with GPU Cycles available
Unreal is free
Cinema 4d + Redshift + Zbrush is 118 a month

The worst part is that it costs 99 euros, and the development is stagnant. Many of the software mentioned have regular updates with new features, but with Vantage, it's just patches fixing issues while creating new ones. For example, the problem where random frames restart rendering midway, and the progress bar keeps moving. In the end, you get a different image, and this is never resolved.

Another issue is when you use color correction on a bitmap with falloff, and the GI still emits the bitmap’s original color.

A persistent problem they never fix is when you start rendering, the first frame works, but then it freezes and doesn’t move to the next one. You have to keep canceling and restarting until it works.

It feels like the team is lost. They’re focusing on Corona support, but the software lacks basic features like decent motion blur, lens effects like glare, support for Phoenix FD, and many features from V-Ray.

[hasnain_sikandar]

The worst part is that it costs 99 euros, and the development is stagnant. Many of the software mentioned have regular updates with new features, but with Vantage, it's just patches fixing issues while creating new ones. For example, the problem where random frames restart rendering midway, and the progress bar keeps moving. In the end, you get a different image, and this is never resolved.

Another issue is when you use color correction on a bitmap with falloff, and the GI still emits the bitmap’s original color.

A persistent problem they never fix is when you start rendering, the first frame works, but then it freezes and doesn’t move to the next one. You have to keep canceling and restarting until it works.

It feels like the team is lost. They’re focusing on Corona support, but the software lacks basic features like decent motion blur, lens effects like glare, support for Phoenix FD, and many features from V-Ray.

Not to mention the the most basic feature I have been requesting, like saving files in 16 bit .png and .tiff.. this is just basic right ? Please request to incorporate this in next update.

[vladimir.nedev]

Another issue is when you use color correction on a bitmap with falloff, and the GI still emits the bitmap’s original color.

This is easily fixed by enabling "Shading graph for glossy/GI" - it is not a bug.
If you want it to be always on for new scenes, you can save it in your default config by doing:
1. New Scene
2. Change the option
3. Edit->Save Scene Settings as Default

Greetings,
Vladimir Nedev