V-Ray 2.20.01 available for download

[vlado]

you guys did an awesome work with the new hair shader! very impressive! we where very keen to test that one.

Glad that you find it useful

Best regards,
Vlado

[peprgb]

Yes, yes, uploading a fix now.

Best regards,
Vlado

So we should download it again? (same 2.20.01 version name i guess)

[vlado]

We will change the version for this one, and I will post in the announcement section when it's done; sorry about that.

Best regards,
Vlado

[dlparisi]

Great update. What exactly does the "VFB: added ICC color correction to the V-Ray VFB" option do though? Loading different ICC profiles doesn't seem to do anything - I've tried checking all of the "Use..." options in the vfb as well. Tried rerendering too after setting the profile.

Sorry to bump this but if anyone has an idea how this is supposed to work/function I'd be really interested. I've tried it a little more and still can't get anything to work.

[vlado]

It works, however keep the following in mind:

a) PhotoShop expects to read a file with gamma applied to the colors in the image;
b) The V-Ray VFB assumes that no gamma is applied to the colors.

From this, the workflow should be as follows:

1) Set the V-Ray color mapping settings to Linear, gamma 2.2 with "Don't affect colors" enabled; in this way, rendered colors are in linear physical space.
2) Set the 3ds Max Output gamma to 2.2; in this way, saved images are in the 2.2 gamma space expected by PhotoShop.

With these settings, the VFB will work correctly with the data in linear physical space when applying the ICC profile, but when the image is saved to .jpg/.png/whatever, it will have the correct 2.2 gamma expected from PhotoShop.

Best regards,
Vlado

[dlparisi]

Thanks Vlado but I'm still not seeing any difference either in the VFB or photoshop. Is it supposed to look different or does it do something else that I'm just not grasping?

[vlado]

Did you specify an ICC file in the color corrections window in the first place? For PhotoShop, you will have to specify the ICC profile in its color settings.

Best regards,
Vlado

[dlparisi]

Yes, I've tried several of the icc files located in C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color and C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Color\Profiles (including my calibrated monitor profile) all of which look exactly the same in the VFB. Is this the correct behavior?

[vlado]

Do they look the same in PhotoShop? In any case, it's more or less normal. Those ICC files are typically targeted to produce a sRGB image out of an image that is already very close to sRGB to begin with. So they tend to look very close.

Best regards,
Vlado

[joconnell]

Quick one Vlado, was the new copde for writing to scanline exr included in this release? There doesn't seem to be a huge speed gain in the files at the minute compared to writing them out of nuke as zip s scanline files?

[vlado]

Yes, they are now written as multi-scanline blocks, which should be faster in Nuke.

Best regards,
Vlado

[gunny263]

why would you use the glossiness render element? it doesn't appear in the Spot3d render element section and appears to return a pixel fill of the actual value in the glossiness material parameter.

[vlado]

why would you use the glossiness render element? it doesn't appear in the Spot3d render element section and appears to return a pixel fill of the actual value in the glossiness material parameter.

Well, it was requested mostly so you can use it as a texture baking element to prepare materials for a real-time engine.

Best regards,
Vlado

[prima]

Is the documentation of just released features, like the new hair material, ready? Where can we find it? Thanks

[joconnell]

Yes, they are now written as multi-scanline blocks, which should be faster in Nuke.

Best regards,
Vlado

Hmm - not seeing as huge a difference as converting to scanline exr in nuke or going to vrimg and then converting with "-compression zips -datawindow -half" in the vrimg2exr tool. I hate that I can't see what the exact specs of exr files are in any programs I use!