V-Ray 3.0 for 3ds Max Beta Open!

[ajroane]

My two cents about licensing...the separate fee for the Universal Render Nodes makes sense, considering the ways in which Vray is expanding. For example, if an architectural firm has employees using Vray for 3dsMax, SketchUp, and (in the future) Revit, the Universal Node should make things more simple to manage. In essence, the Render Node will operate as a separate product, so it's not unfair for ChaosGroup to sell it separately. I don't like paying more for stuff that used to be free, but it does make sense.
It seems the heartache is felt most by 3dsMax users, who render only from 3dsMax. Now they will be expected to pay for an expanded service, which they don't currently need, even though it may benefit them in the future. It's too bad there couldn't be some sort of 'grandfathering-in' for the loyal Max crowd. On the other hand, the loyalists have had over 10 years of super-cheap service, so either way there's not much to complain about.
Regards,
Andrew

[ajroane]

From the announcement page - *V-Ray Render Nodes are required to render with V-Ray 3.0 for 3ds Max.

Probably a dumb question, but to clarify, you still only need Vray Render Nodes if you are rendering over a network, right? So by default, purchasing Vray 3.0 will allow you to render locally, and on one render slave?

Thanks,
Andrew

[Streetwise]

So let me get this straight:

For me to upgrade my workstation and three nodes from 2.4 to 3.0 would be $700? An that would include 3 node licenses that I have no use for? Hmmm... Doesn't seem quite right. Perhaps I could sell those three unused licenses @ $125ea? Is that possible?

Dave

[duke2]

Was really excited about this until I saw the rendernode pricing. Think we'll be sticking with 2.4! If the concern is ongoing costs, i'd introduce a combination of an annual subscription price (similar to what Itoosoft recently introduced), and bundling 10 rendernode licenses with each vray license (and sell additional nodes starting with 10 @ $1k).

The current/proposed system for 3.0 is incredibly hard on small businesses and render farms.

[Coffee Rabbit]

Not to be a kiss ass on their own forums, but regardless of what it used to cost, the new price is still very much worth it. VRay has grown and grown to encompass all kinds of needs yet remains elegant in it's implementation. It's the bee's knees.

[vlado]

The deal that states you get 3.0 for free if you purchased 2.4 between 4 August and when 3.0 is released, is that valid only for NEW 2.4 licenses, or also for NEW upgrades from 1.5 to 2.4?

Because the way I'm reading it is that it should ALSO be valid for upgrades from 1.5 to 2.4 if you do it now before 3.0 is released?
And the Bonus is also that you get 3 X 3.0 render nodes included for free with that deal?

It would be best to ask at sales.software@chaosgroup.com

Best regards,
Vlado

[Morne]

The deal that states you get 3.0 for free if you purchased 2.4 between 4 August and when 3.0 is released, is that valid only for NEW 2.4 licenses, or also for NEW upgrades from 1.5 to 2.4?

Because the way I'm reading it is that it should ALSO be valid for upgrades from 1.5 to 2.4 if you do it now before 3.0 is released?
And the Bonus is also that you get 3 X 3.0 render nodes included for free with that deal?

[creapix]

I agree with most, this new pricing scheme is really a shame for small studios (even more for big renderfarms):
Vray 2.0 + 10 DR nodes and unlimited render nodes: 1350$ USD
Vray 3.0 + 10 DR and render nodes (no longer unlimited - correct me if i'm wrong vlado) : 1050 + 280*9 = 3570$!!! 2.6 times the price of VRay 2.0 which had unlimited render nodes.

Now for upgrades:
Vray 1.5 to 2.0 + 10 DR nodes and unlimited render nodes: 550$ USD
Vray 2.0 to 3.0 + 10 DR and render nodes (no longer unlimited - correct me if i'm wrong) : 980 - 40 (to adjust to 10 render nodes) = ~ 940$!!! 1.7 times the price of VRay 2.0 upgrade which had unlimited render nodes.

That is for a single license and 10 DR/render nodes like we're used to, I can't even imagine the price increase for renderfarms and bigger studios. Unfortunately that price increase can't always be reflected in a price increase to the client to remain competitive (of course quality is the most important, but even then the clients will ask why the increase for the same type of work). Everything increases in price and Chaosgroup got bills to pay too, but that increase is rather steep when it should be linear.

Now don't get me wrong, VRay and Chaosgroup in general have provided us with incredible competitive tools for outputting nice work (we can all see the 2013 and earlier demo reels), and deserve to be paid for, but such a huge and drastic change to the pricing scheme hurts a lot more than the 1.5-5 times potential increase in bruteforce. Having universal rendernodes is cool, but not for everyone, lot of people just use 3dsmax for their work, so they don't care at all.

I see huge price increase for not so huge apparent improvement from what we have (apart in specific render situations, and of course all improvements in general are welcome and appreciated), so what's the deal?

[vlado]

Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere, but are all the render nodes universal (max/maya/softimage) with 3.0? That would be huge for mixed use studios.

Yes, all 3.0 render nodes are universal between V-Ray for 3ds Max, Maya and Softimage (with the respective 3.0 versions of the products of course).

Best regards,
Vlado

[Coffee Rabbit]

Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere, but are all the render nodes universal (max/maya/softimage) with 3.0? That would be huge for mixed use studios.

[joconnell]

Yep, it's very quick, the cost of the ui license has dropped and when you upgrade from 2.x up to 3 you can get really good pricing on render nodes, they end up at 40 euro each if you buy 11 nodes at the same time. It's a bit more than you're used to paying but it's still pretty cheap compared to all the other renderer's pricing

[Streetwise]

I can't find a WBC file to upload! In fact, my dongle doesn't show up where I can see the contents. About all I can get is the License ID number when I hit it with a browser. Please advise. Thanks.

EDIT
Nevermind - Solved!!!

[Dariusz Makowski (Dadal)]

LOL, are you telling me your rendering times really went down in the past years?
when i look at my work, each year a frames takes the same or longer to render, even after i updated to a much faster machine, because the moment you have more power, you add more stuff to the scene .. will be the same with vray3 if it is really 50% faster....

BRUTE FORCE and partially hair is faster...rest stay the same...

[Markus]

Oh Well....Vray 3.0 is around 50% faster at rendering than Vray 2.4 - So i guess we don't need those unlimited render nodes anymore....

LOL, are you telling me your rendering times really went down in the past years?
when i look at my work, each year a frames takes the same or longer to render, even after i updated to a much faster machine, because the moment you have more power, you add more stuff to the scene .. will be the same with vray3 if it is really 50% faster....

[michaelwbell]

Oh Well....Vray 3.0 is around 50% faster at rendering than Vray 2.4 - So i guess we don't need those unlimited render nodes anymore....