Charging for render nodes

[fingerindustries]

So, Vray was *the* one to go to, the one with great software and great customer support - one of its bonuses (on top of being a superb shader) was it had free render nodes, which was great when I run a small company. I championed Vray from the early days to SO many peopel. Now Chaos Group want our money for render nodes. Thanks

Not only are Adobe screwing us, Autodesk upping their prices, now Chaos Group want to get in on the act.

I understand the need to make money and charge for software; thats why I buy legal versions of everything, but a free render node is super for us small companies and enables us render on multiple machines without more excessive cost.

Vray can now be proud to class themselves in the same greedy, finance-not-customer-first only led class as our Adobe and Autodesk.

I for one will be actively looking for new, less greedy companies in whcih to invest and hope more follow.

[rivoli]

Vray can now be proud to class themselves in the same greedy, finance-not-customer-first only led class as our Adobe and Autodesk.

a bit overreacting there? maybe?

[Macker]

Whilst I'm not pleased about it, I think that you're slightly overreacting. VRay is still the cream of the crop when it comes to render engines.

[plastic_]

I agree in a way.
I can manage the costs for my existing setup (unter 6 render nodes).
But what I wanted to try in the future is rendering in the cloud, which seems to get complicated/expensive with this kind of licensing.
I'm very happy with Vray 2.0, the only real benefit I can imagine is instant rendering / a huge performace boost (more than I am able to achieve with a local farm), and it looks like this is becoming really expensive.

[AlexP]

Wow, so if I've worked this out correctly it's going to cost us nearly 7000 euros to upgrade once we get all our blades up and running... and that's only 3 user licenses the rest is all on render nodes.

Not that it's going to make any difference, but also really not pleased about this!

We're still on 2.3 and I guess we'll stay that way..

[Donald2B]

There seems to be a lot of overreacting to this IMHO.

I've been using VRay since the beginning and I have only had to pay TWO upgrades in those 11 years!

It's going to cost us about $3500 to upgrade our 5 users and rendernodes with the appropriate bundles. No offense, but that is STILL a damn good deal compared to the cost of other rendering engines out there. It is still the cheapest option for us. I am more than willing to pay the upgrade price in return for all the years there were NO upgrade fees at all, especially the pre 1.5 days.

I know that everyone is in a different situation or has been using the software for different lengths of time, but I still find the new pricing structure to be fair. Try to find this level of support from ANY OTHER software manufacturer without paying for support or maintenance fees. We have been spoiled for far too long.

[vlado]

Wow, so if I've worked this out correctly it's going to cost us nearly 7000 euros to upgrade once we get all our blades up and running... and that's only 3 user licenses the rest is all on render nodes.

Before you make any price conclusions, it would be best to send an email to sales.software@chaosgroup.com - our sales guys will be able to get you an accurate number tailored to your specific situation, which may turn out to be (much) less than what you thought.

Best regards,
Vlado

[joconnell]

Wow, so if I've worked this out correctly it's going to cost us nearly 7000 euros to upgrade once we get all our blades up and running... and that's only 3 user licenses the rest is all on render nodes.

Not that it's going to make any difference, but also really not pleased about this!

We're still on 2.3 and I guess we'll stay that way..

Well, looking at the pricing it's 300 euro to upgrade your license to 3 with one render node. For an upgrade plus 11 render node licenses it's 400 euro extra, so that's 40 euro per render node. So for 2100 euro you can upgrade your 3 ui licenses and have 33 render nodes - not too bad at all considering a lot of things in vray 3 have gotten 3 - 5 times faster

[fingerindustries]

Over-reacting? Maybe I came across as too heavy, but I think my principle does stand; just because it has been 'good' (ie cheaper than the competition) why does that mean I should suddenly have to fork out a couple or £1000 extra if I choose to upgrade to 3.0 (which I would have done if this silly cost hadn't come in to play).
I see it as the thin edge of a wedge; if they had thought of clients and small businesses they would realise this is another painful cost for us. I would rather pay a bit more for 3.0 but have unlimited render nodes. It makes much more sense. They did it because people buy a handful of full Vray licenses (4 in my case) and render on many machines (13 in my case). They can make more money. Simples.
Stick with 2.4 until and alternative comes along

Vray IS an amazing piece of software but I'm not a charity and can't keep upping my outlay on software year on year

[glorybound]

So, can you please clarify? How many nodes do you get per license? My understanding is 10 nodes per seat; is this going to change in 3.0?

[super gnu]

you get one node with a vray3 license by default.

if you are upgrading from 2.0 you can pay extra (either 500 or 700 euros instead of 300) and get either 6 or 11 render nodes instead of 1.

[lgrohs]

(4 in my case) and render on many machines (13 in my case).

Vray IS an amazing piece of software but I'm not a charity and can't keep upping my outlay on software year on year

I assure you that the new policy for render nodes is something we put a lot thought into, and we understand that moving away from free unlimited render nodes is a significant change, but it's a necessary step to continue to deliver a top quality product with the highest level of service and support.

We’re dedicated to providing the highest value possible with our software and we've worked hard to keep our pricing competitive with a variety of upgrade and bundle options, allowing users to only pay for what they need.

For instance, in the case of 4 user license upgrades and 14 universal render nodes, the cost would be 700 euros (1 GUI + 11 Nodes) and 900 euros for (3 GUI + 3 Render Nodes.) totaling 1600 euros. Over the course of a year, that's a little over 1 euro a day per artist.

Historically, V-Ray for 3ds Max has been our only product to include free unlimited network rendering plus 10 distributed rendering nodes. V-Ray for Maya includes 10 and 10 respectively, and V-Ray for Softimage includes 5 and 5. As we look towards a future that includes the advent of cloud computing and universal/ cross-application V-Ray assets, it’s important to introduce a single, universal policy for all render nodes. This is why new universal V-Ray Render Nodes 3.0 will be compatible with additional V-Ray host applications.

For productions that need to scale up and down on a per project basis, we’ve also introduced flexible monthly and annual licensing options as well.

Our customers are paramount, and we assure you this is an essential change for a sustainable business model and for the future V-Ray roadmap.

[Morbid Angel]

While new prices for license would not make any one happy (who wants to pay more?) but look at the bigger picture. Vray does not release a new version every year, but you however still get all the updates between versions for free and majority of bugs/problems and also a very large amount of user requests are being worked on. I completely understand the cost requirements to keep the company on the competitive level.

With that said though, the cloud part is in my opinion quite a ways away. Reason being, yes you can use the cloud, but when you use not just vray, but maya/max, a render manager, and a number of plugins to do your job (which is a pretty standard thing) you cannot efficiently use the cloud without paying an arm and a leg.

But I do really like the annual pricing, its low, and perhaps its one of the brighter parts of the license upgrade.

[Dariusz Makowski (Dadal)]

I agree with frustration and all the unhappy people with license changes BUT I do understand chaos position and all that. However I want to point out 1 important thing. Even tho you lose a lot of render nodes... you DO NOT lose SUPPORT!!!! In other render engines you also have subscription fee which is another expensive add on ! So just well plainly speaking... try to be happy because it could be a lot worse...

However I do wish there could be a 1 man army policy where freelancers could get lets say.. 2 DBR or 3 DBR nodes to start with...

[lgrohs]

However I do wish there could be a 1 man army policy where freelancers could get lets say.. 2 DBR or 3 DBR nodes to start with...

If you're upgrading from 2.0, there is a bundle that includes 1 GUI + 6 universal V-Ray Render Nodes for 500 euros.

Best Regards,
Lon