VrayMTL tab to control GI Color and/or GI contribution

[Ivan1982]

Hi dear developers,

I will try to be brief as i can.

Existing solution:
There is already material wrapper and overrider, one of them is not supported on GPU to full extent and the other one requires usage of additional material node just so we can change what bounces light or color (for color cast and GI intensity control).

Idea:
Having this existing features incorporated to existing Vraymtl in most basic form, new tab (or other form doable) so we can control GI contribution, color or value 0-1. 0 is 0-0-0 (black) - and 1 is 255,255,255 (white).
Simple mtl override and wrapper basic functions (ones that control color and GI) without using extra node. ofc, supported on GPU.

Usage: Same case usage as existing solution (Override and wrapper nodes) but with the scene optimization in mind, instead 100nodes we would need 50.

edit: attachment

[vladimir_krastev]

Hi, thanks for posting. This idea may be useful in case you need matte properties in your material. Nevertheless it will add complication to the regular VRayMtl and I personally do not think it is used that often so to me using a specialized node like the VRayOverrideMtl makes more sense. We will discuss it and let you know the result.

[Ivan1982]

Vray although very sophisticated it does require a bit of trickery sometimes to achieve desired results, i think this will help immensely in those situations (chain is strong as it's weakest link)

This way properties of the material are completely utilized and kept, only thing that is changed are values in this tab.

If we have map in "GI color cast slot" of a different color, in combination with parameters of material (keeping GI caustic reflectance and refraction) along with GI contribution value we can literally stay in the same node and create complex effects.

Dark matte shaders like coal or very diffuse shaders like powders or even shiny iridescent high reflectance objects could benefit from this, certainly from artistic point of view.

Complex sheen or velvety materials with Fresnel node attached with different color cast and so on will be contained completely to a single shader.

Existing solution "it is not used that often" however we never had this approach to give it a try.

Override and wrapper are utilitarian, they do have their place but this is more of a adding to functionality of VrayMTL than replacing existing solution.

Please consider it, thank you!

Ivan

[vladimir_krastev]

Hi, we also have the VRayProperties to control matte settings, GI contribution, and so on:



The VRayOverrideMtl and the VRayMtlWrapper are as you said purpose built and the VRayMtl is also purpose built. One is for special not so often used functions, the other is for speed and light performance in almost all workflows.

[Ivan1982]

Guess I should take letters from your reply, for instance N from "control" and O from "VrayOverrideMTL" and spell answer for myself
Thanks anyways

[vladimir_krastev]

Hi, thank you for the follow-up. For now we are not going to implement the additional features you mention to the VRayMtl. We may revisit your request for future plans or development