First couple of Issues with Vray5

[MichaelLammens]

Hi,

A first couple of issues & questions I ran into:
* is there no conversion possible for native C4D materials? (like the last version)
* scenes that are converted from 3.7 tend to very very slow. I'm guessing it has something to do with the material previews?
* how does the automatic exposure & colour balance work?
* VRscans: is this working with C4D now?

Any basic tutorials or standard scenes about to help?
Any idea how I get my hands on a decent library that is fuly compatible? (people + cars etc..). Or is the only way starting from scratch from vray 3.7?

Thanks

[shaio]

HEy MichaelLammens ,
Thank you for the feedback it's much appreciated.

* is there no conversion possible for native C4D materials? (like the last version)

Currently, we don't have one. It was already requested a few times, so I'll add your request as well. Currently, we're researching for a better way of doing the whole conversion so it might take some time.

* scenes that are converted from 3.7 tend to very very slow. I'm guessing it has something to do with the material previews?

This might vary based on the scene unfortunately. The material previews are native this time and not like in 3.7 a separate file so a doubt that this is the problem. Keep in mind that old scenes sometimes do have some leftovers (even hidden ones) that might slow down the rendering. It will be best if I can investigate the scene to tell you what might be wrong. You can try Merging the scene instead of Opening and converting it and apply a "Global material override" to see if it is still slow. This will tell if the materials are a problem or not. During the conversion we're removing anything that is unsupported. You can find out more about the scene conversion in this topic

* how does the automatic exposure & colour balance work?

I'll record a quick video for you about this.

* VRscans: is this working with C4D now?

Yes they are supported in the official version. I'll use one scanned material on the video that I'll record about the White balance and Auto exposure.

Any idea how I get my hands on a decent library that is fuly compatible? (people + cars etc..).

V-Ray 5 for Cinema 4D is rewritten from the ground up and is very different from V-Ray 3.7 under the hood as a code base and workflow as well. Unfortunately this is why won't find any, or at least not "fully compatible" with V-Ray 5 materials or assets. We will be working hard on interoperability between the other V-Ray integrations and once we do any kind of material importer you should be able to use existing material libraries made with other V-Ray integrations (like Max or Maya) and import them in Cinema 4D.

Or is the only way starting from scratch from vray 3.7?

[/QUOTE]
I wouldn't recommend starting with V-Ray 3.7 because it is a very old version and many workflows (and even tutorials) there won't be applicable with V-Ray 5 since as I mentioned above V-Ray 5 is a full rewrite.

Any basic tutorials or standard scenes about to help?

We're planning on doing tutorials for the most used workflows and basic usage of some essential features. Here in this Topic I'm showing how you can use the Cinema 4D help function to reach our Documentation page where you can find help for most of V-Rays parameters.
In the future the Documentation page will also be filled with various tutorials with different topics. I'll be happy if you share what tutorials would you like to see first.

[shaio]

Here is a quick video showing how to use the Automatic exposure and Automatic White balance.

[Stefan_Laub]

"Any idea how I get my hands on a decent library that is fully compatible?"

we convert all our 3dtools.info assets and materials atm to v-ray 5 so relatively soon, in beginning /Q1 2021 we will start to release first v5 compatible assets and mats
also all new stuff then of course will be v5 based right from start, or soon after (probably we will offer both 3.7 and v5 for nearer future)

[MichaelLammens]

Here is a quick video showing how to use the Automatic exposure and Automatic White balance.

great thanks! This explains it.

I must say, interactive render works better than I could have imagined. I'm on a fairly large scene, and I'm suprised how smooth it goes.

Looking forward on some good libraries Stefan.

[MichaelLammens]

I can't seem to find how to make proxy's. Is this still somewere in the vray menu to find?

[Stefan_Laub]

c4d->> File menu >> export >> v-ray proxy

"Looking forward on some good libraries Stefan."

we try our best

[shaio]

You can create a V-Ray Proxy by using File > Export > V-Ray Proxy (vrmesh) and to import it back in the scene use V-Ray > Geometry > V-Ray Proxy. You can find more about the V-Ray Proxy in our documentation (VRayProxy - V-Ray 5 for Cinema 4D).
It is important to note that the V-Ray proxy file only holds the geometry not the materials. When exported inside the proxy is saved a list of materials and after importing the proxy back to the scene you need to have existing or the same materials prepared and reassign them via the V-Ray proxy manager once again.
Let me know if this helps.

[MichaelLammens]

Hi,

Just to get my head around this: what would you suggest is the best way to proceed with my own library? (I manage c4D+vray for 5 users)

1. Having all textures for the proxys somewhere on our server.
2. Opening vray3.7 models and converting them to vray5
3. Export them to proxys
4. Openingen the proxys & saving them to a C4D file? So I can easily drag & drop them into scenes?

[MichaelLammens]

How can I make my HDRI images appear in the viewport? There used to be a tool for this. (dome light)

[Stefan_Laub]

you can setup it now easy with the ipr and see the movements live in render

[Makushimu]

you can setup it now easy with the ipr and see the movements live in render

Yes, you can see HDR in IPR, but it's not always responsive. It would be nice to be able to see the HDR in the viewport.
In my opinion, the more things you see in a viewport, the easier it is to work.

[PdZ]

You can use a Sphere in the viewport with a CInema Material which holds the HDR Image. Then put it below an Area Dome Light with the same HDRI and set up the sphere to be "not visible to render". So you can see where the light comes from and rotate the parent (HDRI LIGHT) as well as the underlying sphere. Thats how I used it in very old V-Ray Versions.

One very important question: "old" proxies are still supported? So my library will not be destroyed?

thx in advance,
PdZ

[MichaelLammens]

[QUOTE=PdZ;n1096004
One very important question: "old" proxies are still supported? So my library will not be destroyed?

PdZ[/QUOTE]

I find myself rebuilding my own libraries towards new releases in the past ten years. I don't mind starting from scratch once more, but I want to know the best way to do it..

[shaio]

One very important question: "old" proxies are still supported? So my library will not be destroyed?

thx in advance,
PdZ

The V-Ray Proxy object is new and with a new workflow but the vrmesh file format itself isn't changed, so you shouldn't be having issues with your libraries. It depends however on how the library is build and how do you handle the materials for the proxies. Let me know how it goes when you have a chance to test them. I would still recommend to rebuild your library anywas.

1. Having all textures for the proxys somewhere on our server.
2. Opening vray3.7 models and converting them to vray5
3. Export them to proxys
4. Openingen the proxys & saving them to a C4D file? So I can easily drag & drop them into scenes?

It is Ok with the steps you've decided to go with. However, I would suggest to wait with the reexporting of the proxies if possible since we're going to be adding some improvements in that regard with our next hotfix.

For the 4th question there is no need to save the proxy in a C4D file. You can drag and drop the "vrmesh" file directly in to the scene, and it will be opened/imported. So if you drag and drop the file it will open the proxy on a new scene, but if you hold Shift and Drag and Drop it in to Cinema 4D then the proxy will be merged in to the current scene.