Shading language/MetaSL...

[bigbossfr]

Hi,
Here a thread about the "Shading language" in Vray.
I saw in few 3dsmax threads that Chaos Group spoke about MetaSL support in Vray.
Question :
1) Do you think MetaSL is the best choice ? (writed by MentalImage)
2) MetaSL is not "limited" for Vray ? (do you can do all ? Like deform a geometry, generate geometry, etc etc...)
3) And finally, why not create your own Shading language ? like : vraySL or VSL. You will have all the control, implement what you want, and can do a "puissant shading language" like Renderman...
The best will be your own shading language with the same "language type" (or approche) of the RSL or RSL2 (renderman)..
Like :

surface simple( color mayaColor = color(0,1,0);
output color oColor = color(0,0,0); )
{
Oi= Os;
Ci=Oi * Cs * mayaColor;
oColor = mayaColor;
}

Avantage ?
There is a lot of studio with RSL/RSL2 Shaders than MetaSL. Translate the RSL code into your "VraySL" will be easy...

[instinct]

Yet another Shading Language? I beg to differ. If not MetaSL then i'd suggest rather going the OSL route than inviting another non-standard shading language.

MetaSL makes sense as in autodesk natively supporting it. I guess that's one of the biggest reasons.

Regards,
Thorsten

[vlado]

We already have support for GLSL with V-Ray extensions for V-Ray for 3ds Max; this has been extended recently to directly support BRDFs, similar to closures in OSL. GLSL is well-known and widely used for writing shaders. The GLSL plugin works for V-Ray for Maya/Standalone too, although we have not yet included it in any installation. If you are interested in it, you can email me to vlado@chaosgroup.com

Our support for MetaSL is based on the said GLSL language (internally we translate the MetaSL shaders to GLSL with our extensions).

MetaSL fits well with the way V-Ray works internally, while OSL is more tricky to implement - it was written with a particular renderer in mind, whereas MetaSL is somewhat more independent of the renderer. And MetaSL was adopted by Autodesk for 3ds Max, which was another reason to choose it

Best regards,
Vlado

[instinct]

Thanks for the insight!

[bigbossfr]

Thanks for your answer Vlado !

[AbnRanger]

So, Vlado, any video tutorial on the steps necessary on utilizing MetaSL with VRay ?