What should we expect about V-Ray for Modo release/price/continuity?

[jonmoore]

By texture baking, I meant "render to texture" (that' how it is named in 3sd Max) actually, for baking GI etc in a texture.
I didn't plan on baking the MODO procedurals, I can't promise I will be able to add that.

Greetings,
Vladimir Nedev

I was aware that it's a long shot but Modo's procedurals are excellent so I thought it worthwhile reiterating (especially the enhance.modo variety). It's always possible to bake stuff first in Modo then use in Vray but that's a bit of a kludge.

[vladimir.nedev]

I also very much hope for stereo 360 rendering for VR - is that what you mean by stereo rendering with shade map?

The shade map is a way of speeding up stereo rendering that V-Ray for Max/Maya have.
I think it involves rendering the image in two passes - first pass renders the center of the two eyes storing the shading computations in a shade map(which I think is similar to a deep EXR),
the second pass renders both the left and right eye, but reuses the shading from the first pass (the shade map) to speed things up.
Without the shade map, it might be very easy to add stereo rendering.

Greetings,
Vladimir Nedev

[vladimir.nedev]

Another thing that would be nice is if the vray materials worked with modo's filter. When I filter by materials it only works with Modo Mats.

You should ask The Foundry about this, the filter by "material" works only on their original material, it doesn't show any "custom materials", including the MODO ones.

Greetings,
Vladimir Nedev

[vladimir.nedev]

- Texture baking: with hopefully a VrayForC4d type ability to convert native Modo procedurals

By texture baking, I meant "render to texture" (that' how it is named in 3sd Max) actually, for baking GI etc in a texture.
I didn't plan on baking the MODO procedurals, I can't promise I will be able to add that.

Greetings,
Vladimir Nedev

[davegmac]

I would like to see the variation texture support also.

Another thing that would be nice is if the vray materials worked with modo's filter. When I filter by materials it only works with Modo Mats.

Missing render elements would be really important for me too.

It is really amazing though I am loving that I can work in Modo with vray. You are doing a great job and I cant wait for the commercial release.

Thanks!

[kubbek]

For me it would be:
- V-Ray RT GPU extended support
- full support of variation texture
- mesh light

I also very much hope for stereo 360 rendering for VR - is that what you mean by stereo rendering with shade map?

Best,
Jakub

[jonmoore]

As for a road-map, maybe it is a good idea to have some kind of vote here, on which of the bigger features to implement first.
Most of them will require between 2 and 4 weeks EACH, maybe even more for some of them.
Here they are:

- V-Ray Fur
- Texture Baking
- V-Ray Metalball
- V-Ray Light Meter
- extended V-Ray RT GPU support (shader tree blending, gradient texture, etc...)
- stereo rendering with shade map
- import of materials/textures/lights/render settings from .vrscene files
- Volume Grid

Of course there are the smaller missing stuff, like
- missing variation texture modes
- missing render elements
- mesh light
- RT updates of Schematic connections (this may require some bigger changes in the code to make it work properly, so I don't want to do it
before the first release, for now there is the work-around of hiding/unhiding the destination material in the shader tree)
- various UI related stuff, like GI presets/Quick settings/saving of GI maps from memory to disk/camera and render elements pop-ups in V-Ray toolbar (similar to Main/GI/RT pop-ups)

These smaller features will get implemented in-between the bigger ones.

There is also the V-Ray Light lister from Max/Maya, which I am not sure I can faithfully implement in MODO's interface.

Greetings,

I've highlighted the stuff I'd like to see sooner rather than later.

- Texture baking: with hopefully a VrayForC4d type ability to convert native Modo procedurals
- .vrscene: To aid conversion of scenes created in Max/Maya etc or extract/match settings from Max/Maya scenes

I think the smaller missing elements speak for themselves and I see them as a greater priority than the two highlighted above.

The RT GPU stuff will be great when it comes but personally I don't see it as a priority as the studios I work with tend to only use RT GPU renders for pre-viz/prototyping purposes.

Cheers,

jm

[swizzelz]

Thank you for the link Vladimir.

[BVA]

If i can add my vote, two things please.

1. Variation texture
2. The ability to save light cache once a rende has complete. I know it is not on your list but I think/ hope it is a small request.

Thanks!

[vladimir.nedev]

For what it's worth, my vote is for RT GPU features. I think it would be great if not only it had all the vray features it could have, but more modo-native features as well in order to close the gap between the two. Things like shader tree blending and gradients are bread and butter features that modo users are used to.

Actually, can I ask what VRay features are missing from GPU right now? I'm sure there is a handful, but it would be great to have a clear idea so I know what not to expect from GPU renders. I know that rounded edges is not supported, and one the GI modes.

You can take a look at this page: http://docs.chaosgroup.com/display/V...orted+Features
The column about V-Ray RT GPU should give you an idea of what is implemented in the RT GPU core.

Greetings,
Vladimir Nedev

[swizzelz]

For what it's worth, my vote is for RT GPU features. I think it would be great if not only it had all the vray features it could have, but more modo-native features as well in order to close the gap between the two. Things like shader tree blending and gradients are bread and butter features that modo users are used to.

Actually, can I ask what VRay features are missing from GPU right now? I'm sure there is a handful, but it would be great to have a clear idea so I know what not to expect from GPU renders. I know that rounded edges is not supported, and one the GI modes.

[vladimir.nedev]

My plan is to stick to bug fixing and smaller/simpler features that can be implemented without big modifications to the existing code.
This is until the first commercial version is released. This may very well change, if the release of the commercial version is postponed for longer than expected.

As for a road-map, maybe it is a good idea to have some kind of vote here, on which of the bigger features to implement first.
Most of them will require between 2 and 4 weeks EACH, maybe even more for some of them.
Here they are:

- V-Ray Fur
- Texture Baking
- V-Ray Metalball
- V-Ray Light Meter
- extended V-Ray RT GPU support (shader tree blending, gradient texture, etc...)
- stereo rendering with shade map
- import of materials/textures/lights/render settings from .vrscene files
- Volume Grid

Of course there are the smaller missing stuff, like
- missing variation texture modes
- missing render elements
- mesh light
- RT updates of Schematic connections (this may require some bigger changes in the code to make it work properly, so I don't want to do it
before the first release, for now there is the work-around of hiding/unhiding the destination material in the shader tree)
- various UI related stuff, like GI presets/Quick settings/saving of GI maps from memory to disk/camera and render elements pop-ups in V-Ray toolbar (similar to Main/GI/RT pop-ups)

These smaller features will get implemented in-between the bigger ones.

There is also the V-Ray Light lister from Max/Maya, which I am not sure I can faithfully implement in MODO's interface.

Greetings,
Vladimir Nedev

[jonmoore]

I'm aware that there are a number of missings features from the comparable Max/Maya versions of Vray in this Modo version. Are any of these likely to be introduced pre launch or are we now more in a bug fixing phase?

You've mentioned in the past Vladimir that certain features will need to wait till SP1/SP2 etc so it would be useful at some point to get a roadmap for how these features will most likely be rolled out.

[kubbek]

Thank you Vladimir for information. E-mail to support sent.

Best,
Jakub

[vladimir.nedev]

You can send an e-mail to "support@chaosgroup.com" about the V-Ray for MODO beta license expiration dates, and any other licensing questions.
My information is that we will extend the beta license, until the commercial version is out, but please write to support for the official answer.

Greetings,
Vladimir Nedev