V-Ray Next stable nightly build available - 20190704

[konstantin_chaos]

Hi guys,

I'm happy to announce that we have started uploading stable nightly builds of V-Ray Next for Rhino.
The nightlies download page can now be accessed by anyone with chaosgroup.com account.

Here's a link to the page:
nightlies.chaosgroup.com

And the Rhino sub-folder:
V-Ray for Rhino

Note that it's not recommended to use the nightly builds in production.
They are for test purposes only.
Scenes setup with the nightly build might not behave the same way when loaded in the final official build.

Regards,
Konstantin

[konstantin_chaos]

Next, stable - 20190704

Workflow Improvements

• Drag & drop can now be utilized for applying Asset Editor materials to scene objects or layers
• A Denoiser engine switch is now available in the main Renderer rollout. Switch from V-Ray to NVIDIA AI denoising without navigating to the Denoiser advanced parameters panel
• The Update Effects slider is now located in the Renderer rollout for easy access
• Camera Motion Blur toggle is implemented
• The ‘vrayCamGuessVertical’ command can no longer be executed with an orthographic view active
• Proxy meshes copied over from another session during Interactive Rendering are now correctly displayed and rendered
• A number of issues with window ordering in Windows 7 and 8 are resolved. The VFB no longer goes to the background when focused
• Project names containing a full stop character no longer prevent the Pack Project function to be executed correctly
• Objects duplicated using block instancing are rendered in a more optimized way
• The 'Tools / Randomize Material ID Colors' function randomizes all scene Material ID colors and not only the ones set to black initially
• VFB regions drawn during production rendering are disabled
• When a Binding viewport texture is used the viewport material ignores all the other shader parameters making the texture clearly visible
• Highly reflective materials use their reflection color value as reflective amount of the viewport shader
• Loading render settings presets or resetting to the default one during rendering is no longer allowed
• The Translucency rollout of the V-Ray BRDF is renamed to Fog Scattering to better reflect what the options in this section do
• The Bump Delta Scale parameter is automatically hidden when the Normal Map mode is selected. The delta scale option has no effect in this case

Animation

• Camera focus distance changes can now be rendered in animation
• A number of issues with Bongo animation rendering are resolved
• Setting up a Rhino animation no longer removes the V-Ray Interactive viewport display mode option in Rhino 6

Grasshopper

• Context menu for selecting an existing Standard or a Named scene view is added to the Camera Component
• V-Ray Exporter component implemented. It exports vrmesh or vrscene files based on the GH definition
• V-Ray Graph component implemented. This is an advanced value remapping utility component that exposes a bezier curve editor. Combine it with the V-Ray Timeline to create more advanced animation setups
• The Render Animation function has been separated from the standard Render one in the V-Ray Renderer component
• A simple way for loading library materials in the V-Ray Material from File component is implemented. Right-click on the component to find the materials list
• Individual light components can now be connected directly to the Renderer. The need for adding an in-between light rig component is removed
• A preview graphics for the V-Ray Light Rig Sun System component is added
• An issue with Proxy Scene preview scaling is resolved
• Grasshopper animations now correctly use the current Rhino viewport camera position

Other Changes & Bug Fixes

• V-Ray AppSDK updated to version 4.12
• A number of issues related to the Can be Overridden option are resolved. It now functions correctly during interactive rendering
• Two sided materials with nested multi sub textures no longer cause a crash during interactive rendering
• Drawing a region during interactive rendering on the GPU after a linked Grasshopper document has been updated no longer causes a crash
• A number of issues with HDR Light Studio interactive environment rendering are resolved
• Textures with localized names are now properly displayed in the viewport
• Deleting all scene objects during interactive rendering no longer breaks Material Override's functionality
• Layer visibility changes are now correctly handled during interactive rendering
• The Batch Render tool can now load and render scenes using the GPU engine
• Spot Light’s cone and penumbra angle parameter values are now correctly migrated for V-Ray 2 scenes
• The Rhino sun is now automatically disabled when setting V-Ray as a current renderer for the first time
• The Use Irradiance Map Option is removed from the V-Ray BRDF and re-introduced into the Wrapper material
• The Cutoff and Energy Preservation parameters are removed from the V-Ray BRDF Advanced Options rollout

[Micha]

Hi Konstantin,

thank you very much for the new version, I'm very curious to use it.

I have one question - how can be set the Energy presevation mode to monochrome now? I don't like the color effect of the default RGB mode, since it looks strange. I used this option this days a few times and so got the question now.

An example: some car paints or other lacquers are a mix of plastic and metal particles. Finally a glossy clear finish lacquer is added. Added an example material with RGB and monochrome enabled.The monochrome mode look is perfect.

Best-
Micha

Next, stable - 20190704

Workflow Improvements

• The Cutoff and Energy Preservation parameters are removed from the V-Ray BRDF Advanced Options rollout

[konstantin_chaos]

I have one question - how can be set the Energy presevation mode to monochrome now? I don't like the color effect of the default RGB mode, since it looks strange. I used this option this days a few times and so got the question now.
An example: some car paints or other lacquers are a mix of plastic and metal particles. Finally a glossy clear finish lacquer is added. Added an example material with RGB and monochrome enabled.The monochrome mode look is perfect.

Hi,

There are a couple of issues with the monochrome energy preservation mode:
- No GPU support
- It tempts you to create materials which are not physically plausible
- It is a pretty advanced thing that looks confusing

As a whole every time you build a shader you should balance the colors of all it's layers.
In the real world diffuse lighting and reflections are not separated.
Because of that, for every CG material, you have to make sure that when its reflectance goes up its diffuse goes down.
In that regard, the energy preservation logic only kicks in if the material doesn't follow this principle.

Additionally I'm after removing all the Advanced material parameters.
I feel as a user you don't have to understand them to achieve a good result.

Regards,
Konstantin

[Micha]

Hi Konstantin,

I understand your points ... but let us talk about to archive a good result. Take my example above - how can I mix a red metal paint into white paint without to get an unwanted green-blue tint? I can do it in the real world.

I have the feeling, the physical plausible approach is for physical layered materials, not for physical mixed. So, if light goe's through a red metal layer maybe blue-green comes through to the diffuse plastic. I think the developer have overseen, that it is possible to mix particles and so the effects are side-by-side and not layered anymore.

Sidenote: you talk about layers, but it looks like the layers at the UI are in the wrong order. If I understand right, the diffuse color should be placed between reflection on the top and refraction at the lower end.

Best-
Micha

[ALTO]

• Drag & drop can now be utilized for applying Asset Editor materials to scene objects or layers

Thank you!!! I've been waiting for this moment so long...
Could you please restore the vrmat thumbnails like in v.3? So we can also use the Rhino libraries panel to Drag materials.
Thanks

[ALTO]

Another request, since i'm using vray 2 on Rhino 5 and vray NEXT on Rhino 6, is it possible that the installer does not broke the v2 installation?
At the moment the C:\Program Files\Rhinoceros 5 (64-bit)\Plug-ins\VRayForRhino folder is removed, and i need to manually restore it with every NEXT update...
Thanks

[Micha]

Could be added a note to each new announcement please, which GPU driver is actually recommended.

EDIT: I forget: +1 for the request of ALTO

[Peter.Chaushev]

Could you please restore the vrmat thumbnails like in v.3? So we can also use the Rhino libraries panel to Drag materials.
Thanks

Vrmats files should properly display their thumbnails in the Rhino Library panel. Please let me know if the display issue is limited solely to the Rhino library panel.

Another request, since i'm using vray 2 on Rhino 5 and vray NEXT on Rhino 6, is it possible that the installer does not broke the v2 installation?
At the moment the C:\Program Files\Rhinoceros 5 (64-bit)\Plug-ins\VRayForRhino folder is removed, and i need to manually restore it with every NEXT update...
Thanks

We do not recommend having multiple V-Ray for Rhino versions on the same machine to avoid compromising our product's stability. Each time a V-Ray installation is initiated, the uninstaller of any previously installed legacy version (such as v2.0) is brought up.

Could be added a note to each new announcement please, which GPU driver is actually recommended.

The recommended driver version can be found in the progress log in case your current drivers are outdated.
See https://docs.chaosgroup.com/display/...wareandDrivers for more info.
Recommended drivers (for the latest V-Ray core version) are also regularly updated at https://www.chaosgroup.com/vray-gpu (check the banner positioned at the top of the page)

Kind regards,
Peter

[Micha]

Thank you, the web side with the note helps a lot. A driver note at the announcement could help to avoid to look for this info.

[ALTO]

Vrmats files should properly display their thumbnails in the Rhino Library panel. Please let me know if the display issue is limited solely to the Rhino library panel.

Thumbnails does not work for me in Rhino libraries and windows explorer, same problem on 2 pc (Win 10); they worked fine in v.3

[Micha]

We do not recommend having multiple V-Ray for Rhino versions on the same machine to avoid compromising our product's stability. Each time a V-Ray installation is initiated, the uninstaller of any previously installed legacy version (such as v2.0) is brought up.

Please look for a solution. For example I have hundred of projects based on VfR2 and if a client come back after months and need a little change, than I can't start to readjust the project for VfR4 and find workarounds for skipped features. I use VfR2 at Rhino5 and VfR4 at Rhino6. There is no problem, only that the VfR4 install delete the VfR2 plugin. So, the problem is extra implemented. Doesn't sounds good and could be easy solved. Please don't touch an exist VfR2 install, it's still a nice too and needed.