V-Ray Next stable nightly build available - 20200226

[konstantin_chaos]

Hi guys,

There is a new Stable nightly build of V-Ray Next for Rhino available.
The nightlies download page can now be accessed by anyone with chaosgroup.com account.

Here's a link to the latest build:
V-Ray Next for Rhino, stable 20200226

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]

Installation & Licensing

• V-Ray AppSDK updated to version 4.3
• V-Ray for SketchUp, the Chaos License Server, V-Ray Swarm and the Chaos Cloud client app are now installed in a single step. Configuring each sub-installer individually is still an option
• Chaos License Server updated to version 5.3.0
• Chaos Cloud client application installer updated to version 1.6.5
• Added support for Rhino WIP (v7.0)

Workflow Improvements

• RTX support implemented. The engine selector now presents three options - CPU, CUDA and RTX. The image results produced by the new engine are identical to the ones rendered in CUDA mode (previously called GPU). No scene adjustments are required. Going back and forth between the two engines will only modify what devices are used, so there’s minimal effort to compare the two to see which works best for your scene. The new engine takes advantage of the RT Cores (dedicated to ray-tracing calculations) of the new NVIDIA RTX cards which leads to average speedup of 40%
• Partial Proxy Scene export implemented. Export only the selected objects as a .vrscene file containing geometry and applied materials. Lights and V-Ray objects, such as Fur, can also be included
• A set of material slots is automatically generated as part of every Proxy Mesh asset. Use the slots to assign materials to the Proxy without having to rely on a Multi Material
• Proxy Mesh assets using the new built-in material system (described in the previous point) now automatically store the materials when saved to the library (or exported as .vrmat files)
• ‘Use Mtl Override’ option added to the Proxy Mesh asset. It disables the global Material Override effect for all material slots using plain colors
• Proxy Scenes are now by default affected by the global Material Override. To disable this behavior uncheck the new ‘Use Mtl Override’ option
• Material Random Color render element is implemented. It generates randomly colored selection masks based on the material assignments in the scene. Unlike the Material ID Color element, it does not require adding Material ID attributes to all scene materials
• Automatically calculated exposure and white balance values can now be applied to the scene camera. Use the Auto Values controls to get the most recent results and apply them to the camera
• The Advanced Camera / Bokeh parameters have been updated and made more user friendly. The additional parameters are no longer grayed out when the Blades option is disabled
• SpotLight Cone and Penumbra angle sliders’ min and max values are now correct
• The UI of the Configuration settings section is improved
• Right-clicking on any color or number input field now provides the option to reset them to their default value
• A new option allowing color space control of all color sliders is available in the Asset Editor’s Configuration settings rollout
• Implemented material attribute icons for easier recognition
• Tri-Planar Projection texture placement mode added to the VRScan material. It works similarly to the Triplanar texture and removes the need for UV mapping of the shaded objects
• Rhino decals are now supported in V-Ray. They work for both native and V-Ray materials
• Add the native Rhino Search Paths to the list of locations used by V-Ray’s auto-resolve logic
• Loading projects with a large number of textured materials is optimized. The more materials the scene contains, the more significant the speedup is
• Animation Source switch implemented. Choose between native Rhino recordings and Grasshopper animations

Theme

• A new Bright color theme can now change the appearance of the Asset Editor, File Path Editor, Color Picker and the Progress Log windows. The UI Color Theme selector is located in the Configuration settings rollout. The theme selection persists between sessions. Note that it does not affect the V-Ray Frame Buffer (VFB)

Color Assistant

• Color Assistant extension added to the V-Ray Color Picker. It presents hue, saturation and value variations of the current color to help with picking the exact color that is needed. Adjust the range values for more subtle or more pronounced variation. Right-click on any of the Assistant suggestions to regenerate variations using it as reference

Materials

• Some common material settings have been redesigned as Attributes. Attributes are sets of options that can now be created or removed for each material. An ‘Add Attribute’ button is added next to the ‘Add Layer’ one below the material preview. The list of attributes includes - Translucency (Two Sided), Bump, Displacement, Raytrace Properties, Override and Material ID. New materials are created lean with the option for other attributes to be added later. This way the scene shaders are optimal for both management and rendering
• The new Translucency attribute can be used instead of the Two Sided material keeping the shader structure simple. This also simplifies material/texture size management when dealing with translucency
• The Generic material layer names are improved. The V-Ray BRDF is renamed to VRay Mtl, Metallic - VRay PBR, Diffuse - Diffuse Coat, Reflection - Reflective Coat, etc. The Refraction layer is removed. Use the VRay Mtl instead
• There is a unique icon for each material layer. This is useful visual indication for the layer type in case the layer name is changed
• Newly created scene materials now use an optimized underlying shader structure. Displacement, Material ID and Render Stats attributes are no longer added to every material. If any of the attributes is required it has to be manually added from the ‘Add Attribute’ menu

[konstantin_chaos]

Grasshopper

• The UV channels of Rhino objects referenced in the Grasshopper definition are now preserved
• V-Ray Bitmap component implemented. It allows material texturing to be done directly in V-Ray for Grasshopper. The component also enables UV channel selection and texture placement modifications
• Vertex Color mode added for the Bitmap component. Use it to colorize materials with the vertex colors of a mesh
• The V-Ray Timeline component can now be resized
• Grasshopper animations exported to Rhino no longer override the existing Rhino animation (recording). Use the Animation Source switch in the V-Ray Animation settings to select the one to be rendered
• Grasshopper camera animations sent to Rhino can now have animated focus distance
• Color or texture variations can now be introduced among V-Ray Instancer items. Use a Multi-Sub texture in ‘Random by render ID’ mode connected to the material to achieve it
• The Render in Project component now correctly sends the Infinite Plane to Rhino
• The animation preview of the V-Ray Timeline component can now be interrupted with the Esc key
• ‘Look Through Camera’ context menu function added to the V-Ray Camera component
• The V-Ray Light Rig Dome no longer loses its texture when disabled and then re-enabled
• Connecting a V-Ray Geometry component to the Infinite Plane geometry input no longer causes issues
• Disabling the Camera no longer interrupts the interactive rendering process
• The V-Ray Material Simple component now exports vrmat files correctly
• A number of issues with the V-Ray Instancer component are resolved
• Proxy Meshes loaded in Grasshopper now display a bounding box preview in the Rhino viewport
• Embree is now used for Fur rendering in Grasshopper. Proxy Scenes with Fur will render faster
• A number of issues related to interactive rendering scene updates are resolved
• The ‘Manage Collection’ option can now be used for the Material from File component
• The Material from File component no longer allows file path changes while this data is derived from an input
• Displacement can now be applied to Grasshopper objects. Use a Material from Project component referencing a project material with displacement enabled
• A number of issues related to loading Library materials in Grasshopper are resolved

Script Access

• Allow retrieval of top-level only plugins
• A new Render() method is implemented. It is the better alternative to starting a render using the Rhino command. Set its parameter ‘timeout = -1’ to ensure the call is synchronous
• A way to start V-Ray rendering in Grasshopper via C# or a Python script is implemented
• A way for saving .vropt files via script or command is implemented

Other Changes & Bug Fixes

• Material using a diffuse texture blended with the diffuse color via the Diffuse Multiplier are now displayed correctly in the Rhino viewport
• Information about the V-Ray version and the render mode is now stored in a new .vrscene ‘plugin’ called ‘InfoRenderEngine’
• Changing an IES Light’s file now correctly triggers an interactive update
• The Rhino ground plane can now use a Wrapper material
• Light Cache map files can now be manually saved
• Light Cache map files are now correctly displayed in the Irradiance Map Viewer tool
• Modifying a custom Sunlight during interactive rendering no longer breaks its connection to the Sky in the environment
• Changing a 3rd party placeholder materials to a V-Ray shader no longer causes a crash
• A number of issues related to asset naming are resolved. Names differing only by special characters no longer cause a conflict when rendered
• Bitmap textures are displayed in the viewport even when wrapped in procedural maps. If for example a Color Correction is used the slotted Bitmap will still be visible on the viewport material. Note that the color corrections will have no effect on the preview
• Proxies, Clipper, Fur or Mesh light created within a block are no longer deleted upon subsequent block editing
• Rendering in the viewport no longer produces black image when the Stereo toggle is enabled
• Opening a Rhino Template containing a V-Ray Dome light no longer causes a crash
• The V-Ray icon in the Rhino properties panel is updated
• Blend material changes now reliably trigger an update during interactive rendering
• Resolved an issue with rendering of Lights, Clipper and Fur in Rhino 5
• The initial path of the default V-Ray studio environment texture is no longer incorrect
• Initializing a batch render job with no V-Ray for Rhino license available no longer leads to a crash
• Render with Chaos Cloud added to the V-Ray / V-Ray Rendering menu
• Importing a Proxy Mesh during Interactive rendering no longer leads to a crash
• The render state in the Asset Editor no longer hangs after a render with VR camera and parallel projection is initiated
• Converting a Directional Light to a Sunlight via command now works as expected
• Alt + drag duplication of a light no longer hides the original until the action is completed
• A number of issues related to RPC objects are resolved. Asset textures gamma is now correct
• Resolved an issue with rendering when the license has been released prior to activating the V-Ray UI
• Starting a production or interactive rendering from the Rhino toolbar no longer prevents both Asset Editor and the render process from launching