Will GPU ever support caustics?

[Karol.Osinski]

Quick question, will GPU engine ever support creation of photon mapped caustics?

[Micha]

Since photon mapped caustic based on precalculation I ask could the CPU calculated caustic effect not be shown in GPU mode?

[Karol.Osinski]

good point Micha !

[francomanko]

yeah would be good to get some info about this, just watched a vray video on the progressive caustics, looked pretty cool, then sigh, not for gpu.

[Micha]

Hi,

maybe the question can be answered a few months later - couldn't the CPU calculated caustic used for GPU rendering? Sounds so easy.

[sebastien_berthier1]

I would also love to have progressive caustics implemented on Vray for Gpu.

[peppe3d]

hello there! is this something that's being looked at? I'm having to temporarily switch to other renderers for a job that heavily features caustics. It would be absolutely great to have some way to get caustics in the GPU renderer

[s_gru]

i'll jump in too, i'd love to have caustics on gpu

[Muhammed_Hamed]

Hello everyone!

This feature is development for some time now, this is one of our top priorities for 2024
I will update the thread when we have news

Best,
Muhammed

[nicolas_fuminier]

Hello everyone!

This feature is development for some time now, this is one of our top priorities for 2024
I will update the thread when we have news

Best,
Muhammed

Hi Muhammed,

I know I may sound like a child who keeps asking when we're coming, but is it possible to get a little more information on the subject of caustics on Vray GPU.

We're in the middle of testing different GPU computation engines from the competition because of this very question.
I'd like to know whether this is a concrete possibility, even without giving a date, or whether we need to find other solutions for the next two years.

Thank you in advance for your answers,
Nicolas

[Muhammed_Hamed]

Hi Muhammed,

I know I may sound like a child who keeps asking when we're coming, but is it possible to get a little more information on the subject of caustics on Vray GPU.

We're in the middle of testing different GPU computation engines from the competition because of this very question.
I'd like to know whether this is a concrete possibility, even without giving a date, or whether we need to find other solutions for the next two years.

Thank you in advance for your answers,
Nicolas

Hi Nicolas,

It will ship this year, we will have internal builds for this feature in the next weeks
Have you been using Caustics in the standard V-Ray Renderer or other competitive products?
If you have a chance let us know about your experience

Best,
Muhammed

[s_gru]

while i was transitioning to vray i used another GPU product to create a mirror ball animation of a sensory room. sorry, this is a low-res screen shot of it. higher res was much sharper and cleaner. there were two or three invisible lights pointed at the mirror ball which rotated. it worked out great. i've had occasion to do this and also water features that would be nice to have caustics with.

[nicolas_fuminier]

Hi Nicolas,

It will ship this year, we will have internal builds for this feature in the next weeks
Have you been using Caustics in the standard V-Ray Renderer or other competitive products?
If you have a chance let us know about your experience

Best,
Muhammed

Hi Muhammed_Hamed

Thanks for your answer,
I'm excited about the news, looking forward to test it !


We tried caustics on the Vray CPU version, but their use was not very intuitive at the time we tried them.
From memory, it wasn't possible to get them "quickly" in IPR without pre-passing. This lacked fluidity in the creative pipeline.

In terms of GPU competition for caustics, we tried MAXON / Redshift and OTOY / Octane.
Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but the main criticism of these two options is that the 3DSmax ports are rather weak compared to the quality of the Vray integration in 3dsmax and the many additional options that Vray provides (rendering pipeline, IPR, color management, texturing/shading tools, etc.).

Octane has the fastest and most powerful algorithm for caustics that I've ever tested in IPR, but on the other hand the weakest 3Dsmax port of all the engines I've tested.
I'd really like to discover an IPR cautics GPU solution of the quality of Octane's photon tracing with the quality of integration and solutions of the Vray tools and ecosystem in 3Dsmax.

We do a lot of work in digital advertising of jewelry / fine jewelry / watches 3D for major luxury brands, and caustics are clearly a much-awaited level up in our production proposals.


I can elaborate on these points if you'd like.

Best,
Nicolas

[Muhammed_Hamed]

Thanks for the feedback nicolas_fuminier and s_gru
It is very helpful. I do understand that the IPR is important for lookdeving Caustics

Best,
Muhammed