The review should be titled, “I don’t know how to use V-Ray and I am testing out Brazil V2, could anyone help me out here? These are my results”
i dont really know enough to offer more of a professional opinion that this:
I think its all just a big load of crudd. Vray > all 
And a few Follow-up renders to correct some issues, and implement new features.
A render of the previously corrected scene, now with all the maps, Area shadows (thin, but there) for the IES lights, and no noise in the glossies, with an exaggerated DoF ( 1.2 F, a bit of a doll-house effect, given the wide lens).
Rendered in 6:12 on that Vergefio Farm.
This is a newer version with displaced floor and brick wall, displacement as 2D, 1024 subdivs, override gray material with glossy reflections, no bump anywhere, and the same 1.2F DoF, rendered in 11:51; mostly due to the effort the GI - particularli the DMC-based DE- has to make to account for all the brick wall crevices. The displacement creation is pretty much instantaneous.
And the “finished” image: all of the above, plus the materials.
Rendered in 14:34 (2:43 is what more complex shaders add to the base render.)
I’ll post the finished scene somewhere, later on in the day, for anyone who’d like to have a go at it.
Me too working on it. From my point of view - displace is too high.
I almost finished geometric lights (so pure caustics, no ies 
) and reworked materials. And I don’t give a sh* about rendertimes - my target time is about an hour.
Why would they compare one rendering packages 2nd major release to another’s 1st anyways? I take this as a complement to my early adoption of VRay! Brazil has finally caught up after how long? I really don’t see why Brazil r/s 2 shouldn’t be better/faster…because when VRay 2 comes along it will be sure to raise the bar yet again with features SplutterFish hasn’t yet dreamed of, but will no doubt eventually try to mimic with their version 3.
VRay 1.5 evidently remains as a benchmark.
Congrats chaosgroup 
Still looks pretty bad IMO, it’s just a bad scene to start with I guess. The brick would look much better if the displacement map was primarily just the grout lines, it is way too irregular as it is. You should go ahead and get rid of the bump in the table or turn it way down, it’s just odd and looks much better in the B2 render. Also the image could use some filtering, it gets pretty bad further away from the camera.
Be nice to see the scene optimized for speed, I started on it this weekend but did not get too far, perhaps I can spend some more time later this week.
Still, the “body” of the brick is relatively flat, even if the shape of the bricks are all over the place, the displaced bricks in the render are are all lumpy and erose.
umh, it’s partly due to the map, indeed, but trust me there’s very very similar bricks everywhere, around here: lumpy, scratched, pitted and uneven.
What’s on showcase, though, is that VRay can actually pick that detail very nicely, no sweat.
For lighter displacement, you can check the wooden floor
boys I think its time to let this one go…
Umh. Agreed.
Agreed.
But Id be interested to see your scene Lele. Good work in fighting the corner.
I can’t stop…
Look at my face
best regards…
wow, didn’t think it was such a big deal, the brick is perfect I love it don’t change a thing.
Now, the bump on the table?..
LMAO Eric.
I’d like to find a host for the scene, any idea?
So that you may tweak it to your heart’s content.
Oh, the bump on the table was there to start with.
Dare I say our engine is interpreting it correctly?
There, I said it.:lol:
I can host the file if you don’t find any better place. just let me know, then we can let it go.
Yep, fine by me matey.
You DO know it’ll be hammered, yes?
I really don’t understand the whole “let it go” thing, just some simple crits intended to be constructive, the scene is on display for the whole world to see and a couple of things really stand out. The reflections on the table have been pointed at as looking bad more than once and the B2 images obviously do not have the bump. I understand the direction Lele is going with his demonstration but a lot are people are just going to walk away thinking that the vray render is not as clean as the B2 one.
I’m done now, letting it go…
yes, well, hope it won’t be hammered that hard
Err, I am used to be quite direct in my approach to things, and to motivate the choices I make.
I gave 2 objective answers to two questions: the displacement IS exaggerated to have VRay crunch numbers, but it’s not far removed from what I experience daily around here.
Subjective taste has nothing to do with feature testing, in fact, the more extreme the displacement is, the more likely is an engine to break down while trying to compute it and integrate it with the rest of the tasks.
The extreme displacement showed VRay has no issues with it, but picks out every minute detail in the texture.
The table top had a bump on, which is absent from the Brazil scene, for some reason. I left it there as it’s quite accurate a rendition of the underlying map, and to may personal taste helps “moving” the image, on top of being one more calculation the engine has to make (reflections on that table are glossy as well, btw).
I stated in my first post with the renders here and on CGTalk that the objective of my work was never speed or beauty.
It was feature showcasing.
That, I think I achieved quite well.
I’m also putting the scene up for everyone to change and embellish as they please.
And i never took any of your remarks (or critiques) personally, Eric.
My part of the work is over as the scene is uploaded, hence the wish to “letting it go”.
I interpreted Morbid’s words as referred to letting go the comparison with Brazil, not to let go a conversation (critique->reason given->counter-critique-> further reason given) which may better both the parties.
I’ve never sold myself, ever, as an artist.
Sure as hell I won’t start now.
Still, next time you come visit Italy, Eric, it’ll be my pleasure to take you out for a drink around the corner, in a place which is 400 years old and is covered with bricks that look just like that.
I put the misunderstanding down to different cultures and experiences, and to be clear, I never took it personally.