Ciro Sannino

PHOTOGRAPHY
& RENDERING
with

GC edizioni

Copyright 2013 by GC edizioni

all rights reserved

GC edizioni
Corso America, 57
09032 Assemini (CA)
Ph. and fax 070-8809018
www.gcedizioni.it
libri@gcedizioni.it

Author
Ciro Sannino
Publishing, Graphics and Layout
Gabriele Congiu
Editing and Revision
Barbara Sulis
Translation
Johanna Worton
Printing
Nuove Grafiche Tipografia Puddu S.r.l
Zona industriale Ortacesus
Via del Progresso, 6
09040 Ortacesus (CA) Italy
Ph. 070-9819015
ISBN
978-88-88837-28-4
Printing completed in February 2013
The authors and publisher accept no liability for damages of any
type arising from the improper use of the program.
All brands cited herein have been registered by their respective
producers, particularly Autodesk and 3ds Max, which are Autodesk
registered trademarks; V-Ray has been registered by Chaos Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this manual can be reproduced,
translated, copied or transmitted in any form or by any means,
without the publishers prior written consent.

contents

Introduction..................................................................................V
The Publisher................................................................................................................................ VI
Who Is the Author?..................................................................................................................... VI
Objective of the Book................................................................................................................ VI
How the Book Is Structured..................................................................................................... VI
Style Guidelines........................................................................................................................... VI
Contents of the DVD-Rom....................................................................................................... VI
Principles and Methods............................................................................................................ VII
V-Ray Certification for Users.................................................................................................... VIII
V-Ray Certified Professional.............................................................................................. VIII
5SRW Certification for V-Ray............................................................................................. VIII
Minimum Hardware Requirements for V-Ray................................................................... IX
The Ideal Workstation for Using V-Ray.......................................................................... IX
Who Is Chaos Group?................................................................................................................. IX
Who Is 3DWS? .............................................................................................................................. IX
Who Is DesignConnected? ...................................................................................................... X
Who Is Arroway Texture? ......................................................................................................... X

CHAPTER 01 - First Steps in V-Ray..................................................1

The 5-Step Method..................................................................................................................... 2
Details about the 5-Step Method.................................................................................... 3
The Right Version......................................................................................................................... 4
Activating V-Ray .................................................................................................................... 6
What Is V-Ray RT?......................................................................................................................... 6
How to Activate V-Ray RT ..................................................................................................7

CHAPTER 02 - Compensation Using the Gamma Curve..................9

Gamma Compensation............................................................................................................. 10
Applying Gamma to the Scene, but not to the Textures........................................ 12
Setting Up 3ds Max for Compensation......................................................................... 12
Compensation Part 1 Avoiding Gamma on the Textures ................................... 13
Compensation Part 2 For Each New File .................................................................. 14
Exercise: How to Compensate an Image ........................................... 15
V-Ray Frame Buffer
....................................................................................................... 16
Exposure of a 32 bit Render.............................................................................................. 18
Exposure of an 8 bit Render.............................................................................................. 19

III

PHOTOGRAPHY & RENDERING using v-ray

CHAPTER 03 - Global Illumination and Irradiance Map..................21

Introduction to Global Illumination..................................................................................... 22
Irradiance Map............................................................................................................................. 23
How to Set Up Indirect Illumination.............................................................................. 23
What the Five Global Illumination Settings Mean.................................................... 24
What Are Prepasses?.................................................................................................................. 25
The Metaphor of a Painter................................................................................................. 26
The Relationship Between Prepasses and Scenes..................................................... 27
How to Save a Renders Settings .................................................................................... 28

CHAPTER 04 - The DSLR Camera in V-Ray................................ 29

A Comparison Between the DSLR Camera and the V-Ray Physical Camera.......... 30
The Basic Properties of a DSLR Camera......................................................................... 32
How Focal Length Affects Composition.............................................................................. 34
The Rule of Thirds........................................................................................................................ 35
Depth of Field............................................................................................................................... 36
Exercise: How to Simulate Depth of Field
........................................ 37
Extreme Depth of Field: Tilt Shift..................................................................................... 38
The Bokeh Effect.................................................................................................................... 39
White Balance in Exteriors........................................................................................................ 40
White Balance in Interiors........................................................................................................ 42
Exercise: How to Balance an Interior....................................................... 43
All This in the V-Ray Physical Camera................................................................................... 44
Framing in Tight Spaces............................................................................................................ 45
The Clipping Plane Option................................................................................................ 45

CHAPTER 05 - Light Balance...........................................................47

Types of Lighting......................................................................................................................... 48
What Are Bank Lights?......................................................................................................... 48
Light Sources that Can Be Simulated Using V-Ray.......................................................... 49
V-Ray Light Parameters............................................................................................................. 50
The Store with Irradiance Map Option.......................................................................... 51
The Size-Intensity Ratio...................................................................................................... 53
Basic Lighting Scheme ............................................................................................................. 54
Simulating Part of an Interior like an Object............................................................... 55
Classic Three-Point Lighting.............................................................................................. 56
Chromatic Contrast ............................................................................................................. 57
How to Balance Using Three-Point Lighting ........................................................ 57

IV

contents

Balancing an Interior............................................................................................................ 58
How to Balance an Interior ......................................................................................... 59

CHAPTER 06 - Simulating Materials ..............................................61

Introduction to Using Materials............................................................................................. 62
Reflections on Surfaces with Varying Degrees of Glossiness................................ 64
Refraction................................................................................................................................. 66
Index of Refraction (IOR).................................................................................................... 67
General Guidelines for Analyzing Materials....................................................................... 67
The Material Editor...................................................................................................................... 68
How to Implement the Seven Questions in VRayMtl............................................... 69
Setting Up a Material and Optimizing ............................................................................... 72
How to Interpret the Material Tables .................................................................................. 73
Table: Glossy Red Plastic........................................................................................................... 74
Table: Varnished Wood / Polished Marble.......................................................................... 75
A Trick for Obtaining Good Chromed Metal...................................................................... 76
Improving your Chromed Metal...................................................................................... 76
Table: Chromed and Brushed Metal..................................................................................... 77
Table: Opaque Blue Plastic....................................................................................................... 78
Table: Natural Wood................................................................................................................... 79
Suggestions for Good Glass..................................................................................................... 80
Table: Glass / Frosted Glass...................................................................................................... 81
Table: Colored Glass................................................................................................................... 82
Table: Gold..................................................................................................................................... 83
Optimizing Material Rendering Time................................................................................... 84
The Use Light Cache for Glossy Rays Option.............................................................. 85
The Use Interpolation Option.......................................................................................... 85
The Max Depth Option....................................................................................................... 87
A Word about Glass and Reflective Objects................................................................ 87
Color Bleeding.............................................................................................................................. 88
How to Create a Materials Library
................................................................................. 89
Creating Materials for a Scene................................................................................................ 90
Exercise: How to Create Materials and Launch a Render....................... 90

CHAPTER 07 - Exposure...................................................................95
The Reality Button ..................................................................................................................... 96
Research, Visualization and Rendering............................................................................... 96
The Eye vs. the Camera.............................................................................................................. 97

PHOTOGRAPHY & RENDERING using v-ray

The Three Types of Exposure................................................................................................... 98

Technical Aspects of Exposure............................................................................................... 99
Tone Compression or Color Mapping............................................................................ 99
Color Mapping: Reinhard................................................................................................... 101
Color Mapping Without V-Ray (After Rendering)...................................................... 102
Greater Compression, Less Contrast.............................................................................. 102
Exercise: How to Manage the Exposure in a Render
......................... 106

CHAPTER 08 - Exterior Rendering...................................................111

The Characteristics of Exterior Rendering.......................................................................... 112
Framing .......................................................................................................................................... 113
How to Eliminate Distortion in V-Ray............................................................................. 114
Balancing Light/Shadow.......................................................................................................... 115
Elongated Shadows............................................................................................................. 116
Realistic Sky/Background......................................................................................................... 117
Absence of the Horizon .......................................................................................................... 118
Vegetation..................................................................................................................................... 119
Considerations about Night Renders................................................................................... 120

CHAPTER 09 - V-Ray Sun System....................................................121

Lighting in Exterior Simulation.............................................................................................. 122
Exercise: How to Place the V-Ray Sun in a Scene .................................... 123
V-Ray Sun ................................................................................................................................ 124
How to Set a Specific Place, Date and Time................................................................. 126
V-Ray Sky.................................................................................................................................. 127
How to Control the V-Ray Sky........................................................................................... 128
Exercise: How to Replace the VRaySky in Post-Production.................... 129
Exercise: How to Simulate a Night Render ........................................ 131

CHAPTER 10 - Simulating Vegetation & Textiles................. 135

Introduction to Bump and Displacement.......................................................................... 136
Displacement as a Channel or Modifier........................................................................ 137
Considerations about the VRayDisplacementMod Modifier ................................ 138
Simulating Grass and Carpets (Short Strands)
................................................... 140
The Displacement of 3D Objects..................................................................................... 142
How to Create a Displacement Texture......................................................................... 144
How to Use the VRayFur Function
.................................................................... 145

VI

contents

Simulating Ivy
................................................................................................................ 147
Memory Problems? V-Ray Proxy............................................................................................ 148
How to Create and Import a Proxy Object
................................................... 148
Exercise: How to Create the Curtain Effect
....................................... 150

CHAPTER 11 - The 5SRW Method in Interior Rendering................ 153

Introduction to the 5SRW Method........................................................................................ 154
Step-1: Analysis of the 3D Model ................................................................................... 155
Step-2: Light Balance........................................................................................................... 155
Environment Shadows........................................................................................................ 158
Creating Soft Lighting in an Interior.............................................................................. 160
Shadowed Areas.................................................................................................................... 163
V-Ray Light Lister................................................................................................................... 167
Step-3: Assigning Materials............................................................................................... 168
Parquet Material.................................................................................................................... 169
Carpet Material...................................................................................................................... 170
The Light Fixture.................................................................................................................... 171
Step-4: Cleaning the Image............................................................................................... 172
Anti-aliasing............................................................................................................................ 173
Irradiance Map....................................................................................................................... 174
Light Cache.............................................................................................................................. 175
Noise Threshold..................................................................................................................... 176
Various Subdivisions............................................................................................................ 176
Other Sky Models.................................................................................................................. 177

CHAPTER 12 - Other Lights and HDRI................................... 179

Other Kinds of V-RayLights..................................................................................................... 180
Sphere Mode.......................................................................................................................... 180
How to Create a V-Ray Light Mesh
.......................................................................... 181
Dome Mode ........................................................................................................................... 181
V-Ray Light Material for Self-illuminated Objects........................................................... 182
V-Ray IES and IES files
........................................................................................................ 183
How Is a HDR Image Created?................................................................................................ 184
Characteristics of HDRI Maps in V-Ray .......................................................................... 185
Exercise: How to Illuminate an Exterior Using a HDR Image ............ 186
Exercise: How to Simulate a Night Scene Using a HDR Image ........... 188
Exercise: How to Create an Alpha Channel Using IBL ....................... 190

VII

PHOTOGRAPHY & RENDERING using v-ray

CHAPTER 13 - White Balance and Contrast......................... 193

The Perfect Image....................................................................................................................... 194
Color Correction and Color Grading.............................................................................. 194
White Balance............................................................................................................................... 195
White Balance using Lightroom
.............................................................................. 195
Exercise: How to Achieve White Balance Using Photoshop
............. 197
The Histogram.............................................................................................................................. 199
Exercise: Controlling the Contrast Using Curves and Unsharp Mask
..... 200

CHAPTER 14 - Optimizing Rendering Time.......................... 205

Dedicating Time to Research.................................................................................................. 206
Settings for Draft Rendering................................................................................................... 207
Store with Irradiance Map........................................................................................................ 208
Using the Render Region and Buckets................................................................................ 208
V-Ray Scene Converter
...................................................................................................... 209
Disabling Trace Reflections...................................................................................................... 210
Global Switches ........................................................................................................................... 211
Sizing and Irradiance Map for Large Renders................................................................... 212
Light Cache as a Preview.......................................................................................................... 213
Render Previews Using V-Ray RT........................................................................................... 214
Comparing Images Using the VFB History .................................................................. 214
Exercise: How to Compare Renders Using the VFB History .................... 214

CHAPTER 15 - SOS: How not to Freak Out............................ 217

Introduction to Technical Problems..................................................................................... 218
Splotched Walls..................................................................................................................... 218
Spotty Surfaces...................................................................................................................... 219
Grainy Areas............................................................................................................................ 220
Insufficient Memory for Huge Renders......................................................................... 221
Framing in Tight Spaces .............................................................................................. 222
Highlights with Jagged Edges ......................................................................................... 223
Edges of Objects with Displacement Opening Up................................................... 224
Blurred Final Render............................................................................................................. 224
Images Appearing Washed-Out after Saving............................................................. 225
Mistakes when Saving!........................................................................................................ 225
Light Leaks............................................................................................................................... 226
White Pixels (the Sun).......................................................................................................... 227
Image Blurred when Saved as a JPEG............................................................................ 227

VIII

contents

Gallery............................................................................. 228
Index............................................................................... 230
Acknowledgements........................................................ 232

this symbol indicates the presence of a video relating to the paragraph in which its found

IX

Introduction

Ive held various workshops and met hundreds of

people over the last few years. Some participants were
experienced, while others werent at all, but everyone
shared the desire to create photorealistic renders and gain
complete mastery of the process and tools.
Workshop after workshop, Ive tried to continuously
improve the sequence of the presented topics to find the
right order for a logical and above all informed use of
V-Ray. In architectural rendering more than anywhere
else, all the main concepts are derived from photography.
My job has been precisely that to put down roots in this
discipline and make all the necessary connections that
give depth and thickness to its practical application within
the software.
Our goal is Awareness and this can only be obtained
through in-depth analysis, through asking ourselves
Why?, and through first of all knowing the principles
and then refining them into methods all while
continuing to preserve simplicity of vision.
Ciro Sannino

PHOTOGRAPHY & RENDERING with v-ray

The Publisher
The publisher of this work, Gabriele Congiu, is owner of the publishing house GC edizioni,
(Autodesk Authorized Publisher) and an Autodesk Certified Author and Instructor. His
signature publishing style is evident in PHOTOGRAPHY & RenderiNG with V-Ray, as it is
in all his publications. He regards Ciro Sanninos first book as a practical guide oriented to
all those (experts and not) who want to learn the basics for creating a photographic render
using a quick and intuitive method.

Who Is the Author?

The author Ciro Sannino, a graduate in Industrial Design, has been working in 3D and
rendering since 1997. Hes a Licensed V-Ray Instructor, approved by Chaos Group (V-Rays
production house), and since 2006 has also dedicated himself to his much-read personal
blog: www.grafica3dblog.it.
With the support of CGworld, he developed the 5-Step Render Workflow method, which
he has used successfully in his live workshops and which is illustrated in this book.

Objective of the Book

The intention of the book is to build a solid way of thinking through reasoning and
application. It allows the user to tackle photorealistic rendering and to know where to start
and what path to follow in order to arrive at the final outcome. All aspects, parameters and
problems are sorted into a framework that not only makes studying the book easier for
users, but also facilitates their subsequent phase of growth.

How the Book Is Structured

The 15 chapters that make up the work are structured to ensure gradual learning and are
aimed at using V-Ray and its relative applications in the photographic field. The cornerstone
of the work is the parallelism between photography and the V-Ray software. The theoretical
concepts presented in the chapters are followed by their practical application using
exercises, and are examined further in some cases, through videos.

Style Guidelines
Certain style guidelines have been used throughout this book to facilitate reading
and comprehension of the topics covered. These include technical Notes for in-depth
analysis and the authors Considerations. Reading is also facilitated by color printing and
highlighting of the fundamental words in bold. Videos are indicated inside grey boxes
containing this symbol .

Contents of the DVD-Rom

The book comes with a DVD-Rom that contains all the .MAX files needed to carry out the
exercises, together with their relative textures. It also contains videos in .MP4 format and
.JPG files of the images used in the book. These can help you to better grasp the aspects
explained in the paragraphs. 3D models from DesignConnected have also been included
on the DVD. Some of these can be downloaded for free and others can be purchased directly
from the site www.designconnected.com. Finally, you will also find textures produced by
Arroway Textures, as seen on their website www.arroway-textures.com.

XII

introduCTION

Principles and Methods

The famous American philosopher Ralph Emerson wrote:

As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man
who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods,
ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.
Emerson didnt know about computer graphics but he did understand the problem with
tutorials that dont illustrate principles. Tutorials are only valid and useful if, knowing the
principle, one seeks a guide to show him/her how to technically apply it.
This is what we are going to do in this book: illustrate a set of rules that go beyond the
software and which deal with photography, the physics of materials, the creation of a
photographic set, and the proportions between objects and lights. Each concept will then
be associated with its practical application, to be carried out using V-Ray for 3ds Max.
To fulfill this purpose, we will prioritize the topics. There are tools which contain dozens
of options, but in this book we will only use the necessary ones to make the illustrated
principles concrete and speed up learning.
We must keep these simple relationships in mind:
Knowledge of all parameters > Time / Definition
Knowledge of Photography and Design > Aesthetic quality
Knowledge of the more technical parameters of V-Ray almost always leads to better time
management and the production of a clean and defined image. Knowledge of photography
and design, on the other hand, directly influences aesthetic quality. Thats why we have to
start thinking outside the parameters. Imagine yourself creating a photograph by putting
together and arranging a photographic set, assisted perhaps by an interior designer who
can harmonize forms and colors.
The photographic world isnt made up of Vray light, Color mapping and the Physical camera.
Rather, its made up of Bank lights, exposure problems and DSLR cameras. This is a world of
knowledge in which we can find everything we need and translate it into parameters and
options that will allow us to produce photographic renders.
Considerations: The way we use the word Quality in this field can easily cause
misunderstandings. The same word can indicate both precision of calculation and the
aesthetic quality of an image. Lets use the power of words to immediately begin to
distinguish between two different types of quality, which have very different meanings.
We might have an image that lacks precise calculation, but in which we can already
glimpse a strong aesthetic quality. For this reason, henceforth, I will call the meaning
related to the precision of calculation the Definition of the image, while the aesthetic
quality will simply be called Quality.

XIII

PHOTOGRAPHY & RENDERING with v-ray

V-Ray Certification for Users

The official certificates currently available in Italy are the V-Ray Certified Professional,
issued directly by Chaos Group the company that produces V-Ray , and the 5SWR
Certification for V-Ray, issued by CGworld, a company specializing in education and
processes.

V-Ray Certified Professional

The V-Ray Certified Professional is a software certificate. To obtain it you need to book a session and
go to a V-Ray Training Center to take part in an exam
consisting of 120 multiple choice questions (currently
in English). To pass the exam, you need to answer more
than 70% of questions correctly.
Users who pass the exam will be included
and published in the official list on the Chaos
Group website and can display their name
and surname aside the Chaos Group logo on
cards and letterheads.

Official website: www.chaosgroup.com

Reference in Italy: www.vraytrainingcenter.it

5SRW Certification for V-Ray

The 5SRW for V-Ray is a process certificate. It is issued by
CGworld and certifies that users are able to carry out the five
step process using V-Ray. Vast knowledge is required and relates
to photography, lighting techniques, V-Ray software and color
correction using Photoshop.
The test is divided into two parts: 100 multiple choice questions
and a practical exam in which the participant
shows he/she is able to build a scene using
specific processes and meeting the standards
of the 5-Step Render Workflow.
Certified users will be officially published at www.5srwcertification.com and will receive a
unique url for their certification.
Official website: www.5srwcertification.com
E-Learning: www.learnvray.com

XIV

introduCTION

Minimum Hardware Requirements for V-Ray

The minimum requirements for using V-Ray ADV or V-Ray RT CPUare:
CPU 4 CORE + Hyper-threading (i7 or its alternatives);
RAM 4 GB.

The Ideal Workstation for Using V-Ray

Providing only one ideal configuration for using V-Ray may be too limiting. However, in this
paragraph we would like to direct you to a workstation that provides good value for money.
We stress that, for a tailored solution, it is advisable to visit the www.3dws.net website and
contact 3DWS to obtain the ideal configuration for your needs.
The workstation we currently (February 2013) advise is:
Middle Range class of workstation Mono CPU with Xeon E5 1650, 32 GB di RAM and a
Quadro 2000 video card as a minimum, or a High End class of workstation for creating
renders using V-Ray Advanced dual Xeon E5 2687, 32 GB di RAM and a Quadro K5000
video card.

Who Is Chaos Group?

Chaos Group was founded in Sofia, Bulgaria is the second half of the 1990s. Its two partners
Peter Mitev and Vladimir Koylazov
worked to develop software for
simulating fire. The first product they
released was called Phoenix and was a plug-in for the early versions of 3DS Max 3 and 4.
At the end of the 1990s they had the idea of developing a true rendering engine with
Global Illumination, to be integrated into 3ds Max as a plug-in. This idea was fostered by
the incompatibility of the fire simulation software Phoenix with the rendering engine in 3ds
Max (Scanline). The first beta versions were released to the public in December 2001, and in
Spring 2002 the first commercial version of V-Ray was presented. The Phoenix project was
abandoned for a long time and only in recent years has it reemerged with the new versions
Phoenix FD 1 and 2.
Chaos Group currently has offices in various countries throughout the world but its
headquarters has always been in Sofia and now has over 100 employees.V-Ray is Chaos
Groups product leader, having now become a standard for high level professional 3D
visualization of photorealistic images.

Who Is 3DWS?
3DWS (www.3dws.net) was founded on 3rd December 2001. The companys goal is to
support all professionals in the CG, Video Pro, CAD, and
Networking environments and to advise them on the best
workstations. 3DWS has been Chaos Groups official partner
for years, providing professional support for V-Ray, both from
a technical and artistic point of view.
Its partners also include NVIDIA and Intel.

XV

PHOTOGRAPHY & RENDERING with v-ray

Who Is DesignConnected?
DesignConnected is a computer graphics
company that was set up in 2006 with
headquarters in Sofia, Bulgaria. It has become
the main producer of high quality 3D models of furniture, lighting and accessories, Figure
Intro-1. DesignConnected strives to perfect 3D modelling, ensure the beauty of structures,
and capture precise details, paying special attention to the latest trends and design icons. At
www.designconnected.com, its not only possible to purchase various high definition 3D
models, but also to download some for free. These can be used in various projects, as long
as the source is acknowledged.

Figure Intro-1
Some of the 3D
models rendered by
DesignConnected

Who Is Arroway Textures?

Arroway Textures produces high resolution textures,
Figure Intro-2, used in many fields, such as architecture,
mechanics and design, in which a realistic visualization of
computer graphic images is necessary. Its headquarters are
in Leipzig, Germany.
www.arroway-textures.com sells thousands of high resolution textures to meet all the
varying needs of digital graphics professionals.

Figure Intro-2
Several examples of
the application of
Arroway Textures
in renders created
using various
software programs

XVI