CONTENTS

Contents
Foreword by Gabriele Congiu.........................................................................................VIII
Foreword by Jeff Mottle.....................................................................................................IX

00- Introduction..................................................... XI
Objective of the Book...............................................................................................................XII
How the Book Is Structured....................................................................................................XII
Style Guidelines: How to Read the Book............................................................................XII
Contents of the DVD-Rom......................................................................................................XII

01-First Steps with the 5SRW Method....................... 1

The 5-Step Method....................................................................................................................2
The Method and Chiaroscuro..........................................................................................3
The Right Version........................................................................................................................4
Activating V-Ray..........................................................................................................................4

02-Chiaroscuro Is the Key....................................... 7

Chiaroscuro Is the Key..............................................................................................................8
Exercise: How to Correct an Image in the VFB....................................... 11
The Shape of Light...............................................................................................................15
Adapting to Changes in Lighting...................................................................................18
History Tool.............................................................................................................................21

03-Rendering Modes.............................................. 23
What Is Indirect Lighting?.......................................................................................................24
V-Ray Default...............................................................................................................................26
IPR – Interactive Progressive Rendering......................................................................26
Final Render Settings..........................................................................................................28
VRayDenoiser...............................................................................................................................30
V-Ray GPU.....................................................................................................................................34
Overview.......................................................................................................................................36
Render Tests...........................................................................................................................36
Final Renders.........................................................................................................................36
Auto Exposure.......................................................................................................................37
When to Avoid Auto Exposure..............................................................................................39
Resumable Rendering........................................................................................................40

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 CHIAROSCURO with V-RAY

04-Using V-Ray Like a DSLR Camera........................ 41

DSLR Cameras and the V-Ray Physical Camera...............................................................42
The 3ds Max Physical Camera................................................................................................44
The Default Exposure Is Different...................................................................................45
The Basic Properties of a DSLR Camera........................................................................46
Depth of Field........................................................................................................................48
Exercise: How to Simulate Depth of Field............................................... 49
EV and Depth of Field.........................................................................................................50
The Bokeh Effect...................................................................................................................51
White Balance........................................................................................................................52
All This in the V-Ray Physical Camera............................................................................54
Practicing with a Real DSLR Camera.............................................................................55

05-Light Balance.................................................... 57
Types of Lighting..................................................................................................................58
What Are Bank Lights?........................................................................................................58
Light Sources that Can Be Simulated Using V-Ray...................................................59
V-Ray Light Parameters......................................................................................................60
The Size-Intensity Ratio.....................................................................................................61
Lighting an Object with One or Two Bank Lights.....................................................62
Four-Tier Lighting Hierarchy............................................................................................65
Chromatic Contrast.............................................................................................................66
Balancing an Interior (Artificial Lighting)....................................................................67
Natural Lighting with a Single Source..........................................................................72

06-From Basic to Advanced Materials...................... 77

Creating a VRayMtl..............................................................................................................78
Interface for Controlling Surface Properties..............................................................79
Exercise: How to Create Materials.......................................................... 80
Tricks for Chromed Metal and Glass..............................................................................84
Suggestions for (Overly) Complex Materials..............................................................85
Colored Metal and Pearlescence....................................................................................87
Anodized Metal.....................................................................................................................88
Dispersion (Abbe Number)...............................................................................................89
Translucent Materials (Thin).............................................................................................90
Translucent Materials (with Thickness)........................................................................91
V-Ray Blend Material...........................................................................................................92
Exercise: How to Use a V-Ray Blend Material......................................... 92

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The Max Depth Option......................................................................................................95

A Word about Glass and Reflective Objects...............................................................95
How to Create a Materials Library..................................................................................96
Creating Materials for a Scene.........................................................................................97

07-Controlling Tone Distribution.............................. 101

The Three Types of Exposure............................................................................................102
Compression of Highlights: Color Mapping or VFB?...............................................104
Relation Between Highlights and Contrast................................................................106
Exercise: How to Manage the Exposure Based on the Lighting............. 109
What Is a LUT and How to Use One...............................................................................112

08-Exterior Rendering............................................. 115

The Characteristics of Exterior Rendering...................................................................116
Framing ...................................................................................................................................117
Eliminating Vertical Distortion........................................................................................118
Balancing Lights/Shadows...............................................................................................119
Elongated Shadows............................................................................................................120
Absence of the Horizon.....................................................................................................121
Consistent Sky and Background.....................................................................................122
Vegetation Using Forest Pack..........................................................................................124

09-V-Ray Sun System.............................................. 127

Lighting in Exterior Simulation.......................................................................................128
Exercise: How to Place the V-Ray Sun in a Scene.................................... 129
V-Ray Sun ...............................................................................................................................131
V-Ray Sky.................................................................................................................................135
How to Control the V-Ray Sky..........................................................................................136
How to Replace the VRaySky in Post-Production.....................................................137
Exercise: How to Create a Lighting Hierarchy in Night Renders........... 139

10-V-Ray Fur, Bump and Displacement...................... 145

Bump .............................................................................................................................................146
Displacement...............................................................................................................................148
Displacement + Bump..............................................................................................................150
V-Ray FUR ....................................................................................................................................151
Simulating a Rug..................................................................................................................151

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 CHIAROSCURO with V-RAY

Simulating Fur.......................................................................................................................153
Exercise: How to Combine Displacement and Fur................................. 155

11-Complete Flow of the 5SRW Method.................... 161

Framing....................................................................................................................................162
Primary Light Settings........................................................................................................163
SkyLight Portal......................................................................................................................164
Chiaroscuro Assessment...................................................................................................165
Materials: Mapping Reflections......................................................................................168
Translucent Plastic...............................................................................................................170
Final Rendering.....................................................................................................................171
Post-Production: Color Correction ................................................................................172

12-IBL, HDRI Maps and Other Lights......................... 177

HDRI Maps and IBL Lighting............................................................................................178
Controlling HDRI Maps in V-Ray .....................................................................................179
Example A: Modelling the Scene with a HDRI Map.................................................180
Exercise: How to Illuminate an Exterior Night Scene using a HDRI....... 181
Example B: Placing an Object in an Environment with HDRI...............................184
Exercise: How to Place an Object in an Environment
Illuminated with HDRI............................................................................ 184
Example C: Illuminating an Interior...............................................................................188
HDRI and Different Atmospheres...................................................................................190
Other Types of V-Ray Lights....................................................................................................192
Sphere Mode.........................................................................................................................192
How to Create a V-Ray Light Mesh.................................................................................193
V-Ray IES and the IES File.........................................................................................................194

13-Chiaroscuro Analysis Techniques......................... 197

Objectifying with Small Portions....................................................................................198
Testing the Lighting............................................................................................................199
Modelling by Subtraction.................................................................................................200
Relationship between Flat Images and Contrast......................................................203
Gian Lorenzo Bernini and 3D Models...........................................................................204

14-Optimizing Photographic Sequences................... 205

Brute Force and Irradiance map.....................................................................................206

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Process with the Denoiser Tool.......................................................................................207

Exercise: How to Optimize an Animation - 1st step Pre-calculation.......... 208
Exercise: How to Optimize an Animation - 2nd step Calculation................ 209
Exercise: How to Optimize an Animation - 3rd step Denoiser Tool............. 210
Pre-Calculating the Whole Global Illumination........................................................211
Chaos Cloud .........................................................................................................................212
Process Outline.....................................................................................................................214

15-Tips & Tricks..................................................... 215

Detail Lights...........................................................................................................................216
Exercise: How to Triangulate the Position of a Detail Light.................. 217
Production Report/Ratio...................................................................................................221
White Balance (Empirical).................................................................................................222
Beyond the Bevelled Edge................................................................................................224
Instability – Security Tools................................................................................................225
Creating 360° Images.........................................................................................................226
360° Stereoscopic Images.................................................................................................228

XI