IntroducingVRay 01

The C4D Vault presents
Cinema 4D Training Introducing VRay

A short guide to the settings of VRayForC4D
Stuart Lynch
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Project files can be found at http://www.thec4dvault.com/down/vrayguide.zip ZIP ARCHIVE PASSWORD SherbetLemon

case sensitive
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TheC4DVault(.com)
TheC4DVault.com was created by Stuart Lynch and provides Cinema 4D training, resources and sample files for the C4D community. Stuart is a veteran Cinema 4D user with over 10 years of professional experience in the industry and several years providing instructional information to intermediate users. This first in a series of new short instructional pdf s is aimed at providing the user with enough information to digest without becoming overwhelmed. It highlights the backend of VRay and relates the importance of understanding the settings that make VRayForC4D one of the best render engines around. Over the coming months, TheC4DVault pdf booklets will cover a wide variety of topics, providing a free and reliable way to learn Cinema 4D. I hope you enjoy this first addition and learn a thing or two about VRay in the process. Thanks for reading. Stuart Lynch
http://www.project1media.com
Please make a minimal donation to keep the resource alive. *See Donate section at www.thec4dvault.com Page 4 Page 5
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Chapter 1: Introducing VRay - The Sun and Sky

If you were to search images.google with the term VRay, one of the first thing youll notice is the abundant usage of the Physical Sun/Sky setup. Its a practical solution for lighting interiors and will serve as our first demonstration of the VRay engine at work.
Its time to turn our C4D shot into a VRay scene. First activate VRay in the Render Settings - figure 1.4
figure 1.7
Youve now successfully activated VRay and and activated GI. Feel free to test the render.
figure 1.4
figure 1.2
In figure 1.2 Ive created a primitive cube with 2 segments on each side. The geometry has been edited and 2 simple openings have been extruded on the most distant polygons. The editor camera has been positioned in the center of the screen and Ive exaggerated the field of view slightly to include both openings.
Youll notice now a new VRay Bridge Option figure 1.5 has appeared for VRay on the left hand side
figure 1.8
figure 1.5
Clicking the VRayBridge option will reveal the many VRay bridge parameters geared towards the final rendering setup. Next click on the tab that says IndirectIllumination figure 1.6 and check the first box that says GI ON figure 1.7
Now that youve witnessed the true power of VRay, you might want to take it to the next level. Right click the light object in the Object Manager and scroll down to the VRay tags. From the list, youll want to add a VRayLight tag. figure 1.8.
figure 1.1
In figure 1.1 we have the Sun light parameters which allow us to make changes to the Suns intensity and its physical properties. For this example were simply going to activate the Sun/Sky and become familiar with the lighting it provides for the scene. Page 8
figure 1.3
figure 1.9
To complete this portion of the setup, Ive added a simple target light figure 1.3.
figure 1.6
The information required to manipulate VRay lights specifically is now contained in the VRay light tag for future reference. figure 1.9 You can double click this tag at any time to retrieve this set of parameters. Page 9
The VRayLight tag contains a lot of important functionality and well become familiar with all of the options as we progress. For now, our intention is change the target spotlight to become a Sun light with a PhysicalSky In the option Light type figure 1.4 Change from a Spot light to an Infinite light. Also check Enable shadows
In figure 1.11 I have checked the boxes Physical Sun and Physical Sky. A test render figure 1.12 will now reveal a room illuminated by the physical qualities of the sun and sky together.
Color mapping
To make a point stick with his students, my college instructor would occasionally use profanity. So let me say that using Color Mapping in your workflow will often save your ASS! There are plenty of headaches to come, trust me, but with this simple workflow youll avoid blown out light sources that can make or break a render.
figure 1.12
Focussing on the details of the render, its possible to notice that theres a slight flaw in the accuracy of the lighting. The sunlight that enters the room looks overexposed, yet the subsequent light falloff is too dramatic and occurs too quickly. Meaning, the rest of the room is too dark when compared to the intensity of the sun. Maybe its that the scene needs a fill light or perhaps weve missed the more GI bounces option, after all its an interior scene. Not so fast! The solution in Color Mapping
figure 1.13
figure 1.14
Its a straight forward concept to understand when illustrated with this amazing set of renders. In figure 1.13 The area light in this simple room appears to give off the correct light intensity and illuminates the portion of the room closest to camera. But at the source, the light appears nuked In figure 1.14 If we dial back the lighting intensity a little, the light at the source appears to have corrected itself, but at the expense of less light reaching the back of the room.
figure 1.10
The light now is as it suggests, an infinite light and not yet a Sun Light. In order for the light to become a Sun Light we must click the Sun Light tag and make a few adjustments
figure 1.15
figure 1.11
In figure 1.15 the light intensity is restored to the brightness of figure 1.13, color mapping is applied and the light adequately reaches the entire space. Balance is accomplished. Page 10 Page 11
You can use find this function in VRay settings under Color Mapping. figure 1.16
It wouldnt be fair to offer you this solution without some idea of whats happening behind the scenes. After all, you did buy the book from a desire to learn. So if we apply the Indoor settings from the guidelines on the previous page, we can draw comparison to the original Sun/Sky render.
figure 1.17 is
In figure 1.17 we have the issue where the sunlight is not illuminating the scene correctly. In figure 1.18 the samples illuminate the shot correctly and the light intensity is well balanced. The difference lies in the mode Exponential, this prevents colors from becoming too burned out and bright. Itll saturate the colors as they reach too high of an intensity. The darkness multiplier value increase to 3.6 indicates that the original output of grey/ blue will have be multiplied by 3.6, giving rise to the additional light and brightness in the scene. The brightness multiplier is increased to 1.8 Which indicates that although the exponential value has reduced overall brightness, it can still be multiplied to compensate for the dip you see in figure 1.19. You can consider it a compromise. In figure figure 1.19 the brightness multiplier is being left at its default value of 1.0 and the sunlight would be too low in its intensity.
the original without color mapping applied (Gamma 1.0) figure 1.18 in exponential mode with the guideline values (3.6/1.8/2.0) (Gamma 2.0)
figure 1.16
By default VRay uses the Color Mapping type (menu option Type) Linear Multiply with default Dark and Bright Multiplier values set to 1 You will notice several other Types in this drop down menu. Exponential HSV Exponential Intesity Exponential Gamma Correction Intesity Gamma Reinhard The most practical color mapping Type for interior rendering is Exponential mode (or HSV Exponential) For exterior shots, it is recommended to use Reinhard The following settings are a general guideline for what these numbers should look like.
figure 1.17
FOR INDOOR SHOTS. Type: Exponential (some prefer HSV exponential) Dark Multiplier: 3.6 Brightness Multiplier: 1.8 Gamma: Between 1.8 - 2.2 LinearWorkFlow - Check to ON
FOR OUTDOOR SCENES. Type: Reinhard Multiplier: 1.5 Burn Value: 0.5 Gamma: Between 1.8 - 2.2 LinearWorkFlow - Check to ON
figure 1.18 figure 1.19
http://www.pixsim.co.uk/downloads/The_Beginners_Explanation_of_Gamma_Correction_and_Linear_Workflow.pdf
If youre not already aware of the implications of using a LWF - See the following PDF Page 12
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Chapter 2: The test scene

In this chapter well begin with a quick scene and will introduce the Physical Camera.
Switch to the point tool and from the attributes manager uncheck Only select Visible Elements
Returning to the editor view, raise the lowest portion of the windows up slightly. figure 2.8
In VRay its important to use as accurate a measurements as possible. This basic cube is 500cm x 200cm x 800cm and represents our small bedroom. figure 2.1
With the camera inside the model, select all polygons and reverse normals so that theyre facing inwards. (hotkeys U~R)
figure 2.5
In the Top viewport select the polygons that make up the front window and rear wall. Drag to the left as in figure 2.6 Repeat the process for the Right window as shown in figure 2.7
figure 2.8
Select all the polygons on the floor plane and extrude down slightly to create room for a thin moulding feature figure 2.9 Select all ceiling polygons, perform a slight inner extrude and then a regular extrude upwards. figure 2.10
In figure 2.2 Ive added 5 segments to the X side of the model. Edit the model (hotkey C) and move the editor camera inside of the model.
Selecting two faces as shown below figure 2.4 Use inner extrude (hotkey I) and extrude (hotkey D) to create two window openings. Here you could split the glass geometry for later (hotkeys U~S) or simply delete the two polygons.
figure 2.6
figure 2.9
figure 2.2
figure 2.4
figure 2.7
figure 2.10
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Select the wall polygons in between the windows and extrude. figure 2.11
Dont be concerned if your shot is nothing like mine. If your scene has two openings Ill forgive you. Moving on.
Roughing out the lights

Find a place where youre happy with the viewport representation of your scene and add a regular Camera. Returning again to the editor view and ensuring you have you camera selected. Run your first render. figure 2.16
figure 2.16
In figure 2.12, extrude the ceiling polygons to match the moulding extrusion.
figure 2.14 - Test render for illustration purposes only
Add a Target Light and position yourself in the top view, try to find a placement for the target light where you would like the Sun to exist. figure 2.15
Clearly not enough light entering the room on this angle. This issue of balance is more prominent than in my initial examples. Its time to apply Color Mapping to bring the room to life. figure 2.16
REMINDER FOR INDOOR SHOTS. Type: Exponential (some prefer HSV exponential) Dark Multiplier: 3.6 Brightness Multiplier: 1.8 Gamma: Between 1.8 - 2.2 LinearWorkFlow - Check to ON
figure 2.12
Perform a simple select loop command with the polygon tool (hotkey U~L) figure 2.13 and Extrude slightly at 91
figure 2.15
Select VRay as your primary render engine in RenderSettings and as in the earlier example, check GI on in the IndirectIllumination tab. Add a VRay Light tag to your Target light, check enable shadows, change from spot light to infinite light. In the SunLight tab activate the Physical sun and Physical Sky.
figure 2.13
figure 2.17
A small improvement. Page 17
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Bringing the shot to life.

So far we havent included any materials in our scene. VRay responds to color change quite dramatically, as does color in the real world. If we add a tiled wood texture to the floor, the bounced light from the wood and its color values will have an affect on the scene. Lets explore further...... From the Material Manager add a new VRay Advanced Material to the scene. figure 2.18 Double click the Material Wood In the Diffuse Layer - Texture map slot. Load a wood tile texture figure 2.21
Running a new test render, notice how the wooden floor is affecting the lighting in the rest of the scene. figure 2.23
The presence of more white objects has changed the dynamic lighting of the scene once again. figure 2.25
figure 2.23
Make a few adjustments to your camera position and to the SunLight and try to balance both lighting direction and composition.
figure 2.18
figure 2.25
Assign the new VRay Advanced Material to your cube object in the OM (object manager). figure 2.19 Ive named my material base
Adding some additional materials with variations in color (preferably chosen to represent how you imagine your scene) were able to improve upon the overall feel of the shot. figure 2.26
In the OM select (click) the wood material tag. In the Attributes Manager, change the projection mode from Spherical to Cubic Using the texture axis tool and the scale tool figure 2.22 Scale the wood texture to fit your scene.
figure 2.19
Create a second VRay Advanced Material and change the name to wood Select all floor polygons and drag the wood material over the polygon selection figure 2.20
figure 2.24
figure 2.26
In this next phase of scene creation, well start blocking out some objects with simple geometry to get a better feel for composition. Place Cube primitive objects and position them where the bed, side tables and cabinet would potentially be.
figure 2.20
figure 2.22
With all of these geometry additions you may have noticed that the light in the room has taken a significant dip in brightness. On the next page well discuss the Physical Camera and how to implement photographic values in order to restore the balance. Page 19
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Introduction to the Physical camera
The Physical Camera in VRay allows us to reproduce the parameters of a real world camera. To improve our scene without further adjusting the Color Mapping or the default lighting intensity of the Sun, well implement the Physical Camera and make use of its features such as ISO and FStop.
An increase in Film ISO values from 400 to 1600 figure 2.29 increases the film sensitivity further and subsequently alters the brightness of the scene. Changes in F-Stop values can also be made to compensate for brightness. Shutter speed can typically be left alone, although it is an important value when introducing motionblur into your workflow.
In figure 2.30 Ive added a new bed and a some subtle blurry reflections (refereed to as Glossiness reflections in VRay) to the wood material. Although Ill shortly be introducing more detailed information on the VRay Advanced Material, if you want to add this effect to your current scene, Ill show you the quick way. Activate a Specular layer in your wood material and input a Glossiness reflection value of 0.8.
From the OM select your scene Camera, right click and apply a VRay Physical Camera tag from the VRay Bridge Tags submenu.
figure 2.27
Its good practice to use the Physical camera for all of your scenes. Well look more closely at comparisons in a later chapter, for now were occupied with increasing the exposure values of our scene without making any adjustments to light intensity. Click the VRay Physical Camera tag Under the Tab - Lens parameters. Scroll down to Film ISO and change the value from 100 to 400
figure 2.27
A test render produces this result figure 2.28
figure 2.29
If you test a new render you would notice that no significant changes have occurred. Though the default settings of the VRay Physical camera provide a similar result, they differ greatly from a camera that has no Physical properties. The proof is in the numbers. In the VRay Light tag under the Sun light parameters youll see two separate values. Intensity multiplier for Phys Cam : 1 Intensity multiplier for Std Cam: 0.037 The sun intensity is divided by exactly 270 to work at the default value of the standard camera. Page 20
figure 2.28
If youd like to continue with your scene and start placing actual geometry or re-working the blocked out models to become realistic fixtures in the room. Feel free.
figure 2.31
A couple of tweaks later and some stock models from my collection. figure 2.31
figure 2.32 figure 2.30 figure 2.26 Old result for comparison
Few renders looks complete without a little post work. figure 2.32 Page 21
Chapter 3: Introducing VrayBridge render settings
Quality is very important when we think about final renders, but this shouldnt always come at the cost of lengthy render times. Through exploring VRays render settings well learn to tweak the parameters in order to get the best results in an optimal amount of time. In this section well optimize the VRay Render Settings and then explore the method behind the madness. Open the example bedroom.c4d open from www.thec4dvault.com and lets begin.
After successful completion of Light Caching, the Engine then begins computation the Irradiance Map. A simplified explanation of the Irradiance map is to imagine a point cloud that originates from the Camera and projects outwards into the scene. In figure 3.6 Im using a VRay resource called IMapViewer.exe. With this were able to view the resulting IR map in its raw form.
The more refined the Irradiance map settings are, the better it is able to assist in rendering smaller details. This also comes at the cost of render time. Objects such as walls and floors require very little IR sampling, but a detailed ornament on a table needs more refined samples to reach the tight spaces. Providing adequate coverage is much less of a struggle than it may seem. VRay comes loaded with presets that provide an excellent starting point in most cases.
figure 3.1
The Light Cache is an approximation of the global illumination in the scene. figure 3.4
From the camera perspective in the bottom left corner, its quite easy to visualize the job of the Irradiance map. There are no samples outside of the Camera view and so we can conclude, it only samples what it needs to see.
figure 3.2
From the Tab Indirect Illumination (GI) select 01_IR-LC_very very fast from the GI Preset list IR refers to Irradiance Map LC refers to Light Cache In the Primary and Secondary bounces you can see the two modes being selected. With this setup the Light Cache will be calculated first. figure 3.3
At these low settings rendering with Light Cache as both a first and second bounces as with figure 3.5 would produce some odd splotchy results. Although with the correct values, this technique is equal to Unbiased rendering. GI Preset 19_LC_LC_PPT_unbiased is set up to render in this way.
figure 3.6
figure 3.4 The familiar Light Cache calculation
figure 3.8
The DMC Sampler figure 3.8 is the VRay control Room. These 4 values basically determine how VRay uses its adaptive sampler, which Ill explain later. The engine itself uses deterministic Monte Carlo sampling (DMC), which is a high quality approximation GI algorithm. The better the settings, the more reliable and accurate that approximation becomes. Its not imperative that we learn exactly how the backend of VRay works. Whats important is that we understand how these vast amounts of values will affect our end results. Well need to break them down a little in order to make sense of them.
The simple scene below is the resulting figure 3.7 render from the above calculation.
figure 3.3
figure 3.5
figure 3.7
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Anti Aliasing (AA) is another important factor in determining final VRay render quality. The Adaptive DMC Anti Aliasing mode figure 3.9 and the DMC sampler figure 3.8 are tied in very closely, especially when compared to other Anti Aliasing techniques like the Adaptive Subdivision sampler
In the tab Indirect Illumination (GI) click the Irradiance Map arrow to reveal more settings figure 3.11 change the Hemispheric SubD
Finally under the Options tab un-check the Glossy Effects to prevent any blurry reflections from calculating figure 3.14
For Hemispheric SubDivision enter the value: 30 For Interpolated samples enter a value of: 10 We can ignore the other settings for now.
figure 3.16
If your render happens to look as it does in figure 3.16, it would be because you havent yet applied Color Mapping. Not mentioning it this was an intentional test. Weve barely scratched the surface of this new information and I have you dialing in numbers that probably make no sense to you whatsoever. My instructional method is to teach through example. Once youre familiarized with the process it will start to become second nature. Yet that is only part of the equation. It is also important to have a basic understanding of why each value works the way it does. In this next section well adjust for a final render a along the way Ill point out some of the method behind the madness.
figure 3.15
figure 3.9
Back to the DMC sampler, add the values from figure 3.10
figure 3.12
figure 3.14
Now we can run our first preview quality render at ultra fast speed. Still in the tab Indirect Illumination (GI) click the Light Cache arrow figure 3.11 In here well simply be changing the Samples Ratio from 1/2 to 1/16 figure 3.13
figure 3.10
Adaptive amount will be left alone. Minimum samples have been reduced from 8 to 4 Noise threshold was in an okay place with 0.01, so we wont touch that either. Global Subdivs multiplier is set 0.5, down from 1.
figure 3.13
The result is awful, yet it took only 12 seconds to render at 1280x720. This very low setting is a perfect place to start from if youre blocking out the scene and need to make quick decisions. Page 25
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Creating a higher quality render

Reload the example bedroom.c4d Attempt this without illustration (please) #1 In the tab Indirect Illumination (GI) select 03_IR-LC_medium from the GI Preset list and check the box GI On #2 In the Irradiance Map sub menu Min Rate: -3 Max rate: -1 Hemispheric SubDivision: 55 Interpolated samples: 15 Leave every other IR setting alone #3 In the Light Cache submenu Un-check Override LC Subdivision Subdivision: 1000 Scroll down a little to Reconstruction parameters Un-check Enable LC retrace #3 In DMC Sampler tab Adaptive amount: 0.85 Noise threshold: 0.01 Minimum samples 8 Global Subdiv multiplier: 1 #4 In the Antialiasing tab Antialiasing type: DMC sampler Filter on: Check Filter type: Catmull-Rom Min SubD: 1 Max SubD: 5 #5 Color Mapping tab Type: Exponential (some prefer HSV exponential) Dark Multiplier: 3.6 Brightness Multiplier: 1.8 Gamma: Between 1.8 - 2.2 LinearWorkFlow - Check to ON #6 Time to render.
Indirect Illumination - Irradiance map

Tempting as it may appear to ignore this section and rely upon VRays preset values, I would recommend against it. Presets only solve half of the equation, they have no affect on AA or the DMC sampler and theyre not intended to provide a complete setup for your scene. Instead see the presets as a good starting point. The Medium quality preset is sufficient for most projects and only requires a few minor adjustments to bring it up to speed. When rendering a GI shot in VRay, the engine requires two solutions to produce accurate GI results. Those are the Primary and Secondary bounces. In figure 3.18 Ive turned off secondary bounces and left the Primary bounces as: Irradiance map. With only one GI engine actively calculating, a correct GI solution has not been possible. This is visible as the dark areas in the image. Each of the approximation methods has its own very specific parameters. The IR map (IR map - Irradiance map) has many options for the management of correctly calculating samples, sample accuracy and detail enhancement. It also has a section used exclusively for animation,. The first two parameters you come across are Min rate and Max rate. These settings relate to the size of the IR map calculation. The Min value determines the resolution for the first GI pass. The Max value determines the resolution for the last GI pass. A Max value of 0 would imply that the resolution of the last GI pass is equal to the dimension of your scene resolution. A value of -1 is equal to half the resolution of the dimensions of your scene resolution. A Min value of :-4 and a A Max value of: 0, ....would create 5 passes during the caching process. ( -4, -3. -2, -1 and 0) The Max value 0 is typically not needed for less complex scenes. Page 27
figure 3.17
My render time at 1280x720 on a 6 core I7-980x (running at 4.4ghz)was 1 min 48 seconds. For a scene with Global illumination thats not a bad time. But was the result ready to send to a client? Well, aside from the fact that the scene is pretty bad to begin with, Id still have to go with no. Theres artifacting issues in a couple of areas, too much noise in the wood and black glossy metal and it needs a little more. It feels close but it could use a little more to sell it as final. Page 26
figure 3.18
So far weve used only two of the five possible GI engines in these slots. The preset values highlight other combinations, though the IR and LC is our focus for the time being. As Irradiance map is our primary bounce, well introduce its settings first.
You could ask why not just have a Min value of -1 and a Max value of -1? Or a fixed value? The smaller values in the Min setting (-4 for example) are important for sampling the bigger details (walls etc). The larger values in Max (-1 or 0) are for sampling the finer details. You would rarely encounter a need to use a positive value like 1 in the Max setting. If it occurs to you to do so, it would be wise to look elsewhere before concluding that this is the solution to your rendering woes. Min and Max however, are only part of the solution. In figure 3.19 the low settings Ive deliberately chosen are creating very obvious splotches. This suggests that are settings are way off the mark and need to be re-worked.
A Hemispheric SubDivision is part of the Irradiance map and is used to determine the quality of individual GI samples. Relating only to the samples of IR map in this case. We can look here to improve upon our IR map caching process. A good starting place when attempting a final render is around the 50 mark. Values upwards of 150 are not unheard of for problematic renders, though typically youll find that 50-80 is adequate. Interpolated samples refers to the interpolation of the IR map samples. This calculation look towards the range of existing data and attempts to refine that process further. With this setting - Too high a value is likely to blur the solution, Too low and the samples will receive no interpolation. So we can determine that some Interpolated samples are necessary. To compliment the Hemispheric SubDivision, a value of approximately 15-30 is usually always sufficient.
figure 3.21 figure 3.22 figure 3.23
In all of the above examples Hemispheric SubDivision has a value of 50 In figure 3.21 the Interpolated samples value is 1, which at close inspection is too few samples In figure 3.22 the Interpolated samples value is 100. At this value the samples tend to become blurred. In figure 3.23 the Interpolated samples value is 20. This is practical amount for most renders. At this scale it is perhaps difficult to see a huge difference. Also any remaining noise issues youre seeing would then be an issue with the DMC sampler and not the IR Map. There are clearly other settings in the Irradiance map parameters, yet in the interest of not becoming bogged down with too much input, Ill only briefly highlight their usage. To the left of the Min/Max rates lie the Intensity Threshold, Normal Threshold and Distance Threshold. These settings refer to individual sensitivities to light intensity changes, surface normal changes and changes in the distance between surfaces. I would leave these values alone and let the provided preset values guide you until you become more familiar. There are occasions with objects such as thin blinds where adjustments to these settings will benefit your render. In the Detail enhancement section are a couple of additional parameters. This function as the name implies creates additional detail (to small detailed objects, not really useful in a typical scene). Utilizing this process will force the GI algorithm to compute with Brute Force GI in places that are difficult for the IR map to reach. When using this function it is often necessary to consider lower overall IR Map settings. With this option checked were dependant upon Detail enhancement to enhance our render, the remaining settings would therefore only need to made be suitable for coverage of the larger objects. Note: This is because large objects such walls/ceilings typically get adequate coverage from fewer samples. In my professional career I have used the Detail enhancement function no more than 3 times.
figure 3.19
Refining the IR map settings is how we prevent splotches and other inaccuracies. It ensures that this approximation method (our primary light bounce) will provide enough samples to assist in a flawless final render. Note: Over estimating the values can create unnecessarily long render times. Under estimating causes artifacting. (Not to be confused with noise) Page 28
figure 3.20
Look to the next page for some comparisons.
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Indirect Illumination - The Light Cache.

The light cache (once again) is the approximation of global illumination in the scene. Spot3D.com The light cache is built by tracing many eye paths from the camera. The number of paths traced from the camera is the square of the subdivision value. 1000 equals 1 million paths. 2000 is 4 million and 10,000 is 100 million. The Samples Ratio values are based on the resolution of your scene. In the case of the 1/1 setting in a scene thats 1280x720, the Light Cache would produce 0.9 million paths.
There are some instances where youll need to go beyond the 1/1 Samples ratio amount and manually enter Subdivision values. Though 1/2 is quite sufficient in most cases. It is imperative to use a higher value during animation, but rare to exceed 4000. With scenes outside of the typical Physical Sun/Sky setup, where perhaps were using an abundance of light sources . The subdivision values will benefit from a boost.
figure 3.28
Reconstruction parameters. These parameters control how the light cache is used in the final rendering, after it has been calculated. Prefilter Checked on - Prefilter will be used. Prefilter is applied once the cache is computer or loaded from disc. Prefilter samples More prefilter samples equals a more blurry and less noisy cache.
figure 3.24
I have to admit the first time I saw this menu, I felt a lot less threatened by it than I did the Irradiance map options. In our current IR - LC setup were depending on the Light Cache portion of this solution to computer the secondary bounces. In figure 3.24 the Overide LC subdivision box is checked by default. The value inside the samples ratio (drop down menu) and the Subdivision amount (greyed out box) differ only in mathematical approach. They both determine how many paths are traced from the camera. Un-checking this box and manually inserting your own value is recommended, especially if the secondary bounces require more attention. Page 30
figure 3.27
Weve covered the essentials and Ill provide a very brief explanation for the remaining settings. Sample size determines the spacing of samples in the light cache. (Leave alone for now) Passes calculates the light cache separately on each thread of your cpu. (Useful for animation) Store direct light. This option stores and interpolates direct light. This can be useful if youre using and IR - LC setup. Use camera path. This is for tracing the Light cache along a camera path and is beneficial for animation. Adaptive tracing. Stores additional information about incoming light for each light sample. Page 31
Filter type. This is for tracing the Light cache along a camera path and is beneficial for animation. Use light cache for glossy rays. If this option is on, the Light Cache is used to compute glossy rays as well normal GI rays. This option can speed up rendering of scene that have blurry reflections by a significant amount. Enable LC retrace. This option assists VRay in preventing light leaks at the expense of slightly increased calculation time in the IR Map. Retrace threshold. This value can be used in conjunction with use light cache for glossy rays to help VRay dynamically decide when and where to use the Light Cache.
In figure 3.25 I used a Sample ratio of 1/1 at 1280x720, implying 921,600 samples. The light cache took 28 seconds to compute
In figure 3.26 I used a 960 samples in the Subdivision box. 960 = 921,600 samples. It should come as no surprise that the calculation took exactly the same amount of time.
The DMC Sampler

Having covered two of the possible GI engines and how their individual passes contribute towards the quality of the final render, we need to talk about the big guns! The DMC Sampler. You can think of the DMC sampler as a global quality control. This group of 4 settings play a very important role in the rest of the workflow.
With an Adaptive amount of 1, we hand over control of all of the samples. (Fully adaptive) With an Adaptive amount of 0, All 100 samples will be used without consideration for the Early Termination Algorithm. (Not
adaptive)
Noise threshold has a value of 0.01 Noise threshold has a value of 0.1 figure 3.34 Noise threshold has a value of 1
A value between 0.01 and 0.004 is a good range for final renders. When the Noise Threshold is 1, the DMC sampler is satisfied that the desired amount of samples has been met while its still producing a very noisy value. This amounts to an incredibly fast, but noisy render. The DMC sampler frequently needs more samples from the external elements that are difficult to compute. A metal material that has blurry values (Glossiness subdivs) such as Brushed steel will often require more samples to achieve noise reduction and a quality result. Instead of trying to compensate for this in the DMC sampler, we would simply increase the Glossiness Subdivs value in the specular channel of the Vray Advanced material to a value higher than the default 8. figure 3.35
Looking at an Area lights parameters (VRay Light tag), it reveals that the DMC sampler will be receiving 8 Subdivision samples from this light source. figure 3.31 The actual amount of samples, is the square of the subdivision value / 8 subdivisions = 64
samples
In most cases, the default value of 0.85 for the Adaptive amount is more than sufficient. At 85% adaptive, this may seem like were leaving too much to chance, giving too much control to the DMC sampler. But VRay handles the process very smoothly and its not often necessary to go below 70% (0.7) Noise Threshold. The Adaptive process communicates directly with the Noise Threshold amount. This value determines the amount of noise that is acceptable before it can tun its attention to the next pixel in the calculation.
figure 3.29
During render time, the DMC sampler is looking out to your scene for additional samples. These rays are computed in such a way that if the values are too low, they will produce a noisy result. figure 3.30
figure 3.31
The DMC Sampler can look at a series of these samples and determine that it has enough information to not use them all.
figure 3.30
figure 3.32
This is the role of the Adaptive amount. Lets imagine the DMC sampler sees 100 samples for the entire scene. If we chose an adaptive amount of 0.8, the DMC sampler will always use 20 of those samples. The other 80% will be considered internally by the engine, but not necessarily used. Control over this function is decided by the Early Termination Algorithm Page 32
Values from almost every part of the render engine are coming in through this channel and being processed here. Whenever you create a light, a blurry reflection, use Depth of field or Motion Blur (to name a few), youve actually been providing the DMC sampler with more samples and information about the scene.
figure 3.34
Similarly, a single Area light that clearly stands out from the others as having too much visible noise, would also benefit from sending more samples to the DMC sampler. Page 33
When a single object causes an issue, its important to look at its individual subdivision parameters to resolve. It would be a shame to spoil a good balanced rendering solution and shoot for an overall increase in quality on account of one problematic object. This wouldnt be a practical way to work. Looking again at figure 3.29 we have 2 settings remaining to talk about, and both of them at this point should be easy to comprehend.
Brute force, Photon maps, or Spherical harmonics.

Ive introduced you to 2 GI engines so far, the combination of which enables VRay to process your render. The IR + LC method is a popular choice and as an introduction to these practices was worth highlighting them side by side. Some other useful combinations are highlighted in the presets.
I.e; Lightcache +Bruteforce / IRradiance Map + Bruteforce.
Antialiasing
Im certain youre all familiar with the practice of using Antialiasing in your scenes. VRay features 3 types of image samplers (antialiasing methods) and each one differs slightly in approach. We have the Fixed rate sampler, the Adaptive DMC sampler and the Adaptive Subdivision sampler. Choosing the right image sampler is determined by the individual scene and there are different considerations for each approach.
figure 3.36
Minimum Samples Min samples equals the minimal amount of samples that the DMC sampler will compute before terminating the algorithm. Note: The default 8 is once again squared to imply 64. It also intentionally matches the default number for all subdivision based parameters. Global Subdivs multiplier. If an overall quality boost is required for every subdivision based parameter, this is a good place to dial in some numbers. The default value of 1 implies that every value will remain the same as the input value (for example: Glossiness Subdivs: 8) A increase to 1.5 would provide a 150% increase to all of these values. (Increasing the: Glossiness Subdivs: to 12) Page 34
Brute force computes every single shaded point separately and independently of other points, (while other approximation methods consider their neighbor in determining calculation). While highly accurate this method can also be very slow. The subdivision parameter here will also talk to the DMC sampler in the same way as discussed earlier. Ray depth controls the number of bounces that will be computed, but is only available if Brute force is chosen as a secondary GI engine. Photon maps are occasionally useful for interiors scenes, but this is an older method of approximation and I typically avoid it. Spherical harmonics is not yet properly integrated into VRayForC4D and should be avoided.
Adaptive DMC sampler figure 3.38 This sampler takes a variable number of samples per pixel based on a Min and Max rate. It can also use the threshold set in the DMC sampler to determine if more samples are needed. (vs manual entry in Threshold amount) This method is best for scenes that use a lot of blurry effects and is the preferred image sampler for DOF and Motion blur effects. Note: It is rare to have to increase the Min level higher than 1, other than scenes that are problematic. Using Show Samples is a way to preview the antialiasing setup prior to final render. Page 35
Fixed Rate sampler figure 3.37 With this method, the sampler takes a fixed rate of samples per pixel. The subdivision value is squared as with other subdivision parameters. 1 =1 / 2=4 / etc A value of 4 would indicate that 16 samples had been taken per pixel. This sampler is simple and predictable in a broad range of antialiasing tasks, but the nature of a fixed sample can equal slow performance in some cases. Note: Though not be ignored, I would recommend one of the other two choices based on my experiences with Fixed rate sampling.
In the renders from figure 3.40 and figure 3.41 Ive zoomed in to 800% to highlight the differences between the Adaptive Subdivision sampler and the Adaptive DMC sampler. The render times were seconds apart and the Min/Max settings identical (with no under
sampling in the Adaptive SubD sampler)
figure 3.39
Wrapping up
If you want VRay to create high quality images that dont take forever to render, then we already have one thing in common.
Adaptive Subdivision sampler figure 3.37 Of the 3 methods, this is the only sampler that can undersample (take less than 1 sample per pixel). In scenes that dont rely on blurry effects, this is the preferred image sampler for both its speed and reliability. However, in the presence of these effects it can perform worse than the DMC sampler. See below for comparisons.
The metallic device has a blurred metal surface and its clear that in this round, the Adaptive DMC sampler did a better job.
To achieve this, I frequently tell my students that the best starting point is from lower/medium quality presets. From here youll be able to discern what part of the render needs your attention the most. Is it splotches on the walls? Then look to the IR map. Or are the walls fine and its some nuisance ornament with a bump map giving you grief? Then look to its material setting, the nearest light source, or better manage the antialiasing settings. That may seem like a common sense approach, but if I got a dollar for every time somebody sent me a scene where theyd randomly entered 0.001 in the Noise Threshold to resolve a simple issue, Id be rich! That value may well have fixed the issue, yet they inadvertently made the rest of the scene more complicated than it needed to be. On inspection its usually obvious that they were only trying to improve upon a couple of small problems. Similarly theres a list of preset values known as Universal VRay 1.5 Settings that people rave about. You can see the appeal right away, although if you use these settings be open to the possibility of waiting around for a long time.
Thats not to suggest that the DMC sampler is always the clear winner. The reliability of Adaptive Subdivision sampler in the absence of blurry effects can add significant speed increases to your scenes and should not be overlooked. Experimentation is key.
Antialiasing filter
In VRay as with other render engines, Antialiasing filters can be applied. These are methods for sharpening or blurring values dependant on your needs. These filters are integrated into the sampling process and do have an affect on render time. For example a sharpening filter like Catmullrom and Mitchell-netravali may cost you a few additional seconds when compared to blurring filter like Box, Area and Gaussian and Area. Note; These filters are not the same as applying sharpening/blurring filters in post. I would recommend using one based on your needs at all times.
figure 3.40 - Using the Adaptive Subdivision sampler
Its my hope that I explained this process with relative clarity. If you do have any unresolved questions the VRayForC4D manual offers very precise examples of why each setting performs the way it does.
figure 3.41 - Using the Adaptive DMC sampler
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Chapter 4: Vrays materials

Whatever your choice of render engine its good practice to have a test scene for trying out materials. In this chapter well work with such an environment and introduce Vrays BRDF material system. Open the scene file test_stage.c4d figure 4.1
Specular layers
VrayAdvancedMaterial There are 5 Specular layers in VRay, this allows for the creation of materials with more than one specular quality, such as varnished woods, car paints and some plastics. These layers contain options for both fake specular highlighting, or in the more physically correct way, which is to calculate specularity with glossy reflections.
Note: Ive introduced you several times to the term Glossy. It simple implies blurry reflections, but is refereed to as reflection glossiness in VRay. (See Specular layer parameters)
figure 4.1
The scene uses three area lights and some basic geometry, it also renders very quickly for fast feedback.
figure 4.3
In a Cinema 4D material, specularity and reflection are separate entities. In VRay there is the option to use the Reflection layer, though this is reserved for objects with raw reflection like water and mirrors. It also doesnt contain an option to include glossy reflections. Instead the Specular layer is where youll need to turn for the vast majority of your material reflectivity needs. This layer contains options for a vast amount of specular properties such as anisotropic surfaces, blurry metallic surfaces and precise control with fresnel effects (reflection viewing angle). figure 4.4
A VRay advanced material has far more options than a standard C4D mat. The vast majority of materials youll set up in VRay are relatively straight forward, though with this much flexibility, theres a lot of room for complexity and creativity. The material editor features many settings that youre probably already familiar with Diffuse (color), Bump, Material weight (alpha), Luminosity layer (Luminance) and Specular layers (a mix of C4Ds reflection and secularity settings), Refraction layer (transparency)
figure 4.4
In figure 4.5 Sphere A, the Vray Material is tracing only the fake specular values. Sphere B, is tracing both fake specular and blurry reflections. Sphere C, is tracing blurry reflections only.
figure 4.5
figure 4.2
Create from the materials manager, a new VRayBridge - VRay Advanced material Page 38
Note: In the real world, almost every object contains at least some specularity. Page 39
For our first material, lets activate a single Specular Layer and leave everything as default. Apply the material to the sphere object and perform a quick render test. figure 4.6
Each Specular Types computes in a unique way and provides different results. Blinn and Ward are good choices for metallic effects and they also render Anisotropic effects more accurately. Back in the Specular layer settings change the Anisotropy value to 0.5
figure 4.8
figure 4.12
A rendered results should now show a metal like material thats been processed with both fake specularity and glossy reflections. figure
figure 4.6 4.9
Lower the Anisotropy amount back to 0 and in the Texture map slot below load in the texture HT_Brushed.png from the textures folder. Repeat this process as illustrated below in figure 4.13 - while also checking the invert box where appropriate.
In the setting Specular Layer Transparency, change the amount to 50% and test again.
figure 4.11
The result figure 4.11 is not quite yet a Brushed metal, but were establishing the workflow in ordered to create one. For the next step, return to the Diffuse layer (remaining within the metal material) and reduce the Diffuse Color - Brightness amount to 20%. Back to the Specular layer scroll all the way down to the last few settings and Check the Use Fresnel box and input 22 for Fresnel IOR
(Index of refraction)
figure 4.9
figure 4.7
The reduction of transparency has allowed for more of the reflection from this layer to show. figure 4.7 For the next stage of this material test, add another Vray advanced material and in the diffuse channel only, add a blue color. Apply this new material to the cube object. Now returning to the first materials Specular layer. Scroll down to reflection glossiness and add a value of 0.8. figure 4.8 Page 40
At the top of the Specular layer settings is an option for Specular Type. Change this from Phong to Ward. The result should now look like figure 4.10
You will now notice that the Specular Layer Transparency option is no longer available. This is because were using IOR to determine reflectivity. In the Specular color at the top, add a Fresnel shader to the texture map slot. figure 4.12 In the shader settings, reduce the black to a light grey. This will prevent the scratched surface from reaching the spheres edges.
figure 4.10
figure 4.13
Page 41
Weve provided VRay with enough information to produce a semi-realistic scratched metal surface. Work can be done in the bump map channel to bring out extra details and a lot of time can be spent tweaking the values for a perfect result. Note: The reason behind the inverted texture map in the Glossiness reflection is that in reality, the deeper the scratch, the more blurry its reflectivity would become. The result in figure 4.14 is far from complete, yet you have a good starting point from which to experiment further.
You may have noticed that in the Specular settings I increased the Glossiness SubDivision amount up to 30. As discussed in the section on VRays DMC sampler, this is an example of where the material needs to send out more samples in order to be computed with less noise. Keep in mind that these sorts of materials are usually quite render intensive.
The Diffuse layer

VrayAdvancedMaterial There are two Diffuse layers in the Vray advanced material, these are useful for mixing diffuse (color/texture) effects without resorting to separate materials. VRay Dirt is also accessible through the Diffuse layer. By applying Ambient occlusion at the material level this option creates the appearance of dirt on the surface details of an object. The Diffuse layer Transparency option serves two functions, it is first required to let the underlying layer show (Diffuse layer 2) and is also required to use the Fast SSS shader option (see page 57) Open example file scene test_stage2.c4d Create a new Vray advanced material and apply to the sphere object. In Diffuse layer 1 check from the Diffuse options - Use VRayDirt. The menu layout will now change to the VRayDirt workflow. Add a black Color channel to the Occluded color slot (from the drop down menu)
figure 4.19
figure 4.16 VRay Goldman figure 4.14
Using a similar technique in figure 4.15 to create a Galvanized metal, the differences in blurry values vs more reflective values are obvious.
In both figure 4.16 and figure 4.17 you can see the vast amount of flexibility available to you in the Specular layer channel.
Add an 80% white Color channel to the Occluded color slot (from the drop down menu)
In figure 4.18 the result has been intentionally enhanced to show the overall effect. Any color combination can be used to achieve the desired look. In figure 4.20, Im using a wood texture as the Unoccluded color and Red for the Occluded color (Dirt effect).
figure 4.15
figure 4.17 The Weasleys
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figure 4.18
Page 43
figure 4.20
Refraction Layer
VrayAdvancedMaterial The Refraction layer is for the creation of optically transparent materials. This layer can assist in the creation of standard glass, gems, fluids, complex translucent effects, frosted glass and much more. Its parameters contain options for the accurate calculation of Absorption, Blurry effects, Dispersion and Sub Surface Scattering.
To simulate frosted glass, we would enter a Glossiness value (0.6 in this example) in the Refraction layer. As shown in figure 4.15 Variation in the frosted amount can be achieved by using the Glossiness Texture map slot.
It is also possible to use the SSS parameters from the Refraction layer to simulate the translucent properties of hard wax, honey, plastics and other surfaces that depend more on refraction for accurate results. The example from figure 4.19 uses the following setup. figure 4.18
Open example file test_stage_glass.c4d Create a new Vray advanced material and apply to the glass object. Deactivate the Diffuse layer and activate a Refraction layer. Check Specular layer 1 without making any changes. Render
In the Refraction layer look towards the Volume Fog parameters and check Enable Volume. Leave the Emission color as default black and chose a very light orange/yellow for the Volume Color. Finally increase the amount to 0.3 and render.
figure 4.15 - Color enhanced
Note: These effects can add significantly to your render time and often require additional subdivision values to render accurately.
The images below contain different examples of Glossiness effects in the Refraction layer.
figure 4.13
figure 4.18
This effect has added absorption properties to the glass and it now has the appearance of greater volume.
figure 4.16 Visa product shot figure 4.12 - Color enhanced
Without any changes to the default settings, the Refraction layer provides us with a glass material with an IOR (index of refraction) of 1.6 Adding a Specular layer to a glass material is common practice, as glass always includes some amount of reflectivity. Page 44
figure 4.14 - Color enhanced figure 4.17 Go Beyond
figure 4.19
Note; To speed up the SSS calculation check Environment fog in the SSS parameters. This stores the light directly in the volume. Page 45
Sub Surface Scattering
VrayAdvancedMaterial and VRayFastSSS2 Material SSS calculated as part of the refraction layer (as shown on page 45) is an accurate representation of a real world translucent effect. While it can produce stunning results, it can also be notoriously slow to render. A much faster approach is to use a VRayFastSSS2 material. The parameters of which are available as an extension of the standard VRay Advanced material and as a standalone material called the VRayFastSSS2 material. Its also possible to cheat translucent effects using the Vray2Sided material. (which well cover on page 48) The majority of your translucent material needs should be met by the Fast SSS option. Open example file test_stage_candle.c4d In this scene Ive simply added a VRayFastSSS material to the cylinder shape, made a couple of adjustment to color and added a texture map. The result figure 4.20 shows a subtle hint of translucency. The rendered result is now noticeably different. figure 4.22 The original Simple mode approximated translucency from the surface lighting alone. The Raytraced-Refractive mode traces the refraction amount based on the provided IOR.
This time well use the SSS layer in the VRay Advanced material to make a semi accurate portrayal of a marble floor. Open example file test_stage_marble.c4d The scene is setup with a marble texture map and contains only a Diffuse layer.
Change the Single Scatter parameter from to Simple to Raytraced-Solid. figure 4.21 The Raytraced-Solid mode will calculate/estimate the Volume inside the object.
figure 4.25
The material is starting to look a little better, but its missing glossy reflections and a bump map. Activate a Specular Layer , check Use Fresnel and input a value of 1.6 for the Fresnel IOR amount. Next, input a Reflection Glossiness value of .095 Activate Bump and copy the Diffuse Layer texture into this channel. With no real bump information, you can increase the value to 3. Though this is not a practical approach for most materials. The result is far from perfect, but suffice to say it created the desired affect. figure 4.25
figure 4.23
In the Diffuse Layer change the Diffuse Layer Transparency to 40%. This will allow underlying effects such as the SSS layer to mix with the Diffuse Layer at the inputted value. At 100% transparency, this Diffuse layer would no longer render at all. Activate the SSS Layer and try to match the three shades of green from figure 4.24
In the VRayFastSSS material settings, scroll down to options and change the Single Scatter parameter from to Simple to Raytracedrefractive. figure 4.21
Also notice that when VRay is computing Fast SSS, its also adding an additional dark pass that appears to isolate the translucent effects. This is a special pass called the Illumination map. It can be controlled in the prepass rate which is set to -1 by default. For higher res images, a value of 0 is occasionally needed.
figure 4.21
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figure 4.24
figure 4.26
Page 47
VRay2Sided Material
Standalone material Making a lamp shade with the bulb obscured behind a layer of fabric (as in figure 4.27) used to be a difficult task to accomplish. Fully opaque materials simply werent designed to transmit light through their surface in this way. Adding Diffuse layer transparency (or alpha in C4D) didnt help matters either, as a percentage of the light would simply pass through the volume. The VRay2Sided material solves this old limitation by allowing us to have a diffuser in VRay. A diffuser softens light as it passes through a surface, essentially making it what we call translucent. This material was created to address the need for thin translucent objects like paper, leaves, fabrics, diffusers etc, but its application can be much more experimental. In figure 4.27 the lamp shade object highlights an example of how this material was intended to work. Illumination from within the object passes through the material via translucency and displays the result on the front facing normals. The VRay2Sided material is controlled by two standard diffuse materials (VRayAdvanced material) for the front/back facing normals and a Translucency color to determine how much of the effect should come through. The VRay2Sided material in figure 4.28 features reflective properties on its front side. A separate object with a colored pattern light has been placed within the dragon model (via the Luminosity layer) and the result creates a glowing translucent effect. This behavior looks closer to a refractive SSS solution, but is actually cheated as the light is emitted from the inside only. Of course cheating in 3D is never a bad thing. In figure 4.29 Im using the same approach but on a much bigger scale. This time Ive placed uniquely colored light objects within each skyscraper. The Luminosity layer casts its rays outwards and are intended to fake the lighting that would have otherwise come from a traditional lighting solution. This was a test scene, but also a very practical solution for visualizing cities at a distance.
Open example file scene 2_sided_user.c4d This simple setup has an area light, a thin plane object, a couple of props and currently no materials. figure 4.30
The light has now penetrated the object as determined by the parameters in the VRay2Sided material. Leaving the front and back side options of the VRay2Sided material free of supporting materials was a deliberate move. It illustrates that in the absence of a material channel, the VRay2Sided material will use a standard grey diffuse VRayAdvanced material by default. Additional control is provided by the Translucency color setting. By default it is set to 50% grey which would allow an equal amount of the front and back to show (dependent upon illumination values). To let more of the Back side material show through, push the color closer to white. To retain more of the Front side material, bring it closer to black. You can also use color or a Translucency texture for experimenting with different translucent effects.
figure 4.30
If we the render the shot directly, youll see that the plane object is obscuring the light.
figure 4.31
figure 4.31
Add a VRay2Sided material and apply it to the plane without any additional changes, and it will now render a simple diffuser. figure 4.32
In the example file scene 2_sided_spherelamp.c4d youll find the following example figure 4.33 and other experiments from my collection.
figure 4.33
figure 4.27
figure 4.28
Page 48
figure 4.29
figure 4.32
Note: In order for the Front side material to show at all, it must be illuminated from the front. Its a common mistake to light only from the rear and expect the front side to show.
Page 49
In this short tutorial, Ill guide you through the workflow needed to make the fake SSS effect used on the Dragon figure 4.28 (on Page 48) Open example file 2_sided_buddha.c4d
Create a new VRayAdvanced material and name it Outside In Diffuse Layer 1 check Use VRayDirt Add dark blue for the Occluded color via a color channel. (See page 43 for help) Add a light blue for the Unoccluded color via a color channel. (See page 43 for help) Finally add Specular layer 1 and make no additional changes.
VRayBlendMaterial
Layering shader - Standalone The VRayBlendMaterial allows you to stack materials - It works in almost exactly the same way as manually stacking them in the object manager, but allows for better management in some cases. The process starts off with a base layer such a brick map for example, then additional materials are applied as a coat material, this could be useful for peeling paint of a layer of broken concrete. Various mapping techniques that have some Material weight (alpha) or Diffuse Layer transparency are useful in determining to what degree the underlying material is seen. Below are some examples of materials that have been layered with this technique. In figure 4.38 an underlying rock material is coated with a slightly translucent coating of snow. In figure 4.39 glass is affected by a fiery layer and covered with a dusting of sand. In figure 4.28 an organic rock is coated with a glow based effect based off a vertex map selection. All very straight forward, but with amazing amounts of potential.
figure 4.34
The scene figure 4.34 has a the Buddha figure and three primitive objects tucked neatly inside his body. Create a VRayAdvanced material and add a Luminosity layer. Apply a blue Luminosity color, leave at 100% for brightness and add a value of 10 in the second box labeled Amount In Luminosity Layer parameters check Compensate exposure.
Note: Well be covering Luminosity on the next page.
Next, create a VRay2Sided material and add the material called Outside to the front side material option of the VRay2Sided material.
figure 4.36
figure 4.36
Finally apply the VRay2Sided material to the Buddha figure and Render. figure 4.37 This backlit fake SSS effect has countless uses and of course, it looks kinda cool!
figure 4.35
Name this material backlight and apply it to the Null object called Internal We now have an internal lighting solution for the Buddha figure. Page 50
figure 4.38
figure 4.39
figure 4.40
Note: These files are all available in the VrayBlendMaterial folder.

figure 4.37
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VRayDisplaceMaterial
The VRayDisplaceMaterial allows the usage of Displacement maps in VRay. Its possible to mix this material with a standard VRayAdvancedMaterial by stacking it to the right of the standard material and choosing Mix textures from the texture tag. Lets quickly explore. The following example uses the Displacement type: 3D Mapping, which is suited to procedural effects. Open example file displacement_user.c4d In the VRayDisplaceMaterials texture path, add a noise channel from the drop down menu. Click the noise channel and change the type to Cel noise, finally increase the Global scale value to 250%. In the VRayDisplaceMaterials parameters change the amount to 10cm and check the box Keep contunity. Render. figure 4.40
figure 4.38
The Displacement type: 2D Mapping, is used when an image based displacement map is available. With this workflow, you can maintain a low polygon count and depend on the displacement map to give the appearance of millions of polygons at a sub polygon level.
In examples figure 4.31 - figure 4.32 the rendered results shows that although the original model only had 68,000 polygons, theyve been effectively turned to 3.4 million polygons with a displacement map.
Parameters.
The amount value (in both the 3D and 2D options) control the maximum height of the displacement map. The shift value specifies a constant amount that the polygons will be shifted relative to their normal position. While Use default parameters is checked, the resolution for 3D displacement is controlled via the VRayBridge settings under Displacement. The default amount can be set too high for certain tasks and should be experimented with for optimal results. For more in depth features relating to your displacement needs, please refer to the VRay manual.
figure 4.31 Octopus
Create a standard VRayAdvanced material and apply it to the cube. Create a VRayDisplaceMaterial and also apply to the cube object (after the first material) Select the VRayDisplaceMaterial tag from the object manager and check Mix Textures
figure 4.39 Select VrayDisplacement material.
figure 4.40
In figure 4.41 Ive copied the Cel noise to the VRayAdvancedMaterials diffuse channel, created a couple of layers with some noise variation and have used VRayDirt (page 43) See file displacement_example .c4d
figure 4.42 (zoomed in)
Note: Its still possible to add a VRayDisplacement Tag from the object manager, although this is the old workflow and only remains available for Legacy reasons (to support older files).
figure 4.43 (zoomed in) Use Cubic projection (for both) Check Mix textures figure 4.33 -is
the 16 bit tif image used to create the displacement.
figure 4.39
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figure 4.40
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Luminosity Layer
VrayAdvancedMaterial The Luminosity layer (from the standard VRayAdvancedMaterial) provides light via self illumination. You can use self-illuminated materials on objects to represent lights that dont need an actual light source. An example would be the LCD display on the front of a DVD player, or the backlight for a PDA device. In VRay, the Luminosity layer also has an option to turn the effect from a standard self illuminated material into a full fledged light source via the Direct Illumination option. Lets take a look. Open example file self_illumination.c4d The render figure 4.44 has 2 self illuminated objects and a white Environment light. Using the luminosity layer in this manner does not provide adequate shadow density to be considered a viable lighting solution. To make the luminosity brightness adapt to the physical values of the camera check Compensate exposure. figure 4.46
Note: This is easier than guessing a new intensity amount each time we make a change in exposure via the Physical camera parameters.
When the Direct illumination option is checked the material now features lighting properties almost identical to those of a VRay Area light. The Luminosity color channel and texture map slots remain effective for colorization of the light source, but the other channels such a diffuse and specular would be no longer available. The result of the render should now look like it does in figure 4.48
In figure 4.49 the IR Map was responsible for the light source. A full render reveals a slightly softer result when compared to the more grainy direct sampling method.
figure 4.49 (22 second render)
Direct illumination does not work with selection tags, instead the system will manually override and use standard self illumination properties. In the case of a single object with geometry you wish to use for light (i.e a lamp and bulb as one object), it is necessary to double click the selection tag (or manually select the polygons) and separate the geometry via the split command. Cinema 4D lacks a split and delete function, so you would also be required to remove the remaining geometry from the original object. This Direct illumination method can be highly beneficial to your workflow, but it is my recommendation to use it sparingly and only in situations where a physical light source cannot accomplish the same task.
figure 4.46
Check the box Direct Illumination. This turns the material from a self illuminated source to a physical light source.
An increase in Subdivision amount from the Direct illumination parameters can eliminate any unwanted noise. This process is sending samples to the DMC sampler as discussed on page 32. The Direct illumination method is sending out light from all of its surface normals and can be quite slow to compute, however to speed things up its possible to check Store with irradiance map and have the light source compute during the IR Map cache process. Using this approach requires a slightly longer waiting time during IR map creation, but shorter overall render time. It also comes at a cost of a slightly decreased shadow density.
Enter an Intensity value of 200 for Direct Illumination parameters. Also in the Environment tag from the Vraybridge settings, increase the Background Environment brightness to 50 to compensate.
If you add a Physical Camera tag to the available camera, theres a drastic dip in exposure.
figure 4.45
figure 4.45
Page 54
figure 4.47 (Zoomed in)
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Chapter 5: Vray lights

VRay lights are dependant on scale, when designing a shot with realism in mind its important to respect the process and work roughly at the real world size of the object in question. Does this always involve getting out a calculator and pre-planning? No, but the closer you are, the more likely your lights are to behave as expected. Vray lights also have physical parameters for accurate measurement of light. Lighting actual scenes isnt a topic well be discussing at length in this short book, but well cover the basics and get you up and running with a few small example scenes. A standard C4D light with shadow parameters enabled will provide VRay with enough information to render with a with the standard Omni light option. The result is an underwhelming effect thats typical of Omni lights when compared to the shadow density of an Area light. figure 5.01 Accomplishing this wasnt a simple case of turning on Area lights, if you note in figure 5.04 that the Default (image) intensity had to be cranked all the way up to 200.
In the VRay manual...

Quote from http://vrayc4d.com/manuals/vrayforc4dmanual/common-tab - VrayC4D Group. All right reserved. (c) 2008-2010 Radiant power (W) - total emitted visible light power measured in watts. When using this setting, the intensity of the light does not depend on its size. Keep in mind that this is not the same as the electric power consumed by a light bulb for example. A typical 100W light bulb only emits between 2 and 3 watts as visible light. Radiance (W/m/sr) - visible light surface power measured in watts per square meter per steradian. When this setting is used, the intensity of the light depends on its size.
figure 5.06 (from example file watt_the_hell.c4d )
....the units are explained in a common sense way. In the previous scene, the illumination strength for the light is heavily compensated by the exposure settings of physical camera. Without the physical camera in place, the scene would have been massively overbright. In example file watt_the_hell.c4d I have a very small area light in close proximity to the sphere with the physical camera tag removed. Ive done this to view the lights in their raw default intensity state.
Increasing the size of the light figure 5.06, the Radiance (W/m/sr) value remains at 20 but the Radiant power (W) value has now increased to 41.7 Notice also that with the size change comes a dramatic shift in shadow density. This is a real world phenomenon of course and quite easy to understand why this would happen. Larger area lights typically require more samples to render accurately.
figure 5.03 (from example file VrayStudioOmni.c4d )
Adding a VRayLight tag to the pair of lights and turning the default Omni light to Area light, a few tweaks later things are starting to look up. figure 5.02
figure 5.07
The reason for this is because were still using Cinema 4Ds units, which really dont represent any real world values. Instead if we switch the Intensity units to Radiance (W/m/m/sr), we get a much more accurate representation of their actual brightness. In this case, the area lights are 100 watts. Note: Always remember to enable shadows when working with VRayLights. (This parameter
can be found in the VRay Light - Common tab.)
figure 5.05 (from example file watt_the_hell.c4d )
This small area light has a Radiance (W/ m/sr) value of 20 and a Radiant power (W) value of 5.97.
figure 5.08
figure 5.02 (from example file VrayStudioArea.c4d )
In figure 5.08 Ive changed the Area type to Sphere. Well want to scale this down to represent a bulb. Page 57
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As I decrease the Spherical Area light radius to approximately 5cm, youll notice that the editor view becomes distracting and overbright. This is a common nuisance that requires only a simple logical understanding to remedy.
Another quick render figure 5.11, Radiance (W/m/sr) value of 401 and a Radiant power (W) value of 41 So you get the picture.
Area Light - Light portals

Weve taken a quick look at Area light settings, now well dig a little deeper In figure 5.13 we have a typical Sun/Sky setup with a very small opening. This is allowing a little light to enter the room, but not enough samples are reaching the interior for a quality result. The first idea would be to totally max out the IR map, DMC sampler settings etc, but theres a simpler way to approach this with a Light Portal. Open scene Small_Hole.c4d and if youd like to render to the picture render for comparison. The light portal setting has effectively turned this light source into a sort of directional guide for the samples. In my crap illustration below figure 5.15 you can see that without the Light Portal, the red samples miss the mark and dont make it into the scene. With the Light Portal activated, the samples have assistance in their intended direction .
figure 5.09 figure 5.11 (from example file a_bulb_of_sorts.c4d )
figure 5.10
VRay lights dont have falloff parameters as they do in Cinema 4D. Theyre physical based and wont respond to falloff size change. So to remedy this overbright state simply manually drag the larger spheres handles and close them down to approximately the size of your light radius. With this youre controlling the falloff distance and editor visibility/brightness of said light and not anything related to the actual render. You can manually do this in the standard C4D light setting by clicking the light and not the VRayLight tag. figure 5.11
Personally I stick with the native Cinema 4D units for lighting, they dont represent anything but Im comfortable with that workflow. Its not imperative to learn about wattage and luminous power etc, unless youre in a position to light based on pre-existing data. Its all about personal preference.
figure 5.13
First thing to notice in the scene is an Area Light that has been turned off. Opening the light parameters via the Vray light tag reveals what looks to be only a standard area light, however the property Light portal has been switched from Normal to Portal Light.
figure 5.12 Is one better than the other?
The choice to use Rectangular lights vs Spherical figure 5.12 one is a question of whats right for the job - They have uniquely different ways of casting shadows/light and should represent the kind of light youre looking to cast into the scene. Though I find the spherical light to be highly versatile in a lot of cases, the rectangular shape is good for a whole range of lighting situations. Page 58
Checking the light to on in the OM and rerendering will now show a much clearer and less splotchy render. figure 5.14
figure 5.15
The other solution is the Simple Light Portal which ignores any lights/objects behind the portal and takes only the environment color into consideration. This can speed up the workflow slightly. Light Portals can be helpful but are rarely used in latest versions of Vray as the GI algorithm has become more refined. Though in situations like this, they can be used to your advantage.
figure 5.11
figure 5.14
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Area Light - Dome

The Area light type - Dome is a similar to using a color or hdr effect as the Environment background color, but uses direct sampling to provide a much more accurate result.
Area Light - Mesh

Using a Mesh as a light source is one way to cast light from geometry. Though this effect does not differ and is easier to setup using Direct Illumination in a luminance channel. As you can see figure 5.23 theres no difference the two workflows, other than ease of setup. A practical usage of this method is to create customized light shapes such as a curved plane or to match the shape and size of a pre-existing light fixture. Though I wouldnt recommend lighting exclusively with this technique in mind, it can be perfect to add the finishing touches to an interior scene. Prior to the creation of the Direct illumination method in the luminance channel, it was not possible to pick and chose work flows. In the scene from figure 5.24 Mesh lights were used throughout the piece to light areas that needed to match the shape of the opening.
figure 5.16 (Environment tab from VRay Settings) figure 5.16 (Environment from VRay Settings)
figure 5.21
figure 5.17 (Environment slot VRay Settings)
In figures 5.16 & 5.17 Ive loaded a *.hdr image into the texture slot of the Environment background and have a standard GI setup ready to render. The resulting render figure 5.18 has been processed much like a standard luminance material. Light is being cast into the scene but the sampling method is not direct. While this is suitable for most tasks (especially with an accompanying light setup), if you want some extra bang for your buck, the Area light Dome is more powerful.
In the simple scene Vray_Mesh.c4d the light on the upper left figure 5.21 is utilizing the Vray Light type - Mesh and has the cube object loaded into the empty geometry slot figure 5.22
figure 5.19
Controlling this light source is straight forward. Position of the light in your scene is irrelevant, however rotation values will affect the orientation of an image based map. A color/texture/material effect is loaded into the slot (in this case ennis.hdr) and the result figure 5.20 is a directly sampled dome light. Samples can be adjusted according.
figure 5.22
The object on the right has a VRay material with a Luminance material applied and the direct illumination option switched on.
figure 5.24 Inspire city
figure 5.18
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figure 5.20
figure 5.23
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Area Light - Remaining settings
Well take a brief at the remaining settings from the Area light tab. Affect Reflections: With this option unchecked, the brightness of the light will be ignored by the material reflectivity. Invisible: All light sources are visible unless otherwise indicated. Unchecking this option will provide a light source, thought the origin of the light will not be visible. No Decay: All lights in VRay have decay (falloff) based on real world calculations. Enabling No Decay will essentially create a light source with no falloff at all. This is not recommended when trying to realistically light a scene, but can be useful in product shots if you require an infinite light source. Double sided: A rectangular area light emits light from the Z+ direction only, enabling Double Sided enables the light to illuminate from both surface normals. *CHECK Samples: As discussed on Page 32, the amount of samples used determines the quality of the light source. Lights producing undesirable noise benefit from additional samples. Store with Irradiance map Using this option, the light calculated from the Area map is processed and stored during the Irradiance map calculation. Discussed on Page 55.
IES lights
IES data is taken from existing real world lighting fixtures and is made available for users in varying professions to download and utilize in their projects. An IES represents the shape of the lights falloff, but not the falloff amount. In figure 5.25 its easy to recognize the differences in how each light reacts to the IES data. Omni is the light type indicated to use when working with IES files. Creating a standard light and enabling shadows, you can then quickly move over the IES tab and load your desired IES file. Open example file IES_scene2.c4d
Open example file IES_scene.c4d The first thing youll notice in this scene if using Cinema 4D version 12 or higher, is that the visual reference of the IES light is incorrectly oriented figure 5.26.
In this scene figure 5.27 the light is unchanged and retains the default brightness as contained in the IES data. To increase brightness you can enter a Lumens value for an increase in intensity, this value would typically be quite high. Im going to increase to 10,000. Enabling Soft shadows does as you would expect, it softens the shadow density, which is occasionally desirable and only slightly more time consuming to render. A hint of color in the filter color will tint the IES light to the desired value. Rarely are lights 100% white, making a tint a worthwhile change. figure 5.28
figure 5.26
This is the standard rotational value of the default light. To fix it, rotate the p axis (the blue handle) to -90. Note: Targets will always utilize the P axis. Page 62 Page 63
figure 5.28
Final notes on lighting
The remaining light sources are Spot, Infinite and Parallel. I wont cover these in detail because their parameters are logical and require no special attention.
Chapter 6: Environment Fog
Prior to there being a working fog solution in VRay, there were definite limitations when using the render engine for environment design and landscapes. Eventually ChaosGroup introduced the Environment fog, which is a unique and physically accurate calculation of scene fog. The concept may seem quite limiting, how often do I want fog? Yet the implementation opens up a world of creativity. Lets first take a quick look at what it can do in terms of finished projects.
In future PDF instructional manuals well take a closer look at lighting individual scenes. Lighting in VRay is a unique process, one that can be as simple as the Physical Sun/Sky setup or as complex as lighting a city. My advice is to stay away from the simplest work flow and push the boundaries of what can be done with lighting and composition. Before tackling a project that involves a lighting rig, try to think of the balance you want to strike beforehand. In a night time shot for example - Would it be wise to create the overall environment light first, fills etc and then work your way down to the lighting fixtures? I would say not. My approach is to always start small, lighting fixtures first, achieve a sense of balance with the smaller details and when youve refined and refined some more, only then would it be time to look towards the bigger lights. Lighting can be a tedious part of the process if you make it so, continuously rendering the same shot time and time again. This is why I recommend a base test setting, where the results of your scene lights can be visualized in a matter of seconds vs waiting 10 minutes every time you make a change. Get used to switching out between crap settings and medium ones to ensure you get overall sense for your scene and to ensure that with better settings, the lights will withstand scrutiny. When you arrive to a point where the correct values flow, lighting is perhaps the most interesting part of the project, after all this process is what brings your work to life. It makes or breaks your work, so pay careful attention to what the masters do and try to replicate the best rigs without settling for mediocrity.
figure 6.1 Sunday
figure 6.2 Fall
figure 6.3 Modern fog test
The scene Sunday figure 6.1 is initially setup with only a physical sun/sky, but due to the Environment fog and the enabled Scatter GI parameter, the sun light is able to illuminate the fog. The result as in real life is that the fog itself becomes a source of illumination for the scene and the actual sun light and its potential shadow casting has diminished to such a degree that its almost completely invisible. An increase in exposure and an adequate interior lighting rig restores the balance. The scene Fall figure 6.2 is setup with Proxy objects and consists of around 2 billion polygons. Fog with GI scattering is enabled and is indicated to reach a height of 4 meters at a distance of 50 meters. This clears the way for sun to still have a visible affect on the scene, but creates a sense of depth that would otherwise not be possible. The scene Modern fog test figure 6.3 was the first real test where I used the Environment fog parameters. Given my lack of understanding at the time its easy to for me to critique the work. The fog height is essentially infinite, which under such heavy fog cover doesnt allow any light penetration from the Sun. Given an opportunity to re-work this piece, I would have chosen more fitting parameters. So lets do that, lets figure out what works best by creating a fog lit scene.
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Open example file Home_fog.c4d Here figure 6.4 we have another typical Sun/ Sky setup, pretty standard scene. Were going to spice things up with a little fog.
In the VRay settings rollout for Environment were going to activate Environment Fog.
To finally see a result of using the Environment Fog, well want to manipulate the Fog Distance parameter, bringing that numerical value down from 1000 to around 100. The change in distance affects the density, visible fog at closer proximity is now thicker, allowing less light to penetrate. Your result may look slightly different than mine figure 6.8 based on the exact shape of your Gizmo geometry.
In figure 6.9 Ive added two makeshift security lights outside the building and included those additions in the Environment fog Light slot.
figure 6.9 figure 6.6 figure 6.4
If youd like to run a test render, youll see the results are almost completely black. Add the Cube object to the open slot for Gizmos and add the Sun object to the open slot for Lights. Another render reveals a shot almost identical to the original, minus the slightest hint of haze figure 6.7.
figure 6.8
You can see that this simple addition had added to the fog illumination, which in turn casts more unique light into the scene. A couple of interior lights to compliment the outside, a little furniture, materiality and you have an interesting setup. Certainly something outside of the boring Physical sky look.
First, lets go to the editor camera and create a primitive cube figure 6.5.
figure 6.5
The Gizmo object (setting geometry as the fog) is the preferred workflow as this gives us more control over the density of the fog. Without a gizmo were using infinite fog depth and using the Fog height parameter which can be more difficult to control. Sunlight is still able to penetrate the scene, but has become obscured by the fog element. Subtle compensation with exposure or an interior lighting rig would be the next step. Its possible to use any shapes as a Gizmo object no matter how irregular, allowing you to experiment with just about any geometry imaginable. Its also possible to use as many light as required in order to scatter light through the fog density.
figure 6.11
Manipulate the cube to extend the outside of the building, without penetrating the the window & building layer figure 6.6. Were keeping the fog strictly outside.
figure 6.10
figure 6.7
Well want to check the Scatter GI box. This tells VRay to look at the Fog as a volume and calculate its light solution based on the density of that matter. The scattering will both illuminate the fog and determine how much light can escape the solution.
figure 6.5 - Cube has Xray effect for illustration only.
By adding some outside features, youll give life and more depth to the exterior. In figure 6.11 the eye is drawn to the passers by, which creates more interest.
Another render would still resemble that of the original. Page 66 Page 67
Id have spent some time teaching VRay for animation, but upon review there is little more I can say than what has already been clearly spelled out on the VRay message board by STRAT These step by step guides will get you through both GI object animation and GI camera animation Though if you have any remaining questions, please feel free to email me @ thec4dvault@hotmail.com http://forum.vrayforc4d.com/showthread.php?t=7727&highlight=object+animation http://forum.vrayforc4d.com/showthread.php?t=7728 Even with knowledge of VRayForC4D, I still refer to these tutorials as a step by step checklist. For Clarification and further reading on any of the subjects covered here, the VRay manual is an excellent resources with up to date information. http://vrayc4d.com/manuals/booktree Heres a couple of older tutorials I created with regard to illuminating skyscrapers You may or may not find these useful. http://vrayc4d.com/manuals/vrayc4d-tutorials/skyscraper-lighting-inthecity http://vrayc4d.com/manuals/vrayc4d-tutorials/city-illumination-inthecity For Free models http://archive3d.net/ And the best collection of textures available online http://www.cgtextures.com/ And finally - Exclusively VRay based materials http://www.vrayforc4d.com/portal/materials/
Links
I hope your experiences with this booklet have been positive. If you have any additional question for clarification please contact me at
Thats a wrap
thec4dvault@hotmail.com
Join me again in the near future.
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IntroducingVRay 01

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IntroducingVRay 01

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The C4D Vault presents

Cinema 4D Training Introducing VRay

Project files can be found at http://www.thec4dvault.com/down/vrayguide.zip ZIP ARCHIVE PASSWORD SherbetLemon

Chapter 1: Introducing VRay - The Sun and Sky

Chapter 2: The test scene

figure 2.3 figure 2.1

Roughing out the lights

figure 2.14 figure 2.11

A small improvement. Page 17

Bringing the shot to life.

figure 2.24 figure 2.21

Introduction to the Physical camera

A test render produces this result figure 2.28

Chapter 3: Introducing VrayBridge render settings

figure 3.4 The familiar Light Cache calculation

figure 3.11 figure 3.12

Creating a higher quality render

Indirect Illumination - Irradiance map

Look to the next page for some comparisons.

Indirect Illumination - The Light Cache.

The DMC Sampler

figure 3.33 figure 3.35

Brute force, Photon maps, or Spherical harmonics.

figure 3.38 figure 3.37

figure 3.40 - Using the Adaptive Subdivision sampler

figure 3.41 - Using the Adaptive DMC sampler

Chapter 4: Vrays materials

The Diffuse layer

figure 4.16 VRay Goldman figure 4.14

figure 4.17 The Weasleys

figure 4.15 - Color enhanced

Sub Surface Scattering

figure 4.22 figure 4.20

Note: These files are all available in the VrayBlendMaterial folder.

figure 4.31 Octopus

figure 4.42 (zoomed in)

the 16 bit tif image used to create the displacement.

figure 4.49 (22 second render)

figure 4.48 (40 second render)

figure 4.47 (Zoomed in)

Chapter 5: Vray lights

In the VRay manual...

figure 5.06 (from example file watt_the_hell.c4d )

figure 5.03 (from example file VrayStudioOmni.c4d )

figure 5.01 (from example file VrayStudioOmni.c4d )

figure 5.04 (from example file VrayStudioOmni.c4d )

figure 5.05 (from example file watt_the_hell.c4d )

figure 5.02 (from example file VrayStudioArea.c4d )

Area Light - Light portals

figure 5.09 figure 5.11 (from example file a_bulb_of_sorts.c4d )

Area Light - Dome

Area Light - Mesh

figure 5.17 (Environment slot VRay Settings)

figure 5.24 Inspire city

Area Light - Remaining settings

figure 5.27 figure 5.25

Final notes on lighting

Chapter 6: Environment Fog

figure 6.1 Sunday

figure 6.2 Fall

figure 6.3 Modern fog test

figure 6.9 figure 6.6 figure 6.4