RENDERER

Section Contents
o Renderer
o Camera
o Render Output
o Animation
o Environment
o Material Override
o Swarm Settings
o Raytrace | Anti-Aliasing
o Global Illumination Settings
 Brute Force Settings
 Irradiance Map Settings
 Light Cache Settings
o Caustics
o Volumetric Environment
o Switches
o Rendering Tools and Utilities
 V-Ray Image to EXR Converter
 Standalone Denoise Tool | vdenoise
Page Contents

o Overview
o Initializing Rendering
o Settings
o Interactive Rendering Off
o Interactive Rendering On

Overview

The V-Ray Render Settings provide control over the parameters

that adjust the rendering process. They can be accessed from
the Asset Editor in the Render Settings tab.

Initializing Rendering

UI Path: ||V-Ray Asset Editor|| > Render Settings A V-Ray render can be initialized in several ways:

UI Paths:
||V-Ray Toolbar|| > Render

||V-Ray Frame Buffer|| > Render Last

||V-Ray Asset Editor|| > Render

 o Renderer – Ability to enable Progressive rendering and
adjust Quality options.
o Camera – Ability to enable Stereo for Stereoscopic renders.
o Render Output – Exposes Save Image sub-rollout.
o Raytrace – Exposes the advanced Quality sub-rollout.
o Global Illumination – Maximum control of GI options and the
ability to use the Light Cache and Irradiance Map engines in
addition to Brute Force.

Extensions > V-Ray > V-Ray Rendering > Render

Interactive Rendering Disabled

Settings

The V-Ray Asset Editor organizes all of V-Ray's render settings

within a Render Settings tab. The editor can be expanded to
expose several rollouts with advanced settings by clicking the
right facing arrow. For more details on these parameters, see Interactive Rendering On
the additional pages within this section.
The available rollouts change depending on When Interactive rendering is enabled, the following changes
whether Interactive is enabled or disabled in occur:
the Renderer rollout. For more information on Interactive
Rendering, see the Interactive Rendering in V-Ray page.
o Raytrace – Ability to adjust the Interactivity option.
o
The Animation rollout becomes available only if an animation Global Illumination – Limited control of GI options. Only
has been set up in SketchUp. For more information, see the Brute Force engine is supported in this mode.
the Animation rollout page. o Any options or rollouts specific to interactive mode being
disabled will be hidden or turned off.
You can restore, save and load V-Ray settings (in a .vropt file
format) from the bottom three buttons in the Settings panel area.

The three options are Revert to Default Render

Settings, Load Render Settings from File... and Save Render
Settings to File...

Interactive Rendering Off

Interactive rendering is disabled by default. The following

rollouts and options are only available in this mode:
 Settings with the slider button to the far right of the (Type)
Camera settings area.

Interactive Rendering Enabled

CAMERA

Page Contents

o Overview
o Basic Standard Camera Parameters
o Standard Camera
o Depth of Field
o Effects Type – Specifies the type of the camera.
o Example: White Balance Standard – A standard pinhole camera.
o Example: Vignetting VR Spherical – Spherical camera with independent
o Advanced Standard Camera Parameters
horizontal and vertical FOV selection that is useful for
o Depth of Field generating latlong images for spherical VR use.
o Bokeh VR Cube – A variant of the Box camera with the cube
o Effects sides arranged in a single row. Unlike the Box camera's
o Example: Exposure Control: Film Speed (ISO) output, Cube6x1 does not produce an empty space in the
o Example: Exposure Control: F Number
output image and is useful in generating cubic VR output.
o Example: Exposure Control: Shutter Speed
Stereo – Enables or disables the Stereoscopic rendering
mode. Stereoscopic images will be rendered "side-by-side" or
"one on top of the other" based on the Output Layout option.
You do not need to re-adjust the image resolution as it will adapt
Overview automatically.

The camera rollout controls the way the scene geometry is

projected onto the image. The cameras in V-Ray generally
define the rays that are cast into the scene, which essentially is
how the scene is projected onto the screen
UI Path: ||V-Ray Asset Editor|| > Settings > Camera rollout
Standard Camera
Exposure Value (EV) – Controls the sensitivity of the Camera
to the scene lighting levels.
White Balance – Objects in the scene that have the specified
color will be rendered as white in the image. Note that only the
color hue is taken into consideration; the color brightness is
ignored. There are several presets that can be used, most
notably the Daylight preset for exterior scenes. For more
information, see the White Balance example below.

Basic Standard Camera Parameters

By default, the set camera (from the Type parameter) shows

only the Basic settings needed to adjust your camera to help Depth of Field
create a decent render. This can be changed to more Advanced
Depth of Field – Defines the shape of the camera aperture. Effects
When disabled, a perfectly circular aperture is simulated. When
enabled, a polygonal aperture is simulated with the specified Vignetting – Specify the amount of the vignetting effect,
number of blades. ` where 0.0 is no vignetting and 1.0 is normal vignetting. For
more information, see the Vignetting example below.
Focus Source – Choose the way the camera focus is
determined. Vertical Tilt – Using this parameter you can achieve a 2 point
perspective effect.
Fixed Distance – The camera focus is fixed to the Focus
Distance value. Use the button on the right to pick a point
in 3D space to set the camera focus distance. The
distance between the render camera and the point is
calculated and then the result used as Focus Distance.
This calculation is not automatic and the same action has
to be repeated every time the camera moves.
Camera Target – The focus distance is automatically
calculated before the rendering starts and equals the Example: White Balance
distance between the camera position and the target.
Fixed Point – The focus distance is automatically
calculated before the rendering starts and equals the
distance between the camera position and the 3D point Using the white balance color allows additional modification of
selected. Use the button on the right to select a point in the image output. Objects in the scene that have the specified
the scene. color will appear white in the image. E.g. for daylight scenes this
value could be peach color to compensate for the color of the
Pick Point – Determines the position in 3d space by picking in sun light etc.
the viewport where the camera should be in focus
F Number is 8.0, Shutter
Focus Distance – Focus Distance affects the Depth of Field speed is 200.0, ISO is 200.0, Vignetting is on.
and determines which part of the scene will be in focus..
Picking the Pick Point can also be done from the viewport, just
like using the Camera Focus Tool button from the object
context menu. A minor difference in selecting Pick Point from
the menu compared to the Asset Editor button is that the menu
item is always active.
In the Asset Editor, the Pick Point option is not active if
the Depth of Field is disabled. From the menu, the Camera
Focus Tool command can be fired and a focal distance is set at
any point. However, if Depth of Field is not enabled it won't be
used.

White balance is white (255, 255, 255)

White balance is blueish (145, 65, 255)

 Advanced Standard Camera Parameters

V-Ray supports several camera types: Standard, VR Spherical,

VR Cube. Orthographic views are supported.

White balance is peach (20, 55, 245)

Example: Vignetting

This parameter controls the simulating the optical vignetting

effect of real-world cameras.

Vignetting is 0.0 (vignetting is disabled)

Film Sensitivity (ISO) – Determines the film power (i.e.
sensitivity). Smaller values make the image darker, while larger
values make it brighter. For more information, see the ISO
example below.
Aperture (F Number) – Determines the width of the camera
aperture. For more information, see the Exposure Control: F
Number example below.
Shutter Speed (1/s) – The shutter speed, in inverse seconds,
for the still photographic camera. For example, a shutter speed
of 1/30 of a second corresponds to a value of 30 for this
parameter. For more information, see the Shutter
example below.
White Balance – Objects in the scene that have the specified
color will appear white in the image. Note that only the color hue
is taken into consideration; the brightness of the color is
ignored. There are several presets that can be used, most
notably the Daylight preset for exterior scenes. For more
information, see the White Balance example above.
Vignetting is 1.0
Depth of Field Example: Exposure Control: Film Speed (ISO)
Depth of Field – Defines the shape of the camera aperture.
When disabled, a perfectly circular aperture is simulated. When
enabled, a polygonal aperture is simulated with the specified This parameter determines the sensitivity of the film and so the
number of blades. ` brightness of the image. If the film speed (ISO) is high (film is
more sensitive to the light), the image is brighter. Lower ISO
Focus Source – Choose the way the camera focus is values mean that the film is less sensitive and produces a
determined. darker image.
Fixed Distance – The camera focus is fixed to the Focus Exposure is on, Shutter Speed is 60.0, F
Distance value. Use the button on the right to pick a point Number is 8.0, Vignetting is on, White balance is white.
in 3D space to set the camera focus distance. The
distance between the render camera and the point is
calculated and then the result used as Focus Distance.
This calculation is not automatic and the same action has
to be repeated every time the camera moves.
Camera Target – The focus distance is automatically
calculated before the rendering starts and equals the
distance between the camera position and the target.
Fixed Point – The focus distance is automatically
calculated before the rendering starts and equals the
distance between the camera position and the 3D point
selected. Use the button on the right to select a point in
the scene.
Pick Point – Determines the position in 3d space by picking in
the viewport where the camera should be in focus
Focus Distance – Focus Distance affects the Depth of Field
and determines which part of the scene will be in focus.

ISO is 400

Bokeh
Enable Bokeh effects – Defines the shape of the camera
aperture.
Blade Count – Enabled this option to simulate the polygonal
shape of the aperture of real-world cameras. When this option is
off, the shape is assumed to be perfectly circular.
Center Bias – Determines the uniformity of the DOF effect. A
value of 0.0 means that light passes uniformly through the
aperture. Positive values mean that light is concentrated
towards the rim of the aperture, while negative values
concentrate light at the center.
Rotation – Specifies the orientation of the aperture shape.
Anisotropy – Allows the stretching of the bokeh effect
horizontally or vertically. Positive values stretch the effect in the
vertical direction. Negative values stretch it in the horizontal
direction. ISO is 800

Effects
Vignetting – Specify the amount of the vignetting effect,
where 0.0 is no vignetting and 1.0 is normal vignetting. For
more information, see the Vignetting example below.
Vertical Tilt – Simulates vertical tilting of the camera, allowing
perspective corrections or achieving a "2-point perspective"
look.
 ISO is 1600 F Number is 6.0

Example: Exposure Control: F Number

Note: All the images from the following examples are rendered
using the VRaySunSky set with their default parameters.
This parameter controls the aperture size of the virtual camera.
Lowering the F Number value increases the aperture size and
so makes the image brighter, since more light enters the
camera. In reverse, increasing the F Number makes the image
darker, as the aperture is closed.
Shutter speed is 60.0, ISO is 200, Vignetting is on, White
balance is white.
F Number is 4.0

Example: Exposure Control: Shutter Speed

This parameter determines the exposure time for the virtual

camera. The longer this time is (small Shutter speed value), the
brighter the image would be. In reverse - if the exposure time is
shorter (high Shutter speed value), the image would get darker.
This parameter also affects the motion blur effect, see White
balance .
Exposure is on, F Number is 8.0, ISO is 200, Vignetting is
on, White balance is white.

F Number is 8.0
 Render Output
This provides details on output settings for rendering.

Page Contents
Shutter speed is 125.0
o Overview
o Dimensions
o Match Viewport
o Output Layout
o Custom
o Save Image
o Image Options
o Notes

Overview

A number of output settings can be accessed through

the Render Settings tab of the V-Ray Asset Editor.
Shutter speed is 60.0

UI Path: ||V-Ray Asset Editor|| > Settings > Render

Output rollout

Dimensions

Shutter speed is 30.0

Safe Frame – If there is a difference in aspect ratio
between the viewport and image size, this button
toggles the safe frame overlay on and off.
Image Width/Height – Sets the width and height of
the rendering in the V-Ray frame buffer.
Aspect Ratio– Sets the proportional relationship
between height and width of the rendering in the V-Ray
frame buffer. The image aspect ratio can be locked
and unlocked.
16:9 - Widescreen
1:1 - Square
4:3 - Picture
5:4 - Landscape
4:5 - Portrait
Match Viewport
Custom
The Output Layout parameters become available
when Stereo Mode in enabled in the Camera section
of the Settings tab,
Aspect Ratio– Sets the proportional relationship
between height and width of the rendering in the V-Ray
frame buffer. The image aspect ratio can be locked
and unlocked.
Side - by - Side
Top - Bottom
Width/Height – The value here is not editable and will
be double of the above Image
Width/Height parameter to render both the left and
right eyes.

Match Viewport Custom

Aspect Width/Height – Sets the width and height of

The Safe Frame will be disabled while Match Viewport the custom aspect.
(Aspect Ratio) mode is selected because the aspect of
the rendered image will exactly match the viewport
aspect.

Save Image

Aspect Ratio– Sets the proportional relationship

between height and width of the rendering in the V-Ray
frame buffer. The image aspect ratio can be locked
and unlocked.
Side - by - Side
Top - Bottom
4:3 - Picture
5:4 - Landscape
4:5 - Portrait
Match Viewport
Custom Save Image – Enables you to set or change the File
Path.
File Path – Sets the image output location and name.

Output Layout File Type – Sets the image file type. The following file
type options are available:
png
bmp
tga
hdr
 sgi Bits per Channel – Specifies the amount of data per
jpg channel for the .png, .sgi, .exr, and .tif file types. The
exr following options are possible depending on the file
pic type:
tif
vrimg 8 bits
16 bits
16 bits (half-float)
The File Type option becomes active after a valid File 32 bits
Path has been set.
Compression – Specifies the image compression type
for the .tga and .exr file types. The following options
are possible depending on the file type:
Image Options
Default
No compression
Run-length
RLE
ZIPS
ZIP
PIZ
pxr24
Quality(%) – Specifies the image quality as a
percentage when saving with the .jpg file type.
Multichannel – When saving the output as an .exr,
Options for .png files enables the render elements to be saved as different
channels in a single .exr file.

Notes

o When rendering a still VR image with the VR

Options for .exr files
o When setting up an Animation it is advisable to set
The Image Options parameters become available
after a valid File Path has been set in the Save
Image option. The available parameters also depend o
on the selected File Type.
Cubemap Camera Type, the output Aspect Ratio will
be locked to 6:1. Similarly, the VR Spherical Type will
lock the Aspect Ratio to 2:1. In both cases, the user-
specified Image Height will be preserved, but
the Image Width will automatically adjust for the
aspect ratio.
the Scene Delay parameter to 0.0. This setting can be
found using View > Animation > Settings.
Frames Per Second is hard-coded to 30.

Animation
Alpha – Determines how the Alpha channel will be
handled. This option is available for the following
formats: .png, .tga, .sgi, .exr, .pic, and .tif. Page Contents

No Alpha – No Alpha channel will be saved. Theo Overview

background will be visible even if the output o Parameters
image format supports transparency. o Notes
Include Alpha – The Alpha channel will be saved
as image Alpha or Transparency depending on
the file format.
Separate Alpha – The Alpha channel will be
saved as a separate file.
Overview
Compression Level – Specifies the image
compression level for the .png file type.
 The Animation section in V-Ray's Render Settings is
where you apply motion blur and control the frame
range for animated scenes. This section will only
appear in the Asset Editor once an animation has Environment
been set up in SketchUp.

Page Contents

o Overview
UI Path: ||V-Ray Asset Editor|| > Render Settings > o Parameters
Animation rollout o Environment Overrides

Parameters
Overview

The Environment section in V-Ray render parameters

is where you can specify a color or a texture map to be
used during GI and reflection/refraction calculations. If
you don't specify a color/map, then the background
color and map specified in the SketchUp Environment
dialog will be used by default.
For all volumetric environment effects,
check Volumetric Environment page.

Time Segment – Select which parts of the animation

to render as individual frames.
UI Path: ||V-Ray Asset Editor|| > Render Settings >
Entire Animation – Renders the entire animation Environment rollout
as individual frames.
Frame Range – Allows selection of only certain
frames to be rendered.
Start – Specifies the starting frame.
Parameters
End – Specifies the ending frame.
Get Animation Range – Set the frame range to match
the current animation length. Frames per second are
set to 30.
Motion Blur – Enables motion blur.
.

Notes
o The Use Camera Path setting of the Irradiance
Map and Light Cache GI engines can be enabled in
order to calculate the GI samples for the entire camera
path of the animation instead of just the current view.
Background – Sets a color or a map to act as a
background during rendering. Press the checkerboard
button to select a texture. If a texture is selected, it will
override the color as long as the texture checkbox is
enabled.

Environment Overrides
 Overview

The Material Override section in V-Ray render settings

is where you can specify a color or a material to be
used to override all other materials in the scene.

UI Path: ||V-Ray Asset Editor|| > Render Settings >

Material Override rollout

GI (skylight) – Specifies the environment (skylight)

color.The effect of changing the GI environment is
similar to a dome light. Note that Global Illumination Parameters
(GI) must be enabled.
Reflection – V-Ray will use the
specified Color and Texture during reflection/refractio
n calculations. Note that you can also override the
reflection environment on a per material basis
(see VRay Material | VRayBRDF) or a per map basis.
If you do not enable the Refraction override, this group
of controls affects both reflections and refractions. If
you enable the Refraction override, then this group
affects only reflections.
Refraction – Specifies the environment color for Material Override – Enable Material Override.
refractions. This color is ignored if there is an
Override Color – Specifies the color of the default
environment texture specified.
override material. If a material is selected from the
Secondary Matte – Specify a color/texture to override drop down menu below, this color is ignored.
the Environment rays affecting Matte objects.
Override Material – Overrides the scene materials
when rendering. All objects are rendered with the
selected material applied. Materials with the option
The above GI environment overrides have the "Can be Overridden" disabled will not be affected.
following common controls:
On – Enables or disables the specified GI environment
override. Swarm Settings
Texture – Specifies a color or texture for the specified
override. Note that Texture Enable must be enabled
to have an effect on the scene. Page Contents

Texture Enable – Enables or disables the specified GI

o Overview
texture. o Swarm
o Tags
o Network Discovery
o Cap CPU Utilization
Material Override
Overview
Page Contents

o Overview The new V-Ray Swarm is a web-based distributed

o Parameters rendering system. It’s a simple, yet powerful way to
split your rendering across multiple computers.
Each machine participating in the render job requires a
V-Ray 3.0 Render Node license. This includes the
workstation initiating the rendering process.
For example, tags can denote if this machine is one of
a few that have a powerful GPU, or if a machine is not
a workstation and a node on a render farm.
For information on how to use Tags, see the Swarm
Configuration page.

UI Path: ||V-Ray Asset Editor|| > Settings > Swarm

rollout

Once the render process is initiated, machines marked

Swarm with the selected tags will load the scene and assist
with the rendering. This is noted in both the Progress
Log and the Current Usage bar located in
the Swarm settings section.

All scene assets need to be transferred from the local

machine to each render node machine before they can
begin working on the job. If a render node machine's
V-Ray version differs from that of the local host
machine, V-Ray Swarm will upload the needed builds
automatically and will ensure that all the render nodes
will use the same V-Ray build.

Enabled – Turns Swarm, V-Ray's web-based

distributed rendering system, on or off.
Goal Slider – Sets the desired percentage of
utilization of available resources. Computers added or
removed to V-Ray Swarm will be taken into account
automatically.

V-Ray Swarm ( ) – Opens up the V-Ray

Swarm web interface of the current Master
Node machine. Alternatively, it can be accessed by
typing in the IP address of the current Master
Node machine on the default port 24267. This allows
you to see the swarm render node machines available
for rendering jobs in your network. You can see which
of the render node machines are connecting to the
particular machine that is casting out the render to the
Swarm by the IP address next to its status. This
interface allows you also to configure the render node
machines, tag them, or monitor their resource
utilization while rendering.

Tags

Tags allow you to tag this node with a descriptor that

defines something about the machine, which we can
later use to selectively control from inside of SketchUp.
The blue marker displays what part of all available
machines are rendering the job, and the red marker
shows the machines currently occupied with another
job. More detailed information on the Current
usage bar is displayed upon mouse-over.
This page contains information about the Raytrace and
Anti-aliasing settings.
The Goal slider beneath the bar can be adjusted
dynamically to add or remove assigned machines
during the rendering process.

Network Discovery Raytrace | Anti-Aliasing

The Network Discovery settings control how a Master
Node is selected. By default, V-Ray Swarm's Network Page Contents
Discovery is set to use auto-discovery.
o Overview
o Interactivity
o Quality
o Antialiasing Filter
o GPU Textures
o Optimizations
o System

If the Auto-Discovery option is turned on, V-Ray

automatically assigns the machine with greatest
network visibility as a Master Node and uses it for
render job management. The Master Node machine is
automatically changed if a different computer reports
that can communicate with more nodes than the
current Master Node.
Alternatively, the Network Discovery settings can be
adjusted through the V-Ray Swarm web interface.
Master Swarm Node IP – Manually sets a network
machine to be the Master node which is used for
managing Swarm.
For more information on Network Discovery, see
the Swarm Configuration page.
Cap CPU Utilization
When enabled V-Ray will render using only one CPU
core of the local machine.
Overview
In V-Ray, an image sampler refers to an algorithm for
calculating a pixel's color based on the colors within
and around it.
Each pixel in a rendering can have only one color. To
get the color of a pixel, V-Ray calculates it based on
the object's material, direct light striking the object, and
indirect lighting in the scene. But within a single pixel
there might be multiple colors, which may come from
multiple objects whose edge intersect at the same
pixel, or even difference in brightness on the same
object due to changes in object shape or falloff and/or
shadowing of light sources.
To determine the right color for such a pixel, V-Ray
looks at (or samples) colors from different parts of the
pixel itself as well as the pixels around it. This process
is called image sampling. The settings that are
available change based on turning on Interactive,
Progressive and GPU Acceleration from
the Renderer rollout.
For more information on how antialiasing works in V-
Ray, see the Antialiasing in V-Ray page.
The Raytrace rollout provides controls related to
sampling methods and anti-aliasing filters.

Image courtesy of Tuna Unalan
Multiple colors within a single pixel. What color should
the pixel be?
UI path: ||V-Ray Asset Editor|| > Settings > Raytrace
Interactivity
The Interactivity setting is only available when the
Interactive Renderer is turned on.
Interactivity – Controls the number of rays that are
traced for each pixel during one image pass. The
smaller the value, the smoother the picture from the
very beginning of the rendering with GI, but interactivity
might be significantly diminished.
Quality
The Quality settings are only available when the
Interactive Renderer is turned off.
Interactive Off and Progressive On Advanced UI
Interactive Off and Progressive Off Advanced UI
Noise Limit – Specifies the acceptable level of
noise/grain in the rendered image. The smaller the
number, the higher the quality (less noisy) the image
will be.
Time Limit (minutes) – Specifies the maximum
render time in minutes. When the number of minutes is
reached, the rendered stops. This is the render time for
the final pixels only; it does not include any GI
prepasses like Light Cache, Irradiance Map, etc.
Min Subdivs – Determines the initial (minimum)
number of samples taken for each pixel. This value
rarely needs to be higher than 1, except in the case of
very thin lines or fast moving objects combined with
motion blur. The actual number of samples taken is
the square of this number. For instance, a value of 4
subdivisions produces 16 samples per pixel.
Max Subdivs – Determines the maximum number of
samples taken for a pixel. The actual number of
samples taken is the square of this number. For
instance, a value of 4 subdivisions produces 16
samples per pixel. Note that V-Ray may take less than
the maximum number of samples if the difference in
intensity of the neighboring pixels is small enough.
Shading Rate – Controls how many rays will be used
for calculating shading effects (e.g. glossy reflections,
GI, area shadows, etc) instead of anti-aliasing. Higher
values mean that less time is spent on anti-aliasing,
and more effort is put in the sampling of shading
effects.
Bucket Size – Determines the maximum region width
in pixels (Region W/H is selected) or the number of
regions in the horizontal direction (when Region Count
is selected).
Antialiasing Filter
This section of the Raytrace rollout is only available
when set to Advanced Settings mode ( ).
The Antialiasing Filter only shows in the advanced
settings when Interactive is turned off.
Antialiasing Filter – Enables or disables anti-aliasing.
Filter Size / Type – Controls the strength of the anti-
aliasing filter and the type of anti-aliasing filter to
use. For more information, see the Anti-Aliasing page
for examples.
GPU Textures
This section of the Raytrace rollout is only available
when set to Advanced Settings mode ( ) and the
engine is set to GPU.
Resize – Enable this option to resize high-resolution
textures to smaller resolution in order to optimize GPU
memory usage.
Full-size textures – Textures are loaded into
their original size.
Resize textures – Adjusts the size of high-
resolution textures to a smaller resolution to
optimize render performance.
On-demand mipmapping – Instead of loading all
the texture files in their default resolution, V-Ray
loads the textures as needed and automatically
creates mip-map tiles for them. As a result, the
GPU memory consumption is decreased, textures
that are not visible are not loaded, and textures
that are further away from the camera are loaded
with lower resoltution. This option is only available
in the Non-Interactve / Production Rendering
Mode.
Texture Size – Specifies the resolution and bit depth
to which the texture will be resized.
Bit Depth – Specifies the resolution and bit depth to
which the texture will be resized.
Optimizations
This section of the Raytrace rollout is only available
when set to Advanced Settings mode ( ). The
parameters within the Optimizations settings change
when Progressive is enabled or disabled.
Adaptive Lights – Number of lights from the scene
that are evaluated by V-Ray when the Adaptive
Lights option is enabled. To achieve a positive effect
from probabilistic light sampling, this value must be
lower than the actual number of lights in the
scene. Lower values make the rendering go faster, but
the result is potentially more noisy. Higher values
cause more lights to be computed at each hit point,
thus producing less noise but increasing render times.
When enabled, V-Ray chooses at random the
specified number of lights and evaluates only those for
the rendering, thus speeding up render time. This
option can introduce a visible degree of additional
noise, but it makes it possible to render images that
would otherwise take a very long time.
Max Trace Depth – Specifies the level to which all
bounces that will be computed for reflections and
refractions are clamped.
 Max Ray Intensity – Specifies the level to which all
secondary rays are clamped.
Opacity Depth – Controls to what depth transparent
objects will be traced.
Secondary Ray Bias – A small positive offset that will
be applied to all secondary rays; this can be used if
you have overlapping faces in the scene to avoid the
black splotches that may appear.
Subpixel Clamp – Specifies the level at which color
components will be clamped.
Highlight Burn – Selectively applies exposure
corrections to highlights in the image. Note that
changing the value leads to render elements that can't
be composited together to produce the RGB/Beauty
image. This is the reason why we recommend that theo
parameter is set to 1. The Highlight Burnparameter in
the VFB can be used for non-destructive color edits o
instead.
o Light Cache Settings – The default engine for
System
Overview
Global illumination refers to lighting in a
scene/environment that comes from light bouncing
around and off objects (or the environment itself).
Global Illumination (or GI) refers to the computation of
this effect through computer graphics. For more
details, please see the Indirect Illumination
Referencesection.
V-Ray implements several approaches
(called engines) for computing indirect illumination with
different trade-offs between quality and speed.
Additional rollouts become available depending on the
engine(s) specified for Primary and Secondary Rays:
Brute Force Settings – The default engine for Primary
Rays. It can be used for Secondary Rays as well.
Irradiance Map Settings – An alternate engine for
Primary Rays only.
Secondary Rays. It can be used for Primary Rays as
well.

This section of the Raytrace rollout is only available

when set to Advanced Settings mode ( ).

UI path: ||V-Ray Asset Editor|| > Settings > Global

Illumination

Indirect Illumination (GI)

Parameters
Embree – Enables the Intel Embree raycaster. Note:
The Embree raycaster derives its speed from the
usage of single-precision floating point numbers,
whereas the standard V-Ray raycaster selectively uses
double precision. This lower precision of Embree may
lead to artifacts in some scenes with very large
extents.
Conserve Memory – Embree will use a more compact
method for storing triangles, which might bed slightly
slower but reduces memory usage.

Global Illumination Settings

Page Contents

o Overview
o Indirect Illumination (GI) Parameters
o Ambient Occlusion
o Example: Ambient Occlusion
o Example: Light Bounces
With Interactive turned off shows the most commonly
used options needed for a rendering.
 Enabled – Turns ambient occlusion on or off.

With Interactive turned on shows the most
commonly used options needed for an Interactive
rendering.
Radius – Determines the amount of area (in Scene
units) where the ambient occlusion effect is produced.
Occlusion Amount – Specifies the amount of ambient
occlusion. A value of 0.0 will produce no ambient
occlusion.

Enabled – Turns indirect illumination on and off.

Primary Rays – Specifies the GI method to use for
primary bounces. Example: Ambient Occlusion
Irradiance map – Causes V-Ray to use an
irradiance map for primary diffuse bounces. See
the Irradiance Map Settings section for more Note: the scene in this example is from Evermotion.
information. ( http://www.evermotion.org/)
Brute force – Specifies direct computation for This example demonstrates the effect of the global
primary diffuse bounces. See the Brute Force ambient occlusion options.
Settings section for more information.
Light cache – Specifies the light cache for The first image to the right is rendered with the Light
primary diffuse bounces. See the Light Cache cache for both primary and secondary
Settings section for more information. bounces, Fixed Filter type for the light cache,
and Store direct light off. The second image in the
Secondary Rays – Specifies the GI method to use for center is rendered with the same light cache settings,
secondary bounces. but with global ambient occlusion enabled. The third
None – No secondary bounces will be computed. image to the right is rendered without ambient
Use this option to produce skylit images without occlusion, with Brute force GI engine for primary
indirect color bleeding. bounces, and the Light cache as a secondary engine
Brute force – Specifies direct computation for with Nearest Filter type . The render times include the
secondary diffuse bounces. See the Brute Force time for calculating the light cache. Note how ambient
Settings section for more information. occlusion can produce a feeling of a more detailed
Light cache – Specifies the light cache for image, even though the result is not entirely correct.
secondary diffuse bounces. See the Light Cache
Settings section for more information.
Use Camera Path – When enabled, V-Ray will
calculate the GI samples for the entire camera path
instead of just the current view. This option is available
only if there is an animation in the project and only
for Light Cache and Irradiance Map. For more
information see the Light Cache Settingsand Irradiance
Map Settings.

Ambient Occlusion

These controls allow an ambient occlusion term to be

added the global illumination solution.
Ambient occlusion is off - lighting is good, but there is a
lack of detail
 Ambient occlusion is on - details are much more
defined

Direct lighting only: GI is off.

Brute force GI, no ambient occlusion - details are fine,

but render times is longer.

1 bounce: irradiance map, no secondary GI engine.

Example: Light Bounces

This examples shows the effect of the number of light

bounces on an image:
2 bounces: irradiance map + brute force GI with 1
secondary bounce.
4 bounces: irradiance map + brute force GI with 3
secondary bounces
o Overview
o Parameters
8 bounces: irradiance map + brute force GI with 7
secondary bounces
Unlimited bounces (complete diffuse lighting solution):
irradiance map + light cache
Brute Force Settings
Page Contents
Overview
The Brute force method for computing global
illumination recomputes the GI values for every single
shaded point separately and independently from other
points. This method is very accurate, especially if you
have many small details in the scene. For more
information on how Brute Force works, see the Brute
Force GI topic in the Reference section.
To speed up calculations with Brute Force as the
Primary Rays engine, you can use the Light Cache
engine for calculating Secondary Rays.
This rollout is available only if Brute Force has been
chosen as either the Primary Rays or Secondary
Rays GI engine in the Global Illumination Settings.
UI Path: ||V-Ray Asset Editor|| > Settings > Global
Illumination > Brute Force
(When Brute Force is set as the Primary or Secondary
Rays engine.)
 UI Path: ||V-Ray Asset Editor|| > Settings > Global
Illumination > Irradiance Map
(When Irradiance Map is set as the Primary Rays
Parameters engine.)

Parameters

GI Depth – Specifies the number of light bounces that

will be computed. GI Depth will also be used to
calculate Interactive rendering GI Depth. For more
information, see the Light Bounces example on
the Global Illumination Settings page.

Irradiance Map Settings

The Default view.

Section Contents
o Irradiance Map Viewer

Page Contents

o Overview
o Parameters
o Irradiance Map Optimizations
o Disk Caching

Overview
The Advanced view.

The Irradiance Map engine can be used to calculate

global illumination. It works by creating a map with a
collection of points in 3d space along with the
computed indirect illumination at those points. This
rollout allows the user to control and fine-tune various
aspects of the irradiance map. For more information on
how the Irradiance Map engine works, see
the Irradiance Map GI topic in the Reference section.
This rollout is available only if Irradiance Map has been
chosen as the Primary Rays GI engine in the Global
Illumination Settings.
V-Ray includes an Irradiance Map Viewer for viewing
and editing irradiance map files.
Min Rate – Determines the resolution for the first GI
pass. A value of 0 means the resolution will be the
same as the resolution of the final rendered image,
which will make the irradiance map similar to the direct
computation method. A value of -1 means the
resolution will be half that of the final image and so on.
You would usually want to keep this negative, so that
GI is quickly computed for large and flat regions in the
image. This parameter is similar to (although not the
same as) the Min rate parameter of the Adaptive
subdivision image sampler.
Max Rate – Determines the resolution of the last GI
pass. This is similar to (although not the same as)
the Max rate parameter of the Adaptive subdivision
image sampler.
Subdivs – Controls the quality of individual GI
samples. Smaller values make things faster, but may
produce blotchy result. Higher values produce
smoother images. This is similar to
the Subdivs parameter for direct computation. Note
that this is not the actual number of rays that will be
traced. The actual number of rays is proportional to the
square of this value.
Interpolation – Specifies the number of GI samples
that will be used to interpolate the indirect illumination
at a given point. Larger values tend to blur the detail in
GI although the result will be smoother. Smaller values
produce results with more detail, but may produce
blotchiness if low Hemispheric Subdivs are used.
Note that if you use interpolated irradiance maps (i.e.
the Mode is set to Animation (rendering)), V-Ray will
actually multiply this value by the number of irradiance
maps used. For example, if you have the Interpolative
Samples set to 20, and the Interpolation frames to 2,
V-Ray will actually use 100 samples to interpolate.
This is done in order to preserve the blurring of the GI
solution compared to a single frame irradiance map,
however it also slows down the rendering. To speed up
the rendering in that case, this value can be decreased
to 10 or 5.
Use Camera Path – When enabled, V-Ray will
calculate the GI samples for the entire camera path
instead of just the current view. This option is available
only if there is an animation set up in the project.
Use Camera Path can be enabled to save the cached
map by only rendering the first frame of an animation.
The map can then be loaded and used for each frame,
saving a considerable amount of time.
Irradiance Map Optimizations
Color Threshold – Controls how sensitive the
irradiance map algorithm is to changes in indirect
lighting. Larger values mean less sensitivity; smaller
values make the irradiance map more sensitive to light
changes (thus producing higher quality images).
o Overview
Normal Threshold – Controls how sensitive the o Basic Parameters
irradiance map is to changes in surface normals and o
small surface details. Larger values mean less o Example: The Sample Size Parameter
sensitivity; smaller values make the irradiance map o
more sensitive to surface curvature and small details. o
Distance Threshold – Controls how sensitive the
irradiance map is to distance between surfaces. A
value of 0.0 means the irradiance map will not depend
on object proximity at all; higher values place more
samples in places where objects are close to each
other.
Disk Caching
Mode – This option allows the user to select the way in
which the irradiance map is (re)used:
Single Frame – Default mode. Computes a new
irradiance map for each frame of an animation.
From File – The irradiance map is loaded from a
file. No new irradiance map will be computed.
Incremental Add to Map – V-Ray will use the
irradiance map that is already in memory and will
only refine it in places that do not have enough
detail. This mode is useful when compiling an
irradiance map to render multiple views of a static
scene or a fly-through animation.
Keep File – When enabled, the last irradiance map
map calculated will stay in memory after the rendering
has finished. Disable this option to automatically delete
the map (and thus save memory).
Save – Saves the irradiance map currently in memory
for later re-use.
Auto-Save / File – When enabled, V-Ray will
automatically save the irradiance map to the specified
file at the end of rendering. This option is particularly
useful if the irradiance map will be sent for rendering
on a different machine through network rendering.
Light Cache Settings
Page Contents
Example: The Subdivs Parameter
Example: The Retrace Parameter
Disk Caching
o Notes
Overview
Light caching (called "light mapping" in older versions
of V-Ray) is a technique for approximating the global
illumination in a scene. This method was developed
originally by Chaos Group specifically for the V-Ray
renderer. For more information on how the Light Cache
engine works, see the Light Cache GI topic in the
Reference section.
This rollout is available only if Light Cache has been
chosen as either the Primary Rays or Secondary
Rays GI engine in the Global Illumination Settings.
UI Path: ||V-Ray Asset Editor|| > Settings > Global
Illumination > Light Cache
(When Light Cache is set as the Primary or Secondary
Rays engine.)
Basic Parameters
These parameters affect the calculation phase of the
light cache; they do not affect the final rendering.
noisy and will take more memory. Larger numbers will
smooth out the light cache but will loose detail. This
value can be either in world units or relative to the
image size. For more information, see the Sample
Size Parameter example below.
Screen Space – The units are fractions of the
final image (a value of 1.0 means the samples will
be as large as the whole image). Samples that
are closer to the camera will be smaller, and
samples that are far away will be larger. Note that
the units do not depend on the image resolution.
This value is best suited for stills or animations
where the light cache needs to be computed at
each frame.
World Units – The sizes are fixed in world units
everywhere. This can affect the quality of the
samples - samples that are close to the camera
will be sampled more often and will appear
smoother, while samples that are far away will be
noisier. This value might work better for fly-
through animations, since it will force constant
sample density everywhere.
Retrace – When enabled, this option improves the
precision of the global illumination in cases where the
light cache will produce too large an error. This is
especially obvious with the Use light cache for
glossy rays option, or near corners where light leaks
might be possible because of the light cache
interpolation. For glossy reflections and refractions, V-
Ray dynamically decides whether to use the light
cache or not based on the surface glossiness and the
distance from it so that the errors due to the light cache
are minimized. Note that this options may increase the
render time. For more information, see the Retrace
Parameter example below.
Use Camera Path – When enabled, V-Ray will
calculate the GI samples for the entire camera path
instead of just the current view. This option is available
only if there is an animation set up in the project.
Use Camera Path can be enabled to save the cached
map by only rendering the first frame of an animation.
The map can then be loaded and used for each frame,
saving a considerable amount of time.

Subdivs – Determines how many paths are traced
from the camera. The actual number of paths is the
square of the subdivisions (the default 1000 subdivs
mean that 1 000 000 paths will be traced from the
camera). For more information, see the Subdivisions
Parameter example below.
Sample Size – Determines the spacing of the samples
in the light cache. Smaller numbers mean that the
samples will be closer to each other, the light cache
will preserve sharp details in lighting, but it will be more
Example: The Subdivs Parameter
The Subdivs parameter controls the number of rays
that are shot into the scene and the "noise" quality of
the light cache samples.
Here is a scene rendered with different settings for
the Subdivs parameter (all other settings are the
same). As more samples are added, the noise is
reduced, but the render times increase. When
the Subdivs parameter is increased twice, the light
cache takes approximately 4 times as long to
calculate.

Subdivisions = 2000

Subdivisions = 500
Example: The Sample Size Parameter

The Sample size parameter controls the size of the

individual light cache samples. Smaller values produce
a more detailed lighting solution, but are noisier and
take more RAM. Larger values produce less detail, but
take less RAM and may be faster to calculate.
Here is a scene rendered with different values for
the Sample size parameter. All other values are the
same. Note the light leak from the wall on the right in
the last image - this is because samples from the other
side of the wall are quite large (because of the Screen
Scale) and end up being used on the side facing the
camera (compare this with the World Scale in the
above example). Note the difference in the noise level
between the samples as well.

Subdivisions = 1000
Sample size = 0.01 Sample size = 0.0

Example: The Retrace Parameter

The first set of images shows how

the Retrace parameter can be used to reduce light
leaks due to the light cache interpolation. The scene is
an interior scene with parts of the exterior visible. The
bright light cache samples from the exterior blend with
the darker samples from the interior causing light leaks
when the irradiance map is calculated.
The Retrace option (with the default value of 1.0)
successfully resolves the problem at the expense of
slightly increased calculation time for the irradiance
map.

Sample size = 0.02

 took is freed. Enabling this option can be especially
useful if you want to compute the photon map for a
particular scene only once and then re-use it for further
rendering.
Auto-Save File – When enabled, V-Ray automatically
saves the caustics photon map to the provided file
when rendering is completed. Specifies the file location
where the caustics photon map will be saved after
rendering.

Notes
Without retracing, light cache samples from the bright
exterior are mixed with the dark samples in the exterior
o Do not apply perfectly white or near-white materials to
causing light leaks. the majority of the objects in the scene, as this will
cause excessive render times. This is because the
amount of reflected light in the scene will decrease
very gradually and the light cache will have to trace
longer paths. Also avoid materials that have one of
their RGB components set to maximum (255) or
above.
o The Light Cache calculation cannot be distributed
among several machines for distributed rendering.

This page provides details on the Caustics rendering

settings in V-Ray for SketchUp.

With light cache retracing enabled, the light leaks are

successfully eliminated at the expense of slightly
longer irradiance map calculation time. Caustics
Disk Caching Page Contents

o Overview
o Caustics
o Disk Caching

Overview

Mode – Controls the mode of the irradiance map:
New map – When enabled, a new photon map
will be generated. It will overwrite any previous
photon map left over from previous rendering.
From file – When enabled, V-Ray will not
compute the photon map but will load it from a
file. Hit the Browse button on the right to specify
the file name.
Keep File – When enabled V-Ray keeps the photon
map in memory after the scene rendering has finished.
When disabled, the map is deleted and the memory it
In order to calculate the caustics effects, V-Ray uses a
technique known as photon mapping. It is a two-pass
technique. The first pass consists of shooting particles
(photons) from the light sources in the scene, tracing
them as they bounce around the scene, and recording
the places where the photons hit the object surfaces.
The second pass is the final rendering, when the
caustics are calculated by using density
estimation techniques on the photon hits stored during
the first pass.
Caustics are not support in VR Camera and Stereo
Camera modes.

UI path: ||V-Ray Asset Editor|| > Right
Flyout > Caustics
Caustics
Enabled – Turns rendering of caustics on and off.
Multiplier – Controls the strength of the caustics. This
parameter is global and applies to all light sources that
generate caustics. If different multipliers for the
different light sources are desired, then use the local
light settings.
Note: This multiplier is cumulative with the
multipliers in the local light settings.
Search Distance – When V-Ray needs to render the
caustics effect at a given surface point, it searches for
a number photons on that surface in the area
surrounding the shaded point (search area). The
search area is a circle with the original photon at the
center, and its radius is equal to the Search
distance value. Smaller values produce sharper, but
potentially noisier caustics; larger values produce
smoother, but blurrier caustics.
Max Photons – Specifies the maximum number of
photons that will be considered when rendering the
caustics effect on a surface. Smaller values cause less
photons to be used and the caustics will be sharper,
but perhaps noisier. Larger values produce smoother,
but blurrier caustics. The special value of 0 means that
V-Ray will use all the photons that it can find inside the
search area.
o Example: Visibility Distance
Max Density – Limits the resolution (and thus the
memory) of the caustics photon map. Whenever V-Ray
needs to store a new photon in the caustics photon o
map, it will first look if there are any other photons
within a distance specified by this parameter. If there is
already a suitable photon in the map, V-Ray will just o
add the energy of the new photon to the one in the o
map. Otherwise, V-Ray will store the new photon in the
photon map. These options allows many photons to be
shot (and thus get smoother results) while keeping the
size of the caustics photon map manageable.
Disk Caching
Mode – Controls the mode of the irradiance map:
New map – When enabled, a new photon map
will be generated. It will overwrite any previous
photon map left over from previous rendering.
From file – When enabled, V-Ray will not
compute the photon map but will load it from a
file. Hit the Browse button on the right to specify
the file name.
Keep File – When enabled V-Ray keeps the photon
map in memory after the scene rendering has finished.
When disabled, the map is deleted and the memory it
took is freed. Enabling this option can be especially
useful if you want to compute the photon map for a
particular scene only once and then re-use it for further
rendering.
Auto-Save File – When enabled, V-Ray automatically
saves the caustics photon map to the provided file
when rendering is completed. Specifies the file location
where the caustics photon map will be saved after
rendering.
Volumetric Environment
This page provides details about the Volumetric
Environment rollout in the V-Ray Asset Editor.
Page Contents
o Overview
o Parameters
o Aerial Perspective
o Example: Visibility Height
o Example: Affect Environment Rays
o Environment Fog
o
Scatter GI
Affect
o Affected By
o Notes
Overview
The Volumetric Environment section in V-Ray render
parameters is where you can see and adjust the
settings of the volumetric effects Aerial Perspective
and Environment Fog.
The V-Ray Aerial Perspective atmospheric effect
simulates aerial perspective - the effect that the Earth
atmosphere has on the appearance of objects that are
viewed from a distance, and which is similar to fog or
haze. The atmospheric effect works together with the
V-Ray Sun to calculate an approximation to the aerial
perspective effect.
VRayEnvironmentFog is an atmospheric effect that
allows the simulation of particle media like fog,
atmospheric dust, and so forth.
UI Path: ||V-Ray Asset Editor|| > Settings >
Volumetric Environment
Parameters
Type – Specifies the environment volume shader type
that will be used.
Aerial Perspective – Simulates the aerial
perspective atmospheric effect, the result of viewing
objects from a distance through the Earth's
atmosphere. The effect is similar to fog or haze. This
atmospheric effect works together with VRaySun and
VRaySky to calculate color and brightness.
Environment Fog – Simulates participating
media like fog or atmospheric dust. By default it
scatters the light emitted from all the scene light
sources.
Aerial Perspective
Sun – Specifies the Sun object in the scene that the
Aerial Perspective effect is connected to.
Visibility Range – Specifies the distance, in meters, at
which the fog has absorbed the light coming from
objects behind it. Lower values make the fog appear
more dense, while larger values reduce the effect of
the aerial perspective. For more information, see
the Visible Distance example below.
Atmosphere Height – Controls the height of the
atmosphere layer in meters. Lower values can be used
for artistic effects. The value is in meters and is
converted internally based on the current SketchUp
units. For more information, see the Visible
Height example below.
Inscattered Light Intensity – Controls the amount of
sunlight scattered from the atmospheric effect. The
default value 1.0 is physically accurate; lower or higher
values could be used for artistic purposes.
Filter Color – Affects the color of the unscattered light.
Affect Environment – When disabled, the
atmospheric effect is applied only to camera rays that
hit actual objects, but not to rays that hit the sky. This
is because the VRaySky texture already takes into
account the amount of scattered sunlight. However, it
is possible to enable this option for artistic effects,
especially with low visibility ranges. For more
information, see the Affect Environment Rays example
below.
Affect Background – Specifies whether the effect is
applied to camera rays that hit the background (if a
background other than VRaySky is used). Normally
this option should be disabled, but some interesting
effects are possible when this option is enabled.
Example: Visibility Distance

Atmospheric Height is 60000 meters

Distance is 20000 meters

Example: Affect Environment Rays

Distance is 100000 meters

Aerial Perspective is Disabled

Example: Visibility Height

Aerial Perspective is Enabled, Affect Environment is

Disabled
The sky color and sun shadows are unaffected by the
mist effect

Atmospheric Height is 20000 meters

 Distance – Controls the fog density. Larger values
make the fog more transparent, while smaller values
make it denser.
Height – If the fog is not contained within a volume, it
is assumed to start from a certain Z-level height and
continue downward indefinitely. This parameter
determines the starting point along the Z-axis.

Aerial Perspective is Enabled, Affect Environment is

Enabled Scatter GI
The mist effect blocks the sky and the sun light
Scatter GI – Enables the fog to scatter global
illumination. Note that this can be quite slow. In many
cases, global illumination within the fog can be
substituted with a simple emission term.
Scatter Bounces – When Scatter GI is enabled, this
controls the number of GI bounces that will be
calculated inside the fog.
Environment Fog

Affect
Affect Camera Rays – Enables or disables the
tracing of Camera rays through the volumetric.
Affect Background – Enables or disables the tracing
of background rays through the volumetric.
Affect Secondary Rays – Enables or disables the
tracing of secondary rays through the volumetric.

Affected By
Lights – This option allows you to specify which lights
will be considered when rendering the environment
fog. It is used when you have certain lights affecting
just specific objects in the scene while another group
of lights is affecting the environment fog.
All Lights – All lights in the scene will affect the
environment fog.
No Lights – The lights in the scene will not affect
the environment fog.
Selected Lights – Only the lights selected from
the list will affect the environment fog.
Color – Defines the color of the fog when it is
illuminated by light sources.
Emission – Controls the fog emission (self-
illumination). You can use this parameter to substitute
the ambient illumination inside the fog, instead of using
GI.
Emission Multiplier – A multiplier for
the Emission parameter.
 Notes Geometry

o Note that Aerial Perspective is faster to calculate than Displacement – Enables (default) or disables V-Ray's
the V-Ray Environment Fog atmospheric, although the displacement mapping. Note that SketchUp's
result is just an approximation. However, the V-Ray displacement feature is supported.
Aerial Perspective atmospheric cannot produce
volumetric shadows.
o Environment Fog is not supported in GPU render
mode yet. Lights

Switches
Lights – Enables lights globally. Note that if disabled,
V-Ray will only use Global Illumination to light the
This page provides details on the parameters found in scene.
the Switches render settings rollout. Hidden Lights – Enables or disables the usage of
hidden lights. When this is checked, lights are
rendered regardless of whether they are hidden or not.
Page Contents When this option is off, any lights that are hidden for
any reason (either explicitly or by type) will not be
o Overview included in the rendering.
o Geometry
o Lights
o Usage Statistics
Usage Statistics

Overview
Send anonymous usage statistics to Chaos
Group – Collection and transmission of usage statistics
The Switches rollout globally controls various aspects by Chaos Group can be disabled or renewed at any time
of the renderer. through this toggle.

Rendering Tools and

UI Path: ||V-Ray Asset Editor|| > Render Utilities
Settings > Switches This page introduces various rendering tools and
utilities in V-Ray for SketchUp.

Section Contents
o V-Ray Image to EXR Converter
o Standalone Denoise Tool | vdenoise
Page Contents

o Overview

Overview

The following standalone rendering tools and utilities

come packaged with V-Ray for Sketchup. For a full list
of tools and utilities that come with V-Ray, see
the Additional V-Ray Tools page.
o V-Ray Image to EXR Converter - This is both a 3. Converting multiple .vrimg files to multiple .exr files:
command-line utility and a simple GUI application that
can be used to convert .vrimg image files to .exr > vrimg2exr <vrimg_wildcard> [options]
files in OpenEXR format.
o Standalone Denoise Tool – A command-line utility that4. In this case, <vrimg_wildcard> can contain the wild-
can be used to denoise still images or animations card symbols '*' and '?'; the .vrimg files will
outside of SketchUp. This can be especially useful for automatically be converted to OpenEXR files with the
animated sequences because the standalone tool can .exr file extension.
look at multiple frames at once and produce a better 5. Caution! Under Linux and OS X parameters with
denoising result. wildcards must be placed within apostrophe symbols -
'image_wildcard'. Otherwise the command line shell
will expand automatically the wildcard into file list,
which will force the program to terminate.
V-Ray Image to EXR
In both cases, the original .vrimg file is not deleted.
Converter
Page Contents
Options
o Overview
o Installation One or more of the following options may be specified:
o Usage
o Options Option Description

-info Prints information about

the .vrimg file
(resolution, channels
Overview present etc). This is
only supported for
This is a command-line utility that can be used to
.vrimg files created with
convert .vrimg image files to .exr files V-Ray versions 1.48.xx
in OpenEXR format. The .vrimg file format is a special and higher.
format used by the V-Ray VFB to store the rendered
image incrementally while rendering, in full floating- -half Stores the floating-point
point format, will all available render elements. data in the .exr file as
16-bit floating point
numbers. If this option
is not specified, the
Installation data is stored as 32-bit
floating point numbers.
By default, the installation of V-Ray for SketchUp -sRGB Converts the RGB data
installs the .vrimg to .exr converter in the from the .vrimg file to
folder Program Files\Chaos Group\V-Ray\V-Ray 3.X the sRGB color space
for SketchUp\extension\tools.
before writing it to the
.exr file. Without this
option, no color
conversion is
Usage performed.

There are two methods for running the vrimg2exr

-gamma Applies the specified
converter: <gamma_value> gamma value to the
1. Converting a single .vrimg file to a single .exr file: RGB colors before
writing the .exr file. If
> vrimg2exr <vrimg_file> <exr_file> [options]
this option is not
specified, the data is
2. In this case, the <vrimg_file> cannot contain
wildcards. Note that the .exr extension is not added stored in linear space.
automatically to the output file name.
 o Denoising Animations
-channel <name> Only reads the specified o
channel from the .vrimg o
file and writes it as the o
RGB channel in the o Notes
output file. No other
channels are written to
the .exr file. This option
can be used to extract
the different channels in
the .vrimg file to
separate image files.
Use the -info option for
a list of available
channels in the file.
-compression Sets the compression
<method> type for the resulting
.exr file. If not specified,
ZIP compression is
used. Currently
supported values
for <method> are: non
e, zips, zip, piz, pxr24
Denoiser Options
Advanced Options
Output
Overview
The V-Ray installation includes a standalone denoising
tool called vdenoise that can be used to denoise still
images or animations outside of SketchUp. This is
especially useful for animations because the
standalone tool can look at multiple frames at once
and produce a better denoising result.
The vdenoise tool works with either .vrimg or
multichannel OpenEXR files and writes out files with
the same format. You can write those files out of
SketchUp through the V-Ray raw image file options in
the V-Ray Render Output settings.
Note: The Standalone Denoise Tool is only available in
the Windows installation of V-Ray for SketchUp.

- The maximum buffer

bufsize <buf_size size per channel (in
> megabytes) that will be Installation
used for the conversion.
If the image does not fit The vdenoise tool is a part of the V-Ray for SketchUp
into that buffer size, the installation and can normally be found in the
converter will process it folder C:\Program Files\Chaos Group\V-Ray\V-Ray x.x
in several passes. for SketchUp\extension\tools.
Larger buffer size
means faster
conversion, but,
obviously, requires Generating the Needed Render
more memory. The Elements
default is 10 MB per
channel.
The denoiser needs several render elements in order
to work optimally. The easiest way to generate these
render elements is to add the Denoiser Render
Element to your SketchUp scene.
Standalone Denoise Tool |
vdenoise
Required Render Elements
Page Contents
The required render elements are listed below. Add
the VRayDenoiser or Denoiser Render Element to
o Overview
your scene to generate the necessary render elements
o Installation
automatically.The standalone denoiser will still run
o Generating the Needed Render Elements
when some or all of these render elements are
o Required Render Elements
missing, but results might be too blurry.
o GUI Usage
o Command Line Usage For single pass RGB denoising:
o Denoising Still Images
o Noise level (named noiseLevel) - The denoiser relies
heavily on this render element to provide information
used during the denoising operation.
o Defocus amount (named defocusAmount)
o World positions (named worldPositions or wpp)
o World normals with bump mapping
(named worldNormals)
o Diffuse filter
(named diffuseFilter or VRayDiffuseFilter)
o Reflection filter
(named reflectionFilter or VRayReflectionFilter)
o Refraction filter
(named refractionFilter or VRayRefractionFilter)
GUI Usage
Running vdenoise without any parameters, or from the
Start Menu on Windows, will open the GUI version of
the tool. This allows you to denoise still images or
animations; as well as save and load preferred denoise
configurations.
Input File... – Specifies the .vrimg/.exr image or
sequence of images to denoise. Wildcards (?) can be
used to define a sequence. For example, if the images
in the sequence are
named anim_0001.exr, anim_0002.exr, etc., the
question mark (?) replaces the digits in the sequence's
file names. In this case - anim_????.exr
Specify Frame Interval – When enabled, specifies
which frames to process.
Start – Specifies the start frame.
End – Specifies the end frame.
By – Specifies the frame increment step.
Blend Frames – Specifies the number of
adjacent frames to use when denoising
animations. This reduces flickering between
adjacent frames.
Skip existing frames – When enabled, skips an input
image if an output image with the corresponding file
name already exists.
Select denoise elements – Opens the Select
denoise elements dialog that allows selecting which
color elements to denoise.
Preset – Selects a preset for the strength of the
denoiser.
Strength – Specifies the strength when Preset is
set to custom. Large values remove noise more
effectively but may blur the image too much. The
default value 1.0 uses the noise level render
element as it is.
Radius – Specifies the pixel radius for denoising
when Preset is set to custom. Large values slow
down the denoiser, but may produce smoother
results.
Threshold – Specifies threshold for denoising when
the noise levels render element is missing. Typically,
this is equal to the noise threshold for anti-aliasing in
V-Ray.
Boost – Boosts the effect of the selected preset.
Hardware acceleration – When enabled, the denoiser
will attempt to use all suitable OpenCL (GPU) devices,
and fall back to the CPU if unsuccessful.
GPU Memory Limit (MB) – Sets a maximum
GPU memory usage limit when Hardware
acceleration is enabled. The default 0 uses all
available memory.
Verbosity – Specifies the type of information that will
be printed upon denoising.
Display Progress – When enabled, the denoising
result will be displayed in a preview window.
Auto-Close – Automatically closes the preview
window after the denoising is complete.
Save config – Saves the current denoise configuration
into an .xml file.
Load config – Loads a previously saved .xml denoiser
configuration.
Denoise – Denoises the selected frame(s).
Command Line Usage
The denoiser can also be used as a command-line
utility without GUI display. Simply run the executable
with one of the following commands to denoise an
image or a sequence of images from within your
command-line interface. You can also change the
settings and behavior of the denoiser through CLI. To
do so, please refer to the Denoiser Options tables
below for a list of all available options.
 Switch Description

Denoising Still Images - Specifies the input

inputFile="<fil . vrimg or .exr file. Can
eName.ext>" contain paths and
To denoise a single .vrimg or .exr image, use the
wildcards such as a
following format for the command:
question mark (?) to
vdenoise -inputFile="path\to\image.ext" indicate digits in file
where path\to\image.ext is the path and file name of names. Examples:
the .vrimg or .exr file that you want to denoise.
vdenoise -
For example, if the file you want to denoise is inputFile="c:\renderoutp
called render.exr and is located in the ut\render.exr" - Denoise a
folder c:\renderoutput, the full command will be single image
vdenoise - named render.exr located
inputFile="c:\renderoutput\render.exr" in
the c:\renderoutput folder.
vdenoise -
inputFile="c:\renderoutp
Denoising Animations ut\anim_????.exr" -
Denoise a sequence of
To denoise a sequence of images, you must have all
frames in the
frames already rendered, as the denoiser needs to c:\renderoutput folder
look at several frames at the same time. Use the named anim_0001.exr , ani
following format for the command: m_0002.exr , etc.
vdenoise - Note that in order to
inputFile="path\to\sequence_????.ext" denoise a sequence of
where the question mark (?) replaces the digits in the images you must have all
sequence's file names. frames already rendered,
as the denoiser needs to
For example, if the images in the sequence are
named anim_0001.exr, anim_0002.exr, etc. and are
look at several frames at
located in the folder c:\renderoutput, the full command the same time.
will be
- Specifies the full or relative
vdenoise - outputDirecto path to an output directory
inputFile="c:\renderoutput\anim_????.exr"
ry="string" for the denoised files. If the
directory does not exist, it
Denoiser Options is created. If no output
directory is specified, the
output directory is the
You can control the denoiser through optional switches
on the command line. To list all available options in the
directory of the input files.
command prompt window, run the denoiser without
any arguments (vdenoise command) or use the - - Sets one of three
help switch: mode=strong| predefined presets for the
default|mild radius/threshold/noise level
vdenoise -help multiplier.
The table below shows the optional switches, which
are also displayed by the vdenoise -help command. -elements=0|1 Specifies the method for
To use a switch, precede the switch with a hyphen (-) denoising render elements.
and follow it with an equals sign (=) and the desired 0 - Colors in the final
parameter, as shown in the table. image are denoised in one
pass. (default)
1 - Render elements are
denoised separately and
then composited together.
Switch Description
-boost=0|1|2 Boosts the effect of the
selected preset.
0 - No boost. (default)
1 - Moderate boost.
2 - Large boost.
- Determines the file-
skipExisting= processing behavior when
0|1 a corresponding output
image already exists.
0 - Do not skip: The input
image is processed and
the existing output image is
overwritten. (default)
1 - Skip: The input image is
skipped and the existing
output image is not
affected.
-frames=bN[- Specifies the frames
eN[,sN]]{;bN[- and/or frame intervals to
eN[,sN]]} process.
bN - N denotes start frame.
eN - N denotes end frame.
sN - N denotes frame
increment. If not specified,
all frames in the sequence
are processed.
-display= 0|1 Specifies whether to
display a preview window
with the denoising result.
0 - Do not display preview
window.
1 - Display preview
window. (default)
- Specifies whether to
autoClose=0| automatically close the
1 preview window after
denoising is complete.
0 - Wait for user to close
preview window. (default)
1 - Automatically close
preview window.
-useCpu=1 Forces usage of CPU
version even if OpenCL
support is found.
- Specifies when to use
useGpu=0|1|2 GPU (OpenCL) or CPU
version for denoising.
0 - Use CPU. (default)
Switch Description
1 - Attempt to use the best
OpenCL device available,
and fall back to CPU if
unsuccessful.
(experimental)
2 - Attempt to use all
suitable OpenCL devices,
and fall back to CPU if
unsuccessful.
- Specifies the verbose level
verboseLevel of information printed to
=0|1|2|3|4 the standard output.
0 - Print no information.
1 - Print only errors.
2 - Print only errors and
warnings.
3 - Print only errors,
warnings, and
informational messages.
(default)
4 - Print all output.
Advanced Options
Switch Description
- Specifies the behavior o
abortOnOpenCLError=0|1 OpenCL.
0 - If an error is encoun
1 - Denoising is cancele
-strength=N Sets the strength of the
Larger values remove n
main parameter for con
the noiseLevel Render
- Specifies the behavior o
abortOnOpenCLError=0|1 OpenCL.
0 - If an error is encoun
1 - Denoising is cancele
-strength=N Sets a value for the stre
the noiseLevel Render
the image too much. Th
as is without adding any
-radius=N Specifies pixel radius fo
smoother results. The d
 Switch Description

-frameBlend=N Specifies the number of adjacent frames to use when denoising animation
reduce flickering between adjacent animation frames. The default is 1, wh
before and one frame after the current frame.

-oclquery="<string>" Explicitly specifies which OpenCL devices should be used for denoising. E
-oclquery="nvidia" - Use only NVIDIA OpenCL devices.
-oclquery="fiji" - Use only Fiji-based AMD OpenCL devices.

-strips=N Forces image to be split into N strips for processing. The default is -1 (neg
algorithm to automatically determine the optimum number of strips.

-autoRadius=0|1 Specifies whether to automatically adjust the denoising radius based on th

in the noiseLevel Render Element.
0 - No adjustment. Fixed radius is used for the entire image based on the
the default value of 10 if not set. (default)
1 - Automatically adjusts the denoising radius. For very noisy images, this
down the denoiser significantly.

-threshold=N Specifies a threshold for denoising when the noiseLevel Render Element
typically equal to the noise threshold for antialiasing in V-Ray. If this switch
relies on the noiseLevel Render Element and a threshold of 0.001 is used

-memLimit=N Forces the GPU memory usage limit to N gigabytes. The default value of 0
available memory be used.

Output

When the standalone Denoise tool is run, it outputs

information about the process, including settings,
warnings, progress, and files written in the command
prompt window.

Notes

o The Standalone Denoise Tool is only available in the

Windows installation of V-Ray for SketchUp.