Our VRay Advanced - Super Bundle includes the following:

• VRay Advanced

• VRay Lighting Techniques: Exteriors (DVD)

• VRay Lighting Techniques: Interiors (DVD)

• Environment Creation for Production (DVD)

• Environment Lighting for Production (DVD)

Enjoy a substantial savings when purchasing this bundle!

Please note the following when purchasing this bundle:

VRay Lighting Techniques: Exteriors (DVD), VRay Lighting Techniques: Interiors (DVD), Environment Creation for Production (DVD) and Environment Lighting for Production (DVD) are physical products that will ship to the address provided during checkout.

VRay Advanced

After its enormous success on the market VRay has become the renderer of choice in big production studios across the world. Feature film productions, multi-million dollar game productions, huge and small architectural visualizations have trusted their visuals to VRay.

VRay has become a benchmark for speed used by many hardware vendors and other renderer developers to test against. Richest set of features, cost-effective and production-ready.

VRay 1.50.SP 5 Now Available!
As of May 6th, 2010, the newest build, V-Ray 1.50 Service Pack 5 for 3ds Max.

The V-Ray 1.50 Service Pack 5 is compatible with Autodesk 3ds Max 8, Autodesk 3ds Max 9, Autodesk 3ds Max 2008, 3ds Max 2009, Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2009, Autodesk 3ds Max 2010, Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2010, Autodesk 3ds Max 2011.

The new V-Ray build supports both 32-bit and 64-bit OS.

New features:
(*) Added VRaySamplerInfoTex texture and VRaySamplerInfo render element;
(*) Added VRayObjectSelect render element which allows to extract objects with specific IDs into a separate element;

Modified features:
(*) Added an option to the VRayPhysicalCamera to perform image distortion based on a texture map;
(*) Allow ther user to specify texture bounds for 3d displacement;
(*) Added displacement slot to VRayFastSSS2 material;
(*) Added "prepass id" parameter to VRayFastSSS2 material so that multiple materials can share the same illumination map;
(*) Added displacement slot to VRayLightMtl material;
(*) The color parameter of VRayIES lights is now animatable;
(*) The min/max z-depth values for the VRayZDepth render element are now animatable;
(*) Support for reflection occlusion in VRayDirt;
(*) Support for environment sampling in VRayDirt;
(*) Support for Particle Flow vertex color mapping and particle visibility;
(*) Support for the "Use transparent shadows" option with Arch&Design materials;
(*) The clipping planes for the VRayPhysicalCamera are now displayed in the viewport;
(*) Added an option "show cone" to the VRayPhysicalCamera to control the display of the camera in the viewports;
(*) Ability to save and load color correction curves for the VFB in Adobe(r) PhotoShop(r) .acv format;
(*) Support for pixel aspect ratio display in the V-Ray VFB;
(*) Support for anaglyph stereo preview in the V-Ray VFB;
(*) Support for LUT color correction in the V-Ray VFB from .cube files;
(*) Ability to display the value of the corrected colors in the V-Ray VFB pixel info dialog;
(*) The "Dynamic memory limit" parameter can be set to zero to remove any limit;

Bug fixes:
(*) Motion blur for Hair&Fur in "mr prim" mode does not match the "buffer" mode;
(*) Occasional random crashes in 3ds Max 2010 due to progress bar updates;
(*) Fixed invalid smoothed normals causing issues with displacement;
(*) Fixed AA artifacts with thin bright lines when using Adaptive DMC image sampler;
(*) Stuck buckets with perfectly transparent surfaces and GI;
(*) Incorrect vignetting for VRayPhysicalCamera when using horizontal/vertical offset;
(*) setVRaySilentMode() should disable the dialog for overwriting raw .vrimg files;
(*) Missing reflections in VRayFastSSS2 when it is a coat material inside a VRayBlendMtl;
(*) Incorrect bump mapping for GI when using time-interpolated irradiance maps;
(*) Fixed artifacts with VRayFastSSS2 when one of the scatter color components is zero;
(*) Fixed incorrect normal map with VRayNormalMap on VRayProxy objects;
(*) Fixed crash with animated irradiance maps and objects with zero scale;
(*) The color of VRayIES lights was not animatable;
(*) VRayIES lights did not produce photon-mapped caustics;
(*) Fixed invalid normals with VRayEdgesTex in the bump slot;

Core Architecture

• Multi-platform object-oriented API
• Fully multithreaded core
• Unified sampling system based on Schlick sampling
• Distributed rendering
• Efficient shading system specifically optimized for ray-tracing
• Modular architecture - many components of the system can be replaced with custom ones

Geometry

• Efficient geometry handling
• True instance rendering
• On-demand dynamic geometry creation
• On-demand geometry loading from disk files
• Displacement mapping
• Catmull-Clark and Loop subdivision surfaces
• Extensible with custom geometric primitives through the V-Ray SDK

Image sampling

• Three different image sampling methods
• Full-scene anti-aliasing
• Progressive path tracing
• Support for additional render elements (diffuse, reflection, GI etc)
• Advanced color (tone) mapping controls
• Extensible with custom image samplers through the V-Ray SDK

Illumination

• Physically accurate full global illumination solutions
• Different GI algorithms: path tracing, irradiance cache, photon maps, light cache
• Reusable GI solutions for accelerated rendering of walk-through animations and animations with dynamic objects
• Physically accurate area lights
• Efficient illumination from HDR environments
• Procedural sun & sky models
• Extensible with custom lights through the V-Ray SDK

Shaders

• Physically plausible materials
• Blurry reflections/refractions
• Accurate highlights
• Sub-surface scattering
• Support for efficient material layering
• Extensible with custom shaders through the V-Ray SDK

Camera effects

• Depth-of-field with bokeh effects
• Accurate motion blur
• Physical camera model
• Extensible with custom cameras through the V-Ray SDK

Extras

• Toon effect
• Fur generator/raytracer
• Extended matte/shadow capabilities
• Support for Render-to-Texture mode of 3ds Max
• VRaySphereFade to isolate only specific portions of the scene for compositing

Frame buffer

• V-Ray specific frame buffer with integrated color corrections and display of multiple rendering elements
• Direct rendering to disk for extremely large images, either as OpenEXR files or as .vrimg files

*all the features are subject to change without special notice.

Global Illumination: Exteriors
VRay Lighting Techniques with Christopher Nichols

Instructor:
Chris NICHOLS

Formats: (Mac or PC only)
DVD-ROM

In this lecture on the subject of Global Illumination lighting techniques, Christopher Nichols discusses the subject of exterior lighting. This DVD covers a general introduction to the principles of Global Illumination, which are essential to the understanding of this specialized form of lighting. While the series primarily uses VRay as the render engine in a 3ds Max environment, those using other GI renderers will also benefit from the conceptual techniques described. From the general concepts of reflected specular and diffuse light, to sky lights and image based lighting with HDRIs, Christopher shows how to light scenes using real world lighting in a fully reflective environment. He also demonstrates how to tackle the issues of animation by finding the most optimal way to bake lighting for exterior sets. This series is geared toward the CG artist that already has an intermediate understanding of direct lighting and is making the transition to GI lighting.

Over 3 hours of lecture.

Topics Covered:

Principles of Global Illumination
Specular and Diffuse Reflection
Comparison of Different Techniques
Sky Lights
Image Based Lighting
Using HDRIs
Animation Issues in GI
Baking Lighting Animation

Chapters:

01: It Is All About Reflection
02: Methods of Producing Diffuse Scatter
03: Environment Light
04: Image Based Lighting
05: Lighting an Exterior Scene
06: Changing the Mood
07: The Problem with Animation
08: Animation for Large Scenes

Global Illumination: Interiors
VRay Lighting Techniques with Christopher Nichols

Instructor:
Chris NICHOLS

Formats: (Mac or PC only)
DVD-ROM

Continuing from his first DVD, Global Illumination: Exteriors, Christopher Nichols explains how interior global illumination differs from exterior GI. Christopher focuses on the concept of digital sets and explores issues of interior lighting for GI, including the variety of light sources that can be used, as well as how space plays an important role in lighting. Christopher demonstrates the differences between regular light sources, environment light, IES lighting, area lights, and even how geometry and shaders can affect the lighting of a scene. Additionally, since bouncing light plays an important role in interior GI, this lecture looks at some special techniques such as using VRay’s photon mapping and light cache. Christopher also explores the idea of baking lighting into textures, which is a useful technique for some situations. With Global Illumination: Interiors, you will see the rendering of an interior space in a whole new light.

Over 3 hours of lecture.

Topics Covered:

Principles of Global Illumination
Specular and Diffuse Reflection
Comparison of Different Techniques
Sky Lights
Image Based Lighting
Using HDRIs
Animation Issues in GI
Baking Lighting Animation

Chapters:

01: Key Elements from the Exteriors DVD
02: Interior Versus Exterior GI
03: Lighting Interiors with Exterior Light
04: Other Interior Light Sources
05: Lots of Secondary Bounces
06: Baking Lighting into Textures
07: Lighting Scenario 1
08: Lighting Scenario 2

Instructor BIO:

Christopher Nichols received a Bachelors in Mathematics and Fine Arts from Colgate University. He went on to get a Masters of Architecture from Rice University, where as a lecturer he taught the principles of architectural visualization and animation. After a long career in architecture, Christopher entered the world of feature film visual effects, specializing in color and lighting. Having spent several years at Digital Domain, Christopher has credits on such movies as The Day After Tomorrow, I, Robot, and Stealth. He is now a Senior Lighting Technical Director at Sony Pictures Imageworks.

Environment Creation for Production
3DS Max Modeling and Texturing with Tim Jones

Instructor:
Tim Jones

Formats: (Mac or PC only)
DVD-ROM

In this DVD, Tim takes you through the entire process of creating an environment with 3ds Max starting with the analysis of reference photographs and determining real world object dimensions, all the way through the 3D modeling and texturing pipeline. Tim will teach you how to spot the visual cues that will allow you to quickly and accurately determine dimensions from set photographs. You will also learn how to build quick layout files for modeling and animation and how to model and texture an entire environment from photographic reference. Many artistic and technical challenges are addressed such as understanding perspective, modeling architecture, tile roofs, stone pathways as well as decay and general destruction.

Over 2 1/2 hours of lecture.

Topics Covered:

Understanding Perspective
Layout Modeling
Preplanning
Environment Modeling
UV Mapping
Texture Painting
Modeling Destruction

Chapters:

01: Understanding Perspective
02: Layout
03: Pre-planning your Modeling Approach
04: Modeling
05: UV Mapping
06: Texture Painting
07: Modeling Destruction

Environment Lighting for Production
3DS Max Modeling and Texturing with Tim Jones

Instructor:
Tim Jones

Formats: (Mac or PC only)
DVD-ROM

In this DVD, after setting up various production lighting rigs, Tim discusses the pros and cons of each solution. You will learn when to use one type of rig over another based on the goals of the project, as well as how to deal with the challenges that different scene elements create for your lighting setups. Tim will also show you how to render passes out of 3ds Max, composite them using Digital Fusion and set up your lighting in real-time using floating point image formats. Finally, you will learn how to set up a scene for multiple lighting scenarios including day, sunset and night shots.

Over 2 1/2 hours of lecture.

Topics Covered:

Setting up Light Rigs
Rendering Passes
Compositing
Night-time Lighting
Sunset Lighting

Chapters:

01: Light Rigs
02: Rendering Passes
03: Compositing
04: Night-time Light Rigs
05: Sunset Rigs

Instructor BIO:

Tim Jones is a CG Supervisor specializing in environment modeling, lighting and compositing for a wide variety of projects ranging from game cinematics and ride films to television commercials and film. He received duel degrees in the fields of architecture and illustration from Lawrence Tech. After several years doing freelance and working for an architecture visualization firm he has made the switch to entertainment and is now working for Blur Studio. Tim's work can be seen in game cinematics and commercials such as Warhammer 40K, Hellgate: London, Ghost Recon 3, X-Men Legends 2 and Call of Duty: Finest Hour.

The Minimum System Requirements are:
1GHz or faster processor
512 MB RAM
64 MB Video RAM
DVD-ROM Drive
5 GB of hard disk space
1280 x 1024 display

The Minimum Operating System Requirements are:
Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional,
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Apple® Mac® OS X 10.2

This DVD-ROM also requires the Quicktime Movie Player (Version 5.0.5 or higher), the Ensharpen Codec (Version 1.0.1 or higher) and Acrobat Reader (Version 5.0 or higher) in order to view its contents.