How to Create Photorealistic Renders: A Review of 3ds Max and V-Ray

Contents:

• What is visualization and why do you need it?
• The software tandem that industry leaders rely on. A detailed overview of 3ds Max and V-Ray
• Alternatives to V-Ray
• Useful resources from the editors of Skillbox.by

What is visualization and what is it for

Today, there are dozens of programs for 3D modeling. Among them are powerful commercial systems and free applications for beginning artists with basic functionality. But not all software is suitable for visualization and animation - the creation of videos and images based on 3D scenes that can be used in advertising, films, games, presentations.

To understand how everything works, let's briefly review the stages of creating computer 3D graphics:

• 3D modeling;
• creating the environment;
• painting models (texturing);
• adding effects and natural phenomena (VFX);
• rendering or visualization.

Many applications have well-implemented tools for modeling - creating 3D objects. These are mathematical models that we see on the screen of the 3D editor as unfilled objects outlined by vector lines. This could be a cube, a ball, or a more complex building model, a car concept, a character for a film or a game.

3D models are created by game designers, computer graphics artists, architects, and design engineers. A polygonal model of a part, such as a gear or an electrical appliance housing, can be loaded into a 3D printer or CNC milling machine—the result is a finished product.

But modeling alone isn't enough to produce an image or animation suitable for use in promotional videos or brochures, or in film and television. The model must be painted (edit: textured—raster images simulating materials—applied), the environment filled, visual effects added, and lighting and reflection adjusted.

Rendering or visualization is the final stage. Its result can be a video that can be used in film production, or a picture. For example, architects and interior designers create renders when presenting projects to clients.

A rendering engine is responsible for visualization. This is a separate program or a module built into a 3D editor. It allows you to set up a virtual camera, light sources, refraction and reflection of light, and natural phenomena. And it transmits commands to the CPU or GPU to process the mathematical model and generate a raster image or video based on it.

Such 3D editors as Cinema 4D, Autodesk Maya, 3DS Max, Houdini, Blender, AutoCAD already have a built-in module or engine for rendering. But calculating particles and light propagation is a resource-intensive task. The computer needs to process hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions of points, and this takes a lot of time.

For example, the computer graphics for the first Avatar movie were rendered by a data center with 35,000 processor cores, occupying an area of ​​930 square meters. And yet, rendering individual frames (edit:one second contains 24 frames) took several hours. In total, rendering the graphics for the film took over a month, with the server running around the clock. One regular computer would need decades.

The second problem is that many engines do not have a preview. The final result can only be seen after the rendering is complete. If something is wrong, you'll have to change the settings and wait several more hours for the computer to generate the image.

Considering that rendering is the final stage of production, there's often simply not enough time for it. Reducing the rendering time will allow you to complete the work without missing deadlines.

A breakthrough was made by a small company from Bulgaria, Chaos Group. They developed the V-Ray plugin, which, with relatively moderate hardware requirements, allows for incredible video and image realism. And in terms of content quality, it surpasses built-in engines created by larger developers.

V-Ray is a plugin that can be used independently or installed as an add-on to popular computer graphics editors. The list of supported applications includes over a dozen, including Rhinoceros, Maya, Blender, Cinema 4D, Unreal Engine, SketchUp, and Nuke. However, the most commonly used application with this plugin is 3ds Max—a popular editor among 3D artists, designers, and architects. This is the system the engine was originally developed for.

3ds Max + V-Ray. The software tandem relied on by industry leaders

The combination of the powerful and versatile 3ds Max editor and the productive V-Ray has become the industry standard for visualizing architectural projects, in film production, advertising and game design. Today they are used by large companies such as Blizzard, Maxon, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, Marvel, Scanline VFX, Blur Studio, Bordel Entertainment. These tools are also often used by freelancers who complete custom projects. Let's take a closer look at the capabilities of the programs.

3ds Max. The #1 Modeling Application

In the 3D industry, efficiency is a key factor. And this is where 3ds Max excels.

3D Studio Max has been released since 1990. The first version was developed for MS-DOS, and since 1996, for Windows. The application has such a wide range of tools that during installation, the system prompts you to select which tasks the 3D editor will be used for in order to customize the interface.

Available tools and features of 3D Studio Max:

• 3D modeling technologies.Polygonal based on primitives, splines, NURBS curves, Bezier curves.
• Working with particles.Built-in plugins allow you to realistically calculate the physics of the behavior of soft and hard bodies. For example, hair or fabric under the influence of wind, liquids.
• Animation of large-scale objects and individual models.Animation of particles (fire, smoke, wind), liquids, and body dynamics is available. If you don't have the required tool, you can customize it and save the template.
• Rigging or skeletal animation.A "skeleton" and "joints" are formed - nodes that can be used to simulate realistic movements and facial expressions.
• Texturing and UV mapping tools.You can apply textures in a few clicks. Flexible material customization is also available.
• A large list of primitives.These are basic shapes for modeling - polyhedra, a box with beveled and rounded edges, a cylinder with convex and conical lids, prisms, a capsule, a hose, C- and L-shaped objects, a box, a cylinder, a teapot, a cone, a sphere, a tube, a pyramid, a geosphere, etc.
• Built-in Character Studio.Speeds up the modeling of people and creatures for computer games, animated films, and cinema.
• Boolean operations. Allow you to quickly subtract one object from another.
• A large set of additional modules. Hair and Fur — styling hair and fur in a few clicks, Hard Surfaces speeds up modeling of solid objects, MaxScript — a built-in scripting language for automating routine tasks.
• Built-in rendering engines. Scanline, ART and Arnold. Plugins are also available separately from 3ds Max; they can be installed on Maya, Houdini, and Cinema 4D.

V-Ray is the best visualization system

Many 3D editors have a built-in rendering engine. Even engineering systems have a similar module. For example, AutoCAD, ArchiCAD, Revit, Rhino3D. But since the late 90s, major 3D modeling software publishers have allowed third-party developers to create add-ons or plugins. This is how dozens of different modules appeared, including independent rendering engines.

V-Ray is a ray tracing engine. There are also game engines that utilize only the GPU and provide high speed, but do not provide such quality. There is also Real Time, where rendering is performed in real time.

Ray tracing takes into account not only direct light, but also the interaction of light with different surfaces, mutual reflection, and caustics. For example, a vase on a table not only casts a shadow but also reflects rays of light, which affects the overall illumination of the frame.

The engine is built on Monte Carlo algorithms. In short, it's a mathematical method that allows for the calculation of approximate values ​​when calculating various phenomena. On the one hand, this method significantly saves computing resources, since there's no absolute precision. On the other hand, when shooting with a video or still camera, photos are never perfect; minor distortions occur. As a result, small calculation errors at the rendering stage make it possible to achieve a highly realistic image.

V-Ray features and capabilities:

• Support for distributed rendering on multiple PCs simultaneously (Distributed rendering).
• Built-in utilities for working with textures and different types of surfaces. A huge list of materials with preset settings.
• Flexible scene customization - dozens of options for controlling lighting, shadows, reflections, and visual effects.
• Two rendering modes. Using CPU and GPU.
• Built-in V-Ray RT (Real-Time) module.
• V-Ray Denoiser is a noise reduction system based on NVIDIA AI and Intel® Open Image Denoise technologies.
• Cloud rendering support. If your PC performance is not enough, you can use the computing power of Chaos Group.
• V-Ray IPR and V-Ray GPU IPR technologies for flexible shadow control.
• More than 150 cinematic VFX presets.
• Lighting analysis tools, built-in templates that allow you to accurately display the features of sunset and twilight.
• You can simulate the features of different types of lenses, add the effect of the lens from the camera.
• Flexible work with materials (V-Ray Material). You can control the reflection of light from hair, wool, metals, various types of finishing materials. There are cartoon shaders. The Chaos Scans library contains 1000+ materials.

Projects created with V-Ray and 3ds Max

Versatility, speed, and high-quality rendering have made V-Ray the primary engine among major developers. Companies use the 3ds Max + V-Ray tandem in various fields:

• Film production. The suite was used by various visual effects studios. Scanline worked on projects like Free Gay and Moonfall, Scanline VFX worked on Iron Man 3, Batman, Ant-Man, Independence Day 2, and San Andreas, Digital Domain worked on Spider-Man: No Way Home, and FuseFX worked on Deadwood: The Movie.
• Television and Advertising.V-Ray has been used in the production of a huge list of television series. For example, "Stranger Things" (Scanline), "Moon Landing" (BBC), "Game of Thrones" (ed.: among other things, the final assault on King's Landing was visualized using 3DS Max + V-Ray), "The Shannara Chronicles" (Pixomondo).
• Game development or gamedev.The games themselves use game engines that process graphics in real time. But V-Ray is used to create project trailers and visualize character concepts. For example, the module is used by Blur Studio, the author of such projects as Call of Duty, Halo.
• Architecture and interior design. 3ds Max in conjunction with V-Ray was chosen to create concepts by 3DC Studio, 747 Studios, Nmachine, Pikcells, Anima Visual, Albert Mitsuno, Gabriele Vacca.

Alternatives to V-Ray

Despite its popularity, V-Ray is not the only engine with high performance and high-quality visualization. And it is not the best choice for beginners. When choosing a visualizer, you need to consider its cost, what programs it is compatible with, and how easy it is to learn.

Corona Renderer

The first version was released in 2009. The visualizer was bought by Chaos Group, the developer of V-Ray. Therefore, the programs are gradually becoming more similar in capabilities and functions. But there are differences.

Firstly, Corona Renderer has a large selection of preset styles that cover up to 95% of tasks. There's no need to experiment with the settings—just choose a ready-made template, and you'll get the expected result. The visualizer is easier to learn and works slightly faster. Secondly, it uses progressive rendering—you can render infinitely. The longer you render, the higher the detail and resolution of the image. The result is visible almost immediately.

Despite its advantages, Corona Renderer lacks in customization flexibility. It has higher performance requirements and a smaller set of compatible editors (3ds Max, ArchiCAD, Cinema 4D). That's why large studios prefer V-Ray.

Cycles Rendering Engine for Blender

Blender is a free vector and 3D graphics editor. In terms of toolset and capabilities, it is one of the most powerful systems, comparable to 3ds Max, and in some respects even superior. The built-in Cycles rendering engine offers high-quality rendering. It has a preview mode (Real Time rendering), support for HDR lighting, and VR. Rendering uses the power of the central processing unit (CPU) or graphics card (GPU).

The Cycles engine is relatively easy to use and learn. However, it only works with Blender, which is not exactly user-friendly and is one of the most difficult 3D modeling programs to learn.

Arnold

The engine was developed by Solid Angle, a subsidiary of Autodesk. It was originally created for film production by order of VFD Sony Pictures Imageworks. One of its features is a powerful ray tracing algorithm that allows for real-time graphics processing.

It was used in the production of The Witcher 3 and Gravity. Offers a wide selection of presets (ready-made templates). Compatible with Maya, Houdini, Cinema 4D, Katana, and Softimage. Installed by default in 3ds Max and some AutoCAD subscriptions.

Useful resources from the editors of Skillbox.by

3ds Max paired with V-Ray is the best software for 3D visualization. It is used by architects, special effects artists and computer graphics in advertising, television and film. Applications are developing rapidly, and developers are constantly introducing new technologies. In the past, V-Ray was one of the first to use CUDA technology. Now the company is integrating artificial intelligence.

3ds Max and V-Ray are the most popular tandem of programs used by landscape design studios, architectural bureaus, advertising production companies, and film companies. If you plan to work in one of these areas, it will be useful to understand the intricacies of these programs. To make this easier, the editors of Skillbox.by have compiled a list of useful resources for study.

Internet resources:

• docs.chaos.com — this is where documentation on V-Ray and other Chaos Group products is collected;
• CCDirector — here you can learn about hardware for 3D modeling;
• Media Contented — here you can find useful materials about design, modern professions and trends;
• docs.blender.org — The official manual on visualization in Blender;
• 3D | Creative Bloq — a blog about design, advertising, and digital art;
• The new V-Ray 6 for 3ds Max is here — official V-Ray review;
• Luxury Visuals — a blog about 3D modeling and visualization for interior designers and architects;
• Jake Denham — a YouTube channel about 3D and visualization;
• ARHITEACH — This YouTube channel has a lot of information about modeling for architects;
• VizAcademy UK — English-language YouTube channel about modeling and visualization.