Table of Contents

This page provides information on the V-Ray Frame Buffer and its features.


Overview



The redesigned V-Ray Frame Buffer (VFB) is a second generation V-Ray virtual frame buffer.

VFB is much more than a render image holder. The new enhanced version provides a higher level of post-processing adjustments and ability to modify your scene from inside the VFB. Here is a list of old and new benefits you should know:

  • Image preview:
    Loads render elements channels via a dropdown list;
    Works with display corrections;
    Loads various 8-bit and 32-bit file formats, including V-Ray resumable files;
    Image comparison between 2 or 4 renders;
  • Image management:
    Keeps the rendered image in full 32-bit floating point format;
    Can store history of rendered images with their post-rendering corrections;
    Can save corrected output to various image formats;
  • Image editing and post-processing:
    Set Color Corrections for rendered image and its elements;
    Composite mode for Back to Beauty workflow including layers corrections;
    LightMix control on lights contribution in the rendered image;
  • Scene editing:
    Can modify actual lights values by transferring updated intensity and color from LightMix mode;
    IPR camera navigation and focus control from inside VFB;
  • Denoiser control;
    Region rendering control and test resolution;
    Allows you to choose the order in which the buckets are rendered;
    Automatic render resolution adjustment in IPR when the VFB window is resized;

VFB also has some limitations which are listed in the Notes section below.


VFB Menu


The V-Ray Frame Buffer menu holds the main frame buffer commands. Some of the options are also available in the VFB Toolbar for quick access.

Menu

Menu Options

File

Save current channel – Saves the currently loaded channel to an image file format.

Save all image channels to separate files – Saves all the render elements to separate files.

Save all image channels to single file – Saves the image to a single multi-channel EXR or .vrimg file.

Load image – Opens an image file to be previewed in the V-Ray Frame Buffer.

Batch image processing – Allows processing of multiple .vrimg files with the same layer tree changes at the same time.

Batch Image Processing

Input folder – Specifies a path to load images from.

Output folder – Specifies a path for the output images.

Layer preset – Specifies a path to a layer tree corrections preset.

Output filenames suffix – Specifies the suffix added to the output image filenames.

Overwrite existing – Enables overwrite of existing files with the same name in the output folder.

Render

Start interactive rendering – Starts IPR.

Abort rendering – Stops the current rendering.

Render Starts rendering.

IPR Debug Shading – This option is available only while an interactive render is running. It provides shading modes that highlight any imperfections in the render, making it ideal for testing and debugging. Clicking on the same mode a second time disables Debug Shading. 

Isolate Selected – Isolates the selected materials and objects in the scene. Do not select materials and objects simultaneously, as that might produce inaccurate results.
Isolate Locked Selection – Isolates the selected materials and objects that have the Protection tag applied to them.
Lighting – Shades the entire scene with a blank material to showcase the lighting.
Ambient Occlusion – Shades everything in white, only darkening areas with ambient occlusion.
Wireframe – Displays all objects in the scene in wireframe mode.
Normals – Displays the normals of all objects in the scene.
UVs – Displays the UVs of all objects in the scene.

Image

Follow mouse – Renders the closest buckets found to the mouse pointer, when using the bucket image sampler. If the progressive sampler is used, V-Ray samples the closest pixels to the mouse pointer.

Follow mouse – Drag the mouse over the VFB while rendering to change what part of the image is sampled first;
Follow mouse (locked) – Locks the bucket (or sampling) starting point.

Copy current channel to clipboard – Copies the current channel to the clipboard. It can then be pasted wherever you need.

Duplicate to host frame buffer – Copies the currently loaded render from the VFB to the Cinema 4D Picture Viewer. 

Clear image – Clears the contents of the frame buffer. This is useful when starting a new render to prevent confusion with the previous image.

View

Display color space –Specifies the color space, in which the image is displayed.

None – Does not specify a color space;
sRGB – Displays the image in sRGB color space;
OCIO – Displays the image in a color space loaded from an OCIO configuration file;
ICC – Displays the image in a color space loaded from an ICC configuration file;
Gamma 2.2 – Displays the image in Gamma 2.2 color space.

Zoom VFB – Zooms in/out the rendered image in the VFB.

Zoom 50% – Zooms out to 50%;
Zoom 100% – Zooms to 100%. Alternatively, double-click in the VFB with the left mouse button;
Zoom 150% – Zooms in to 150%.
Zoom to fit – Zooms the current image to fit in the VFB. If Render Region is active – zooms to the region.

Channels – Chooses which channels to see.

View red channel – Displays the red channel;
View green channel – Displays the green channel;
View blue channel – Displays the blue channel;
Switch to alpha channel – Displays the alpha channel;
Monochromatic mode –Displays the image in monochromatic mode.

Test resolutionEnables test resolution in VFB. The submenu allows different percentages of the render resolution to be set as the test resolution. You can choose between 10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 110%, 125% and 150%. Please note that this only affects V-Ray and does not affect the native Cinema 4D test resolution setting found under Cinema 4D's Render Settings.

Color clamping – Opens the color clamping submenu options:

Force color clamping – Forces color clamping;
View clamped colors – Displays the clamped colors.

Use pixel aspect – Enables visualization of the pixel aspect ratio.

Flip – Mirrors the image in the VFB. This is a view only option, the flipped image cannot be exported. This function is only active while holding the menu button or the hotkey for the corresponding type of flip. The effect does not interrupt interactive rendering.

Flip horizontally – Mirrors the image horizontally.

Flip vertically – Mirrors the image vertically.

Panorama View – Shows the image in 360° view.

Show History – Shows the History panel. 

Show Layers – Shows the Layers panel.

Options

VFB settings – Opens the VFB Settings window where you can adjusts settings for Render View, Render Region, History and Layers.

VFB Toolbar



This dropdown gives access to render elements rendered for the scene. The selected render element is displayed in the VFB. By default, the RGB color and Alpha render elements are available. Any additional render elements that have been added to the scene also appear in the drop-down.

Displays the coordinates of the mouse pointer.

Specifies the sampled area size. Click on the arrow to open a context menu with the available sampled area sizes: 1x1, 3x3, 5x5, and 7x7.

Specifies whether color and display corrections are applied (RGB) or not (Raw) when showing the sampled pixel values at the current mouse pointer position.

Displays the RGB pixel values at the current mouse pointer position before applying any color corrections.

Specifies RGB values. Click on the arrow to open a context menu with the available option.

None – Does not specify the RGB value.
HSV – Specifies the Hue, Saturation and Value of the pixel under the current mouse position.
Web – Specifies the HEX of the pixel under the current mouse position.
8bit – Specifies the 8bit color palette of the pixel under the current mouse position.

Displays the Hue, Saturation and Value of the pixel under the current mouse position when HSV is selected.

Displays the HEX of the pixel under the current mouse position when Web is selected.

Displays the 8-bit color palette of the pixel under the current mouse position when 8bit is selected.

Locks the mouse pointer coordinates and displays information for the selected pixel.

Shows corrected colors.

Shows the V-Ray log.

Displays the Alpha channel.

Displays the red channel.

Displays the green channel.

Displays the blue channel.

Saves the image to disk. Press and hold the icon to bring up the submenu:

Save current channel – Saves the current channel to an image file format;
Save all image channels to separate files – Saves all the render elements into separate files;
Save all image channels to single file – Saves the image into a single multi-channel EXR or .vrimg file.

Clears the contents of the frame buffer. This is useful when starting a new render to prevent confusion with the previous image.

Renders the closest buckets found to the mouse pointer, when using the bucket image sampler. If the progressive sampler is used, V-Ray samples the closest pixels to the mouse pointer. With this option enabled, you can right-click on the image and select Lock bucket starting point to lock the bucket (or sampling) starting point.

Enables/disables test resolution in the VFB. Press and hold to bring up the submenu to select the percentage of the render resolution to set as the test resolution.

Allows you to render regions in the VFB. See the Render Region section for more information.

Starts and stops IPR Debug Shading. Press and hold the icon to select the Debug Shading mode. See the debug shading modes in the VFB Menu section.

Starts IPR.

Stops the current rendering.

Starts a production render.



Render History


The V-Ray Frame Buffer keeps a history of previously rendered images, and lists each with a number, thumbnail, and textual details in the Render history panel. Up to four images can be called from the history to be compared in the VFB (as shown in this section). History files are stored as .vrimg files in a user-specified folder. Render history settings can be configured in the VFB Settings window.


Enables or disables image A/B vertical comparison. Select images A and B from the render history. You can switch between comparison modes by holding down on this button or by using the hotkeys.

Enables or disables image A/B horizontal comparison. Select images A and B from the render history. You can switch between comparison modes by holding down on this button or by using the hotkeys.

Enables or disables image A/B/C/D comparison. Select images A, B, C, and D from the render history. You can switch between comparison modes by holding down on this button or by using the hotkeys.

Saves the current image from the VFB to the render history. The image is placed at the top of the render history list.

Loads the selected image from the render history to the VFB.

Removes the selected image from the render history.

A search field where you can filter the images based on the scene paths and notes.

The keyboard keys from 1 to 9 can be used to quickly load the first 9 images from the history to the VFB.

Edit note – Allows you to add a text comment to the image; the comment appears below the image.

Set A – Sets the render as A image for comparison.

Set B –  Sets the render as B image for comparison.

Load to VFB – Loads the selected image in the VFB (same as double-clicking on the image).

Delete – Deletes the selected image from history. The image is moved to the system's Recycle Bin and can be restored from there if needed.

Load layers – Loads the layer tree preset of the selected image.

Load V-Ray settings –  Loads the V-Ray settings used for the saved render.

Compare V-Ray settings – Opens the Compare V-Ray settings dialogue, where you can compare the render setups of saved renders.

Image Info – Opens a window containing detailed information about the image, including, but not limited to, Aperture, Camera Far and Near Range, File Path, V-Ray version, render time. Keep in mind that the camera values are saved in system units. Also, the vrayrevison info displayed in the list is not related to the saved .vrimg file but to the current V-Ray build installed for Cinema 4D.

Copy scene pathCopies the full path to the scene.

Copy project pathCopies the full path to the project.

Reload history – Re-reads the history image list. This may be needed if the history folder is updated outside of Cinema 4D(e.g. from another Cinema 4D session).

Manually saved .vrimg files can also be added to the History folder, but they need to be saved with all image channels in one .vrimg file to keep the complete image info.


Layers


The V-Ray Frame Buffer includes a suite of color corrections and tools for adjusting the image. The tools are added as layers and displayed in a layer tree. You can enable or disable a particular tool using the visibility icon () to the left of its name.

For more information on using the Layers, see the Layers page.


Creates a layer. Multiple layers of the same type can be added.

Folder – Allows grouping multiple layers;
Background – Adds a background color correction layer;
Render Element – Selects a render element from your image that you can use in compositing. This is only available when the Source layer is set to Composite;
Constant – Adds a solid color that can be used to achieve an effect on another layer (for example to multiply by the constant);
Exposure – Adds an Exposure color correction layer;
White Balance – Adds a White Balance color correction layer;
Hue/Saturation – Adds a Hue/Saturation color correction layer;
Color Balance – Adds a Color Balance color correction layer;
Curves – Adds a Curves color correction layer;
Lookup Table – A Lookup Table layer allows loading a LUT file for color transformations;
Filmic Tonemap – Contains different types of mapping curves and gamma corrections. Also allows selection of a color space.

For more information, see the Layers page.

Deletes the selected layer(s).

Saves a layer tree preset.

Loads a layer tree preset.

Quick access to custom layer presets. You must set the path to it in the VFB Settings.

Undo create layer.

Redo create layer.




Each layer has a context menu. Right-click to display it:


CommandDescription
ResetResets all changes done to the selected layer.
SaveSaves the layer as a preset.
LoadLoads a preset for the selected layer.
DeleteDeletes the selected layer.
Save all CCs as LUTBakes all the color corrections to a LUT file.
New LayerCreates a new layer.
DuplicateDuplicates the selected layer.
Blend ModesSpecifies how the selected layer blends with the result from all layers below it. See the Layers page for more info on the types of Blend Modes.



Stats


The V-Ray Frame Buffer allows monitoring of different statistics and information about your scene in the Stats panel. The exact contents of the Stats changes depending on the scene,  the rendering mode (interactive vs production, bucket vs progressive) and others.

Right-click to display a context menu, allowing you to copy the Stats values.




Render Region


Region rendering can be used in both IPR and Production modes to isolate only part of the frame for rendering.

Saving a region to an .exr file saves only the render region and the rest of the frame is rendered black. 


VFB Interactive Options


These options are available when Interactive rendering is enabled. They can be accessed by right-clicking anywhere in the render region.



Select Object – Directly select scene objects by clicking on them in the VFB rendering area.

Select Material – Pick a scene material from an object that is being rendered. You only need to click on that object in the VFB rendering area and the material editor opens with it.

Set Focus Point – Sets the target distance for the Depth of Field effect to the location clicked in the VFB rendering area.


VFB Shortcuts


These shortcuts navigate through the VFB image. You can also find them in the VFB Settings window. Please note that the VFB window must have the current focus for the shortcuts to have effect:

MouseDescription
Mouse wheelZoom in/Zoom out
Double-click left buttonZoom to 100%
Middle button draggingPan (hand tool)
Ctrl+Shift+Left clickZoom in the rendered image
Ctrl+Shift+Right clickZoom out the rendered image


KeyboardDescription
Ctrl+Shift+left click, + / =Zoom in
Ctrl+Shift+right click, -/_Zoom out
Double click, *Zoom to 100%
Arrow keysPan left, up, right, down
FFit region or whole image in the VFB
EscAbort render
QSet history A/B vertical compare mode
WSet history A/B horizontal compare mode
EEnable history A/B/C/D compare mode
1-9Load the respective image from the VFB history
HShow/hide history
Ctrl+LShow/hide whole right panel
PShow/hide only layers tree
LLocks the mouse pointer coordinates and displays information for the selected pixel, i.e. activates the Lock pixel info coordinates button.

Notes


  • VFB does not display the G-Buffer layers (like Coverage etc.) .
  • VFB does not work with strip rendering.
  • VFB does not work with rendering to fields.
  • The OpenEXR file format is an open file format for high dynamic range(HDR) images originally developed by Industrial Light and Magic. The official site of the OpenEXR file format is http://www.openexr.com/
  • If Lens Effects or the VRayDenoiser render element is enabled, then the RGB Color channel is saved with the name RGB_color and the effectsResult channel is saved as effectsResult when saving all channels from VFB.
  • If an 8-bit file is saved through the VFB or the Render Output / Save image settings, the color space (for example sRGB) is embedded and the image appears as in the frame buffer when loaded in an external image viewer. If a 32-bit (exr, hdr, tif) image is saved, it remains linear and relies on the external image viewer to handle the display color space.
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