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Table of Contents

This page provides information on V-Ray Render Settings integrated in Solaris Render Settings LOP node.


Overview

V-Ray Render Settings are located in the V-Ray tab of the Render Settings LOP. The settings are similar to those of the V-Ray Renderer ROP and become accessible when you create a Render Settings LOP from ||stage|| > Rendering > Render Settings. By default, none of the parameters are set in the USD unless specified by Creating and Setting Attributes.

Some of the settings are also available in Houdini's Display Options toolbar.


Creating and Setting Attributes

The parameters that correspond to a USD attribute have a pop-up menu that controls how the LOP node authors the attribute.

Set or Create – Sets the attribute to a given value, regardless of whether the attribute previously existed or not.

Set if Exists – Sets an attribute to the given value only if it previously existed. Use this option to make sure the attribute is set on primitives of the correct type.

Add if Exists – Adds an existing value to the attribute.

Multiply if Exists – Multiplies the attribute value only if previously existed.

Block – Makes the attribute appear to not exist so it takes on its default value.

Do Nothing – Does not affect the attribute, i.e. does not create or change the attribute in any way.



V-Ray Tabs

Render Device – Switches between the CPU, CUDA or RTX rendering modes.

GPU: Add CPU Device – Automatically adds a CPU device for GPU rendering.

Export Settings

Export Mode – Specifies whether to export the scene file, export & render, or only render the scene.

Export Filepath – Specifies the location where the output of the render process is saved.

Filter Primvars – Detects and exports only primvars that are used. Note that this option may increase export time but reduces memory usage.

Tabs

Image Sampler – Controls the overall image sampling. Find more information on the parameters in this tab at Image Sampler.

Global Illumination – Controls global illumination. Find more information on the parameters in this tab at Global Illumination.

Color Mapping – Applies color transformations on the final image colors. Find more information on the parameters in this tab at Color Mapping Tab.

Camera – Controls the Physical camera. Find more information on the parameters in this tab at Camera.

Options – Globally controls some geometry, lighting, material, and texture aspects of the rendering. For example, the options can be used to disable all shadows in a scene, or to use probabilistic light sampling to speed up test renders. Find more information on the parameters in this tab at Options.

Caustics – Controls the generation of the photon map.  Find more information on the parameters in this tab at Caustics.

DR – Controls distributed rendering (a technique for distributing a single render job within a single frame across many computers in a network). Find more information on the parameters in this tab at Distributed Rendering.

IPR – Controls interactive rendering. If no V-Ray Render Settings node is created, the IPR settings are accessible in the Viewport settings.

Bake – Controls the baking of textures. Find more information on the parameters in this tab at Bake.

Output – Controls the output files, including deep exr images and VDB.

Post translate – Allows for adding Python scripts to control specific parameters. Find more information on the parameters in this tab at Post Translate.

Toon – Controls the global toon effect overrides. Find more information on the parameters in this tab at Toon. Learn how to use the V-Ray Toon effect at How to Add V-Ray Toon Effect in Solaris.



Viewport Settings

The Viewport Settings can be accessed in the Display Options toolbar, or from the Display Options: Solaris window (press D or click the button).

The Show Denoised Result toggle denoises the render in the viewport. Note that a V-Ray Denoiser render element must be present and enabled for this toggle to work.

The Headlight Creation toggle creates headlight if no lights are present in the scene.


Rendering Workflow

Solaris workflows consist of connecting numerous Solaris nodes together. The rendering process requires a Render Settings LOP and a USD Render ROP. Additional nodes such as V-Ray Render Vars LOP can be used to create AOVs.

  1. Import a USD geometry with a Sublayer LOP/Reference LOP and/or create your own geometry with SOP Create LOPs and chain them.

  2. Create and assign materials to the imported geometry with the help of Material Library and Assign Material LOPs which allow you to create and apply V-Ray materials. More information on material creation and assignment is available on the Working with Solaris Materials page.

  3. Add lighting to your scene. More information on how to create and tweak lights is available on the Working with Solaris Lights page.

  4. To start viewport rendering, go to the Viewport setting and select V-Ray as the render delegate. The V-Ray IPR starts running in the viewport. Note that this does not save a file on your disk.

    If you want, you can try the experimental support for Production (Bucket) rendering into the Viewport. You need a Render Settings LOP (Render Settings LOP > Output tab) for this.

  5. Add a Render Settings LOP, and tweak the settings in the V-Ray tab. To change the desired resolution, go to the Standard tab of the LOP.

  6. Add a Camera LOP. For V-Ray Physical camera settings go to the V-Ray tab and set the attributes you need.

  7. Create a USD Render ROP.

  8. Make sure you specify V-Ray as the render delegate and also provide the Render Settings primitive. Also, make sure you set the image output correctly.

You can now choose to either render to Disk or MPLay. This will give you the final rendered image.


Click on the image to enlarge it.