This page provides information about the Live Link tools in Rhino and Grasshopper.



Overview

The Start a Vantage live session tool helps you send your Rhino scene to Chaos Vantage with a click of a button. Any changes you make in the scene are sent instantly to Vantage without the need to reexport the scene.

The V-Ray Live Link component offers an analogous tool to the Start a Vantage live session and is available in V-Ray for Grasshopper. While this component is running, it interactively shares the input V-Ray scene on the specified port with Chaos Vantage.

The Configures and starts a Vantage live session tool sets specific settings for performance.



Installation

The installation of the tools comes with the installation of V-Ray 5 for Rhino, update 2 and later.

For detailed instructions on installing and setting up Live Link from Rhino and Grasshopper to Chaos Vantage, see the Live Link from Rhino tutorial.



UI Path

To access the Start a Vantage live session tool, in Rhino go to:

||V-Ray menu|| > Rendering > Chaos Vantage

||VRay Live Linking toolbar|| > Start a Vantage live session


To access the V-Ray Live Link tool, in Grasshopper go to:

||V-Ray tab|| > Render (dropdown menu) > V-Ray Live Link



To access the Configures and starts a Vantage live session tool, in Rhino go to:

||VRay Live Linking toolbar|| > Configures ands starts a Vantage live session





Usage in Rhino

To start the tool in Rhino, just click the Start a Vantage live session button. This initializes a Live Link session between Rhino and Chaos Vantage.

The tool automatically:

  • Starts Chaos Vantage if it is not already running;
  • Sends the scene to Chaos Vantage on 20701 port;

Always make sure you are using the same port in both Rhino and Chaos Vantage!


To stop the tool, click again the Start a Vantage live session button.

Learn more on the Live Link from Rhino page.



Usage in Grasshopper

To start the tool in Grasshopper, add a V-Ray Live Link component and plug the Scene output from a V-Ray Render component to the Scene input of the V-Ray Live Link component.

Right-click on the On input > Set boolean > True to initiate a Live Link connection between Grasshopper and Chaos Vantage.

The tool automatically:

  • Starts Chaos Vantage if it is not already running;
  • Sends the scene to Chaos Vantage on 20701 port;

Always make sure you are using the same port in both Grasshopper and Chaos Vantage!


To stop the tool, right-click on the On input > Set boolean > False.

Learn more on the Live Link from Rhino and the V-Ray Live Link page.


Access the V-Ray Live Link component's input parameters to specify port, IP address, and scene.

On (Boolean) – Specifies whether the scene changes are sent to the V-Ray server or not.

Address (Text) – Specifies an IPv4 address where a V-Ray server instance is or will be running.

Port (Integer) – Specifies a TCP port on which the V-Ray server instance is or will be connected on.

Scene (Generic Data) – The scene the V-Ray server will be rendering.




Live Link Supported Features

The following changes made in the V-Ray compatible DCC are propagated through Live Link:

  • Editing, creating and deleting of:
    • Camera
    • Geometries
    • Lights
    • Materials
    • Textures
    • Environment