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This page provides information about the Ray Switch node texture in V-Ray for Cinema 4D.

Overview

The V-Ray Ray Switch node texture gives a material a different color or texture when it is viewed through Shadows, GI, Reflections, and Refractions.

In the example, the Default parameter is set to gray, the Reflections Rays is set to a yellow color, the Refraction Rays is set to a blue color, and the GI Rays texture is set to Red. All other parameters are at default values.

V-Ray for Cinema 4D > Ray Switch Node > raySwitch_all.png

Properties

Default – The color or texture that is seen through the camera.

Shadow Rays – The color or texture used when it's being sampled with shadow rays. (Shadow rays are used to determine whether a point is being illuminated by a light source.)

GI Rays – The color or texture used when it's being sampled with GI rays.

Reflection Rays – The color or texture that's visible in reflections.

Refraction Rays – The color or texture that's visible in refractions.

V-Ray for Cinema 4D > Ray Switch Node > c4d2024_70010_RaySwitchNode_params.png

Common Uses

The V-Ray Ray Switch texture can be used in many ways. Below are a few examples.

Optimizing Renders

A complex texture can be replaced with a simpler one for GI/reflections.

V-Ray for Cinema 4D > Ray Switch Node > raySwitch_standardGI_v2.png
Standard GI calculation: 399067044 GI rays (623.54 per pixel)

V-Ray for Cinema 4D > Ray Switch Node > raySwitch_simpleGI_v2.png
GI calculation with simple color in Ray Switch: 346604148 GI rays (541.57 per pixel)

Non-Physical Results

For artistic purposes, you can make the object appear differently in its GI, reflections, or refractions from its diffuse texture.

V-Ray for Cinema 4D > Ray Switch Node > raySwitch_GI.png
GI rays texture set to Red

V-Ray for Cinema 4D > Ray Switch Node > raySwitch_reflect.png
Reflection rays texture set to Blue

$V-Ray for Cinema 4D > Ray Switch Node > raySwitch_refract.png$
Refraction rays texture set to Yellow