This page introduces the Volume Grid geometry object.

Overview

VRayVolumeGrid is a special kind of volumetric effect that works with grid-based cache formats, compared to Environment Fog which is a general purpose volumetric effect. The Volumetric Grid reads its data from an input file which supports grid-based representation of the volume.

Currently, VRayVolumeGrid supports three volume formats:

  • OpenVDB (.vdb) – Supported by Houdini ®, FumeFX ® , and RealFlow ®  
  • Field3D (.f3d) – Supported by FumeFX ® and Maya ® (using 3rd party plugins)
  • PhoenixFD (.aur) – Phoenix FD ® native volume format


Immediately after the VRayVolumeGrid is created, a dialog appears for selecting the input file. After selection of the input file, a number of options are available to fine-tune and customize the volume.


For a list of supported Render Elements, please check the V-Ray Render Elements Support page.

You may also check the Volumetric Rendering In-Depth guide for tips on speeding up the rendering of volumetric effects with V-Ray.

||V-Ray Toolbar|| > V-Ray VolumeGrid



||V-Ray menu|| > Create > Geometry > V-Ray VolumeGrid


||Create panel|| > Geometry > V-Ray category > VRayVolumeGrid > Click in a viewport to create VRayVolumeGrid


||Create menu|| > V-Ray > V-Ray VolumeGrid > Click in a viewport to create VRayVolumeGrid

 


The VRayVolumeGrid can also be created by dragging a relevant input file inside the active viewport.


Volume Grid Options

The following options are provided for modifying the appearance and rendering of the volume grid.


Volumetric Grid Parameters

Volumetric Grid Parameters on the Modify panel set overall cell and volume behavior such as the type of effect, display resolution, surfacing, displacement type, etc.

Volumetric Options

Volumetric Options specifically address the lighting, intensity, and opacity of fire and smoke.

Volumetric Grid Atmosphere Settings

Volumetric Grid Atmosphere Settings affect probabilistic shading and gamma correction.

Tips

Tips is an information page about input channels and distributed rendering.