Developed by Chaos Group based in Sofia, Bulgaria, V-Ray is a rendering application installed as a plug-in for third-party 3D computer graphics software. It’s used for digital visualizations in various industries to create photorealistic depictions of any tangible and imaginable objects, such as in architectural design. V-Ray is a full-featured 3D rendering system built for architects, freelance engineering design services, and artists. When it comes to an architectural design presentation, attention to detail is of the utmost importance.
The ability to showcase the complexity and sophistication required in a building’s design process is imperative to all architects. They want the world to know their approach to creativity and technology utilization in the most obvious manner. Giving as many visible details as possible is the best way to achieve that. V-Ray gives architects total control over what they want to show. Everybody who works for them, including engineers, subcontractors, builders, and consultants, will then understand the architects’ vision and work scope to make it a reality.
To clients and the general public, detailed visualization is every architect’s most effective tool to make sense of the train of thought that goes behind a building plan, including the exterior, interior, and overall architectural style. V-Ray is likely the smartest rendering application architectural design services can use to deliver the messages for the following reasons.
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Robust integration with popular 3D CAD software
An important key to a successful plug-in is compatibility with other popular and larger programs. Among the most widely used CAD software in architectural design are SketchUp, 3ds Max, Rhino, Maya, Cinema 4D, and Blender—V-Ray can be fully integrated with any of them, and then some. In comparison, no other rendering plug-in on the market has large host support. After all, V-Ray is a plug-in, which adds a specific feature to an existing computer program. In this case, the plug-in enables the program to extend functionality for rendering applications.
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But compatibility alone is not enough. Proper integration matters the most. Although V-Ray is nothing more than an additional application meant to be installed with other software, it introduces a plethora of rendering capabilities to the main program. V-Ray is not there to add some options, but bring its array of powerful visualization features integrated into your software.
For most architectural detailing services, the integration between V-Ray and SketchUp is a precious feature. SketchUp, on its own, is not the most sophisticated or refined CAD software. The most significant selling points are speed and easy layout, allowing you to digitize ideas fairly quickly on the screen. At first, it may appear rather rudimentary, but with V-Ray, you have the right set of tools to turn your ideas into photorealistic visuals. Thanks to V-Ray, an already reliable design tool turns into a tremendous digital visualization creator package.
Impressive rendering speed
In all kinds of professions, you want to get the job done in the shortest amount of time possible without sacrificing quality. Architectural drafting services have to deal with the same issue. Their clients want to see the final rendered image of a project quickly, so the project can move forward according to a tight schedule, if not sooner. While many things may cause a halt in an architectural project, rendering should not be one of them.
Many 3D renderers rely on GPU-only processing because, in most cases, it is faster than CPU-only utilization. The major downside is that GPU power is only as mighty as the available video memory or VRAM. To avoid such a drawback, V-Ray uses both GPU and CPU. It is a hybrid rendering application that efficiently harnesses your hardware’s computational power to reduce processing time.
Assuming you have multiple CPU cores and GPUs, nothing is left idle. Compared to GPU-only processing, V-Ray hybrid rendering can get the job done up to 25% faster. The increase in speed is even a multitude higher than CPU-only, up to a whopping 520% faster. Furthermore, V-Ray allows you to adjust the quality of rendered objects. A low-quality render should be much faster to process, although the result will not impress anybody.
That being said, there can be some situations where a 3D model’s rudimentary look is preferable. A rough model gives the chance to get a general understanding of the project during the initial discussion. As more ideas are compiled, and revisions are done, rendering work can be easily re-adjusted to produce high-quality visualizations.
Photorealistic rendering
Robust host support and speed mean nothing if the rendering quality itself is subpar. V-Ray is a special breed of rendering application that delivers all the desired features. The main reason architectural rendering services big and small use V-Ray as industry-standard is how it creates clean texture and brings a color palette to make any 3D asset look exactly like how they appear in the real world.
In a complex architectural visualization, where plenty of different materials are used, accurate textures, no matter how small, are indispensable. There needs to be a clearly observable distinction between, for example, hardwood floor and tiles or metal and plastic. Not only will this serve clients better, but it’ll also introduce an air of quality to the work of the artist. When clients love the rendering quality, the 3D design service has every chance to develop a long-term business relationship.
Lifelike animations
Many 3D architectural animation services like to do their presentations using video animations, which require an even more complicated rendering process. The building itself is mostly static, except for moving parts such as doors and windows, but it can populate the otherwise still-render with other animated objects. The end-goal is to give an impression of life in and around the building. Creating animations usually takes more time and money.
Speed is a major point for V-Ray, and fortunately, it applies to both still and animated renders. Of course, you must build the animation first using another software, but it’s not really a problem because V-Ray works with just about every popular 3D CAD program out there. Since V-Ray can be seamlessly integrated, there is no need to invest in additional software.
True-to-life light settings
For many years, a persistent issue in rendering work was the difficulty of processing a high number of light sources. The more light sources to be included, the more complex the rendering process is. This issue is observable in most rendering applications, even the older versions of V-Ray. The software has to figure out how those various light sources would realistically interact or affect each other. It is not technically impossible; it is just that the rendering takes a long time to complete.
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Newer versions of V-Ray have already addressed the issue. It has something called probabilistic light settings, available under the Global Switches menu. V-Ray sets the option off by default. All you have to do is turn it on and see how it instantly opens a whole new set of possibilities to improve architectural modeling.
The probabilistic light setting offers the option to choose random light sources to evaluate the 3D model’s visible points. Everything is done automatically, taking a lot of work out of your hands and making the process quicker. You can increase or decrease the number of lights to have a much better quality render.
Massive library
In any architectural 3D modeling job, the ready-to-use library (or rather its size) can make the difference between days of rendering and a job done in a matter of hours. Before you can render anything, you must create the object. This creation alone may take hours, if not days, depending on complexities and your skill level. If there is one small mistake that makes the rendering process turn out poorly, you may have to redo the entire work.
V-Ray anticipates such a scenario by providing a massive library of pre-built materials and models. While you may not want to use the samples as your final models, they provide some guidelines. At the very least, you’re able to study them beforehand to figure out what you must do to build a different yet similar model. Everything in the library is a sample, and it is best used as such. If you want, it is alright to use one of the available objects to show a client how their model will look like, without having to make a lengthy explanation.
Endless options
Freelance BIM modeling services should demonstrate flexibility. They must create a lot of different versions of the same objects, rendered in a slightly different way by tinkering with lighting angles, surface textures, depth of field, animated objects, and so on. In other words, they need to use a rendering application that comes with plenty of options to make any possible adjustments. V-Ray fits the bill well.
Equipped with a myriad of options, V-Ray is not the easiest software to master. In fact, it is notoriously tricky to understand what all the tools may do to the 3D model. V-Ray is loaded with settings, a vast library, and a rather intimidating interface.
For every first-time user, there will be a steep learning curve. You can spend hours after hours exploring every single slider and drop-down menu within every tab. That kind of fun struggle is what makes V-Ray a great software to play with. But then again, this is a popular plug-in backed by strong communities and helpful learning resources. Just like every 3D software, more options mean greater flexibility and features to utilize.
Cad Crowd’s V-Ray experts at your disposal
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