Iray for ds Max - NVIDIA Advanced Rendering

Transcription

Iray for 3ds Max
User's guide
30 November 2015
Document version 1.0
NVIDIA Advanced Rendering Center
Fasanenstraße 81
10623 Berlin
Germany
phone +49.30.315.99.70
fax +49.30.315.99.733
[email protected]
Copyright Information
© 1986, 2015 NVIDIA ARC GmbH. All rights reserved.
This document is protected under copyright law. The contents of this document may not be
translated, copied or duplicated in any form, in whole or in part, without the express written
permission of NVIDIA ARC GmbH.
The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice. NVIDIA ARC
GmbH and its employees shall not be responsible for incidental or consequential damages
resulting from the use of this material or liable for technical or editorial omissions made
herein.
NVIDIA and the NVIDIA logo are registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation. imatter,
IndeX, Iray, mental images, mental ray, and RealityServer are trademarks and/or registered
trademarks of NVIDIA ARC GmbH. Other product names mentioned in this document may
be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies and are hereby acknowledged.
Document build number 255414
ii
Iray for 3ds Max: User's guide
©1986,2015 NVIDIA ARC
Contents
1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.1 What is Iray+? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.2 Why use Iray+? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.2.1 Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.2.2 Interactive rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.2.3 3ds Max . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.2.4 Powerful . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.2.5 Extensible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.2.6 Flexible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2 The conceptual model of Iray+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.1 Rendering and the world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.1.1 Modelling the world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.1.2 Creating a record of the world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.1.3 The rendering process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.2 Material concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.2.1 MDL: the standard for materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.2.2 Real-world structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.2.3 Built with collaboration in mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.3 Lighting concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.3.1 Environment lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.3.2 Artificial lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.3.3 3ds Max lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.3.4 Area lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.4 Rendering concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.5 Scalability concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.3 Getting started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.3.1 Installing Iray+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.3.2 Choosing Iray+ as your renderer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.3.3 Ensuring material accuracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.3.4 Downloading material libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.4 Iray+ feature list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.4.1 Rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.4.2 Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.4.3 Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.4.4 Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.5 Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.5.1 Headphones tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.5.2 Interior tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.5.3 HDRI camera-matching tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2 Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1 Using materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1.1 Using an existing material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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2.1.2 Creating materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2 Iray+ material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.1 Adding an Iray+ material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3 Iray+ Ocean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3.1 Using Iray+ ocean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3.2 Volume parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3.3 Particle parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3.4 Refraction parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.4 Iray+ Metal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.4.1 Using Iray+ Metal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.4.2 Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.5 Iray+ conversion materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.5.1 Iray+ Arch and Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.5.1.1 Conversion notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.5.2 Iray+ Fast SSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.5.3 Iray+ Metallic Paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.5.4 Iray+ Skin SSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.5.5 Iray+ Generic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3 Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.1 Physical sky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.1.1 Adding a light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.1.2 Physical sky parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.1.3 Appearance parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.1.4 Ground parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.1.5 Light details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2 Image based lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2.1 Using HDR and EXR files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2.2 Adding a light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2.3 IBL parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2.4 Ground parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2.5 Light Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.3 Iray+ lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.3.1 Adding a light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.3.2 Light parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.3.2.1 Light Intensity parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.3.3 Light details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4 Iray+ emission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4.1 Light details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.5 Compatibility with 3ds Max lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.5.1 Features supported in 3ds Max lights: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.5.2 Features not supported in any 3ds Max light: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.5.3 Supported 3ds Max lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.5.4 Light details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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4 Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.1 Using cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.1.1 Adding a camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.1.2 Iray+ compatibility with 3ds Max cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.1.3 Camera effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.2 Tone mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.3 Camera effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.4 Depth of field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.4.1 Adding depth of field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.4.2 Depth of field parameters and compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.5 Motion blur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.5.1 Adding motion blur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.5.2 Motion blur parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5 Rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.1 Render setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.1.1 Choosing Iray+ as your renderer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2 Renderers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2.1 Iray+ renderer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2.2 Frame completion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2.3 Optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2.4 Iray+ interactive renderer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2.5 Frame completion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2.6 Optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.3 Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.3.1 Tone mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.3.2 Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.3.3 Resource Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.3.4 Network Render . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.3.5 Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.4 Render elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.4.1 Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.4.2 Standard render elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.4.3 Distance and depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.5 Light path expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.5.1 Using light path expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.5.2 LPE examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.5.3 More resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.6 Remote rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.6.1 Network render . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.6.2 Remote streaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.6.3 Current resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.6.4 Local . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.6.5 Remote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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6 Advanced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.1 Using MDL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.1.1 Adding custom MDL search paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.1.2 Importing MDL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.1.3 Supported parameters for editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.1.4 Exporting MDL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.1.5 Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.2 Scene conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.2.1 Converting multiple objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.2.2 Compatibility with scene conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.2.3 Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.2.4 Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.2.5 Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.3 Lighting analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.3.1 Enabling analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.3.2 Using lighting analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.4 Iray+ material library converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.4.1 Using the Iray+ library converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7 Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1 Iray+ compatibility with 3ds Max . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.1 Render setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.1.1 Common panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.1.2 Iray+ settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.1.3 Iray+ renderer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.1.4 Iray+ interactive renderer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.1.5 Iray+ render elements: render layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.1.6 Iray+ render elements: light path expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.1.7 Iray+ tone mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.2 Rendering misc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.2.1 Environment and effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.2.2 Material editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.3 Render windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.3.1 Activeshade window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.3.2 Production render window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.4 Iray+ lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.4.1 IBL lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.4.2 Physical sky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.5 3ds Max standard lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.5.1 Target and free spot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.5.2 Target and free directional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.5.3 Omni . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.5.4 Skylight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.5.5 mental ray area omni . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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7.1.5.6 mental ray area spot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.6 3ds Max photometric lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.6.1 Target and free light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.6.2 mental ray sky portal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.7 3ds Max cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.7.1 Target and free . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.7.2 Physical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.8 Iray+ materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.8.1 Iray+ material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.8.2 Iray+ metal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.8.3 Iray+ ocean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.8.4 Iray+ conversion materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.9 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.9.1 3ds Max standard maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.9.2 Render to bitmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.9.3 mental ray maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.9.4 Iray+ noise maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.1.9.5 Texture spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.2 Maxscript reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.2.1 Render settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.2.2 Create a new Iray+ material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.2.3 Create a new Iray+ map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.2.4 Get a list of Iray+ parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.2.5 Set an Iray+ material parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.2.6 Get an Iray+ material parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.2.7 Set Iray+ material layer type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.2.8 Get Iray+ material layer type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.2.9 Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.2.10 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.2.10.1 Enable/disable irradiance layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.2.10.2 Get irradiance min/max values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.2.10.3 Get irradiance min/max colour values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.3 System requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.3.0.1 Minimum requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.3.0.2 Recommended requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.3.0.3 Iray+ interactive requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.3.0.4 NVIDIA CUDA GPU reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.3.0.5 CPU-only mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.4 Additional content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.4.1 Material libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.4.1.1 moofe HDRI and backplates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.5 Licensing and copyright information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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8 Appendix — Material components and libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.1 Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.1.1 Geometry parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.1.2 Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.1.3 Decal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.1.4 Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.1.5 Coating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2 Low-level material components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2.1 Diffuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2.2 Diffuse transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2.3 Subsurface scattering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2.4 Diffuse subsurface scattering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2.5 Multilayered subsurface scattering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2.6 Pearlescent subsurface scattering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2.7 Dielectric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2.8 Two-lobe dielectric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2.9 Specular reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2.10 Conductor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2.11 Gloss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2.12 Gloss flakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2.13 Flip-flop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2.14 Interference pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2.15 Thinwall transparent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2.16 Physically based transparent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2.17 Physically based translucent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2.18 Backscattering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2.19 Anisotropic conductor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2.20 Anisotropic dielectric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2.21 Woven anisotropic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2.22 Fibre anisotropic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.3 Noise maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.3.1 Flake noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.3.2 Flow noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.3.3 Perlin noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.3.4 Worley noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4 Material libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4.1 LWIrayPlusMaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4.2 Ceramic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4.3 Composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4.4 Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4.5 Emission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4.6 Fabrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4.7 Flooring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4.8 Gems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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8.4.9 Glass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4.10 Interior Walls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4.11 Liquids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4.12 Masonry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4.13 Metals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4.14 Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4.15 Organic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4.16 Metallic paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4.17 Paper and Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4.18 Plastics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4.19 Roofing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4.20 Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4.21 Stone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4.22 Stucco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4.23 Vegetation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.4.24 Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.5 Component index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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1 Overview
1
Overview
1.1
Introduction
Iray for 3ds Max is a software plug-in for 3ds Max created by Lightwork Design that provides
Iray+, a physically based ray tracing renderer based on NVIDIA Iray. Iray+ employs descriptions of appearance, called materials, that are specified by the NVIDIA Material Definition
Language (MDL). This focus on the physical accuracy provided by NVIDIA Iray allows you
to create the highest quality images and animations with a real world approach to materials,
cameras and lighting.
Bedroom Interior Rendered in Iray+
This document describes the concepts and features in the plug-in, as well as help and advice
on how to use Iray for 3ds Max. This guide assumes a familiarity with the interface and
concepts in 3ds Max.
See Autodesk’s 3ds Max documentation for help and advice with general use.
For an overall list of Iray+ compatibility with 3ds Max features see the compatibility section
(page 79) in the Reference section.
Iray+ complements the 3ds Max integration of NVIDIA’s Iray. Throughout this document,
Iray+ refers to the renderer capabilities provide by Iray for 3ds Max.
Feedback and Known Issues
For feedback, known issues and other information during the beta program see the Iray+
Private Forum.
1.1.1
What is Iray+?
Iray+ is a physically based ray tracing renderer with accurate materials based on NVIDIA’s
Material Definition (MDL) standard. This physically accurate engine allows you to create the
highest quality images and animations with a real-world approach to materials, cameras and
1
1 Overview
1.1 Introduction
lighting. The lighting in an Iray+ rendered image is authentic to the real world, as all light
interactions in your scene are represented accurately.
Iray+ is based on the NVIDIA technology NVIDIA Iray, which is used in many professional
high-end applications and by top design and visualisation companies around the world. Iray+
boasts improvements including an easy to understand material structure and usability enhancements.
Iray+ extends the capabilities of the NVIDIA Iray implementation currently included in 3ds
Max, including new features such as full MDL support, interactive rendering, support for
cloud or remote renderings and an improved approach to using and creating physically accurate materials.
The Iray+ plug-in includes two renderers; Iray+ and Iray+ Interactive. The Iray+ renderer
creates production images while the Iray+ Interactive renderer allows you to navigate models
in real-time with results that are almost indistinguishable from the Iray+ renderer. We’ve
developed a comprehensive library of high-quality materials and an intuitive material editing
UI, which enables you to create the materials you need in minutes. Our photometric lights and
physically accurate sky system mean all lighting is representative of the real world. Iray+ also
supports remote rendering, which enables you to harness the GPU power of cloud rendering
and render farms.
1.1.2
1.1.2.1
Why use Iray+?
Concepts
Iray+ is based on the fundamental concepts of the real world, with lighting physics, photographic settings and the structure of materials all true to life. We use real-world concepts and
present the minimum necessary parameters needed to get stunning images and animations.
1.1.2.2
Interactive rendering
Iray+ Interactive renderer uses advanced approximation algorithms to mimic realism while
minimizing unwanted noise. This gives you greater speed in your workflow. The ability to
use both renderers simultaneously means you can quickly preview your scene with Iray+
Interactive renderer on your workstation whilst rendering remotely in Iray+ renderer for
your production work.
1.1.2.3
3ds Max
We have designed Iray for 3ds Max to complement your existing workflows, not disrupt them.
We have kept the number of Iray+-specific UIs to a minimum and where possible we defer to
3ds Max to accomplish tasks. Where we do use our own objects and parameters we present
them clearly and in the familiar formats used by 3ds Max.
1.1.2.4
Powerful
Iray+ is designed to make optimal use of GPU hardware to ensure that your rendering is
as fast and as powerful as possible. We recommend using NVIDIA GPUs to enhance the
performance of your rendering. Local and remote rendering are fully supported and can be
used with many batch rendering tools.
2
1.2 The conceptual model of Iray+
1.1.2.5
1 Overview
Extensible
Iray for 3ds Max is just one of the many future products in the Iray+ product line, all sharing compatibility with this and other Iray+ enabled software. This means MDL materials
and other elements can be used at every stage during a workflow from prototyping, review,
simulation and manufacture. Iray for 3ds Max includes conversion from mental ray® and
Autodesk materials, quickly bringing any existing scenes up-to-date.
1.1.2.6
Flexible
NVIDIA Iray is used by professionals in many industries including automotive, jewelry, architecture, product, interior design and many more. An expansive material library provides
the basis for creating virtually any material. MDL provides a powerful method for expressing
and sharing any material.
1.2
The conceptual model of Iray+
A Canon 5D Mk II SLR rendered in Iray+
1.2.1
1.2.1.1
Rendering and the world
Modelling the world
At a fundamental level, the natural world may be modelled as the interaction of energy and
matter. This interaction can, in turn, be viewed by an observer through the visible appearance
of the world.
In this model of the natural world, the appearance of an object is a consequence of the matter
that constitutes it; in other words, appearance is an intrinsic quality of an object. However, to
facilitate the mapping of intuitive categories of the natural world to a simulated world, a formal model can separate the appearance of an object from the object itself. Appearance is then
an extrinsic category between the observer and the interaction of energy and matter. Defining
appearance as an extrinsic property also has a very useful side-effect: the separation of the
3
1 Overview
look of an object and its geometric structure facilitates an experimental freedom fundamental
to the role that rendering plays in design and visualization tasks.
Iray+ maps the conceptual categories of the natural world model — energy, matter, appearance and observer — to categories suitable for describing a simulated world: light, geometry,
material and camera.
There are three important points to note in this mapping:
• Objects are abstracted to their geometric form.
• The interaction of light with the geometric form of an object is defined by a material,
which determines appearance. Interactions of light and objects are captured by an analogy to a traditional photographic camera.
• Lights, geometries, materials, and cameras in a simulated world and their spatial relationships constitute a scene. In Iray+, the scene is the simulated world to be rendered.
1.2.1.2
Creating a record of the world
The virtual camera specified in a scene defines attributes analogous to those that characterize
a real-world mechanical camera, for example, viewing direction and focal length. But, unlike
a real-world camera, a virtual camera cannot create a record of a scene; this task falls to the
renderer.
Strategies for creating a record of a rendering can differ between renderers. In ray tracing,
for example, lines drawn from the camera’s "eye" position into the scene determine the color
values of the corresponding position in the resulting record. In other words, the camera determines the geometry of the relationship and the renderer controls how the color values are
calculated. Control of the renderer is highly dependent on how the renderer is implemented
in software. Developing an intuition for controls of the renderer requires an understanding
of the rendering process itself.
1.2.1.3
The rendering process
The preceding sections described the input, process, and output that map to the phases of the
rendering process:
• Input — The scene, which contains the description of the world and a position and
direction from which it is viewed. The more comprehensive and detailed the description,
the more realistically light interaction with surfaces and volumes can be modelled.
• Process — The renderer, which processes the scene description. The algorithms the
renderer implements determine its abilities to record and render the behavior of light
and its interaction with objects.
• Output — The output of the rendering process, which is an image — the record of what
the camera "saw". The quality of the image is determined by the sophistication of the
file storage format and the capabilities of the output device used to display the image.
4
1.2.2
1 Overview
Material concepts
Still Life with Iray+ Materials
1.2.2.1
MDL: the standard for materials
Materials in Iray+ are based on MDL (Material Definition Language), which consist of building blocks that can be combined in flexible ways. MDL is an open standard for describing
materials and the interaction of light on their surface and volume. Iray+ materials simulate
the entire lighting equation, and, by using measured data in your materials, will result in
simulation-grade accuracy.
In Iray+ you are presented with a wide variety of materials, which form starting points that
can be adapted to represent almost any material with accuracy. Materials can be shared with
other MDL-enabled applications ensuring that all designers, developers, and other people
working on a project, will be working from one set of materials.
1.2.2.2
Real-world structure
Iray+ material layers follow the real-world material creation structure, so the way you see
them presented in Iray+ follows how they would be manufactured or found in nature. A
painted, varnished wood, for example, follows the structure:
5
1 Overview
Video: http://player.vimeo.com/video/114038416
Decal
Vinyl Sticker
Surface 2
Scratches alpha channel
Surface 1
Clear Coat Varnish
Coating
Paint with diffuse color
Base
Pine Wood with bump map
Geometry
Wood Geometry
They’re created in a top down structure, with the core geometry at the bottom of the layer
order, and additional layers built on top as required. Multiple layers of each type can be
added in any order, allowing highly complex finishes, such as multi-layered paint peel and
rust, chips and scratches.
1.2.2.3
Built with collaboration in mind
The real-world approach to materials allows efficient reuse and sharing of each component
between different materials. For example, you could take the Paint, Varnish and Decal from
the Pine wood base and add it to a Plaster or Concrete Base. Very quickly you have created
a new material from these building blocks without the arduous work of starting from scratch
every time.
The large library of materials already in Iray+ means it is extremely quick to create even the
most unique of materials. The open nature of MDL allows sharing between communities and
between applications removing much of the repetition usually involved.
1.2.3
Lighting concepts
Lighting in an Iray+ scene can come from three sources: global illumination from the environment, emissive materials or artificial lights within the scene. A scene can be lit entirely by
one of these sources, or by a combination of the three. These three broad categories can be
further subdivided into more specific light sources or light types. The environment lighting
can come either directly from an IBL (page 37) (image-based lighting), or from a procedural
sun and sky simulation environment called PhysicalSky (page 34). The artificial lights come
in various types, some of which are controlled by the usual 3ds Max light types, and others
which are unique to the Iray+ plug-in (page 40).
6
1 Overview
Interior scene lit with Iray+ Lighting
The lighting systems in Iray+ are all physically correct; if you put data from the real world in
to a model or simulation you will get accurate lighting out. This is perfect for studying light
in simulation, and for creating realistic animation. The PhysicalSky (page 34) environment is
ideal for daylight studies and will give accurate luminance levels in any model.
As well as adding new Iray+ lights for powerful control over the look of your scenes, we
support many of the existing 3ds Max lights, so your existing models will work as expected
without needing to replace existing lighting ( see the lighting compatibility table (page 44)).
1.2.3.1
Environment lighting
Iray+ uses the concept of environments to describe the world around the scene. These serve to
provide the visible background to the image (in the absence of a backplate) and also to light
the scene. The IBL (page 37) environment can be specified as either a sphere or hemisphere,
and additional parameters that allow you to control the dome size and various ground plane
effects.
Iray+ also provides a powerful procedural environment called PhysicalSky (page 34). This
generates a physically realistic, high dynamic range sky dome around a scene. You can control many aspects of this dome including the overall intensity, as well as the sun’s position
and appearance in the sky (the sun position can be set either directly with an altitude-azimuth
coordinate system, or by using the comprehensive date/time/location panel). As this is physically accurate, you will see realistic halo effects around the sun disk, haze in the atmosphere,
sky color etc.
1.2.3.2
Artificial lighting
Iray+ has several types of artificial light which can be used to partially or fully illuminate
a scene. As mentioned above, some of these light types are used in conjunction with the
standard 3ds Max light types to integrate seamlessly into your existing workflow, while other
light types are unique to the Iray+ plug-in and are controlled separately.
7
1 Overview
1.2.3.3
3ds Max lights
The following light types are used when converting from the standard 3ds Max light types.
No special controls are added for them in the Iray+ plug-in, but the most appropriate type
will be automatically selected for the best conversion. See the lighting compatibility table
(page 44) for more details.
Distant lights
Distant lights act as a point light placed infinitely far from the scene. The illumination is
parallel and uniform — i.e., each point in the scene "sees" the light in the same direction,
and at the same intensity. In essence it mimics simple sunlight.
Point lights
Point lights give a uniform light distribution from a single point within the scene. The
illumination at any point in the scene depends on the direction to the light position as
seen from that point, and is also proportional to the inverse square of the distance
between that point and the light position. The light source is not visible in the scene.
Spot lights
Spot lights are similar to point lights, but the light distribution is not spherically uniform.
Instead it is directed into a "cone", to mimic the appearance of a real spot light. The light
source is not visible in the scene.
Photometric lights
Similar to point and spot lights, but rather than a uniform distribution, or a simple cone
distribution, this light type reads in an external IES file which describes a more complex
light distribution. This distribution can be oriented in the same way as the spot light, but
the actual shape of the distribution is fixed by the IES file. The light source is not visible
in the scene.
1.2.3.4
Area lights
Area lights are unique to the Iray+ plug-in and therefore have their own controls and user
interface. See the Iray+ Lights (page 40) page for details.
Area lights define simple pieces of geometry (rectangles, discs, spheres and cylinders) that
emit light. Unlike the other types of artificial light, these are visible in the scene by default
so are good for modelling simple bulbs, strip lights, and the like. They can also be made
invisible to the camera like all the other light types. Each type of area light has parameters
that allow you to control the position, size, shape, and orientation of the light. By default, the
area lights will emit a basic uniform illumination, but it is also possible to attach an IES file
as with Photometric lights. In this case, every point on the surface of the area light will act as
a point source with this profile, and the total illumination is given by an integration over the
surface.
1.2.4
Rendering concepts
Iray+ has different renderers which are tailored for performing specific rendering tasks. Iray+
(page 2) is a production renderer with full global illumination support. Iray+ Interactive
(page 2) allows rapid interaction and modification of your scene. This ‘Unified Rendering
Model’ means all renderers share a common representation of your scene and materials in
3ds Max. This ensures consistency of appearance whichever renderer you are using. If you
8
1.3 Getting started
1 Overview
use other Iray+ enabled software in your workflow, this consistency extends across your entire
workflow.
1.2.5
Scalability concepts
Iray+ is designed to take full advantage of your GPUs, offering massive render speed performance enhancements when you add additional hardware. This makes it an incredibly
efficient choice for using distributed rendering in your workflow. Cluster or Render farms are
supported out-of-the-box using the 3ds Max batch rendering tool, or other add-ons, such as
Backburner. Cloud rendering support comes as standard and is extremely simple to set up.
See also:
• Iray+ Feature List (page 10)
• Introduction to Iray+ (page 1)
1.3
Getting started
Before installing Iray+, ensure your system matches the System Requirements (page 95).
1.3.1
Installing Iray+
1 Open Iray+ Installer.
2 If you already have a version of the plug in installed, the installer will ask you whether
to remove it first. It is recommended that you uninstall any existing versions of the
plug-in.
3 Select Next to start the installation progress and view the License Agreement.
4 The Installer will attempt to install to the Plug-Ins directory of 3ds Max in the Program
C:\Program~Files\Autodesk\3ds~Max~20**\plug-ins
Files directory, for example, in
5 If the folder already exists, the Installer will ask you to confirm that you would like to
install to that directory.
6 When installation is complete select Finish .
1.3.2
Choosing Iray+ as your renderer
Iray+ includes 2 renderers, Iray+ and Iray+ Interactive .
Iray+ delivers the best results and is a good choice as your production renderer. Iray+ Interactive allows easier navigation with faster results and is a good choice as your ActiveShade
renderer.
Assigning Iray+ as your Renderer
9
1 Overview
1.4 Iray+ feature list
1 In 3ds Max, choose the [ Rendering I Render Setup... ] menu item.
2 Choose the Common tab and scroll to the Assign Renderer group.
3 In the Production renderer dialog, assign Iray+ or Iray+ Interactive.
4 In the ActiveShade renderer dialog, assign Iray+ or Iray+ Interactive .
This will enable all Iray+ options within Render Setup and the Material Editor.
1.3.3
Ensuring material accuracy
Materials in Iray+ are designed with size accuracy in mind. To ensure Iray+ materials display
at an accurate scale:
1 Select [ Customize I Preferences ] in the 3ds Max menu bar.
2 Under the General tab, ensure the Use Real-World Texture Coordinates checkbox is ticked.
3 Select OK to confirm the change.
1.3.4
Downloading material libraries
Iray+ makes hundreds of materials available to use in your work. See the Material Libraries
page (page 180) to download these.
1.4
Iray+ feature list
1.4.1
Rendering
• Includes two renderers: Iray+ Interactive, for fast preview of lighting and materials; and
Iray+, for full photorealistic representation of all aspects of the scene
• Physically accurate ray trace rendering
• Images converge quickly without persistent artefacts
• Instant scene preview with Iray+ Interactive renderer in ActiveShade
• Assign local or remote resources (GPU and CPU) independently to either renderer
• Near linear acceleration when adding additional GPUs
• Remote and cloud rendering capability
• Simultaneous render elements for post processing
• Architectural sampler for optimisation of architectural scenes
• Uses latest version of Iray+ (Iray+ 2015) which includes new features and significant
speed improvements
• Support for motion blur and depth of field using 3ds Max camera multi-pass effect.
10
1.4 Iray+ feature list
1.4.2
1 Overview
Materials
• Intuitive material design, based on layered representation of real-world materials
• Supports up to 16 layers per material for complex material representation
• Native MDL support
• A library of high quality materials
• MDL import and export for cross application material sharing
• Support for standard 3ds Max maps and additional new Iray+ noise maps
• Fast conversion from mental ray or Autodesk materials
• Measured material data import
• New materials made available regularly
• Decal support
• Accelerated Subsurface Scattering.
1.4.3
Lighting
• Supports 3ds Max standard and photometric lights
• New Iray+ photometric light type
• Fast area light with IES distribution
• Emissive materials to make any geometry emit light
• Iray+ physical sun and sky system
• Configurable IBL environments with optional matte shadows and reflections
• Irradiance lighting analysis mode for accurate light and heat simulation
• Viewport preview of IBL for fast positioning
• Accurate preview of all light types in ActiveShade with interactive update
• Real world units for area lights
• User enabled caustic sampling
• Define custom Light Path Expressions (LPEs) and render to separate layers.
1.4.4
Workflow
• Adjust tone mapping interactively in ActiveShade
• Intuitive material editing UI in both compact and slate material editors
• Control over frame completion and render optimizations
• Fits into existing 3ds Max workflows
• Supports MaxScript
• MDL export/import allows material consistency between all Iray+-based plug-in ren-
derers (3ds Max, Maya and Revit)
• Access infinite compute resource using cluster or cloud rendering
• Simple scene conversion between mental ray and Iray+ includes lights, materials and
environments.
11
1 Overview
1.5
1.5.1
1.5 Tutorials
Tutorials
Headphones tutorial
This tutorial walks you through setting up lighting, Iray+ materials and rendering with Iray+
and Iray+ Interactive renderers using a product within a studio environment.
Download the tutorial
12
1.5 Tutorials
1.5.2
1 Overview
Interior tutorial
This architectural visualization tutorial includes using Iray+ Interactive for fast scene changes
to geometry and materials, Depth of Field, Tone Mapping and Iray+ Lighting.
13
1 Overview
1.5.3
1.5 Tutorials
HDRI camera-matching tutorial
HDRI Tutorial
The tutorial walks you through the steps required to match Moofe (page 97) backplates with
your camera in 3ds Max. A selection of HDRI and backplates are available free for personal
use from moofe, download the starter pack here.
14
2 Materials
2
2.1
Materials
Using materials
Materials in Iray+ are integrated directly in the 3ds Max Slate and Compact Material Editors,
with a large, high quality library of example materials to give you a reference point to create
virtually any material. If you prefer to start from scratch, Iray+ base components give total
freedom over building materials.
Material structure in Iray+
15
2 Materials
2.1 Using materials
Video:
http://zippy.gfycat.com/FittingUnripeBarasingha.mp4
In the Slate Material Editor, Iray+ Materials show each layer and its available map locations
are shown as input sockets. As you add or remove layers the material node will update.
Later sections of this documentation describe importing and exporting MDL materials (page
68). See Autodesk Help for more information on using the Slate Material Editors material
nodes.
2.1.1
Using an existing material
The quickest way to get started with materials in Iray+ is by choosing an example from our
supplied material library. You can then adapt this to your own requirements. For this example
we will take a material from the example Iray+ Material Library.
1 If the LwIrayPlusMaterials.mat library is not loaded in the 3ds Max Material Editor,
click the dropdown arrow at the top of the Material/Map Browser and choose the Open
Material Library... item.
16
2.1 Using materials
2 Materials
Video: http://zippy.gfycat.com/
RecklessBogusCottontail.mp4
1 Navigate to:
C:\Program~Files\Autodesk\3dsMax2015\materiallibraries
and choose the LwIrayPlusMaterials.mat file.
2 Inside are several example materials to use and adapt.
2.1.2
Creating materials
When creating a material from the ground up, you will use one of the Iray+ material components (page 104). In the following example, we will work with an Iray+ material component
to create a complex multi-layered car paint.
An Iray+ material example
1 Create a simple studio environment and add a 10m3 object such as a ChamferBox
2 Apply a UVW map modifier and set Box as the mapping type
3 Open an ActiveShade window to view the changes to materials as you add layers
17
2 Materials
2.2 Iray+ material
4 In the 3ds Max Material Editor, choose Iray+ Material from the Material/Map Browser from
[ Materials I Iray+ I Iray+ Material ] and apply this to the object you created. Select the following parameters to create the basis of the material:
• Base
• Base Preset: Matte
• Colour: RGB 0, 35, 4
• Roughness: 0.05
5 To add some paint flakes, add a coating layer from [ Iray+ Material I Coating ] and apply
the following parameters:
• Coating Preset: Flakes
• FlakeColour: RGB 124, 251, 0
• FlakeRoughness: 0.2
• Weight: 0.15
• FlakeSize: 0.05
• FlakeAmount: 0.5
• FlakeBumpiness: 0.5
6 For a second coating layer, add some finish to the material. Add a coating layer from
[ Iray+ Material I Coating ] and apply the following parameters:
• Coating Preset: ClearCoat (remove the Iray+ Perlin Noise map attached to the Nor-
mal parameter)
• DiffuseColour: RGB 7, 10, 28
• Roughness: 0.2
• ReflectedColour: RGB 255, 255, 255
• Exponent: 4.0
• NormalReflectivity: 0.2
• GrazingReflectivity: 1.0
• UseIOR: Off
• Weight: 1.0
7 Now add a Surface layer from [ Iray+ Material I Surface ] and apply the RadialScratches2
preset. You should have a material similar to the illustration above.
See also:
• Iray+ Material Library Converter (page 76)
• Material Libraries (page 180)
Note: If you are using 3ds Max 2014, navigate to:
C:\Program~Files\Autodesk\3dsMax2014\materiallibraries
or:
C:\Program~Files\Autodesk\3dsMax2016\materiallibraries for 3ds Max 2016
2.2
Iray+ material
The Iray+ Material is a monolithic shader used to create almost all other Iray+ materials.
Iray+ Material provides the full range of functionality described in the section on material
components (page 104). That section should be used as a reference for all material creation
except some exceptional uses where Iray+ Ocean (page 19) and Iray+ Metal (page 23) are
uniquely suited.
18
2.3 Iray+ Ocean
2.2.1
2 Materials
Adding an Iray+ material
Adding a material
Iray+ Material is found in the material editor under [ Materials I Iray+ ]. You can begin adding
layers, and using the preset dropdown menus to develop your required appearance. The
following sections describe the capabilities and presets of each layer.
2.3
Iray+ Ocean
Iray+ Ocean is a specialized material designed for creating complex bodies of water that
include particles and volumetric effects.
Examples of materials created using Iray+ Ocean can be found in the Iray+ Liquids library
(page 191).
2.3.1
Using Iray+ ocean
Adding a material
Iray+ Ocean is found in the material editor under [ Materials I Iray+ ]. The following sections
describe the parameters and functionality available in this material.
19
2 Materials
2.3 Iray+ Ocean
The Ocean Material Editor UI
20
2.3 Iray+ Ocean
2.3.2
2 Materials
Volume parameters
VolumeColor
Color
Controls the color of the material. Light passing through the material will gradually be absorbed based on this color. The further the light travels in the material, the more light will be
absorbed. This must be a single color value, it cannot be a texture map or noise function.
VolumeColor
VolumeDistance
VolumeColor
VolumeColor
0.0→inf
This scale, in metres, controls the overall strength of the subsurface absorption and scattering
effects. Reducing this parameter will strengthen the effects. On average, light passing through
the material will undergo scattering and absorption each time it travels this distance through
the material.
VolumeDistance: 0.0
VolumeDistance: 7.0
VolumeDistance: 20.0
2.3.3
Particle parameters
ParticleDensity 0.0→1.0
Controls how much of the volume is taken up by particles. The higher the ParticleDensity,
the less you will be able to see below the surface of the material.
ParticleDensity: 0.0
21
2 Materials
2.3 Iray+ Ocean
QuickParticles
On/Off Checkbox
Switches between a simplified and a more accurate representation of particles in the material.
If set to true, particles are approximated by a simple but fast shading effect at the surface
of the material. If false, particles are simulated using slower but more accurate subsurface
scattering effects.
2.3.4
IOR
Refraction parameters
0.0→inf
IOR (Index of Refraction) controls how much the material refracts (or distorts) the transmitted
light.
IOR: 1.0
ThinWalled
IOR: 1.34
IOR: 20
On/Off Checkbox
Treats the objects to which the material is applied as thin sheets instead of solid, filled objects.
If set to true, all refraction, subsurface absorption and subsurface scattering effects will be
disabled.
ThinWall On
22
2.4 Iray+ Metal
2.4
2 Materials
Iray+ Metal
Iray+ Metal material
The Iray+ Metal material contains measured information about metals from which various
metal types can be created using combinations of surfaces and coatings; because they use
measured data, these are extremely accurate. If you want more control over the appearance
(and therefore less accuracy) of a metal material use Iray+ Material (page 18) and choose one
of the metal base presets.
Examples of materials created using Iray+ Metal can be found in the Iray+ Metals library
(page 193).
2.4.1
Using Iray+ Metal
Adding a material
Iray+ Metal is found in the material editor under [ Materials I Iray+ ]. The following sections
describe the parameters and functionality available in this material.
23
2 Materials
2.4.2
Presets
2.4 Iray+ Metal
Parameters
Dropdown menu
This component contains the following measured examples of metal:
24
Aluminium
AluminiumCopper
Chromium
Copper
Gold
Iron
Lead
Mercury
Molybdenum
Nickel
Platinum
Rhodium
Silver
Titanium
Tungsten
Vanadium
2.5 Iray+ conversion materials
Roughness
2 Materials
0.0→1.0 / Map
Simulates the level of polish. Higher values result in blurrier reflections.
Roughness: 0.0
Anisotropy
Roughness: 0.1
Roughness: 0.5
0.0→1.0 / Map
Simulates the effect of reflections on brushed or machined surfaces where you have parallel
scratches or grooves. Reflections tend to get stretched out in a direction orthogonal to the
scratch direction. Higher values increase stretching. Anisotropy works in conjunction with
the roughness parameter.
Anisotropy: 0.0
AnisotropyRotation
Anisotropy: 0.5
Anisotropy: 0.9
0.0→1.0 / Map
Controls the direction the reflection is stretched relative to the texture coordinate axis at that
point. You can apply textures to this to get circular brushed effects. The range is 0.0 to 1.0,
where 1.0 means 360 degrees, 0.25 means 90 degrees, etc. To work this out, just multiply the
value by 360. You can apply textures to this to get circular brushed effects.
AnisotropyRotation: 0.25
(90 ◦ )
2.5
(180 ◦ )
(306 ◦ )
Iray+ conversion materials
Iray+ has several materials that are used primarily to faciliate scene conversion from mental
ray (page 70). These conversion materials are optimised for compatibility not speed, for faster
rendering time, we recommend using Iray+ materials where possible.
25
2 Materials
• Iray+ Arch and Design (page 26)
• Iray+ FastSSS (page 28)
• Iray+ Metallic Paint (page 29)
• Iray+ Skin SSS (page 30)
• Iray+ Generic (page 32)
Note: These materials will not appear in the material editor unless you have converted
your scene using the scene conversion tool. We recommend using Iray+ Components
(page 99) where possible.
2.5.1
Iray+ Arch and Design
This material matches the mental ray Arch and Design material in 3ds Max, allowing simple
conversion (page 70) of existing scenes to Iray+ materials. This material is energy conserving;
this is described in the original Arch and Design documentation, and Iray+ matches this.
Conversion from mental ray Arch and Design to this material makes some assumptions based
on your chosen parameter value. See the conversion notes (page 28) for details.
Group
Parameter Name
Description
Range/Input
Diffuse
DiffuseLevel
Defines the brightness of the diffuse
color. Final level affected by
Reflectivity and Transparency as
this is an Energy Conserving
Material.
0.0→1.0
DiffuseRoughness
Known as Oren-Nayar diffuse:
allows clay-like powder surfaces at
higher values.
0.0→1.0/ Map
DiffuseColour
The main color of the material.
RGB/Map
Reflectivity
The (maximum) amount of
reflectivity. Final level dependant on
BRDF values.
0.0→1.0
ReflectionGlossiness
Defines the glossiness of the surface.
1.0 results in a perfectly mirrored
surface, lower values result in more
diffuse reflectivity.
0.0→1.0 / Map
ReflectionColour
The overall reflection color, usually
white.
RGB/Map
MetalMaterial
When enabled, the color of the
reflections is taken from the main
diffuse color (DiffuseColour).
Reflectivity sets the balance between
the diffuse and glossy reflections.
On/Off
Transparency
The amount of transparency; final
level is dependant on BRDF values.
Transparency is also affected by
RefractionColour, with black being
completely diffuse.
0.0→1.0
Reflection
Refraction
26
Translucency
Anisotropy
2 Materials
RefractionGlossiness
Defines the sharpness of the
refraction. 1.0 will result in
completely clear transparency, lower
numbers are more diffuse.
0.0→1.0 / Map
RefractionColour
Can be used to create a colored
glass. If the Refraction Transparancy
is set to 1.0 in Iray/mental ray,
setting the transparency color to
black will mean that the material
reverts to its supplied diffuse color.
Whereas in Iray+ this will result in a
pure black material that ignores the
diffuse colour. To mimic the mental
ray implementation, you can simply
set the Refraction Transparancy to
0.0
RGB/Map
RefractionIOR
The Index of Refraction of the
material.
0.0→50.0
RefractionFalloffOn
Enables falloff for refractions, used
for materials where you cannot see
the transparency beyond a certain
distance/color.
On/Off
RefractionFalloffDistance
The distance where no transparency
is seen or when the falloff color is
reached.
0.0→inf
RefractionFalloffColourOn
Enables using
RefractionFalloffColor.
On/Off
RefractionFalloffColor
Changes the color of the refraction
at the extremities or edges of the
material, for example, a glass bottle
may look more green at its edges
than its center.
RGB/Map
ThinWalled
Treats surfaces as thin wafers of
material, rather than the boundaries
of solids.
On/Off
Translucency
Enables material translucency.
On/Off
TranslucencyWeight
Determines how much of the
existing transparency is used as
translucency. For example, a value
of 0.3 means that 30% of the
transparency will be used as
translucency.
0.0→1.0 / Map
TranslucencyColour
The color of the translucency.
RGB/Map
Anisotropy
Controls the shape of the highlight.
At 1.0, the highlight is round: there
is no anisotropy. Lower values
create elongated highlights and
reflection effects.
0.0→1.0 / Map
AnisotropyRotation
Changes the orientation of the
highlight. The range of 0.0 to 1.0 is
mapped to a range of 0.0 to 360.0
degrees.
0.0→1.0 / Map
27
2 Materials
BRDF
2.5.1.1
ByIOR
When enabled, the BRDF uses the
RefractionIOR value (Refraction
group) to determine...
On/Off
BRDF_0DegRefl
Reflectivity at the angle directly
facing the camera or viewer.
0.0→1.0
BRDF_90DegRefl
Reflectivity as viewed at the
’grazing’ angle or the appearance of
reflectivity as it appears looking
across the surface.
0.0→1.0
BRDF_CurveShape
Alters the falloff of the BRDF curve.
0.01→25.0
Conversion notes
• Glossy samples — If 0.0, the converter will turn off Glossiness
• Highlights+FG — When enabled, the converter will reduce Glossiness and Reflectivity
of the material
• Self-illumination — Only values in Kelvin will be converted. If you have set a color preset
(i.e. incandescent filament lamp) this will not convert, and the color temperature will
default to 6500k.
• Templates — For correct conversion of the following Arch and Design templates:
• Glazed Ceramic
• Matte Plastic
• Glossy Plastic
Set the Refraction and/or transparency to 0. This will result in a more accurate appearance.
2.5.2
Iray+ Fast SSS
This material matches the mental ray Subsurface Scattering Fast Material in 3ds Max, allowing
simple conversion of existing scenes to Iray for 3ds Max materials.
Group
Parameter Name
Description
Range/Input
Diffuse
OverallDiffuseColoration
This is the overall diffuse color. All
other colors in this material are
multiplied by this color to give the
final result. Useful for tinting the
final effect.
RGB/Map
UnscatteredDiffuseColour
The color of the material which is
not scattering light.
RGB/Map
UnscatteredDiffuseWeight
The contribution of the unscattered
element to the overall look.
0.0→1.0 / Map
FrontSubsurfaceColour
The color of the front surface
scattering.
RGB/Map
FrontSubsurfaceWeight
The contribution of the front surface
scattering to the overall look.
0.0→1.0 / Map
BackSubsurfaceColour
The color of the back surface
scattering, i.e. light going through
the object.
RGB/Map
BackSubsurfaceWeight
The contribution of the back surface
scattering to the overall look.
0.0→1.0 / Map
Subsurface
28
Specularity
Advanced
2.5.3
2 Materials
SubsurfaceScatterRadius
The scatter radius in the subsurface.
Light will scatter this distance in the
subsurface.
0.0→inf /Map
SpecularColour
The color of highlights on the
reflective parts of the object.
RGB/Map
Shininess
Shininess affects the size of the
specular highlights, and the amount
of reflectivity visible on the object.
0.0→1.0 / Map
ScatterBias
Control the mix of forward and
backwards scattering. A value of 0.0
gives completely uniform scattering.
Positive values favor forward
scattering, and negative values favor
back scattering.
-1.0→1.0
IOR
Controls how much the material
refracts (or distorts) the transmitted
light.
0.0→50.0
Iray+ Metallic Paint
Iray+ Metallic Paint material
This material matches the mental ray Car Paint material in 3ds Max, allowing simple conversion of existing scenes to Iray+ materials.
Group
Parameter Name
Description
Range/Input
Diffuse
BaseColour
Sets the base color for the paint.
RGB/Map
Roughness
Increasing the roughness gives
materials a flatter, more matte
appearance.
0.0→1.0 / Map
EdgeWeight
Defines how much of the geometry
is defined as Edges (glancing
angles).
0.0→1.0 / Map
EdgeColour
The color seen at the edges—this
usually is set much darker than the
BaseColour.
RGB/Map
29
2 Materials
Reflectivity
Flakes
2.5.4
EdgeBias
Defines how much of the
appearance is biased to the
EdgeColour, i.e. the falloff rate
towards the edge (color). A value of
0.0 gives no falloff.
0.01→25.0 / Map
LightFacingWeight
Defines how much of the geometry
is defined as a Face (geometry
facing towards a light).
0.0→1.0 / Map
LightFacingColour
The color seen illuminated on the
object’s surface.
RGB/Map
LightFacingBias
Defines how much of the material
appearance is weighted towards the
LightFacingColour. A smaller
number increases the amount of
LightFacingColour seen.
0.01→25.0 / Map
ReflColour
The color of the reflection.
RGB/Map
ReflEdgeWeight
The reflective strength at the edges.
0.0→1.0 / Map
ReflFacingWeight
The reflective strength for facing
geometry.
0.0→1.0 / Map
FlakeColour
Allows different colored flakes of
paint in the appearance of your
material.
RGB/Map
FlakeWeight
Defines how much of the surface
should be covered by flakes.
0.0→1.0 / Map
FlakeScale
Controls the size of individual
flakes.
0.0→inf /Map
FlakeDensity
Defines how close together the
flakes will appear.
0.0→inf /Map
UnitConversion
Adjusts, FlakeScale, to control the
size of individual flakes, when
using non-metres units.
0.0→inf
Iray+ Skin SSS
Iray+ Skin SSS material
This material matches the mental ray Subsurface Scattering Fast Skin material in 3ds Max,
allowing simple conversion of existing scenes to Iray+ materials.
30
2 Materials
Group
Parameter Name
Description
Range/Input
Diffuse
OverallDiffuseColoration
The overall coloration. This affects
all skin layers.
RGB/Map
UnscatteredDiffuseColour
The color of the material which is
not scattering light, ie the very top
layer of the skin.
RGB/Map
UnscatteredDiffuseWeight
The contribution of the unscattered
element to the overall look.
0.0→1.0 / Map
SubsurfaceScatterRadius
The scatter radius in the subsurface
(all 3 layers). Light will scatter this
distance in the subsurface.
0.0→inf /Map
TopScatterColour
The color of the epidermal (top)
skin layer.
RGB/Map
TopScatterWeight
The weight of the epidermal (top)
skin layer, default is 0.5.
0.0→1.0 / Map
SubdermalScatterColour
The color of the subdermal skin
layer. This is the thicker ’meat’ layer
and is usually reddish in human
skin.
RGB/Map
SubdermalScatterWeight
The weight of the subdermal skin
layer, default is 0.5.
0.0→1.0 / Map
BackScatterColour
The color of the back scatter layer.
This is often used for ’through’ skin
effects like ears.
RGB/Map
BackScatterWeight
The weight of the back scatter layer.
0.0→1.0 / Map
OverallSpecularWeight
The overall weight of all the
specular effects in the material.
0.0→1.0 / Map
SpecularColour1
The color of the broad, soft
specularity of skin.
RGB/Map
SpecularWeight1
The weight of the broad, soft
0.0→1.0 / Map
SpecularEdgeWeight1
The additional weight at the edges
of the broad, soft specularity of skin.
0.0→1.0 / Map
Shininess1
Affects the size of the broad, soft
0.0→1.0 / Map
SpecularColour2
The color of the near-reflective
specularity of the top layer oiliness
and wetness of skin.
RGB/Map
SpecularWeight2
The weight of the near-reflective
0.0→1.0 / Map
SpecularEdgeWeight2
The additional weight at the edges
of the near-reflective specularity of
the top layer oiliness and wetness of
skin.
0.0→1.0 / Map
Shininess2
Affects the size of the near-reflective
0.0→1.0 / Map
ReflectionWeight
The weight of the reflections.
0.0→1.0 / Map
Subsurface Scattering
Specularity
Reflectivity
31
2 Materials
Advanced
2.5.5
ReflEdgeWeight
The weight of the reflections at the
edges.
0.0→1.0 / Map
ReflGlossiness
The glossiness of the surface. 1.0
results in a perfectly mirrored
surface, lower values result in more
diffuse reflectivity.
0.0→1.0 / Map
ScatterBias
Control the mix of forward and
backwards scattering. A value of 0.0
gives completely uniform scattering.
Positive values favor forward
scattering, and negative values favor
back scattering.
-1.0→1.0
IOR
Controls how much the material
refracts (or distorts) the transmitted
light.
0.0→50.0
Iray+ Generic
This is a diverse, multipurpose material that is designed to mimic the features of the Autodesk
Generic material.
The purpose of this conversion material is to allow accurate conversions of the whole Autodesk Material library. For example, the scene convertor works by converting an Autodesk
Concrete material into an Autodesk Generic material, and in turn into an Iray+ Generic material.
Group
Parameter Name
Description
Range/Input
Generic
Colour
The base color of the material.
RGB/Map
Image
Apply an image to the material, this
will usually hide the color unless
you omit tiling from the map.
RGB/Map
ImageFade
Controls the fade between the
Colour and the Image parameters.
0.0→100.0
Glossiness
Controls the glossiness of the
surface.
0.0→100.0
UseGlossinessMap
When enabled, the Glossiness
parameter is ignored and the
GlossinessMap parameter is used
instead.
On/Off
GlossinessMap
Apply a map for the glossy pattern.
Only active when
UseGlossinessMap is checked.
RGB/Map
Highlights
Uses metallic specular highlights for
the material. When switched off this
uses non-metallic highlights.
On/Off
EnableReflectivity
When enabled, the material is
reflective.
On/Off
DirectRefl
Controls the normal reflectivity.
0.0→100.0
UseDirectRefltMap
When enabled, the DirectRelf
DirectReflMap is used instead.
On/Off
Reflectivity
32
Transparency
2 Materials
DirectReflMap
Apply a map for the normal
reflectivity pattern. (Ignore the
numeric value field.)
Map
ObliqueRefl
Controls the grazing reflectivity.
0.0→100.0
UseObliqueRelfMap
When enabled, the ObliqueRefl
ObliqueReflMap parameter is used
instead.
On/Off
ObliqueRelfMap
Apply a map for the grazing
reflectivity pattern. (Ignore the
numeric value field.)
Map
ByIOR
When enabled, RefractionIOR
(Transparency group) is used to
determine reflectivity.
On/Off
EnableTransparency
When enabled, the material is
transparent.
On/Off
TransparencyAmount
Controls the overall transparency.
0.0→100.0
UseTransparencyImage
When enabled, the
TransparencyImage parameter is
used in combination with the
Reflectivity.
On/Off
TransparencyImage
When UseTransparencyImage is
enabled, this will be used. (Ignore
the numeric value field.)
Map
TransparencyImageFade
Controls the compositing of the
effect of the image map.
0.0→100.0
TranslucencyAmount
Controls the translucency of the
material.
0.0→100.0
UseTranslucencyMap
When enabled, the
TranslucencyMap is used instead of
the TranslucencyAmount.
On/Off
TranslucencyMap
Apply a map for the translucency
pattern. (Ignore the numeric value
field.)
Map
RefractionIOR
The Index of Refraction of the
material. Controls how much the
material refracts (or distorts) the
transmitted light
0.0→50.0
33
3 Lighting
3
3.1 Physical sky
Lighting
3.1
Physical sky
PhysicalSky generates a physically realistic, high dynamic range sky dome around a scene so
you can create stills and animations for any time of the day at any location in the world.
An alternative is to use an IBL light (page 37) using your own HDRI.
3.1.1
Adding a light
Create Panel
3.1.2
⇒ Lights ⇒
Dropdown
⇒ PhysSky button
Physical sky parameters
Iray+ Physical Sky
Parameters
Manual
Azimuth
The angle of the sun around the horizon measured clockwise from North
Altitude
The elevation in degrees of the sun in the sky between the horizon and the zenith (the
point directly overhead).
34
3.1 Physical sky
3 Lighting
Date, Time and Location
Time
Set the time, date and time zone of your location, and give the option of observing
Daylight Saving Time
Location
Set the Longitude and Latitude of your location
Intensity
Physically Based
Fixes certain parameters to physically accurate values, these parameters are Intensity,
Haze, Glow and Red Shift parameters.
Intensity
Increases or decreases the brightness of the scene, values other than 1.0 are not
physically accurate.
3.1.3
Appearance parameters
Iray+ Physical Sky
Appearance Parameters
Atmospherics
Haze
Simulates the effect of particulates in the atmosphere. Low values will give a clear sky,
while the higher values will increase the effect of light scattering
Glow
Affects the size and softness of the glow around the sun disc, at 0.0, the sun will look
sharp. The higher the value the larger and blurrier the sun disc will appear.
Color
35
3 Lighting
3.1 Physical sky
Red-Blue Shift
Controls the appearance of red in the sky. Can be used to create more dramatic
sunrise and sunsets
Floor Color
Controls the color appearance of the floor.
Sun Disc
Size
Changes the size of the sun disc, this does not affect the amount of light in the scene
only the physical appearance.
Horizon
Horizon
Controls the height of the horizon line
Horizon Blur
Softens the horizon line and blends it with the sky.
3.1.4
Ground parameters
Iray+ Physical Sky Ground
parameters
Shadow/Reflections
Shadows
Toggle for shadow visibility on the ground plane of your environment.
Density
Controls the strength (darkness) of the shadow.
Reflections
Toggle for reflections on the ground plane of your environment.
Glossiness
Range is from 0 to 10,000,000. A value of 0 gives diffuse reflections and 10,000,000
gives perfect mirror reflections, with numbers in between giving varying degrees of
glossiness.
36
3.2 Image based lighting
3 Lighting
Note: Iray+ Interactive (page 2) renderer does not display varying degrees of
glossiness — in general, glossiness will not be displayed except for values greater
than 20,000, when perfect mirror is used.
Reflectivity
Adds a color tint to the reflection.
Ground Height
Defines where the ground plane is on your model. Change this if the base of your
model is not sitting on the ground plane correctly.
Note: Iray+ allows one Physical Sky or IBL (page 37) environment to contribute to
lighting at one time, however you can add and keep as many inside the scene as your
require. To choose the active environment when there is more than one in the scene, use
the Active Environment (page 56) setting in Settings (page 55).
3.1.5
Light details
• IBL (page 37)
• Iray+ lights (page 40)
See also:
• Lighting analysis (page 74)
• Lighting concepts (page 34)
• 3ds Max Light compatibility (page 44)
3.2
Image based lighting
An IBL (Image Based Lighting) instance in your scene gives you the use of HDRI type environments for scene lighting. This can also be used as a background for your scene, or purely
for lighting purposes.
An alternative is to use the built-in high dynamic range sun and sky system: Physical Sky
(page 34).
For downloadable HDRI content, see section moofe HDRI and backplates (page 97).
3.2.1
Using HDR and EXR files
To achieve realistic lighting results from a Spherical environment, it is important to ensure that
the chosen HDRI or IBL has a realistic dynamic range. For example, HDRIs of exteriors often
do not show the sun as being sufficiently bright compared to the rest of the image. The sun
(unobscured by cloud) should be of the order of 100,000 times brighter than the surrounding
sky. If the sun is significantly fainter than this, the final image may be unrealistic. Typical
results are an overly blue tint to the scene (due to the relatively stronger contribution from
the sky), soft shadows, and a general lack of contrast.
3.2.2
Adding a light
37
3 Lighting
Create Panel
3.2.3
⇒ Lights ⇒
Dropdown
⇒ IBL button
IBL parameters
Iray+ IBL parameters
Image
Map Button
Use the map button (says ‘none’ when empty, and the filename of the HDRI when in
use)
Intensity
Increases or decreases the contribution of the HDRI to the lighting
Mirror Image
Flips the attached map horizontally
Preview in viewport
Shows the HDRI in the viewport
Wireframe Preview
Shows the environment in wireframe form in your viewport
Shape
Dropdown menu gives the option for Hemisphere or Spherical environments.
Radius
Increase or decrease the size of the environment.
Cam Height
Moves the HDRI up or down within the environment.
38
3.2.4
3 Lighting
Ground parameters
Iray+ Ground Parameters
Shadow/Reflections
Shadows
Toggle for shadow visibility on the ground plane of your environment.
Density
Controls the strength (darkness) of the shadow.
Reflections
Toggle for reflections on the ground plane of your environment.
Glossiness
Range is from 0 to 10,000,000. A value of 0 gives diffuse reflections and 10,000,000
gives perfect mirror reflections, with numbers in between giving varying degrees of
glossiness.
Note: Iray+ Interactive (page 2) renderer does not display varying degrees of
glossiness — in general, glossiness will not be displayed except for values greater
than 20,000, when perfect mirror is used.
Reflectivity
Adds a color tint to the reflection
Ground Height
Defines where the ground plane is on your model. Change this if the base of your
model is not sitting on the ground plane correctly.
Note: Iray+ allows one Physical Sky (page 34) or IBL environment to contribute to
lighting at one time, however you can add and keep as many inside the scene as your
require. To choose the active environment, when there is more than one in the scene, use
the Active Environment (page 56) setting in Settings (page 55).
3.2.5
Light Details
• Physical Sky (page 34)
39
3 Lighting
3.3 Iray+ lights
• Iray+ Lights (page 40)
• Iray+ Emission (page 43)
See also:
• 3ds Max light compatibility (page 44)
3.3
3.3.1
Iray+ lights
Adding a light
Create Panel
3.3.2
⇒ Lights ⇒
Dropdown
⇒ Light button
Light parameters
Iray+ Light Parameters
On
Toggles the effect of the light without removing the geometry from the scene
Visible to Camera
Controls whether the camera can see the light source geometry. If you have the light
marked as “on” and Visible to Camera marked “off’ with the Iray+ renderer, a light will
only be made invisible to primary eye rays, that is, when viewed directly from the
camera. But any lights marked as not visible with the light still “on” will still be visible in
reflections, or through transparent materials, and will still cast shadows. However, when
using the Iray+ Interactive renderer, the light will be invisible even in
reflections/refractions.
40
3.3 Iray+ lights
3 Lighting
Emit Light from (Shape)
Dropdown
Choose different light shapes:
• Disc
• Rectangle
• Sphere
• Cylinder
Radius
Changes the size of the light shape for Sphere, Disc and Cylinder lights
Length
Changes the length of the light shape for Rectangle and Cylinder lights
Width
Changes the width of the Rectangle lights.
Light Distribution
Use Profile
Toggles the photometric profile on or off, but does not turn off the light
Map Button
Opens your file system to locate a photometric profile
X, Y, Z Rotation
Transforms the photometric light distribution, using 3ds Max transforms in the
viewport only rotate the light, not the photometric.
Note: You can rotate the IES file by using 3ds Max transforms on the light in the
viewport.
Color effects for Iray+ Lights
41
3 Lighting
3.3.2.1
3.3 Iray+ lights
Light Intensity parameters
Intensity
Increases or decreases the intensity of the light, this is measured in lux or lumens
depending on which of the following parameters is selected:
Lumens
The total amount of light emitted will be independent of the size of the light source
geometry. Increasing the surface area will mean each part of the surface becomes
dimmer, so that the sum total light emitted stays constant
Lux
This is based on Power per Unit Area. The total amount of light emitted will be
proportional to the surface area of the light source geometry. Increasing the surface
area will mean more light enters the scene.
Color
Lighting Type
Provides preset color temperatures based on various light types:
• Full Spectrum
• D50 Horizon light (5003k)
• D55 Mid morning/afternoon daylight (5503k)
• D65 Noon daylight (6504k)
• D75 North sky daylight (7504k)
• F1 Daylight Fluorescent (6430k)
• F2 Cool White Fluorescent (4230k)
• F3 White Fluorescent (3450k)
• F4 Warm White Fluorescent (2940k)
• F5 Daylight Fluorescent (6350k)
• F6 Light White Fluorescent (4150k)
• A Incandescent/Tungsten (2856k)
• Phosphor Mercury (6800k)
• Xenon (6400k
• Mercury (4000k)
• Quartz (3350k)
• Halogen (3000k)
• High pressure sodium (2200k)
Color Temperature (K)
Provides manual control over the Kelvin value of the light.
Filter Color
Acts as a colored gel in front of your light source. Using a 0k or Full Spectrum value
will show the tint chosen exactly. Using a different temperature light will see accurate
color mixing between the tint and the light color.
3.3.3
Light details
• IBL (page 37)
42
3.4 Iray+ emission
3 Lighting
See also:
3.4
Iray+ emission
Iray+ Emission allows any geometry to have emissive properties, which lets you create objects such as screens, LEDs, light bulbs and projections. Emissive materials can use textured
emission through bitmaps or use standard light profiles. Iray+ Emission can be set at the
Geometry layer of every Iray+ material.
Note: The Iray+ Interactive Renderer will not display illumination of the scene; the object
itself will be shown illuminated.
Iray+ Emission Dropdown
Emission
On
Toggles Emission on or off without losing chosen settings
Use Profile
Add a photometric/IES file to define characteristics of the emission. You will not be
able to use IES profiles in conjunction with a textured emission map
Template
Choose from a dropdown list of common lighting types with fixed, accurate values:
43
3 Lighting
3.4 Iray+ emission
Emission Type
Kelvin Equivalent
Full Spectrum
0k
Xenon short-arc
6200k
Fluorescent
5000k
Studio
3200k
Warm Fluorescent
3000k
Incandescent
2800k
Candle
1850k
Match
1700k
Custom
Controls temperature and intensity parameters manually
Color Temperature
Specifies color temperature in Kelvin.
Tint
Add a color value or textured emission map which acts as a ’gel’ or projection in front
of the light.
Note: IES/Photometric profiles are not compatible with textured emission.
Intensity
Lumens
The total amount of light emitted will be independent of the size of the light source
geometry. Increasing the surface area will mean each part of the surface becomes
dimmer, so that the sum total light emitted stays constant.
Lux
This is based on Power per Unit Area. The total amount of light emitted will be
proportional to the surface area of the light source geometry. Increasing the surface
area will mean more light enters the scene.
3.4.1
Light details
• Iray+ Lights (page 40)
• IBL (page 37)
See also:
44
3.5 Compatibility with 3ds Max lights
3.5
3 Lighting
Compatibility with 3ds Max lights
Iray+ supports many of the existing lights and lighting features in 3ds Max, this means your
existing non-Iray+ scenes should continue to work without replacing them all. The following
page has details of the features that work and the documented exceptions.
3.5.1
Features supported in 3ds Max lights:
• Light templates — Templates which use any parameters supported below will work.
• Photometric distribution — .ies photometric files supported (not .cibse or .ltli files).
• Intensity — Intensity in all calculations (lm, lx at, cd).
• Color — All templates, tints and color temperatures supported.
3.5.2
Features not supported in any 3ds Max light:
• Shadows — Iray+ is physically accurate, therefore shadows will always show accurately.
• Attenuation — Not supported, as it is not physically accurate.
• Atmospheres and effects.
• Advanced effects — Contrast, Soften Diffuse Edge and projector maps not supported.
3.5.3
Supported 3ds Max lights
Group
Light Name
Compatibility
Standard
Target Spot
yes
Target Direct
yes
Omni
yes
mr Area Omni
no
Free Spot
yes
Free Direct
yes
Skylight
no
mr Area Spot
no
Target Light
yes
mr Sky Portal
no
Free Light
yes
Photometric
3.5.4
Light details
• IBL (page 37)
• Iray+ Light (page 40)
45
4 Cameras
4
4.1 Using cameras
Cameras
4.1
Using cameras
Iray+ uses existing 3ds Max cameras, so all basic functions of the camera are compatible.
4.1.1
Adding a camera
Create Panel
4.1.2
⇒ Cameras ⇒
Dropdown
⇒ Target, Free or Physical button
Iray+ compatibility with 3ds Max cameras
Some of the advanced features of 3ds Max cameras are not supported by Iray+ or can be
found in separate interfaces, for example depth of field settings can be found in the Settings
(page 55) screen.
There is limited supported for the Physical Camera. In particular, simple camera position,
target and FOV are supported, but more subtle attributes such as Tilt Correction are not.
Camera Feature
Compatible
Notes
Lens/FOV
yes
Simple lens attributes that affect the FOV
are supported but more complex
properies within the Physical Camera,
such as Aperture, are not.
Orthographic Projection
yes
Show Cone and Horizon
yes
Environment Ranges
no
Ranges will show in viewport but effects
will not render.
Clipping Planes
no
Clipping will show in viewport but will
not render.
Depth of Field
yes
Depth of Field is only supported when
using non-Physical Cameras. See Depth
of Field (page 48).
Motion Blur
yes
See Motion Blur (page 50).
Lens Distortion and Perspective Control
no
Doesn’t affect the rendered image.
Exposure
no
White Balance is controlled using the
Iray+ Tone Mapping (page 46).
Perspective Control
no
Doesn’t affect the rendered image.
4.1.3
Camera effects
Details on advanced camera effects such Depth of Field (page 48) and Motion Blur (page 50)
can be found on the Camera Effects page (page 48)
46
4.2 Tone mapping
4.2
4 Cameras
Tone mapping
The tone mapper allows various controls over the look of your scene. These can be used
during rendering without interrupting progress. These can be found in [ Render Setup I Settings ]
tab, under the Tone Mapper rollout.
Video: http:
//zippy.gfycat.com/PointedHonorableBilby.mp4
Enable Tone Mapping
You may want to disable tone mapping if you are exporting a scene with high dynamic
range.
Exposure Value (EV)
Affects the overall exposure of your scene, positive values underexpose, negative
numbers overexpose.
Highlight Recovery
Controls the compression of the highlights in the image. The higher the value the less the
highlights will be be compressed, with 1.0 giving no compression.
Shadow
Increases the darkness of shadows
Saturation
Increases or decreases the overall color in your scene
White Balance
Predominant Lighting
Adjusts the color of the scene based on the type of lighting used. The dropdown
menu lists many options and the corresponding Kelvin value.
• D50 (Horizon light) 5003k
• D55 (Mid morning/afternoon daylight) 5503k
47
4 Cameras
4.4 Depth of field
• D65 (Noon daylight) 6504k
• D75 (North sky daylight) 7504k
• F1 (Daylight Fluorescent) 6430k
• F2 (cool white fluorescent) 4230k
• F3 (White Fluorescent) 3450k
• F4 (warm white fluorescent) 2940k
• F5 (Daylight fluorescent) 6350k
• F6 (lite white fluorescent) 4150k
• A (Incandescent/Tungsten) 2856k
• Phosphor Mercury 6800k
• Xenon 6400k
• Mercury 4000k
• Quartz 3350k
• Halogen 3000k
• High pressure sodium 2200k
Custom (Kelvin)
Assigns a custom Kelvin value.
4.3
Camera effects
Iray+ uses existing camera functionality in 3ds Max, and is compatible with all on-camera
Multi-Pass Effects. Iray+ also adds an Iray+ specific depth of field effect which is recommended for use in Iray+ scenes.
4.4
Depth of field
Iray+ Depth of Field is integrated directly onto 3ds Max (non-Physical) Cameras, it works in
a similar way to the mental ray Depth of Field multi-pass effect.
Car rendered using Iray+ Depth of Field
48
4.4 Depth of field
4.4.1
4 Cameras
Adding depth of field
1 Add or select a Camera in your scene, and select the modify panel
2 On the camera’s Parameters rollout, under the Multi-Pass Effect group select Depth of
Field (Iray+)
3 Ensure the Enable checkbox is checked, if you have an ActiveShade window open you
will see the effect and any changes made to the parameters.
Note: Lower f-stop numbers result in a shallower (blurrier) effect, larger numbers
result in a sharper image.
Iray+ Interactive Renderer
Settings
4.4.2
Depth of field parameters and compatibility
Multi-Pass Effect
Enable
Turns the chosen Multi-Pass Effect on/off
Preview
Not compatible with Iray+, use ActiveShade to preview effect
Multi-Pass Dropdown
Gives choice over Multi-Pass effect. Depth of Field (Iray+) is recommended, however
other depth of field effects will also work
Render Effects Per Pass
Not compatible with Iray+ as depth of field is created in the first pass.
Target Distance
Uses the location of the cameras target to as the focal point of the effect, if you don’t want
to alter your cameras target to choose a focal point use Distance parameter below
49
4 Cameras
4.5 Motion blur
Iray+ Depth of Field
f-stop
Adjusts the strength of the depth of field effect
Focal Distance Use target distance
Enable checkbox if you are using a Target Camera and want the focal point of your
scene to be where your camera’s target is positioned as set in the above Target
Distance spinbox. If unchecked, Focal Distance will be used instead
Distance
For Free Cameras or manual control over focal distance in your scene, this will be
used if Use Target Distance checkbox is unchecked
Apply to backplate
Applies depth of field effect to any backplate in your scene.
4.5
Motion blur
Iray+ uses 3ds Max’s Motion Blur multi-pass effect, for in depth details refer to 3ds Max’s
Documentation.
Dice rendered using Motion Blur
4.5.1
Adding motion blur
1 Add or select an Camera in your scene, and select the modify panel
2 On the camera’s Parameters rollout, under the Multi-Pass Effect group select Motion
Blur
3 Ensure the Enable checkbox is checked, if you have an ActiveShade window open you
will see the effect and any changes made to the parameters.
50
4.5 Motion blur
4.5.2
4 Cameras
Motion blur parameters
See Multi-Pass Motion Blur Parameters for Cameras in 3ds Max’s Documentation for further
detail on motion blur.
51
5 Rendering
5
5.2 Renderers
Rendering
5.1
5.1.1
Render setup
Choosing Iray+ as your renderer
Iray+ has two renderers, Iray+ and Iray+ Interactive .
Iray+ renderer delivers the best results, and is a good choice as your production renderer.
Iray+ Interactive allows easier movement with your scene, and images resolve faster, this is a
good choice for an ActiveShade renderer.
Assigning Iray+ as your Renderer
1 In 3ds Max, choose the [ Rendering I Render Setup... ] menu item.
2 Choose the Common tab and scroll to Assign Renderer.
3 In the Production renderer dialog, assign Iray+ or Iray+ Interactive.
4 In the ActiveShade renderer dialog, assign Iray+ or Iray+ Interactive.
This will enable all Iray+ options within Render Setup and the Material Editor.
5.2
Renderers
Iray+ has two renderers, Iray+ and Iray+ Interactive. Iray+ renderer delivers the best results,
and is a good choice as your production renderer. Iray+ Interactive allows easier navigation
within your scene, and images resolve faster; this is a good choice for an ActiveShade renderer. Iray+ also contains a Lighting Analysis (page 74) mode which allows you to simulate
and monitor the minimum and maximum lighting levels in your scene.
52
5.2 Renderers
5.2.1
5 Rendering
Iray+ renderer
Iray+ Renderer Settings
5.2.2
Frame completion
Passes/Frame
Defines how many iterations Iray+ will take before considering a frame complete
Minutes/Frame
Defines how many minutes Iray+ will take rendering each frame
Note: Rendering will stop at the first Frame Completion value reached (e.g. 1000 passes
reached before 60 mins).
5.2.3
Optimization
Render Output Window (Production Renderer only)
Only Update on Render Completion
Maximises render efficiency by showing no updates until the final render.
Update Interval (seconds)
Sets the time interval, in seconds, between updates of the Production Render Output
window. Increasing this value can result in improved rendering performance.
Decreasing can degrade rendering performance but provides more frequent feedback.
Your first iteration may take longer than this value to be shown, as the scene’s
complexity may take longer than your chosen time.
Sample Methods
Use Caustic Sampler
Transmission effects and caustics will be seen to resolve far quicker, and with more
accuracy, but with an increase in render time. In actuality, direct caustics that will be
accelerated with this sampler; indirect caustics (for example the reflection of a caustic)
will still resolve at the same rate.
53
5 Rendering
5.2 Renderers
Use Architectural Sampler
(Production Renderer only.) This sampler is designed to make indoor scenes, or
scenes with a lot of indirect/bounced light, converge to the finished result after fewer
iterations. However, it is likely to slow down the rendering process in terms of the
number of iterations rendered per minute.
5.2.4
Iray+ interactive renderer
Note: Iray+ Interactive Renderer has some limitations, including:
• Maximum of 16 lights
• Emissive materials will not illuminate your scene
• Subsurface scattering effects will not be rendered with SSS materials
More information on Iray+ Interactive limitations (page 2).
Iray+ Interactive Renderer Settings
5.2.5
Frame completion
Passes/Frame
Defines how many iterations the renderer will take before considering a frame complete
Minutes/Frame
Defines how many minutes Iray+ will take rendering each frame
Note: Rendering will stop at the first Frame Completion value reached (e.g. 1000 passes
reached before 60 mins).
5.2.6
Optimization
Ray Depth
Increases or decreases the extent of the raytracing; a lower number will reduce scene
accuracy but will speed up rendering
54
5.3 Settings
5 Rendering
Lighting
Approximate Bounced Light
Adds an approximation of indirect light in the scene
Approximate Area Lights
Replaces accurate area lights with an approximation based on point lights
5.3
Settings
Settings contains options for advanced workflows such as overriding materials, settings custom MDL paths and alternating lighting environments. This menu also provides fine grain
settings for hardware use. These options can be found in the [ Render Setup I Settings ] tab.
5.3.1
Tone mapping
The tone mapper allows various controls over the look of your scene. These can be used
during rendering without interrupting progress. These can be found in [ Render Setup I Settings ]
tab, under the Tone Mapper rollout.
The Iray+ Tone Mapper
Enable Tone Mapping
You may want to disable tone mapping if you are exporting a scene with high dynamic
range.
Exposure Value (EV)
Affects the overall exposure of your scene. Increasing the EV will reduce the exposure
while decreasing it will brighten the image.
Highlights
Recovers overexposed highlight detail by compressing the upper end of the brightness
range. Setting 0.0 will disable the effect.
55
5 Rendering
5.3 Settings
Shadow
Increases the darkness of shadows. Setting 0.0 will leave the shadows unaltered.
Saturation
Increases or decreases the overall color in your scene.
White Balance
Predominant Lighting
Provides preset color temperatures based on various light types:
• D50 (Horizon light) 5003k
• D55 (Mid morning/afternoon daylight) 5503k
• D65 (Noon daylight) 6504k
• D75 (North sky daylight) 7504k
• F1 (Daylight Fluorescent) 6430k
• F2 (cool white fluorescent) 4230k
• F3 (White Fluorescent) 3450k
• F4 (warm white fluorescent) 2940k
• F5 (Daylight fluorescent) 6350k
• F6 (lite white fluorescent) 4150k
• A (Incandescent/Tungsten) 2856k
• Phosphor Mercury 6800k
• Xenon 6400k
• Mercury 4000k
• Quartz 3350k
• Halogen 3000k
• High pressure sodium 2200k
Custom (Kelvin)
Gives custom control over the Kelvin value.
5.3.2
Environment
Active environment drop down gives information on which environment in your scene is
currently active. Iray+ only allows one environment be active at a time.
Working with multiple environments in Iray+
None
Iray+ will not use any environment in your scene
Select button
will select this environment in 3ds Max allowing you quicker access to transform or edit
its parameters
56
5.3 Settings
5.3.3
5 Rendering
Resource Manager
The resource manager gives options over local and remote rendering. See Remote rendering
(page 62) for more details.
Managing GPUs and render resources in Iray+
5.3.4
Network Render
Access the Network Render dialog for remote offline rendering. See Remote rendering (page 62)
for more details.
Network Render dialog
5.3.5
Materials
Materials dialog
Material Override
Allows you to replace all materials in your scene with a single one. This is ideal for
creating ’clay’ renders.
57
5 Rendering
5.4 Render elements
Custom MDL
Allows you to specify additional paths to custom MDL materials. See Using MDL for
more details.
5.4
Render elements
Render Elements
Iray+ can render many simultaneous renders elements in production rendering (Production
Rendering Mode). These are useful for post-processing and compositing without the need
to re-render scenes. They can be found in the [ Render Setup I Render Elements ] tab, under the
Elements — Production rollout.
See LPEs (page 60) if you require more flexiblity when creating such extra layers (for example,
a purely specular layer).
Note: Render Elements are only available in production rendering (Production
Rendering Mode).
58
5.4 Render elements
5.4.1
5 Rendering
Modes
Beauty
The default, standard photorealistic image will be rendered alongside any chosen render
elements.
Irradiance
Irradiance mode renders a ’heat-map’ style image, which gives an indication of the
variances in lighting intensities. Irradiance mode is not available in Iray+ Interactive. The
following render elements are not available in irradiance mode:
• Diffuse
• Specular
• Glossy
• Emission
5.4.2
Standard render elements
Alpha
A grayscale alpha channel representing the transparency in the scene. The darker the
pixel, the more transparent it is. Black = Totally Transparent, White = Totally Opaque
Depth
A grayscale representation of the depth in the scene. The nearer the object to the camera
the whiter the object. Useful for adding depth of field in post-processing
Distance
Similar to Depth, except it measures distance from the camera, so the furthest edges of
large objects are further away than the center even though they are the same depth in the
scene
Normal
Surface normal, used for shading
Object ID
Assigns each object a separate color. Useful for selecting individual objects in
post-processing
Material ID
Assigns each material a separate color. Useful for selecting objects with the same material
in postprocessing
Diffuse
Renders diffuse materials without contribution from lighting
Specular
Renders only specular components within the scene
Glossy
Renders only glossy components within the scene
Emission
Renders only emission components within the scene
59
5 Rendering
5.5 Light path expressions
Ambient Occlusion
( Iray+ Interactive (page 52) Renderer only) Renders areas of the scene using Ambient
Occlusion.
Note: Render Elements are not yet supported by Remote Rendering (page 62).
5.4.3
Distance and depth
Both Distance and Depth have a finite resolution. If using the infinite Ground plane (Physical
Sky (page 34) or IBL (page 37) Iray+ light) then the available resolution of the the depth values
will be spread over the whole ground plane and so may not give the required results for the
main model geometry. Unless viewing a finite portion of the ground plane, it may be best to
remove it when rendering these elements.
5.5
Light path expressions
Light Path Expressions (LPEs) describe the propagation of light through a scene starting from
a source of light, bouncing around between the objects of the scene and ultimately ending up
at the eye. The paths that light takes through a scene are called light transport paths.
For example, LPEs may be used to extract specific light contributions from Iray+ into separate
render elements for use in compositing and post-processing.
In essence, LPEs are regular expressions. The alphabet of LPEs consists of descriptions of
interactions between light, the scene and objects within.
The separate Render Elements (page 58) functionality allows less flexibility to create such
layers of information but may often give the required result. Some types of information,
useful for post-processing, are only available using Render Elements, for example, Material
ID. LPEs will be rendered out at the same time as any Render Elements defined.
If Irradiance mode is selected then this limits the information available to create certain LPEs
— although not enforced, it is advised to use Beauty mode for reliable results with LPEs.
Note: LPEs are only available in production rendering (Production Rendering Mode).
5.5.1
Using light path expressions
1 Open [ Render Setup I Render Elements ].
60
5.5 Light path expressions
5 Rendering
Iray+ Light Path Expressions
2 In the Light Path Expressions rollout select New
3 In the New LPE dialog, choose between an Alpha or RGB buffer, enter a name and your
light path expression and select OK.
Iray+ Light Path Expressions
61
5 Rendering
5.6 Remote rendering
Note: The LPE name is a label for your own convenience, they can be named
anything (e.g. "Diffuse Layer", "My LPE" etc). This label will be appended to the
filename when you save out a render. For example, if you are rendering your scene
out to My_Render.png and add an LPE called "My_LPE" you will also get
My_Render — My_LPE.png.
4 With the LPE chosen in the drop down, select Add to Render Elements . The LPE will
appear in the table above.
To edit or rename an LPE that you have already added to the render elements, follow these
steps:
1 Select the LPE you wish to edit from the drop down menu
2 Select Edit and make any changes to the name or LPE
Note: If you wish to delete an LPE that you have added to the render elements, then
it is possible to do this without needing to delete it from the render elements first.
5.5.2
LPE examples
LPE
Description
Notes
L.{2,}E
Indirect Lighting
Displays all light that has bounced more than once
E.*Le
Environment Lighting
Displays all light contributed by the environment
E.*La
Area Lighting
Displays all light contributed by Area Lights
E<RS.>.*L
Specular Reflection
Displays all specular reflection that hits the camera
5.5.3
More resources
• Compositing with Light Path Expressions in the Iray+ Blog
5.6
Remote rendering
Iray+ has built in remote rendering. There are two methods used: Network Render which uses
Iray+ Server for offline rendering and Remote Streaming which uses a live remote connection
to give fast direct images within 3ds Max. Currently NVIDIA’s Visual Computing Appliance (VCA) is fully supported. Autodesk® Backburner™ also works but is not yet officially
supported.
5.6.1
Network render
Network render provides “offline” rendering, enabling you to create rendering jobs to be
submitted to Iray+ Server. Once submitted, you can close 3ds Max or continue working on
your project and download your finished renders from the server on completion. Iray+ Server
can be used to render on another machine you may own, and is perfect for teams to share the
rendering power of other machines in the workplace.
Network Render can be found on the Network Render rollout under [ Render Setup I Settings ].
To launch the Queue Server click Submit to Queue.... You can also launch this directly
from the 3ds Max toolbar under [ Iray+ I Network Render ].
62
5 Rendering
The Network Render dialog
The Queue Server dialog provides server connection details as well as information on your
pending rendering job.
The Network Render Dialog
Server settings
Address
The IP address of the remote server
VCA
If you are using an NVIDIA VCA, this will enable VCA-specific streaming settings
Username/Password
Your authentication details for the remote server
Create job
Job Name
Provides a title to Iray+ Server to identify your job
Priority
Sets your jobs priority on a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is the highest priority and 100 is
the lowest.
63
5 Rendering
File Name
Prepends each of your rendered frames with this name, this differs from the filename
you may have chosen under [ Render Setup I Common I Common Parameters ].
Format
Iray+ Server supports PNG, EXR, HDR, PSD, TIF and JPG formats, this differs from
what you may have set under [ Render Setup I Common I Common Parameters ].
Color
Choose between RGB or RGBA, RGBA contains an alpha channel in each of your
frame.
Render Settings
Provides details of compatible parameters that are applied to the pending job. This
includes parameters such as Time Output, Frame Completion, Output Size etc.
Status
Shows submission progress, you will not be able to use the 3ds Max until submission is
complete or you have cancelled submission.
Open Server Manager
Opens your web browser and launches Iray+ Server to to see progress of your render and
lets you download the completed job.
Submit
Submits your rendering job to Iray+ Server.
Cancel
Cancels your job submission and closes the dialog.
Note: Iray+ Server only supports Iray+ renderer, any jobs sent with Iray+ Interactive as
your production renderer will revert to Iray+
5.6.2
Remote streaming
Remote Rendering can be found on the Resources rollout under [ Render Setup I Settings ].
Managing GPU’s and render resources in Iray+
64
5.6.3
5 Rendering
Current resources
Local
Uses rendering resources set in the Local group described below. This will be selected by
default when disconnected from a server. No remote resources will be used when this is
selected.
Remote
Uses remote resources set under Remote Settings dialog. This will become selected
automatically when you connect to a remote server.
5.6.4
Local
Iray+ works on CPU but is massively improved using NVIDIA CUDA GPUs. You can choose
to allocate all or only some of your GPUs to Iray+.
Use CPUs
Allocates your CPUs to Iray+ rendering. You may want to keep them free for smoother
operation of 3ds Max and other resource-intensive applications. If you do not have any
GPUs available for Iray+, this option will be disabled.
Use CUDA GPUs
Gives choice over which GPUs are allocated to Iray+ rendering. GPUs used by windows
are clearly marked.
Note: Using CPUs and GPUs in combination may not provide a speed advantage over
using GPUs only. We recommend GPU-only rendering if you have older or less powerful
CPUs.
5.6.5
Remote
Remote status allows you to connect to remote rendering devices such as VCAs. The Settings
button launches the Remote Settings dialog box.
65
5 Rendering
The Remote Settings Dialog
Server
Status
The connection status of the server
Address
The IP address of the remote server
Username/Password
Your authentication details for the remote server
VCA
If you are using an NVIDIA VCA, this will enable VCA-specific streaming settings
Connect
Connects and disconnects from the server. This checks your connection, but on a VCA
this does not actually reserve nodes for usage until you also use the Reserve Nodes
button
VCA Settings
Nodes
The number of Nodes available and the amount of nodes you have reserved
Reserve Nodes
Lets you reserve some or all rendering resources on the server.
66
5 Rendering
Note: We recommend that communication with VCAs uses the WebSocket Secure (WSS)
protocol. If you connect to a VCA with an IP address and you don’t specify a protocol at
the beginning of the address, the Iray+ plug-in will assume the WSS protocol. You can
also communicate with VCAs using the WebSocket (WS) protocol.
Examples:
127.0.0.1
This will be interpreted as wss://127.0.0.1:8080 by Iray+.
ws://127.0.0.1:8080/bridge
A specific address will override Iray+ interpretation of the address.
Streaming Settings
Provides fine-grain control for image quality of remote streaming, this is useful for
optimising workflows which use Iray+ Interactive on remote servers where speed of
feedback may be prioritised over quality.
Compression
Gives choice over image compression types, (Video, JPEG, PNG) or lossless (EXR).
Bitrate (Mbps/sec)
The amount of information (Megabits) processed per second when Video is selected
as the compression format, 5 Mbps is the default.
IQ Mode
If you are using a VCA this option will enable this high quality interactive remote
rendering mode.
67
6 Advanced
6
6.1 Using MDL
Advanced
6.1
Using MDL
Iray+ will maintain backwards compatibility of data, such as material appearances and lighting values from Iray+ 1.0. However, any scenes or materials created during the Iray+ Beta
program may be liable to change.
6.1.1
Adding custom MDL search paths
To use MDL within Iray+, you must specify the location on disk where the MDL is stored in
[ Render Setup I Settings I Custom MDL ] for MDL import to work. This is also true if the MDL
you are importing is based on other supporting MDL files (i.e. it includes other MDL files),
in this case the path to the supporting MDL will also need to specified in the Custom MDL
section.
Adding MDL search paths to Iray+
1 Open [ Render Setup I Settings ] and scroll to the Custom MDL section
2 Select the Add button and navigate to the folder containing the required MDL.
3 Click OK and it will be added.
Note: If your MDL does not reference full paths (including subfolders) then you should
add those subfolders to the Custom MDL search paths.
6.1.2
Importing MDL
Adding Layers and Import/Export of MDL in the material
editor
Iray+ maintains compatibility with other MDL enabled applications.
68
6.1 Using MDL
6 Advanced
To import MDL into 3ds Max:
1 Open the 3ds Max Material Editor
2 Add an Iray+ Material from [ Materials I Iray+ ] in the Material/Map Browser
3 With the Iray+ Material selected, Choose [ MDL I/O I Import... ] from the Material Detail
panel
4 Navigate to your MDL file in the file browser and click Open.
The imported file will expose any supported parameters (page 69) included in the MDL and
you will be able to edit any enabled parameters. The file path that you are importing the MDL
from will need to be specified in Custom MDL for importing to function correctly.
An Imported MDL
Note: Reimporting MDL into Iray+ that you have previously exported from the plug-in
may result in limited editing ability. If you want to save your materials to re-use in Iray+,
save them in Material Libraries.
6.1.3
Supported parameters for editing
Imported MDL materials maintain their appearance but not all parameters can be edited once
imported. The following categories of MDL parameters are all editable once imported:
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6 Advanced
6.2 Scene conversion
color
float3
float2
float
bool
int
::df::scatter_mode
::intensity_mode
texture_2d
texture_3d
texture_cube
texture_ptex
light_profile
6.1.4
Exporting MDL
Exporting MDL is a similar process:
1 Open the 3ds Max Material Editor
2 Choose the material you want to export to MDL
3 With the Material selected, Choose [ MDL I/O I Export... ] from the Material Detail panel
4 Choose a location and name your MDL file in the file browser and click Save.
6.1.5
Resources
For more information on MDL, see NVIDIA Material Definition Language (MDL) Handbook.
6.2
Scene conversion
A mental ray scene converted to Iray+
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6 Advanced
Iray+ provides tools to convert your existing mental ray or Autodesk scenes into Iray+. You
can convert all Lights, Materials and Environments, or any combination of the three. You can
even convert individual scene objects.
Note: Only Autodesk or mental ray scenes are currently supported.
When you switch your Renderer (page 52) to Iray+ or Iray+ Interactive you will be given the
opportunity to convert any non Iray+ materials or lighting in your scene.
Scene Conversion Dialog
6.2.1
Converting multiple objects
Iray Menu Bar
⇒ Iray Scene Converter or [right mouse click] ⇒ Iray+ Scene Converter
Scene conversion
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6 Advanced
Conversion
mental ray Sun/Sky and Skylights
Converts lighting, including MR Sun and Sky (Daylight) to PhysSky. Incompatible
lights (page 44) will not convert. If you want the X, Y and Z position of the MR Sun to
be converted with the scene, you will need to set it up using the ’Date, Time, and
Location’ controls within the modify panel. Positioning the MR Sun manually will
mean its X, Y and Z positions are not converted.
Note: When converting a mental ray Sun/Sky, the Sky object will remain in the scene
after conversion. This will be ignored by the Iray+ renderer. The Iray+ PhysicalSky
created in the conversion contains both sun and sky effects.
Environment Settings
Recreates environments as Iray+ IBL environments and matches settings
Materials
Recreates materials with Iray+ materials taking across any maps at the correct scale
Remove Unused Materials
Removes all mental ray® materials from your material library after completing a
conversion, and replaces them with the Iray+ materials. Leaving this unchecked
will result in the material library displaying both the mental ray® and Iray+
materials together.
Log to MaxScript Listener
Send completed conversion details to the MaxScript Listener window, where more
details can be read
Convert
Starts the conversion process. You will be given the opportunity to save your file as
the conversion can’t be undone.
Conversion status
Lists objects in your scene as well as their type, each column is sortable. Other columns
include:
• Status — Indicates conversion status. Items that won’t be converted will display
Directly Supported by Iray+ or Not Supported etc. Before conversion, compatible items
will have the status Ready to Convert, after conversion, the status will be Converted
• Details — Provides advice and details about the conversion status
Select in Viewport
Objects selected in Conversion Status are also selected in the viewport. This is useful
for quickly creating selection sets, deleting or taking other actions on multiple items
View Documentation
Displays this page in your default browser.
Note: After converting a scene you may need to adjust the scene’s Exposure Value in
[ Settings I Tone Mapping ] because your scene may appear overexposed.
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6 Advanced
6.2.2
Compatibility with scene conversion
6.2.3
Materials
Type
Supported
Details
MR Arch and Design
yes
Converted to Iray+ Arch and Design (page 26)
MR CarPaint
yes
Converted to Iray+ Metallic Paint (page 29)
MR Subsurface Scattering Fast
yes
Converted to Iray+ Fast SSS (page 28)
MR Subsurface Scattering Fast Skin
yes
Converted to Iray+ Skin (page 30)
Autodesk Materials
yes
Standard Materials
yes
Basic Parameters supported natively.
Unsupported maps will not work.
Multi/sub-object
yes
Nested Multi/sub-object materials are not
supported.
Autodesk Pro Materials
no
Blend
no
Matte/Shadow
no
Top/Bottom
no
Shell
no
Composite
no
6.2.4
Maps
The commonly used maps are listed below. Assume that any map not listed is not supported.
Type
Supported
Dent Map
yes
Noise Map
yes
Autodesk Bitmap
yes
Autodesk Cutout
yes
Bitmap
yes
Converts to Iray+ bitmap on-the-fly
Cellular
yes
This is baked and converted on-the-fly
Gradient
yes
Marble
yes
This is converted on-the-fly
Normal Bump
yes
Converts to Iray+ bitmap on-the-fly
Perlin Marble
yes
Composite
no
Color Correction
no
Falloff
no
RGB Multiply
no
RGB Tint
no
Details
This is converted to a Standard Map
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6 Advanced
6.3 Lighting analysis
Smoke
no
Splat
no
Swirl
no
Tiles
no
Waves
no
6.2.5
Lights
Type
Supported
Details
MR Sun/Sky
yes
Not supported if sun position was set manually
Skylight
yes
Converted to IBL environment
MR Area Omni
no
MR Area Spot
no
MR Sky Portal
no
Target Spot
yes
Converted on-the-fly
Target Direct
yes
Omni
yes
Free Spot
yes
Free Direct
yes
Target Light
yes
Free Light
yes
6.3
Lighting analysis
The lighting analysis feature enables Architects and Designers to visualise the effect of light
within their designs. This can be used to simulate the effect of heat caused by the sun’s
interaction with a design, or to find dark spots in a building.
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6.3 Lighting analysis
6 Advanced
Note: Lighting Analysis requires Iray+ to be set as your ActiveShade renderer (page 52);
Iray+ Interactive (page 2) does not support lighting analysis.
Lighting analysis user interface
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6 Advanced
6.3.1
6.4 Iray+ material library converter
Enabling analysis
The default ActiveShade progress UI
The Iray+ ActiveShade status window shows render progress including percentage complete,
iterations completed and elapsed time. To launch Lighting Analysis, check the Enable Analysis checkbox. This will display an irradiance layer in your ActiveShade window instead of a
beauty layer.
6.3.2
Using lighting analysis
Color chart
This chart provides a reference for the irradiance values (in Lux or Foot Candles) in your
scene.
Units
Use the dropdown to choose between Lux and Foot Candles (FC).
Real Min/Max
Shows the actual minimum and maximum irradiance values regardless of a custom value
set in the Range parameter.
Range
If set to Auto, this will show the full range of irradiance value in the scene. Setting this to
Custom allows you to set the minimum or maximum range to a specific irradiance value,
anything outside of this range will clip to these values.
6.4
Iray+ material library converter
Iray+ includes a tool for converting the units used in specific material libraries. Iray+ uses
1 metre units for all materials and maps. If your workflow uses different scales then you will
need to convert our libraries and any libraries you have created to this
Note: The converter will always convert to your currently set system units. These can be
found on the toolbar under [ Customize I Units Setup I System Unit Setup ].
6.4.1
Using the Iray+ library converter
Utilities Panel
⇒ More... button ⇒ Iray+ Library Converter
1 Enable the Iray+ Library converter from the Tool Panel under [ Utilities Panel I More... I
Iray+ Library Converter ].
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6 Advanced
Enabling the Iray+ Library Converter
2 Use Select Material Libraries and navigate to your material libraries (.mat) in the file
system. Select one or more libraries and open them
The Iray+ Library Converter
UI
3 Set the unit scale used when the material library was saved, for Iray+ supplied material
libraries the default will be 1 metre
4 Click Convert to system units to convert to your currently set system units.
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6 Advanced
The converter will create a new material library for each library selected, these will be saved
in the same location as the original. The name of the new library will have a suffix indicating
the current system units. (i.e. examplelibary_in.mat for inches).
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7 Reference
7
Reference
7.1
Iray+ compatibility with 3ds Max
This section defines which functionality in 3ds Max is supported by the Iray+ plug-in. Some
features are supported directly by existing 3ds Max user interface components, while others
are supported through an interface provided by Iray+. Other features are not functional in
Iray+.
Additionally, Iray+ provides tools to convert your existing mental ray or Autodesk scenes into
Iray+. See the section on scene conversion (page 70)) for more details.
7.1.1
7.1.1.1
Render setup
Common panel
Supported
Unsupported
• Rendering single and multiple frames as
• Options Panel
• Advanced Lighting
defined in the time output panel
• Output size as defined by width and
• Bitmap performance and memory
height
options
• Filename and type in Render Output
• Scripts
• Area to Render (production renderer
Only)
7.1.1.2
Iray+ settings
Supported
Unsupported
• Assigning CPU and GPU resources
• Preview of DOF in viewports using
dynamically during a session
shaded or realistic mode
• Assigning a remote server IP address
• Rendering multiple environments
• Defining cloud video format, bitrate and
max framerate
• Adding paths to custom MDL
• Choosing the environment from a list of
active environments
• Previewing environments in viewports
using shaded or realistic mode
• Displaying Iray+ build information
7.1.1.3
Iray+ renderer
Supported
Unsupported
• None
• Rendering using local GPU/CPU
• Rendering using remote server
• Rendering using IQ on VCA
• User-defined frame completion criteria
(passes or time)
• Caustic Sampler
• Architectural Sampler (production
renderer only)
• Noise reduction of Fireflies (white spots)
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7.1.1.4
7.1 Iray+ compatibility with 3ds Max
Iray+ interactive renderer
Supported
• Rendering using local GPU/CPU
• Rendering using remote server
• User–defined frame completion criteria
(passes or time)
• User–defined ray depth
• Approximate bounced light
• Approximate area lights
7.1.1.5
Unsupported
• Rendering the irradiance canvas
• More than 32 (procedural) texture
functions per material
• The corner-radius feature of geometry
• Subsurface scattering effects will not be
rendered with SSS materials
• Illumination of the scene from emissive
geometry; but it is considered when the
geometry is hit directly (or hit via a
perfectly specular reflection or
refraction). That is, whilst it will not
illuminate the scene; the object itself will
be shown illuminated
• More than 16 light sources
• Caustic Sampler
• Architectural Sampler
• Noise reduction of Fireflies (white spots)
Iray+ render elements: render layers
Supported
Unsupported
• Adding and removing standard
• Render elements with ActiveShade
• Merging elements
elements from the active list
• Rendering standard elements to file in 8,
• Output to combustion
16 or 32bit file formats
• Ability to disable tone mapping
• Beauty
• Display of render elements within
• Alpha
production render window
• Distance
• Normal
• Texture coordinates
• Object ID
• Material ID
• Diffuse
• Specular
• Glossy
• Emission
• Irradiance (Iray+ Renderer only)
• AO (Iray+ Interactive Renderer
only)
Note: All elements (except beauty pass)
are not gamma corrected
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7.1.1.6
7 Reference
Iray+ render elements: light path expressions
Supported
• Adding any number of Light Path
Expressions (LPEs) from a predefined
set to be rendered as separate files
• Creating new LPEs and rendering them
to file
• Add and remove LPEs from the active
list
• Globally turn LPE renders on or off
• Define whether to apply LPE to beauty,
alpha or irradiance passes
• Syntax checking and error reporting of
incorrect LPEs
7.1.1.7
Iray+ tone mapping
Supported
• Enabling/Disabling of Tone Mapping
• User parameters for exposure value
(EV), highlight recover, shadows and
saturation
• Predefined white balance settings
• User defined white balance color
• On-the-fly parameter changes while
rendering in ActiveShade
7.1.2
7.1.2.1
Unsupported
• Photographic tone mapping
• Animation of tone map parameters
Rendering misc
Environment and effects
Supported
• Environment Maps/Backplates with
Screen mapping
7.1.2.2
Unsupported
• LPEs with ActiveShade
• Rendering using the Iray+ Interactive
renderer. However, the predefined
render elements — diffuse, specular,
glossy, and emission — are available
Unsupported
• Any Environment mapping other than
Screen
• Exposure control (use Iray+ Tone
Mapping (page 46))
• Atmosphere and Effects
Material editor
Supported
• Full support with the exception of
material thumbnail rendering: 3ds Max
2016 will show default thumbnail. 3ds
Max 2014 and 2015 will show a black
thumbnail.
Unsupported
• Rendering of material thumbnails when
ActiveShade rendering is in progress
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7.1.3
7.1.3.1
Render windows
Activeshade window
Supported
• Rendering with Iray+ Interactive or
Iray+ renderers, either remotely or
locally
• Rendering a fixed view or the currently
selected viewport
• Updating interactively with
environment, view, geometry, light,
texture space and material parameter
changes
• Updating interactively using the Iray+
tone map parameters
• Closing the ActiveShade window at any
time
• Standard 3ds Max ActiveShade window
controls functions (clone, save etc)
• ActiveShade continues rendering once
production render has completed
• ActiveShade has priority over material
thumbnail rendering
• In-viewport rendering as well as
rendering in a separate window
7.1.3.2
Production render window
Supported
• Rendering with Iray+ or Iray+
Interactive renderers
• Render any viewport or camera
including orthographic views
• Supports all production window
controls except sub-area rendering
• Area to Render options
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Unsupported
• Concurrent renders with either material
thumbnails or a production render
• Area to Render options
Unsupported
• Render preset dropdown options
7.1.4
7.1.4.1
7 Reference
Iray+ lighting
IBL lights
Supported
Unsupported
• Matte Shadows and reflections in the XY
• Ground or cube type environments
• X or Y up vectors (world coordinates)
plane
• User control of shadow intensity
• Arbitrary up vectors
• User control of reflection intensity and
• Rotation other than around the Z axis
glossiness
• Viewport preview in wireframe mode
• User control of ground height
• Bump maps in matte shadows or
• Equi-rectangular lat/long image (HDR)
reflections
for the environment
• Intensity scaling
• Turning viewport preview on/off
(shaded and realistic modes)
• Shaded or wireframe preview of the
dome/sphere (shaded and realistic
modes)
• Hemisphere or Sphere environment
types
• Defining the radius in display units
• Adjusting the camera height in display
units
• Standard 3ds Max transformations
(rotation and translation) in the
viewport using environment gizmo
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7.1.4.2
Physical sky
Supported
Unsupported
• Matte Shadows and reflections in the XY
• Visual Cloud effects
• Atmospheric effects
plane
• User control of shadow intensity
• Bump maps on matte
• User control of reflection intensity and
shadows/reflections
• Viewport preview in wireframe mode
glossiness
• User control of ground height
• Up vectors other than +Z (WC)
• Manual sun positioning using azimuth
and altitude parameters
• Automatic sun location based on date,
time and location
• Wireframe preview in viewport
• Animation of sun location via
azimuth/altitude or date/location
parameters
• Physically realistic daylight values by
default
• Automatic sun intensity and color
adaption based on height above the
horizon
• North direction defined by rotating the
Physical Sky gizmo directly in the
viewport
7.1.5
7.1.5.1
3ds Max standard lights
Target and free spot
Supported
• General Parameters rollout:
• Light Type parameters
• Intensity/Color/Attenuation rollout:
• Multiplier (Note: Intensity is
multiplied by a factor in Iray+ to
bring the light into the physically
correct space where intensity is
defined in Lumens)
• Color
• Spotlight Parameters rollout:
• Falloff/Field
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Unsupported
• Shadow parameters (shadows are
always on)
• Decay (In Iray+, Spot lights have a
physically-realistic inverse square
decay as you move away from the
light source. This cannot be
changed.)
• Near/Far Attenuation
• Spotlight Parameters rollout:
• Overshoot
• Hotspot/Beam
• Circle/Rectangle
• Aspect
• Advanced Effects rollout
• Shadow Parameters rollout
• Atmosphere and Effects rollout
7.1.5.2
7 Reference
Target and free directional
Supported
defined in Lumens)
• Color
7.1.5.3
Omni
Supported
defined in Lumens)
• Color
7.1.5.4
Unsupported
always on)
• Decay
• Directional parameters
• In Iray+, "Distant" lights cannot be
restricted to a circular/rectangular
tube, and they do not have hotspot
or falloff regions. Light will fall
evenly across the whole scene
Unsupported
always on)
• Decay (In Iray+, Omni lights have a
physically-realistic inverse square
decay as you move away from the
light source. This cannot be
changed.)
Skylight
Not supported
7.1.5.5
mental ray area omni
Not supported
7.1.5.6
mental ray area spot
Not supported
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7.1.6
7.1.6.1
3ds Max photometric lights
Target and free light
Supported
• Light Properties parameters
• Light Distribution (Type)
• Color parameters
• Intensity parameters
• Dimming parameters
• Shape/Area Shadows rollout
• Emit light from (Shape) parameters
• Distribution (Spotlight) rollout
• Distribution (Photometric Web) rollout:
• Choose Photometric File (only .ies
files are supported)
7.1.6.2
Unsupported
• Shadows parameters
• Far Attenuation parameters
• Shape/Area Shadows rollout
• Rendering parameters
• Atmospheres and Effects rollout
mental ray sky portal
Not supported
7.1.7
7.1.7.1
3ds Max cameras
Target and free
Supported
• Lens
• Horizontal and vertical field of view
• Orthographic Projection
• Stock Lenses
• Multi-Pass Effect
• Depth of Field (mental ray)
• Depth of Field (Iray+)
• Motion Blur
• Target Distance
• Iray+ Depth of Field rollout
• Depth of Field Parameters rollout (only
for Depth of Field (mental ray))
• Motion Blur rollout
7.1.7.2
Physical
Supported
• Basic rollout
• Target Distance
• Physical camera rollout
• Specify FOV
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Unsupported
• Environment Ranges
• Clipping Planes
• Multi-Pass Effect
• Depth of Field
• Scanline Renderer Params
Unsupported
• Physical Camera rollout (except for
FOV)
• Exposure rollout
• Bokeh (Depth of Field) rollout
• Perspective Control rollout
• Lens Distortion rollout
• Miscellaneous rollout
7.1.8
7.1.8.1
7 Reference
Iray+ materials
Iray+ material
Iray+ Material (page 18) is the generic material used as the starting point to create a wide
range of materials
Supported
• Template components representing real
world materials and effects
• A wide range of predefined BSDFs,
VDFs and EDFs
• Subsurface scattering
• Anisotropic reflectance
• Emission
• Normal maps
• Rounded corners
• Up to 16 optional Decal, Coating and
Surface layers
• Opacity maps
• Up to 6 texture channels (1-6) defined
on a per-map basis
• Loading MDL as a base component
• Saving MDL
• Saving and loading from a scene or a
3ds Max material library
• Importing Measured data
7.1.8.2
Unsupported
• Displacement maps
• Multiple subsurface scatttering (SSS)
layers. Note: there are specific materials
supplied for skin and ocean
• User authoring of new template
components
• Localisation of parameter names
Iray+ metal
Iray+ Metal (page 23) is a material used to create more accurate representations of metals
than the Iray+ Material by using BSDFs based on measured data.
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Supported
• Representation of the following metal
types
• Aluminum
• Aluminum Copper
• Chromium
• Copper
• Gold
• Iron
• Lead
• Mercury
• Molybdenum
• Nickel
• Platinum
• Rhodium
• Silver
• Titanium
• Tungsten
• Vanadium
• User controlled roughness and
glossiness
• User controlled anisotropy and rotation
7.1.8.3
Unsupported
• Loading new data sets of metals
• Adaptation of color or reflectance
properties other than those outlined
above
Iray+ ocean
Iray+ Ocean (page 19) is a specific material used to simulate large bodies of water that may
contain particles.
Supported
• IOR
• Representation of particles and particle
density
• Volume distance and color
• Thin walled on/off
7.1.8.4
Unsupported
• Diffuse bitmaps
Iray+ conversion materials
These materials are provided for compatibility with mental ray (MR) based materials. They
are MDL equivalents of MR and can be used in Iray+ in exactly the same way as they are in
MR using the same parameters. They are also used by the conversion scripts.
These materials support all the parameters of the mental ray equivalents. Comparisons between MR and Iray+ materials should be a good match, although not exact.
• Iray+ Arch and Design
• Iray+ Metallic Paint
• Iray+ Skin
• Iray+ FastSSS
• Iray+ SSS
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7.1.9
7.1.9.1
7 Reference
Other
3ds Max standard maps
Bitmap and normal bump map types are supported correctly in Iray+.
Many of the other standard maps are partially supported by rendering the map to a bitmap
texture internally and then using this in an Iray+ material. The result is that many of the
standard map types are represented in Iray+ but there will be tiling artifacts where procedural
maps have been rendered to file.
Supported
• Bitmap
• Normal Bump
7.1.9.2
Render to bitmap
Supported
• Cellular
• Checker
• ColorCorrection
• Dent
• Gradient
• Gradient ramp
• Marble
• Noise
• Perlin marble
• Smoke
• Speckle
• Splat
• Stucco
• Swirl
• Substance
• Tiles
• Vector file
• Waves
• Wood
7.1.9.3
Unsupported
• Some standard maps that use scene
global information (falloff, camera
direction, etc.)
Unsupported
• Camera map per pixel
• Combustion
• Composite
• Falloff
• Flat mirror
• Map output selector
• Mask
• Mix
• Particle age
• Particle Mblur
• Raytrace
• Reflect/refract
• RGB Tint
• Vertex color
mental ray maps
None of the mental ray maps are supported with Iray+ materials.
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7.1.9.4
7.2 Maxscript reference
Iray+ noise maps
Supported
A set of Iray+ native procedural maps are
provided:
• Flake Noise
• Flow Noise
• Perlin Noise
• Worley noise
Iray+ maps can be applied to any Iray+
material that takes a map input. They can be
instanced, duplicated and referenced.
7.1.9.5
Unsupported
• Parameters in the Noise rollout. Use
Iray+ parameters instead.
Texture spaces
All of the standard 3ds Max texture spaces are supported including UVW unwrap.
Texture channels can be defined on a per-bitmap basis:
• There is a limit of 6 texture channels per object imposed by Iray+. In 3ds Max the limit
is far higher.
• Exceeding this limit (for example, setting texture channel for a bitmap to greater than
6) will result in no texture coordinates being used for that map.
7.2
Maxscript reference
Iray+ includes support for MaxScript within 3ds Max. These functions have been made available to allow reading and modification of Iray+ Lights, Materials and Render Settings.
7.2.1
Render settings
The Iray+ Render Settings can be read and modified using standard MaxScript functions.
Example:
renderers.current = Iray()
// set the renderer to Iray+.
// You could also use Iray__Interactive() here.
cur = renderers.current
// Show all render properties available to Iray+ renderer:
showproperties cur
pathtofile = "C:\previews\BackplateImg.jpg"
cur.backplate_file = pathtofile // Set the backplate image
List of supported render properties:
.brightness : float
.saturation : float
.burn_highlights : float
.crush_blacks : float
.use_custom_whitepoint : boolean
.whitepoint : RGB color
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.whitepoint_preset : integer
.cloud_address : string
.cloud_video_format : string
.cloud_video_bit_rate : integer
.cloud_video_frame_rate : integer
.backplate_use : boolean
.backplate_fit : boolean
.backplate_file : string
.backplate_scale : point2
.backplate_scale_linked : boolean
.backplate_offset : point2
.backplate_gamma : float
.dof_enable : boolean
.dof_strength : float
.dof_use_target_dist : boolean
.dof_focus_dist : float
.dof_backplate : boolean
.iteration_count : integer
.max_rendering_time : integer
.physically_accurate : boolean
.photo_max_bounces : integer
.caustic_sampler : boolean
.irt_approx_bounced_light : boolean
.irt_approx_area_light : boolean
.irt_max_bounces : integer
7.2.2
Create a new Iray+ material
Iray+ materials can be created using a single initialiser:
Iray__Material()
The layer on this can then be changed using irpSetMaterialType (page 93)
Example:
// Assigns a name to the Iray+ material.
// This can then be assigned to a scene object.
IrayMaterial = Iray__Material()
7.2.3
Create a new Iray+ map
An Iray+ map can be created using a similar approach to the creation of an Iray+ material.
Example:
IrayMaterial = Iray__Perlin_Noise()
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List of Iray+ Map initialisers:
Iray__Perlin_Noise()
Iray__Worley_Noise()
Iray__Flake_Noise()
Iray__Flow_Noise()
7.2.4
Get a list of Iray+ parameters
irpGetPropertyList <object.material>
This function returns the property names of a specified object as an array.
Example:
irpGetPropertyList $obj.mat
7.2.5
Set an Iray+ material parameter
irpSetProperty <object.material> <property_name_string> <property_value>
Allows you to access and set the properties of an Iray+ material.
Example:
irpSetProperty $obj.mat "refr_gloss" 1.0
You can also pass maps to the Iray+ material using this function. If supported, it will attach
the map to the specified material parameter.
Note: The property name must always be passed as a string. To get a list of property
names, see irpGetPropertyList.
7.2.6
Get an Iray+ material parameter
irpGetProperty <object.material> <property_name_string>
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Allows you to get the property of an Iray+ material.
Example:
irpGetProperty $obj.mat "refr_gloss"
// Returns the value of
// the "refr_gloss" parameter
Note: The property name must always be passed as a string. To get a list of property
names, see irpGetPropertyList
7.2.7
Set Iray+ material layer type
irpSetMaterialType <object.material> <IRP_LayerName_string> \
<enable_emission_bool>
Used to set the material layer type of the Iray+ material.
Example:
IrayMaterial = Iray__Material()
// Create a new Iray+ material.
// Set the layer type of an Iray+ Material to
// IrayPlus_ArchAndDesign. Disable emission on the material.
irpSetMaterialType IrayMaterial "IrayPlus_ArchAndDesign" false
You can apply one of the Iray+ mental ray conversion material layers using one of the currently supported layer types:
"IrayPlus_Generic"
"IrayPlus_ArchAndDesign"
"IrayPlus_MetallicPaint"
"IrayPlus_FastSSS"
"IrayPlus_SkinSSS"
Alternatively, you can set one of the standard Iray+ material layers using the name of the
required layer. A list of the layer names can be found here (page 104)
For example, to set a Velvet material with no emission you would use:
// Set the layer type of the Iray+ Material to Velvet.
// Disable emission on the material.
irpSetMaterialType $obj.mat "Velvet" false
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7.2.8
Get Iray+ material layer type
irpGetMaterialType <object.material>
Used to get the layer type of the Iray+ material.
Example:
// Returns a string containing the layer type
// of the currently applied Iray+ material layer.
irpGetMaterialType allObjects[1].mat
7.2.9
Lights
Most of the lights are supported using the standard built-in MaxScript functions. For more
information on these functions, please refer to the Autodesk MaxScript Documentation.
Example:
// Uses the max setProperty function to set
// an Iray+ lights property.
setProperty <IrayLight> <light-property> <value>
7.2.10
Other
There are some miscellaneous settings exposed to maxscript as described below:
7.2.10.1
Enable/disable irradiance layer
Enable, disable or query the state of the Irradiance layer:
MAXScriptIrayPlusRenderer.enableIrradiance <optional-bool>
Example:
MAXScriptIrayPlusRenderer.enableIrradiance true
// To query the state, simply omit the true/false condition.
7.2.10.2
Get irradiance min/max values
Get the minimum or maximum Irradiance values in the scene.
MAXScriptIrayPlusRenderer.minIrradiance
94
7.3 System requirements
7 Reference
MAXScriptIrayPlusRenderer.maxIrradiance
Example:
MAXScriptIrayPlusRenderer.maxIrradiance
7.2.10.3
Get irradiance min/max colour values
Get the minimum or maximum Irradiance colour in the scene.
MAXScriptIrayPlusRenderer.\
getIrradianceDisplayColour<Min/Max_Scene_Irradiance>
Example:
MAXScriptIrayPlusRenderer.getIrradianceDisplayColor \
MAXScriptIrayPlusRenderer.minIrradiance
7.3
System requirements
7.3.0.1
Minimum requirements
• Autodesk 3ds Max 2014 or later
• Windows 7 64-bit Professional operating system
• 64-bit Intel or AMD multi core processor
• 4GB Ram
• 2GB free disk space for installation
• 3GB free disk space if downloading Material Libraries (page 180)
• NVIDIA GPU with the following minimum specifications:
• CUDA compute capability 2.0 and higher
• Driver needs to support CUDA 7.0 or higher (For Windows, this depends upon
having NVIDIA Quadro driver version 347.62 or later)
• Iray+ Interactive requires these specifications (page 54).
7.3.0.2
Recommended requirements
• Autodesk 3ds Max 2015 or later
• Windows 8 or Windows 7 64-bit Professional operating system
• 64-bit Intel or AMD multi core processor
• 8GB Ram
• 2GB free disk space for installation
• 3GB free disk space if downloading Material Libraries (page 180)
• 2x NVIDIA GPUs with the following minimum specifications:
95
7 Reference
7.4 Additional content
• CUDA compute capability 2.0 and higher
• Driver needs to support CUDA 7.0 or higher (For Windows, this depends upon
having NVIDIA Quadro driver version 347.62 or later)
• Iray+ Interactive requires these specifications (page 54).
7.3.0.3
Iray+ interactive requirements
GPUs with CUDA Compute Capability 2.0 and higher are supported by Iray+ Interactive, ie
of the Fermi, Kepler, Maxwell or later generations. The following device configurations are
supported:
• Arbitrary combinations of Compute Capability 2.x devices
• Compute Capability 3.0 devices only
• Compute Capability 3.5 devices only.
Note: The following device configurations are not supported:
• Mixing devices between generations
• Combining Compute Capability 3.0 and Compute Capability 3.5 devices
• Switching at runtime between different GPU generations, for example, switching from
a Compute Capability 3.0 to a Compute Capability 2.0 device.
Driver requirements: The driver needs to support CUDA 7.0.
7.3.0.4
NVIDIA CUDA GPU reference
A list of compatible GPUs can be found here.
7.3.0.5
CPU-only mode
Iray+ will run without a GPU, but for best performance we recommend using GPUs. If your
GPU does not meet the minimum requirements then Iray+ will automatically use CPU rendering.
7.4
Additional content
Iray+ gives you access to additional content to download.
96
7.4 Additional content
7.4.1
7 Reference
Material libraries
Iray+ makes hundred of materials available for use in your projects. See the Material libraries
(page 180) section to download them.
7.4.1.1
moofe HDRI and backplates
moofe, a leading supplier of professional quality HDRI and backplates, is offering Iray+ users
a free (for personal use) collection of their high quality environments. Commercial licenses are
available with a 10% discount. A tutorial on matching your camera to moofe environments
is also available (page 11). To get started download the sample pack below, and follow the
included instructions to access the full quality unwatermarked versions.
Download the moofe sample pack.
97
7 Reference
7.5
7.5 Licensing and copyright information
Licensing and copyright information
3ds Max is a registered trademark of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and other countries.
Iray+ is a registered trademark of NVIDIA ARC GmbH, licensed for use by Lightwork Design
Ltd.
Some sections and images in this documentation are used with permission from NVIDIA
ARC GmbH.
All other text, images, models, textures, and downloads are Copyright Lightwork Design Ltd.
2015.
Any material libraries or textures available via this website are licensed for personal or commercial use in Iray+. Do not redistribute or make commercially available.
98
8 Appendix — Material components and libraries
8
Appendix — Material components and libraries
Iray+ provides a number of approaches for creating and using materials. Material Libraries
(page 180) are provided as a simple of way of quickly adding fully-realised complex materials.
Another approach provides example material components in our Iray+ Material (page 18),
which provides a more generalised starting point based on non-specific practical types of material (such as Rubber, Gel, ThinFilm etc). These High-Level Components can be quickly worked
into your own complex material based on our Material Structure (page 5) layer concept.
These High-Level Components are based on Low-Level Components. These are the basis of all
materials in Iray+, describing the fundamental scientific properties behind every material and
the effect of light on them. One low-level component can be used to create a set of high-level
components. Each high- level component is, effectively, an instance of a low-level component
with a different set of defaults.
When you construct a material, you will use high-level components as a starting point. The
low-level components are referenced in this documentation as a method of showing the
shared parameters and flexibility that these have.
8.1
Structure
Material structure in Iray+
At its simplest, an Iray+ Material must contain a Geometry and a Base layer. Optionally, you
can add Decals, Coating and Surface layers on top of these in any order to add complexity.
99
8.1 Structure
Geometry UI
8.1.1
Geometry parameters
Geometry refers to the underlying structure of every material. At this level, some fundamental
characteristics of your material can be defined:
Opacity
set an overall opacity value for the material or add a map to define opaque and
transparent regions of the material
Corner Radius
Softens the edges of corner without having to alter geometry. Most real world objects do
not have perfectly sharp corners. You can only use either a Normal Map or Corner Radius
on a geometry layer. However, you can also combine Normal maps on other layer types
with Corner Radius enabled on the Geometry layer
Normal
set a bump map to simulate surface detail, and control the intensity and orientation of
the effect.
Emission On
Toggles Emission on or off without losing chosen settings
Use Profile
Add a photometric/IES file to define characteristics of the emission. You will not be
able to use IES profiles in conjunction with a textured emission map
Template
Choose from a dropdown list of common lighting types with fixed, accurate values
100
8.1 Structure
Lighting Type
Choose common lighting types with manual control over intensity and tint
Custom
Controls temperature and intensity parameters manually
Color Temperature
Specifies color temperature in kelvin
Tint
Specify a color value or textured emission map which acts as a ’gel’ or projection
in front of the light.
Note: IES/Photometric profiles are not compatible with textured emission.
Intensity Lumens
Intensity value is defined in Lumens: the intensity is absolute regardless of the size
of the geometry
Lux
Intensity value is defined in Lux: the intensity is based on Power per Unit Area,
and so is based on the size of the geometry.
8.1.2
Base
The Base is the second layer in an Iray+ Material, like Geometry, every material contains a
base. This is the core component for creating realistic materials as you define the basic form
of the material (wood, metal, plastic etc.).
The material examples available in the Base layer presets dropdown in the 3ds Max Material
Editor provide starting points for virtually any material.
High-level component
Low-level component used
CarbonFiber
CeramicTiles
CeramicWhiteware
Clay
Cloth
CloudyGem
ConcretePolished
ConcreteRough
Diamond
Gel
Glass
GlassDispersion
GlassFrosted
GlassThin
Glossy
Lampshade
AnisotropicDielectric (page 159)
Dielectric (page 122)
TwoLobeDielectric (page 126)
Diffuse (page 104)
SubsurfaceScattering (page 108)
PhysicalTransparent (page 145)
PearlescentSSS (page 118)
PhysicalTranslucent (page 149)
ThinwallTransparent (page 144)
DiffuseTransmission (page 106)
101
Leather
Masonry
Matte
Metal
MetalBrushed
MetalPolished
MetalSatin
Mirror
Paper
PaperTranslucent
Plaster
PlasticOpaque
PlasticTranslucent(FastSSS)
PlasticTranslucent(SSS)
PlasticTransparent
Rubber
Satin
Stone
StonePolished
Velvet
Water
Wax
Wood
Woodgrain
WoodVarnished
8.1.3
8.1 Structure
Diffuse (page 104)
Conductor (page 131)
AnisotropicConductor (page 155)
SpecularReflection (page 130)
Diffuse (page 104)
Diffuse (page 104)
DiffuseSSS (page 112)
WovenAnisotropic (page 164)
Diffuse (page 104)
Backscattering (page 152)
FibreAnisotropic (page 169)
Decal
Decals are stickers or images which can be applied at any level within the material hierarchy.
BrushedMetalFoil
BrushedPlastic
Matte
MetalFoil
Mirror
Satin
Diffuse (page 104)
Gloss (page 134)
8.1.4
Surface
Surface layers can represent effects such as Dirt, Scratches, Rust and other imperfections
found in the real world.
DeepScratches
Dirt1
Diffuse (page 104)
102
8.1 Structure
Dirt2
Dirt3
DustStreaks
DustUniform
DustVariable
HeatStainedSteel
LinearScratches1
LinearScratches2
LinearScratches3
LinearScratches4
RadialScratches
RustPatches
RustUniform
Verdigris
8.1.5
InterferencePattern (page 141)
Gloss (page 134)
Diffuse (page 104)
Gloss (page 134)
Gloss (page 134)
Gloss (page 134)
Diffuse (page 104)
Diffuse (page 104)
Diffuse (page 104)
Coating
An Iray+ Material can have any number of Coating layers, representing finishes such as
Varnish, Paints, Glazes and many other effects.
Anodised
CeramicGlaze
Clearcoat
Flakes
FlipFlopPaint
Galvanised
GlossFinish
GlossVarnish
HammerPaint
MatteFinish
MatteVarnish
MetalPlating
PaintEggShell
PaintGloss
PaintMatte
PaintPearl
PlasticCoating
PowderCoating
ThinFilm
GlossFlakes (page 136)
Flipflop (page 139)
GlossLayer (page 134)
Diffuse (page 104)
InterferencePattern (page 141)
103
8.2
8.2 Low-level material components
Low-level material components
8.2.1
Diffuse
This component is good for representing non-shiny materials. Diffuse uses a Lambertian
reflection model where reflected rays are scattered in a random direction across a hemisphere.
There is also a Roughness parameter that uses the Oren-Nayar method for representing rough
surfaces made up of microfacets pointing in different directions. To be accurate it predicts
reflectance from rough diffuse surfaces for the entire hemisphere of source and sensor directions. The model for this component takes into account complex physical phenomena such
as masking, shadowing and interreflections between points on the surface facets. In practical
terms increasing the roughness parameter is useful for representing powdery surfaces like
rust.
The Diffuse Material Editor UI
Diffuse
Color Map / Color
The basic color of the component. This can be a single color value or a texture map.
Roughness
0.0→1.0 / Map
The ’Roughness’ of the Diffuse component is different to the roughness of all the other Iray+
components. Increasing Diffuse roughness makes the surface look powdery or rubbery. In all
of the other components the ’Roughness’ parameter controls glossy roughness, which affects
how blurred the reflections are.
Roughness: 0.0
Roughness: 0.5
Roughness: 1.0
Parameters for surface, coating and decal layer only
Weight 0.0→1.0 / Map
Gives control over the contribution of the layers to the overall material appearance. A value
of 1.0 will completely block any effect of any material layers below. A value of 0.0 will remove
any of the layers contribution.
Normal
0.0→1.0 / Map
Allows you to set a bump map to simulate surface detail and control the intensity and orientation of the effect
104
Materials using Diffuse
Base
Cloth
Matte
Paper
Plaster
LinearScratches2
RustPatches
RustUniform
Coatings
MatteFinish
Surface
DeepScratches
Verdigris
105
Decals
MatteDecal
8.2.2
Diffuse transmission
This component is designed to represent non-shiny matte materials that transmit light, such
as lampshades or translucent paper screens. There is a Roughness parameter that uses the
Oren-Nayar method for representing rough surfaces made up of microfacets. In practical
terms increasing the Roughness parameter is useful for representing powdery surfaces.
The DiffuseTransmission Material Editor UI
Diffuse Reflection
ReflectionColour Map / Color
Roughness
0.0→1.0 / Map
Controls the Oren-Nayar roughness of the material. Increasing this makes the surface look
powdery or rubbery
Roughness: 0.0
106
Roughness: 0.5
Roughness: 1.0
Diffuse Transmission
TransmissionWeight 0.0→1.0 / Map
Controls how much light can pass through the material. Setting this to zero will make the
material opaque. For real-world materials, this parameter should always be less than 0.5.
TransmissionWeight: 0.0
TransmissionColour
Map / Color
Controls the color of light passing through the material. For most materials this would be the
same as the ReflectionColour. This can be a single color value or a texture map.
TransmissionColour
TransmissionColour
TransmissionColour
Parameters of Surface, Coating and Decal Layers Only
Normal
0.0→1.0 / Map
107
Materials using DiffuseTransmission
Base
Lampshade
PaperTranslucent
Surface
8.2.3
Dirt1
Dirt2
DustUniform
DustVariable
Dirt3
DustStreaks
Subsurface scattering
This is a full-featured subsurface scattering component (see DiffuseSSS (page 112) for a simplified version). This component produces a more realistic subsurface scattering effect than
other components, but this comes at the expense of rendering speed. All light in your scene
will penetrate the object and you will be able to see objects through, and behind the material.
108
The SubsurfaceScattering Material Editor UI
Transmission
TransmissionColor
Color
Controls the Color of the transmitted light.
Color
inputs
Color
inputs
Color
inputs
First color is TransmissionColor, second color is DiffuseColor.
DiffuseColor
Map / Color
The basic surface color of the component, this is controlled by the DiffuseWeight parameter.
This can be a single Color value or a texture map.
109
DiffuseWeight
0.0→1.0
Controls the balance between the diffuse surface texturing and the more complex subsurface
scattering effect. Increasing the value will reduce the contribution of subsurface scattering.
DiffuseWeight: 0.1
Reflection
ReflectionColor
DiffuseWeight: 0.3
DiffuseWeight: 0.5
Map / Color
Controls the color of the glossy highlights on the material. This can be a single color value or
a texture map.
ReflectionColor
Roughness
ReflectionColor
ReflectionColor
0.0→1.0
Controls the size of the glossy highlights. Higher values will make reflections appear more
blurred.
Roughness: 0.0
110
Roughness: 0.1
Roughness: 1.0
SubsurfaceColor Color
Controls the color of the inside of the material. Light passing through will gradually be
absorbed based on this color. The thicker the object, the more light will be absorbed. A pure
white color means there will be no absorption, a pure black color means all light is absorbed
as soon as it enters the material. This must be a single color value, it cannot be a texture map
or noise function.
Color
inputs
Color
inputs
Color
inputs
First color is SubsurfaceColor, second color is TransmissionColor.
SubsurfaceScatterDistance
0.0→inf
This scale, in metres, controls the overall strength of the subsurface scattering effect. Reducing
this parameter will strengthen the effect. On average, light passing through the material will
undergo scattering each time it travels this distance through the material. Note that the useful
range for this parameter is between one-tenth and ten times the size of the object the material
is applied to. Setting a value outside of this range will make little or no difference to the
material’s appearance.
SubsurfaceScatterDistance:
0.005
0.01
0.1
111
SubsurfaceAbsorbDistance
0.0→inf
This scale, in metres, controls the overall strength of the subsurface absorption effect. Reducing this parameter will strengthen the effect. On average, light passing through the material
will be attenuated by the SubsurfaceColour each time it travels this distance through the
material.
SubsurfaceAbsorbDistance: SubsurfaceAbsorbDistance: SubsurfaceAbsorbDistance:
0.01
0.1
0.5
Refraction
IOR 0.0→inf
The index of refraction of the material.
IOR: 1.1
AbbeNumber
IOR: 1.492
IOR: 1.9
0.0→inf
This controls the spectral dispersion effect. Set it to zero to disable spectral dispersion. A nonzero value will enable dispersion, with the strength of the dispersion effect depending on the
Abbe number in a physically realistic way. A low Abbe number leads to strong dispersion, a
high Abbe number leads to weak dispersion. Types of glass are often classified according to
their Abbe number — typical values range from 20 up to 85.
Materials using Subsurface Scattering
Base
CloudyGem
112
PlasticTranslucent(SSS)
Wax
8.2.4
Diffuse subsurface scattering
DiffuseSSS is a simplified subsurface scattering component where visual details behind the
object that uses this material will not be visible. However, you will be able to see light passing
through the object. Glossy reflections are also visible on the surface of the material. The
reflections are not affected by the material color but are defined by the incident light.
This component renders quicker than SubsurfaceScattering and should be used instead if you
don’t need to see objects through the material. This is useful for representing objects like
grapes.
The DiffuseSSS Material Editor UI
Diffuse Subsurface Scattering
Tint Color
absorbed based on the Tint color. The thicker the object, the more light will be absorbed. A
pure white tint means there will be no absorption, a pure black tint means all light is absorbed
or noise function.
White (No Absorption)
Green
Black (Full Absorption)
113
DistanceScale
0.0→inf
This scale, in metres, controls the overall strength of the subsurface scattering and absorption
the material. Note that the useful range for the distance scale parameter is between one-tenth
and ten times the size of the object the material is applied to. Setting a value outside of this
range will make little or no difference to the material’s appearance.
DistanceScale: 0.01
Reflection
Roughness
DistanceScale: 0.05
DistanceScale: 0.5
0.0→1.0 / Map
Simulates the level of polish. Higher values will make the reflections appear more blurred.
Roughness: 0.0
NormalReflectivity
Roughness: 0.2
Roughness: 1.0
0.0→1.0 / Map
This parameter controls how shiny the object appears looking straight on.
NormalReflectivity: 0.0
114
GrazingReflectivity
0.0→1.0 / Map
This parameter controls how shiny the object appears looking at a very shallow angle.
GrazingReflectivity: 0.0
Exponent
0.0→25.0
Controls how quickly the shininess changes between the normal and grazing values as you
move across the surface.
Exponent: 1.0
Exponent: 2.5
Exponent: 5.0
Refraction
Use IOR On/Off Checkbox
Ignores the normal, grazing values and exponent, and uses the IOR value to define the falloff
curve.
IOR
0.0→50.0
Index of Refraction. Controls the amount of reflection and shape of the falloff curve, Use IOR
must be checked.
IOR: 1.0
IOR: 1.8
IOR: 2.5
115
Materials using DiffuseSSS
Base
PlasticTranslucent (FastSSS)
8.2.5
Multilayered subsurface scattering
MultiLayeredSSS
This is a full-featured subsurface scattering component (see DiffuseSSS (page 112) for a simplified version). This component produces a more realistic subsurface scattering effect than
other components, but this comes at the expense of rendering speed. All light in your scene
will penetrate the object and you will be able to see objects through, and behind the material.
The MultiLayeredSSS Material Editor UI
Unscattered Diffuse
Diffusetexture Map / Color
The basic color of the component, this is controlled by the DiffuseWeight parameter. This can
be a single Color value or a texture map.
116
DiffuseWeight
0.0→1.0
Controls the balance between the DiffuseColor surface texturing and the more complex subsurface scattering effect. Increasing the value will reduce the contribution of subsurface scattering.
DiffuseWeight: 0.2
DiffuseWeight: 0.5
DiffuseWeight: 0.8
Subsurface scattering
Subsurfacecolor Map / Color
Controls the Color of the inside of the material. Light passing through will gradually be
absorbed and the thicker the object, the more light will be absorbed. A pure white tint means
there will be no absorption, a pure black tint means all light is absorbed as soon as it enters
the material.
SubsurfaceColour
Subsurfacescatterdistance
SubsurfaceColour
SubsurfaceColour
0.0→inf
This scale, in metres, controls the overall strength of the subsurface scattering effect. Reducing
this parameter will strengthen the effect. On average, light passing through the material will
undergo scattering each time it travels this distance through the material.
0.0
0.005
0.2
117
Subsurfaceabsorbdistance
0.0→inf
This scale controls the overall strength of the subsurface scattering and absorption effects.
Reducing this parameter will strengthen the effects. On average, light passing through the
material will undergo scattering and absorption each time it travels this distance through the
material. Note that the useful range for the distance scale parameter is between one-tenth and
ten times the size of the object the material is applied to. Setting a value outside of this range
will make little or no difference to the material’s appearance.
SubsurfaceAbsorbDistance: SubsurfaceAbsorbDistance: SubsurfaceAbsorbDistance:
0.0
0.5
1.0
Specular reflections
Specularweight 0.0→1.0
Controls the strength of the glossy highlights on the surface of the material. Higher values
will make the reflections stronger.
Specularroughness
0.0→1.0 / Map
Controls the size of the glossy highlights. Higher values will make reflections appear more
blurred.
IOR
0.0→inf
Materials using MultilayeredSSS
Base
Skin
8.2.6
Pearlescent subsurface scattering
This component can be used to represent materials such as shampoo and shower gel.
118
The PearlescentSSS Material Editor UI
Diffuse
DiffuseColor
Map / Color
Defines the Diffuse color, this works in conjunction with DiffuseWeight.
DiffuseWeight
0.0→1.0
Controls the balance between the diffuse surface tint and the light transmitted through the
interior of the material. Increasing the value will make the material more opaque.
Weight: 0.0
Weight: 0.4
Weight: 0.8
119
Reflection
NormalReflectivity
0.0→1.0
This parameter controls how strong the glossy highlights appear when looking straight on.
GrazingReflectivity
0.0→1.0
This parameter control how strong the glossy highlights appear when looking at a very shallow angle.
Exponent
0.01→25.0
Controls how quickly the strength of the glossy highlights changes between the normal and
grazing values as you move across the surface.
Exponent: 0.01
120
Exponent: 1.0
Exponent: 5.0
0.0→1.0 / Map
Roughness
Controls the size of the glossy highlights. Higher values will make the reflections appear
more blurred
Roughness: 0.0
Absorption
ScatterColour
Roughness: 0.3
Roughness: 1.0
Color
white tint means there will be no absorption, a pure black tint means all light is absorbed as
soon as it enters the material
Tint/
TintScattering
DistanceScale
Tint/
TintScattering
Tint/
TintScattering
0.0→inf
the material.
DistanceScale: 0.005
DistanceScale: 0.05
DistanceScale: 0.5
121
Refraction
IOR 0.0→50.0
Controls the amount of ideal (non-glossy) reflection on the surface of the material.
IOR: 1.0
Normal
GelNoise
IOR: 1.2
IOR: 2.0
0.0→1.0 / Map
Can be used to create gel effects within the subsurface such as bubbles and sheens.
GelNoise: 1.0
GelNoise: 5.0
GelNoise: 25.0
Materials using Pearlescent SSS
Base
Gel
8.2.7
Dielectric
A component for representing the specific reflectance properties of non-metals such as plastics. The reflections are not affected by the material color but are defined by the incident
light.
This component follows Fresnel’s Law where the amount of reflectance varies based on the
angle of view. For example, viewing a carbon fiber type object at very shallow angles results
122
in almost complete reflectance whereas looking straight on, the object exhibits less reflectance.
This Fresnel falloff can be defined explicitly by setting reflectance values for 0 degrees (e.g.,
looking at the middle of a sphere object) and 90 degrees (looking at the edge of a sphere).
You can define how quickly the falloff varies between 0 and 90 via an exponent parameter.
The Fresnel effect can also be specified by using an IOR value which effectively fills the above
values in for you.
This is the same as the AnisotropicDielectric (page 159) component without additional control
over Anisotropy.
The Dielectric Material Editor UI
Diffuse
DiffuseColor
Map / Color
Reflection
Roughness
0.0→1.0 / Map
Simulates the level of polish. Higher values result in blurrier reflections. Can be used to create
powdery or frosted looking materials.
Roughness: 0.0
Roughness: 0.1
Roughness: 0.5
123
ReflectedColor
Map / Color
Can be used to control the color of reflections or using greyscale, the amount of reflections.
ReflectedColor: White
Exponent
ReflectedColor: Dark Grey
ReflectedColor: Magenta
0.0→25.0
Exponent: 0.1
NormalReflectivity
Exponent: 1.0
Exponent: 5.0
0.0→1.0 / Map
This parameter controls how shiny the object appears looking straight on. Typical materials
of this type display little reflectance at 0 degrees.
124
GrazingReflectivity
0.0→1.0 / Map
This parameter control how shiny the object appears looking at a very shallow angle. Typical
materials of this type display higher reflectance at 90 degrees to the camera.
Refraction
curve.
IOR
0.0→50.0
must be checked.
IOR: 0.0
IOR: 2.5
IOR: 10.0
Coating Layers Only
Normal
0.0→1.0 / Map
125
Materials using Dielectric
Base
CeramicTiles
ConcretePolished
ConcreteRough
Glossy
Masonry
Rubber
StonePolished
Wood
ClearCoat
GlossVarnish
MatteVarnish
WoodVarnished
Coatings
CeramicGlaze
8.2.8
Two-lobe dielectric
This component is designed to represent the reflectance properties of non- metals such as
plastics, ceramics and glass. It is similar to the Dielectric component, but allows the creation
of advanced glossy reflections that have two ’lobes’ or highlights of different sizes.
126
Dielectric materials follows Fresnel’s Law where the amount of reflectance varies based on
the angle of view. For example, viewing a carbon fiber type object at very shallow angles
results in almost complete reflectance whereas looking straight on, the object exhibits less
reflectance. This Fresnel falloff can be defined explicitly by setting reflectance values for 0
degrees (e.g. looking at the middle of a sphere object) and 90 degrees (looking at the edge
of a sphere). You can define how quickly the falloff varies between 0 and 90 via an exponent
parameter. The Fresnel effect can also be specified by using an IOR value which effectively
fills the above values in for you.
The TwoLobeDielectric Material Editor UI
Diffuse
DiffuseColor
Map / Color
Reflection
ReflectedColor
Map / Color
ReflectedColor: Blue
ReflectedColor: Magenta
127
RoughnessLobe1
0.0→1.0 / Map
Controls the size of the glossy highlights for the primary lobe. Higher values will make the
reflections appear more blurred.
RoughnessLobe1: 0.005
RoughnessLobe2
RoughnessLobe1: 0.1
RoughnessLobe1: 0.5
0.0→1.0 / Map
Controls the size of the glossy highlights for the secondary lobe. Higher values will make the
reflections appear more blurred.
RoughnessLobe2: 0.0
Exponent
RoughnessLobe2: 0.3
RoughnessLobe2: 1.0
0.01→25.0
Exponent: 0.01
128
Exponent: 1.0
Exponent: 5.0
NormalReflectivity
0.0→1.0 / Map
GrazingReflectivity
0.0→1.0 / Map
Refraction
curve.
IOR
0.0→50.0
must be checked.
IOR: 1.0
IOR: 2.5
IOR: 10.0
129
Coating Layers Only
Normal
0.0→1.0 / Map
Materials using TwoLobeDielectric
Base
CeramicWhiteware
8.2.9
Clay
Leather
PlasticOpaque
Specular reflection
A simple component that represents ideal (non-glossy) mirror reflection, with an optional
color tint.
The SpecularReflection Material Editor UI
Reflection
Color Map / Color
Color
130
Color
Color
Decal Layers Only
Normal
0.0→1.0 / Map
Materials using specular reflection
Base
Mirror
Decal
Mirror
8.2.10
Conductor
A component for representing the specific reflectance properties of metals. In the real world
the reflections and specular highlights in metals are affected by the color of the metal itself.
This is different to plastics, where reflections are the same color as the incident light.
While metals are typically quite reflective the actual reflectance amount varies somewhat
depending on the angle of view, so that very shallow angles give higher levels of reflectance.
This effect is not as pronounced as seen in shiny plastics or water. This is specified by setting
the IOR (Index of Refraction) of the metal. In this case IOR refers to the absorption of the
material rather than, for example, the refraction of light rays through glass. If relatively high
values are set for IOR (15 - 30) the fall off curve will be typical to metals.
This is the same as the AnistropicConductor (page 155) component without additional control
over Anisotropy.
131
The Conductor Material Editor UI
Diffuse
Color Map / Color
Reflection
Roughness
0.0→1.0 / Map
Roughness: 0.0
Exponent
Roughness: 0.1
Roughness: 0.5
0.0→25.0
Exponent: 0.01
132
Exponent: 0.5
Exponent: 1.5
NormalReflectivity
0.0→1.0 / Map
GrazingReflectivity
0.0→1.0 / Map
Refraction
UseIOR On/Off Checkbox
Ignores the normal and grazing values and exponent, and uses the IOR1.5 parameter to define
the falloff curve.
IOR
0.0→50.0
Controls the amount of reflection and shape of the falloff curve.
IOR: 5.0
IOR: 15.0
IOR: 25.0
133
Coating and Decal Layers Only
Normal
0.0→1.0 / Map
Materials using Conductor
Base
Metal
Coating
Anodized
MetalPlating
Decals
MetalFoil
134
8.2.11
Gloss
A layer thats adds simple glossy reflections to an object. Can be used to represent a layer of
clearcoat paint or varnish on top of the base material. Also used to represent scratches and
other imperfections in a surface layer.
The Gloss Material Editor UI
Reflection
Roughness
0.0→1.0 / Map
Roughness: 0.0
Color
Roughness: 0.1
Roughness: 0.5
Map / Color
Determines the color tint of the reflections. This can be a single color value or a texture map.
Weight
0.0→1.0 / Map
Controls the weight of the layer. A weight of 1.0 will mean the underlying material is not
visible.
Weight: 0.0
Weight: 0.3
Weight: 0.6
135
Bump Map
Normal 0.0→1.0 / Map
Adds a bump map or normal map to the coating, with control over the strength
Materials using Gloss
Coatings
GlossFinish
Surface
LinearScratches1
LinearScratches3
LinearScratches4
RadialScratches
Decals
Satin
8.2.12
Gloss flakes
This Coating layer simulates metallic flakes that can be used in conjunction with other layers
such as clearcoat to create a variety of materials. Multiple layers of GlossFlakes can be used
to create complex car paint or product packaging-type materials.
136
The GlossFlakes Material Editor UI
Reflection
FlakeColor
Map / Color
Determines color of the flakes. This can be a single color value or a texture map.
FlakeColor
FlakeRoughness
FlakeColor
FlakeColor
0.0→1.0
FlakeRoughness: 0.0
FlakeRoughness: 0.1
FlakeRoughness: 0.5
137
Weight
Weight
0.0→inf
Determines the maximum reflectivity of the flakes. This effectively controls the weight of the
layer relative to the underlying material. If you are using multiple GlossFlakes layers, this
parameters should be less than 1.
Weight: 0.1
FlakeSize
Weight: 0.5
Weight: 1.0
0.0→inf
Determines the size of the flakes. Higher values result in bigger flakes.
FlakeSize: 0.005
FlakeAmount
FlakeSize: 0.05
FlakeSize: 0.5
0.0→inf
This represents the density of flakes in the material. The higher the value, the less you will
see the layers underneath.
FlakeAmount: 0.15
138
FlakeAmount: 0.5
FlakeAmount: 1.0
Bump
FlakeBumpiness
0.0→inf
Controls the strength of the bump map associated with the flake layer.
FlakeBumpiness: 0.5
FlakeBumpiness: 1.0
FlakeBumpiness: 5.0
Materials using GlossFlakes
Coatings
Flakes
8.2.13
Galvanized
Flip-flop
A coating which adds different color glossy reflections depending on the angle from which
the material is viewed. Useful for creating complex materials such as car paints.
The FlipFlop Material Editor UI
139
Reflection
FlipColor Map / Color
Determines the color tint of the reflections when the material is viewed at a grazing angle.
FlipColor
FlipColor
Map / Color
FlopColor
Determines the color tint of the reflections when the material is viewed face on.
FlopColor
Roughness
FlopColor
0.0→1.0
Roughness: 0.0
140
Roughness: 0.2
Roughness: 0.5
Exponent
0.0→1.0
Controls the relative weighting of the Flip and Flop colors at intermediate angles. At high
values the FlopColor dominates, at low values the FlipColor dominates.
Exponent: 0.1
Weight
Weight
Exponent: 0.5
Exponent: 0.9
0.0→1.0
Controls the weight of the layer. This layer is always partially transparent so you will still see
underlying layers even when the weight is set to 1.
Weight: 0.1
8.2.14
Weight: 0.4
Weight: 0.7
Interference pattern
This Coating and Surface layer simulates the interference patterns seen when light is reflected
from a very thin layer of transparent material. It can be used to represent the rainbow patterns
seen in soap bubbles and oil on water.
141
Note: This component does not contain any reflective properties, it instead relies on any
reflection parameters in your chosen base component.
The InterferencePattern Material Editor UI
Weight
Weight
Map / Color
Controls the weight of the layer. Note that this layer is always mostly transparent — setting
a weight of 1.0 will maximise the strength of the interference pattern but will not block the
underlying material from view.
Weight: 0.1
142
Weight: 0.4
Weight: 0.8
Film
Thickness
10→10,000nm
The thickness of the film in nanometers. In visual terms this parameter will determine the
colors you see and the number of ’rings’ in the interference pattern — higher thickness leads
to more rings. The thickness should be approximately in the range of 100 to 10,000 nanometres
in order to see the interference effects clearly.
Thickness: 100
IOR
Thickness: 250
Thickness: 300
0→inf
The index of refraction of the material. This also affects the colors and number of rings in the
interference pattern.
IOR: 1.3
IOR: 1.7
IOR: 2.1
Bump Map
Normal 0.0→1.0 / Map
Adds a bump map or normal map to the layer.
Normal: 0.1
Normal: 0.5
Normal: 1.0
143
Materials using InterferencePattern
Coatings
ThinFilm
Surface
HeatStainedSteel
8.2.15
Thinwall transparent
This specialised component is designed to represent glass-type materials in a simplified way.
It is meant to be used on flat objects (e.g. panes of glass in a window) where refraction effects
are not important. Unlike other transparent/translucent components, ThinwallTransparent
can safely be applied to objects modelled as 2D planes with no thickness. This component
gives an ideal (non-glossy) mirror reflection and shows light transmitted from behind. The
transmitted light is not refracted. The strength of the mirror reflection is controlled by the
index of refraction — the higher the IOR, the stronger the reflection becomes (and the less
light is transmitted from behind).
The ThinwallTransparent Material Editor UI
144
Reflection
Color Map / Color
A color tint that will be applied to both reflections and transmitted light. This can be a single
color value or a texture map.
Color
Color
Color
Refraction
IOR 0.0→50.0
The index of refraction. This controls the strength of reflections from the surface of the material.
IOR: 1.1
IOR: 1.5
IOR: 2.5
Materials using Specular Reflection
Base
GlassThin
8.2.16
Physically based transparent
This component represents transparent solid objects such as cut glass or gemstones. It produces ideal (non-glossy) mirror reflections. Light is refracted as it enters and leaves the mate-
145
rial, spectral dispersion can also be simulated (i.e. splitting refracted white light into a spectrum of colors). Light can be absorbed within the body of the material to give a thicknessdependent color tint to the material. Subsurface scattering is supported to make the interior
of the material appear cloudy (e.g. impure gemstones).
The PhysicalTransparent Material Editor UI
Transmission
Tint Color
Tint
146
Tint
Tint
AbsorptionColor Color
or noise function.
AbsorptionColor
Scattering
AbsorptionColor
AbsorptionColor
0.0→1.0
Allows the strength of the subsurface scattering effect to be changed, without altering the
strength of the absorption effect. Setting it to zero means there will be no SSS. Setting it to 1.0
gives the strongest SSS effect (for a given distance scale).
Scattering: 0.05
Scattering: 0.4
Scattering: 1.0
147
DistanceScale
0.0→inf
the material. Note that the useful range for the distance scale parameter is between one-tenth
and ten times the size of the object the material is applied to. Setting a value outside of this
range will make little or no difference to the material’s appearance.
DistanceScale: 0.02
DistanceScale: 0.1
DistanceScale: 1.0
Refraction
IOR 0.0→inf
IOR: 1.2
AbbeNumber
IOR: 2.0
IOR: 3.0
0.0→inf
This controls the spectral dispersion effect. Set it to zero to disable spectral dispersion. A nonzero value will enable dispersion, with the strength of the dispersion effect depending on the
Abbe number in a physically realistic way. A low Abbe number leads to strong dispersion, a
high Abbe number leads to weak dispersion. Types of glass are often classified according to
their Abbe number — typical values range from 20 up to 85.
AbbeNumber: 5.0
148
AbbeNumber: 24.0
AbbeNumber: 85.0
Materials using Physical Transparent
Base
Diamond
8.2.17
Glass
GlassDispersion
Water
Physically based translucent
This component represents translucent solid objects with glossy reflections, such as frosted
glass. Light is refracted as it enters and leaves the material, and the refracted light is blurred
based on the Roughness of the material. Light can be absorbed within the body of the material
to give a thicknessdependent color tint, but there is no subsurface scattering.
The PhysicalTranslucent Material Editor UI
149
Transmission
Tint Color
Tint
Roughness
Tint
Tint
0.0→1.0 / Map
Controls the size of the glossy highlights. Higher values will make reflections and refracted
light appear more blurred.
Roughness: 0.02
150
Roughness: 0.1
Roughness: 0.5
Absorption
AbsorptionColor
Color
or noise function.
Absorption +
Absorption +
Absorption +
Tint
Tint
Tint
DistanceScale
0.0→inf
the material.
DistanceScale: 0.05
DistanceScale: 0.5
DistanceScale: 3.0
Refraction
IOR 0.0→50.0
IOR: 1.2
IOR: 1.5
IOR: 3.0
151
Materials using Physical Translucent
Base
PlasticTransparent
8.2.18
GlassFrosted
Backscattering
Backscatter refers to the reflection of light back in the direction it originated from. Backscatter
is useful for representing materials that have a ’pile’ such as velvet and suede.
The backscattering component is a combination of two reflectance functions: a backscatter
function where rays of light get reflected back toward the light source, and a standard glossy
function where light is bounced off at the angle of incidence. The combination of these is
controlled by the GlossyWeight parameter; setting 0.0 for this results in pure backscattering.
The Backscattering Material Editor UI
Colour
NormalColor
Map / Color
The color when looking directly down onto the surface of an object.
GrazingColor
Map / Color
The color when looking at the 90 ◦ edge of an object.
152
Roughness
0.0→1.0 / Map
Higher values result in blurrier reflections.
Roughness: 0.05
NormalReflectivity
Roughness: 0.3
Roughness: 1.0
0.0→1.0
How shiny the object appears looking straight on.
GrazingReflectivity
0.0→1.0
How shiny the object appears looking at a very shallow angle.
153
Exponent
0.01→25
Exponent: 0.0
Reflections
GlossyWeight
Exponent: 0.5
Exponent: 1.0
0.0→1.0
How much of the material should be made up of the Glossy function. Set this at 0.0 for pure
backscattering.
GlossyWeight: 0.0
GlossyRoughness
GlossyWeight: 0.5
GlossyWeight: 1.0
0.0→1.0
Simulates the level of polish in the glossy part of the material. Higher values result in blurrier
reflections.
GlossyRoughness: 0.0
Refraction
Ignores the normal and grazing values and exponent, and uses the "IOR" parameter to define
the falloff curve.
154
IOR
0.0→inf
must be checked.
IOR: 1.0
IOR: 3.0
IOR: 8.0
Materials using Backscattering
Base
Velvet
8.2.19
Anisotropic conductor
A component for representing the specific reflectance properties of metals. In the real world
the reflections and specular highlights in metals are affected by the color of the metal itself.
This is different to plastics, where reflections are the same color as the incident light.
While metals are typically quite reflective the actual reflectance amount varies somewhat
depending on the angle of view, so that very shallow angles give higher levels of reflectance.
This effect is not as pronounced as seen in shiny plastics or water. This is specified by setting
the IOR (Index of Refraction) of the metal. In this case IOR refers to the absorption of the
material rather than, for example, the refraction of light rays through glass. If relatively high
values are set for IOR (15 to 30) the fall off curve will be typical to metals.
This is the same as the Conductor (page 131) component with additional control over Anisotropy.
155
The AnisotropicConductor Material Editor UI
Diffuse
Color Map / Color
Anisotropy
Anisotropy
0.0→1.0 / Map
Anisotropy: 0.0
156
Anisotropy: 0.5
Anisotropy: 1.0
AnisotropyRotation
0.0→1.0 / Map
point. You can apply textures to this to get circular brushed effects. The range is 0.0 to 1.0,
where 1.0 means 360 degrees, 0.25 means 90 degrees, etc. To work this out, just multiply the
value by 360. You can apply textures to this to get circular brushed effects.
(0 ◦ )
Reflection
Roughness
(216 ◦ )
(324 ◦ )
0.0→1.0 / Map
Roughness: 0.0
Exponent
Roughness: 0.1
Roughness: 0.5
0.0→25.0
Exponent: 0.01
Exponent: 0.5
Exponent: 1.5
157
NormalReflectivity
0.0→1.0 / Map
GrazingReflectivity
0.0→1.0 / Map
Refraction
Ignores all parameters in the Reflection group and uses the IOR parameter to define the falloff
curve.
IOR
0.0→50.0
Controls the amount of reflection and shape of the falloff curve.
IOR: 1.0
158
IOR: 1.5
IOR: 2.5
Decal Layers Only
Normal
0.0→1.0 / Map
Materials using Anisotropic Conductor
Base
MetalBrushed
MetalPolished
MetalSatin
Decals
BrushedMetalFoil
8.2.20
Anisotropic dielectric
A component for representing the specific reflectance properties of non-metals such as plastics. The reflections are not affected by the material color but are defined by the incident
light.
This component follows Fresnel’s Law where the amount of reflectance varies based on the
angle of view. For example, viewing a carbon fiber type object at very shallow angles results
in almost complete reflectance whereas looking straight on, the object exhibits less reflectance.
This Fresnel falloff can be defined explicitly by setting reflectance values for 0 degrees (e.g.
looking at the middle of a sphere object) and 90 degrees (looking at the edge of a sphere).
You can define how quickly the falloff varies between 0 and 90 via an exponent parameter.
The Fresnel effect can also be specified by using an IOR value.
This is the same as the Dielectric (page 122) component with additional control over Anisotropy.
159
The AnisotropicDielectric Material Editor UI
Diffuse
DiffuseColor
Map / Color
Reflection
Roughness
0.0→1.0 / Map
Simulates the level of polish. Higher values result in blurrier reflections. Can be used to create
powdery or frosted looking materials.
Roughness: 0.0
160
Roughness: 0.1
Roughness: 0.5
ReflectedColor
Map / Color
NormalReflectivity
ReflectedColor: Grey
ReflectedColor: Red
0.0→1.0 / Map
GrazingReflectivity
0.0→1.0 / Map
161
0.01→25.0
Exponent
Exponent: 0.01
Anisotropy
Anisotropy
Exponent: 0.1
Exponent: 0.5
0.0→1.0 / Map
Anisotropy: 0.0
AnisotropyRotation
Anisotropy: 0.5
Anisotropy: 1.0
0.0→1.0 / Map
point. The range is 0.0 to 1.0, where 1.0 means 360 degrees, 0.25 means 90 degrees, etc. To
work this out, just multiply the value by 360. You can apply textures to this to get circular
brushed effects.
(0 ◦ )
162
(90 ◦ )
(234 ◦ )
Refraction
curve.
IOR
0.0→50.0
must be checked.
IOR: 1.0
IOR: 1.5
IOR: 2.5
Coating and Decal Layers Only
Normal
0.0→1.0 / Map
Materials using Anisotropic Dielectric
Base
CarbonFiber
163
Coatings
HammerPaint
PaintEggshell
PaintGloss
PaintPearl
PlasticCoating
PowderCoating
PaintMatte
Decals
BrushedPlastic
8.2.21
Woven anisotropic
This component is designed to represent fabric-type materials. Such materials are made up
of threads or fibres running in two different directions, known as “warp” and “weft,” which
can each produce anisotropic glossy reflections. By increasing the transmission parameter, it
is possible to simulate thin partially-translucent fabrics.
164
The WovenAnisotropic Material Editor UI
Weight
WarpToWeftRatio
0.0→inf
Controls the relative strength of reflections from the warp versus the weft.
WarpToWeftRatio: 0.0
165
Warp
WarpColour
Map / Color
Controls the color of the warp threads in the material. This can be a single color or a map.
WarpColor
WarpRoughness
WarpColor
WarpColor
0.0→1.0 / Map
Controls the size of the glossy highlights from the warp. Higher values will make the reflections appear more blurred.
WarpRoughness: 0.05
WarpDeformationStrength
WarpRoughness: 0.3
WarpRoughness: 0.8
0.0→inf
Controls the spacing between the anisotropic highlights from the warp.
WarpDeformationStrength: WarpDeformationStrength: WarpDeformationStrength:
0.0
0.5
1.0
166
WarpUniformity
0.0→1.0
Controls the relative strength of the inner and outer anisotropic highlights from the warp.
WarpUniformity: 0.0
Weft
WeftColour
WarpUniformity: 1.0
Map / Color
Controls the color of the weft threads in the material. This can be a single color or a map.
WeftColor
WeftRoughness
WeftColor
WeftColor
0.0→1.0 / Map
Controls the size of the glossy highlights from the weft. Higher values will make the reflections appear more blurred.
WeftRoughness: 0.05
WeftRoughness: 0.3
WeftRoughness: 0.8
167
Transmission
Transmission 0.0→1.0
Controls the maximum amount of light that passes through the material.
Transmission: 0.2
TransmissionColour
Transmission: 0.5
Transmission: 0.8
Map / Color
Controls the color of the transmitted light.
TransmissionColor
TransmissionExponent
TransmissionColor
TransmissionColor
0.01→25.0
Controls how quickly the transmission of the material changes as you move across the surface.
The maximum amount of light is transmitted when the material is viewed straight on. The
transmission falls to zero when the material is viewed from a very shallow angle.
TransmissionExponent: 0.5
Other
Shadowing
0.0→1.0
Increasing this parameter will make the material appear darker when it is viewed from shallow angles.
168
Coating Layers Only
Normal
0.0→1.0 / Map
Materials using WovenAnisotropic
Base
Satin
8.2.22
Fibre anisotropic
This component is designed to represent wooden surfaces, using a combination of diffuse
texturing, glossy highlights and bump mapping.
Two separate glossy highlights and bump maps can be applied. The first corresponds to the
fibers within the grain of the wood. The second, corresponding to the surface of the material,
can be used to simulate a clearcoat varnish. The fibers can have anisotropic highlights to
accentuate the grain of the wood.
169
The FibreAnisotropic Material Editor UI
Reflection
Diffuse Map / Color
The basic color of the component. This can be a single color value or a texture map, ideally a
wood-grain texture.
Roughness1
0.0→1.0
Controls the width of the glossy highlights from the wood fibers. Higher values will make
reflections appear more blurred in one direction. Anisotropic highlights can be created by
using different values for Roughness1 and Roughness2.
Roughness1: 0.0
170
Roughness1: 0.5
Roughness1: 1.0
0.0→1.0
Roughness2
Controls the height of the glossy highlights from the wood fibers. Higher values will make
reflections appear more blurred in one direction. Anisotropic highlights can be created by
using different values for Roughness1 and Roughness2.
Roughness2: 0.0
Roughness2: 0.5
Roughness2: 1.0
0.0→1.0
FibreWeight
Controls the strength of the glossy highlights from the wood fibers. Higher values will make
the reflections stronger.
FibreWeight: 0.0
Coating
Roughness
FibreWeight: 0.3
FibreWeight: 0.6
0.0→1.0
Simulates the level of polish on the varnished surface of the wooden object. Higher values
will make the reflections appear more blurred.
CoatRoughness: 0.0
CoatRoughness: 1.0
Bump / Normal Maps
FibreBump 0.0→inf / Map
A bump map or normal map representing the fibers within the wood grain.
NormalTexture
0.0→inf /Map
A bump map or normal map representing the surface of the object.
171
8.3 Noise maps
Materials using FibreAnisotropic
Base
WoodGrain
8.3
Noise maps
8.3.1
Flake noise
The Iray+ Flake Noise map simulates speckles on the surface of a texture. This has many uses
including car paints, glitter and metallic flakes.
Parameters
Intensity 0.0→inf
The maximum reflectivity of any flake. This will have no effect if attached to a Normal/Bump
parameter.
Intensity: 0.5
Density
Intensity: 1.0
Intensity: 2.0
0.0→inf
Controls the amount of flakes, the space between flakes will increase at higher numbers. This
will have no effect if attached to a Normal/Bump parameter.
Density: 0.5
172
Density: 1.5
Density: 3.0
8.3 Noise maps
Scale
0.0→inf
The size of the features in the pattern.
Scale: 0.001
Scale: 0.005
Scale: 0.1
Note: The FlipTangent checkboxes on a geometry component’s Normal parameter will
not function if a Noise or Bump map is attached, only Normal maps will be affected.
8.3.2
Flow noise
Parameters
Color 1 + 2 Color
The noise blends between these two colors. These parameters will have no effect if connected
to a Normal/Bump parameter.
Size
0→1000
The size of the features in the noise pattern.
Size: 0.005
Phase
Size: 0.05
Size: 0.1
0→inf
This can be used as a time control, in conjunction with 3ds Max key frames to simulate
progression of the noise over time.
Phase: 0.0
Phase: 2.5
Phase: 5.0
173
Levels
8.3 Noise maps
0→inf
Controls the number of additional noise functions (octaves) to sample.
Levels: 1
Level Gain
Levels: 2
Levels: 5
0→inf
If multiple levels are used, this parameter specifies a weighting factor for subsequent levels.
Increasing this will tend to give more contrast between the noise colors.
LevelGain: 1.0
Level Scale
LevelGain: 2.0
LevelGain: 3.0
0.0→inf
If multiple levels are used, this parameter specifies a global scaling factor for subsequent
levels.
LevelScale: 1.0
174
LevelScale: 1.5
LevelScale: 2.0
8.3 Noise maps
0.0→inf
Level Prog UScale
If multiple levels are used, this parameter specifies an additional scaling factor in the "u"
direction.
LevelProgUScale: 1.0
Level Prog VMotion
0→inf
If multiple levels are used, this parameter specifies an offset for subsequent levels in the "v"
direction.
LevelProgVMotion: 1.0
Absolute Noise
On/Off Checkbox
When enabled, the pattern will appear more billowing and turbulent.
AbsoluteNoise: On
AbsoluteNoise: Off
8.3.3
Perlin noise
The Iray+ Perlin Noise map generates a pseudo-random pattern consisting of waves across
the map. It is computed over several octaves which are added together for the final result.
It has many uses but primarily it is used for generating procedural textures, shapes, terrain
height maps and as the basis for texture effects.
175
8.3 Noise maps
Parameters
Colour 1 + 2 Color
Size
0→1000
Size: 0.01
Apply Marble
Size: 0.05
Size: 0.2
On/Off Checkbox
This modifies the pattern with a marble appearance. Can be used in combination with Apply
Dent and Absolute Noise for more complex effects.
Marble
Apply Dent
Marble + Dent
Marble + Noise
On/Off Checkbox
Intensifies the contrast between the colors but the pattern will stay the same. Can be used in
combination with Apply Marble and Absolute Noise for more complex effects.
Dent
176
Dent + Noise
8.3 Noise maps
Absolute Noise
On/Off Checkbox
When enabled, the pattern will appear more billowing and turbulent.Can be used in combination with Apply Marble and Apply Dent for more complex effects.
Noise
Noise Phase
Noise + Marble + Dent
0→inf
This can be used as a time control, in conjunction with 3ds Max key frames to simulate
progression of the noise over time.
NoisePhase
NoiseLevels
0→inf
Controls the number of additional noise functions (octaves) to sample.
NoiseLevels: 1
NoiseLevels: 2
NoiseLevels: 3
177
NoiseDistortion
8.3 Noise maps
0.0→inf
The weight of additional noise turbulence.
NoiseDistortion: 1.0, 3.0,
4.0
Noise Threshold Low / High
5.0
0.0
0→inf
Noise values greater then "Noise Threshold Low" are mapped to Colour 2, Noise values
greater than "Noise Threshold High" are mapped to Colour 1.
Low: 0.5 High: 5.0
Noise Bands
Low: 0.8 High: 1.2
Low: 5.0 High: 2.0
0→inf
This creates a "tree ring" like effect
NoiseBands: 0.5
NoiseBands: 3.0
NoiseBands: 15.0
8.3.4
Worley noise
Iray+ Worley Noise, also known as Cell Noise, is a texture built by calculating the distance
between randomly distributed points. This produces a pattern similar to clusters of cells, and
can be used as an alternative to the Iray+ Perlin Noise map to generate texture effects and
procedural textures.
178
8.3 Noise maps
Parameters
Color 1 + 2 Color
Size
0→1000
Size: 0.01
Apply Marble
Size: 0.05
Size: 0.2
On/Off Checkbox
This modifies the pattern with a marble appearance. Can be used in combination with Apply
Dent and Absolute Noise for more complex effects.
Marble
Apply Dent
Marble + Dent
On/Off Checkbox
Intensifies the contrast between the colors but the pattern will stay the same. Can be used in
combination with Apply Marble and Absolute Noise for more complex effects.
Dent
179
NoiseDistortion
8.3 Noise maps
0.0→inf
The weight of additional noise turbulence.
0.0
Noise Threshold Low / High
1.0
0.0
0.0→inf
Noise values greater then "Noise Threshold Low" are mapped to Colour 2, Noise values
greater than "Noise Threshold High" are mapped to Colour 1.
Low: 0.5 High: 5.0
Noise Bands
Low: 0.8 High: 1.2
Low: 5.0 High: 2.0
0.0→inf
This creates a "tree ring" like effect
NoiseBands: 0.2
NoiseBands: 0.5
NoiseBands: 2.0
180
8.4 Material libraries
8.4
Material libraries
Iray+ Materials
Iray+ makes hundred of materials available for use in your projects. This page provides a list
and preview of the material libraries available for download. Click any image to see a larger
version.
Each section on this page also has a link for download. Given the size of the textures involved
there is no link to download all the libraries. Each library download is zipped for convenience
and contains both the library and the textures required for that library. Each zip also contains
information about installing an Iray+ library within 3ds Max.
8.4.1
LWIrayPlusMaterials
This library contains a subset of materials from all the other Material Libraries listed on this
page. The library is installed alongside the Iray+ plug-in. You can find it in the Program
Files directory under:
C:\Program~Files\Autodesk\3ds~Max~20XX\materiallibraries
3DPrint PhotoPolymer
Aluminium Brushed
Aluminium Perforated
Aluminium Polished
181
182
Asphalt
Bricks
Carbon fiber
Cardboard
Carpet
Ceramic Terracotta
Ceramic Whiteware
Chainlink Fence
Chrome
Colored Wax
Concrete Polished
Concrete PreCast
Diamond
Fabric_Cotton
Fabric Satin
Fabric Velvet
Floorboard
Glass_Architectural
Glass Frosted Pattern
Glass Lead Crystal
Gold Polished
Grass
Ground Cover
Leather Black
Metallic Paint Red
Metalplate Rusted
Mosaic Tile
Polypropylene
PVC
Rooftiles
Rubber
Ruby
Steel Brushed
Steel Circular Brushed
Steel Polished
Wood Varnished
8.4.2
Ceramic
Download the Ceramic library
183
Ceramic Whiteware
Mosaic Tile 1
Mosaic Tile 2
Mosaic Tile 3
Porcelain
Stone Tiles
Tableware
Walltiles Black
Walltiles Blue
Walltiles Brown
Walltiles Green
Walltiles Purple
Walltiles Red
Walltiles Terracotta
8.4.3
Composites
Download the Composites library
184
Carbon Fibre Cloth Plain
8.4.4
Carbon Fibre Cloth Twill
Carbon Fibre Coated Plain
Carbon Fibre Coated Twill
Concrete
Download the Concrete library
Concrete 1
Concrete 2
Concrete 3
Concrete 4
Concrete 5
Concrete 6
Concrete 7
Concrete 8
Concrete 9
Concrete 10
Concrete 11
Concrete 12
185
Concrete 13
Concrete 14
Concrete 15
Concrete Cast
60W Incandescent Bulb
Concrete Pavers
8.4.5
Emission
Download the Emission library
8.4.6
3W LED
27W Fluorescent Bulb
35W Halogen Bulb
100W HPS Bulb
150W Xenon Arc Bulb
Candle Flame
Fabrics
Download the Fabrics library
186
Fabric 1
Fabric 2
Fabric 3
Fabric 4
Fabric 5
Fabric 6
Fabric 7
Fabric 8
Fabric 9
Fabric 10
Fabric 11
Fabric 12
Leather 1
Leather 2
Leather 3
Leather 4
Leather 5
Leather 6
Satin 1
Satin 2
187
8.4.7
Satin 3
Satin 4
Velvet 1
Velvet 3
Velvet 4
Velvet 5
Carpet 1
Carpet 2
Carpet 3
Carpet 4
Carpet 5
Carpet 6
Carpet 7
Carpet 8
Velvet 2
Flooring
Download the Flooring library
188
Carpet 9
Carpet 10
Floorboard 1 Varnished
Floorboard 1
Floorboard 2_Varnished
Floorboard 2
Floorboard 3
Floorboard 4
Floorboard 5
Paving 1
Paving 2
Paving 3
Paving 4
Paving 5
189
8.4.8
Gems
Download the Gems library
Diamond
Ruby
Sapphire
Architectural (Simple)
Barium Crown (BAK1)
Borosilicate Crown (BK7)
Dense Crown (SK16)
Dense Flint (SF11)
Frosted
Glass_Frosted_Pattern
Glass Lead Crystal
Lanthanum Flint (LAF2)
Low E Coated
Mirror Coated
Physical Blue
8.4.9
Glass
Download the Glass library
190
Physical Green
8.4.10
Physical
Interior Walls
Download the Interior Walls library
Interior Wall 1
Interior Wall 2
Interior Wall 5
Plaster
8.4.11
Interior Wall 3
Interior Wall 4
Ocean
Red Gel
Liquids
Download the Liquids library
Colored Wax
Lagoon
191
Shampoo
Shower Gel
Soap Bubble
Tropical Sea
Bricks 1
Bricks 2
Bricks 3
Bricks 4
Bricks 5
Bricks 6
Bricks 7
Cinder Block
Water
8.4.12
Masonry
Download the Masonry library
192
Concrete Blocks
Stone Blocks
Stonewall 1
Stonewall 2
Aluminium Brushed
Aluminium Perforated
Aluminium Polished
Chrome Brushed
Chrome Polished
Copper 1
Copper 2
Copper Brushed
Stonewall 3
8.4.13
Metals
Download the Metals library
193
194
Copper Polished
Gold Brushed
Gold Polished
Metal Grate 1
Metal Grate 2
Metal Plate Rusted
Metalplate 1
Metalplate 2
Metalplate 3
Molybdenum Brushed
Molybdenum Polished
Nickel Brushed
Nickel Polished
Platinum Brushed
Platinum Polished
Rhodium Brushed
Rhodium Polished
Silver Brushed
Silver Polished
Steel Brushed
Steel Circular Brushed
Steel Perforated Brushed
Steel Polished
Titanium Brushed
Titanium Polished
Treadplate 1
Treadplate 2
Treadplate 3
Treadplate 4
8.4.14
Miscellaneous
Download the Miscellaneous library
Industrial styling clay
(Dark Brown)
Industrial styling clay
(Light Brown)
195
8.4.15
Organic
Download the Organic library
Grape
Skin 1
Skin 2
Metallic Carpaint Black
Metallic Carpaint Blue
Metallic Carpaint Green
Metallic Carpaint Silver
Metallic Carpaint White
8.4.16
Metallic paint
Download the Paint library
196
Metallic Carpaint Red
8.4.17
Paper and Card
Download the Paper and Card library
Cardboard 1
Cardboard 2
Cardboard 3
Cardboard 4
3DPrint PhotoPolymer
ABS
Injection Molded ABS
LDPE
Opaque HDPE
Opaque
PET
Polypropylene
Polystyrene
Polyurethane Rough
Polyurethane Smooth
PVC
8.4.18
Plastics
Download the Plastics library
197
Rubber
Translucent HDPE
Translucent
Transparent
White HDPE
8.4.19
Roofing
Download the Roofing library
Rooftiles 1
8.4.20
Rooftiles 2
Rooftiles 3
Asphalt 2
Asphalt 3
Site
Download the Site library
Asphalt 1
198
Asphalt 4
Asphalt 5
Asphalt 6
Asphalt 7
Asphalt 8
Asphalt 9
Asphalt 10
Chainlink Fence
Gravel 1
Gravel 2
Gravel 3
Ground Cover 1
Ground Cover 2
Ground Cover 3
Ground Cover 4
Ground Cover 5
Ground Cover 6
Ground Cover 7
Ground Cover 8
Ground Cover 9
Mesh Fence 1
199
Mesh Fence 2
Wooden Fence 1
Wooden Fence 2
Wooden Fence 3
Marble 1
Marble 2
Marble 3
Marble 4
Marble 5
Marble 6
Marble 7
Marble 8
Wooden Fence 4
8.4.21
Stone
Download the Stone library
200
8.4.22
Marble 9
Marble 10
Marble 11
Marble 12
Stone 1
Stone 2
Stone 3
Stone 4
Stone 5
Stone 6
Stucco
Download the Stucco library
Stucco 1
8.4.23
Stucco 2
Stucco 3
Vegetation
Download the Vegetation library
201
8.4.24
Grass 1
Grass 2
Grass 3
Grass 4
Grass 5
Grass 6
Hedge 1
Hedge 2
Hedge 3
Leaf 1
Leaf 2
Leaf 3
Beech 1
Beech 2 Varnished
Beech 2
Wood
Download the Wood library
Beech 1 Varnished
202
Burl 1 Varnished
Burl 1
Chestnut Varnished
Chestnut
Lacewood Varnished
Lacewood
Mahogany Varnished
Mahogany
Maple 1 Varnished
Maple 1
Maple 2 Varnished
Maple 2
Maple 3 Varnished
Maple 3
Oak 1 Varnished
Oak 1
Pine 1 Varnished
Pine 1
Walnut 1 Varnished
Walnut 1
203
Walnut 2 Varnished
Walnut 2
Wood Planks
Wood Siding 1
Wood Siding 2
204
8.5 Component index
8.5
Component index
This section is a visual guide to the default appearance of each Component preset in the Iray+
material editor. The name of the component is in bold, the low-level component (the basic
shader type, used in common by many of the Iray+ components) is defined below. Click on
the component name to go to the relevant section for that component.
BrushedMetalFoil
AnisotropicConductor (page
155)
MetalBrushed
155)
MetalPolished
155)
MetalSatin
155)
CarbonFiber
AnisotropicDielectric (page
159)
BrushedPlastic
159)
HammerPaint
159)
PaintEggshell
159)
PaintGloss
159)
205
206
8.5 Component index
PaintMatte
159)
PaintPearl
159)
PlasticCoating
159)
PowderCoating
159)
Velvet
Backscattering (page 152)
Anodized
Metal
MetalFoil
MetalPlating
8.5 Component index
CeramicGlaze
CeramicTiles
ClearCoat
ConcretePolished
ConcreteRough
GlossVarnish
Glossy
Masonry
MatteVarnish
Rubber
StonePolished
Wood
207
208
8.5 Component index
WoodVarnished
Cloth
Diffuse (page 104)
DeepScratches
Diffuse (page 104)
LinearScratches2
Diffuse (page 104)
Matte
Diffuse (page 104)
MatteDecal
Diffuse (page 104)
Paper
Diffuse (page 104)
Plaster
Diffuse (page 104)
RustPatches
Diffuse (page 104)
RustUniform
Diffuse (page 104)
Verdigris
Diffuse (page 104)
Default
DiffuseSSS (page 112)
8.5 Component index
Dirt1
DiffuseTransmission (page
106)
Dirt2
106)
Dirt3
106)
DustStreaks
106)
DustUniform
106)
DustVariable
106)
lampshade
106)
PaperTranslucent
106)
WoodGrain
FibreAnisotropic (page 169)
209
8.5 Component index
FlipFlopPaint
FlipFlop (page 139)
GlossFinish
Gloss (page 134)
LinearScratches1
Gloss (page 134)
LinearScratches3
Gloss (page 134)
LinearScratches4
Gloss (page 134)
RadialScratches
Gloss (page 134)
Satin
Gloss (page 134)
Flakes
Galvanized
HeatStainedSteel
ThinFilm
InterferencePattern (page 141) InterferencePattern (page 141)
210
Aluminium
Metal (page 23)
8.5 Component index
AluminiumCopper
Metal (page 23)
Chromium
Metal (page 23)
Copper
Metal (page 23)
Gold
Metal (page 23)
Iron
Metal (page 23)
Lead
Metal (page 23)
Mercury
Metal (page 23)
Molybdenum
Metal (page 23)
Nickel
Metal (page 23)
Platinum
Metal (page 23)
Rhodium
Metal (page 23)
Silver
Metal (page 23)
211
212
8.5 Component index
Titanium
Metal (page 23)
Tungsten
Metal (page 23)
Vanadium
Metal (page 23)
Gel
PearlescentSSS (page 118)
Dent
PerlinNoise (page 175)
DentNoise
Marble
MarbleDent
MarbleDentNoise
MarbleNoise
Noise
GlassFrosted
8.5 Component index
PlasticTransparent
Diamond
Glass
PhysicalTranslucent (page 149) PhysicalTransparent (page 145) PhysicalTransparent (page 145)
GlassDispersion
Water
Mirror
PhysicalTransparent (page 145) PhysicalTransparent (page 145) SpecularReflection (page 130)
MirrorDecal
PlasticTranslucent
SubsurfaceScattering (page
108)
Wax
SubsurfaceScattering (page
108)
213
214
8.5 Component index
GlassThin
ThinwallTransparent (page
144)
CeramicWhiteware
Clay
Leather
PlasticOpaque
Dent
WorleyNoise (page 178)
Marble
MarbleDent
Satin
WovenAnisotropic (page 164)

Iray for ds Max - NVIDIA Advanced Rendering

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