Vray History

V-Ray is a rendering engine that is used as an extension of certain 3D computer graphics software.

The core developers of V-Ray are Vladimir Koylazov and Peter Mitev of Chaos Software production studio established in 1997, based in Sofia, Bulgaria.

It is a rendering engine that uses advanced techniques, for example global illumination algorithms such as path tracing, photon mapping, irradiance maps and directly computed global illumination. The use of these techniques often makes it preferable to conventional renderers which are provided as standard with 3d software, and generally renders using these technique can appear more photo-realistic, as actual lighting effects are more realistically emulated.

V-Ray is used in the development of film productions and multi-million dollar game productions.

It is also used extensively in making realistic 3D renderings for architecture.

COMPABILITY : V-Ray is compatible with packages such as Sketchup, Autodesk 3ds Max, Maya, Rhino, TrueSpace, Maxon Cinema 4d, Blender and Softimage XSI, and is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit architectures.

• V-Ray and Autodesk 3ds Max

V-Ray is widely used as a rendering engine in substitution of the standard and mental ray renderers which are included bundled with 3ds Max.

V-Ray was later made compatible with the Autodesk's stripped down architectural-specific 3D CAD software Autodesk VIZ.

• V-Ray and Robert McNeel & Associate's Rhinoceros

In 2007 ASGVIS released the V-Ray rendering plug-in for Rhino. The software, currently in version 01.05.29, works within Rhino's user interface, and allows users to quickly render their 3D models into photorealistic, high-quality images.

Features of this plug-in include:

• True raytraced reflections and refractions
• Glossy reflections and refractions
• Indirect Illumination (global illumination, global lighting). Different approaches include direct computation (brute force), and irradiance maps.
• Area shadows (soft shadows). Includes box and sphere emitters
• True HDRI support. Includes support of proper texture coordinate handling for both cubic and angular maps. Map your images directly without distortions or cropping.
• Fully multithreaded raytracing engine
• Antialiasing. Includes fixed, simple 2-level and adaptive approaches.
• Reusable irradiance maps (save and load support). Incremental sampling for fly-through animations.
• Displacement
• V-Ray Material Editor with Material Preview
• V-Ray Sun and Sky
• V-Ray Physical Camera
• Depth-Of-Field camera effect.
• Distributed Rendering allowing a single image to be process over up to 10 machines
• Per Material GI, Background, Reflection, and Refraction
• V-Ray Two-Sided Material for easy creation of thin translucency
• Caustics
• Animation Support for Bongo as well as Rhino's built in animation tools

System Requirements of V-Ray for Rhino:

V-Ray for Rhino 4.0 runs on ordinary Windows desktop and laptop computers, with: Hardware: Pentium, Celeron, or higher processor; 200 MB disk space; 512 MB RAM. 1 GB or more is recommended. OpenGL graphic card recommended. Operating systems: V-Ray for Rhino 4.0 runs only on Windows 2000, XP Pro, XP Home, and Vista, including an Intel Mac with BootCamp or Parallels; V-Ray for Rhino 4.0 will not run on Windows NT, 95, 98, or ME. V-Ray for Rhino 4.0 does not run natively on Linux, or any other operating system not listed above

• V-Ray and Google's SketchUp

ASGVIS also developed the V-Ray rendering plug-in for Google's SketchUp, which works with both the free and Pro versions of SketchUp 7. The latest build, version 01.48.66, released on February 10, 2010 and works on both PC and MAC OS platforms.

V-Ray for SketchUp Features:

• (New) More shader types (great for metal textures!)
• (New) More than 10 new procedural textures, including dirt (for more realistic renderings!)
• (New) Lights now have the ability to add IES profiles (for light accuracy)
• (New) Material can now be layered better
• (New) Faster scene processing times
• (New) Support for SketchUp transparency and alpha transparency
• True reflections and refractions
• Glossy reflections and refractions
• Global Illumination allows for photorealistic lighting
• Soft shadows support
• True HDRI support
• Fully multithreaded raytracing engine
• Native SketchUp materials supported and integrated into V-Ray materials
• Material editor with material preview
• Sun and sky system
• Physical camera
• Depth-of-field camera effects.
• Distributed rendering allowing a single image to be processed over up to ten machines
• Per material GI, background, reflection, and refraction
• V-Ray two-sided material for easy creation of thin translucency
• Animation support

V-Ray for SketchUp System Requirements:

Windows XP, Minimum Hardware 600 MHz processor, 128 MB RAM, 128 MB of available hard-disk space, 3D class Video Card with 128 MB of memory or higher. Please ensure that the video card driver supports OpenGL version 1.5 or higher and up to date.

Windows Vista and Windows 7, Minimum Hardware 1 GHz processor, 1 GB RAM, 16 GB of total hard-disk space, 3D class Video Card with 256 MB of memory or higher. Please ensure that the video card driver supports OpenGL version 1.5 or higher and up to date.

Mac OS X, Minimum Hardware 1 GHz PowerPC™ G4, 512 MB RAM, 160 MB of available hard-disk space, 3D class Video Card with 128 MB of memory or higher. Please ensure that the video card driver supports OpenGL version 1.5 or higher and up to date, 3 button, scroll-wheel mouse

source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-Ray