A computer system with a processor that supports the SSE2 instruction
set is required (Intel Pentium 4, AMD Opteron and Athlon 64, VIA C7, etc.
or
later
processors). A network adapter that supports the TCP/IP protocol is required.
Operating System
Microsoft Windows XP(Service Pack 2 is required by 3D Studio MAX,
so it will be needed for client DR render machines only), Microsoft Windows
Vista, Microsoft Windows 2003 Server and Microsoft Windows 7 are currently supported
in both the 32- and 64-bit editions. Clients machines and servers machines
can work with different versionsof the operating system in DR.
3ds Max
Supported 3ds Max versions for the V-Ray RT render client plugin are 3ds
Max [Design] 2009 and 3ds Max [Design] 2010. While V-Ray
RT has versions for 3ds Max 9 and 3ds Max 2008, some
features may not work optimally or may work incorrectly in these 3ds Max
versions. This is because V-Ray RT takes advantage of new API functions in
the 3ds Max SDK
introduced
in 3ds Max 2009 and later.
The
render servers do not necessarily need a
3ds
Max installation.
For
example, a set up with two designer workstations and 10 rendering
machines will require two 3ds Max installations for the designer machines
only.
Note that you may need to install the V-Ray RT render client plugin for
3ds Max on machines that are also used for 3ds Max network rendering, so
that these machines
can open 3ds Max scenes which reference the V-Ray RT renderer.
V-Ray for 3ds Max
V-Ray 1.5 SP3 or SP3a for 3ds Max is required for running the V-Ray
RT render client plugin. Older versions of V-Ray for 3ds Max are not supported.
Educational versions of V-Ray are currently not supported.
Where to install
You need to install V-Ray RT on the following machines in your network:
On your workstation, so that you can run the V-Ray RT interactive renderer;
Similar to all other 3rd party 3ds Max plugins, you must install the V-Ray
RT plugin for 3ds Max on the machines that you use as 3ds Max render slaves
for network rendering through backburner and/or
for distributed
rendering
with
the classic
V-Ray
renderer.
These machines
need the V-Ray RT render client plugin for 3ds Max installed so that they
can
open
files
saved
from
your
workstation,
which
include the
V-Ray RT renderer. If you do not install V-Ray RT on these machines, you
may get errors when submitting jobs to backburner, due to missing plugins;
On any other machines that you wish to use as render servers for V-Ray
RT, but which do not have 3ds Max installed.
Installation types
There are four different installation types. The installer will automatically
choose one of them based on your previous installation of the standard V-Ray
renderer for 3ds Max, if it is installed.
Workstation installation - this installation type
includes the V-Ray RT render client plugin for 3ds Max, the V-Ray RT
standalone render server, and an upgrade for the V-Ray license server to
support the licenses for V-Ray RT.
3ds Max render slave - this installation type includes the V-Ray RT renderer
client plugin for 3ds Max (so that scenes saved from your workstation can
be opened without error), and the V-Ray RT standalone render server.
Standalone render server - this option installs the V-Ray RT standalone
render server on a machine that is not used as a 3ds Max render slave and
does not have 3ds Max or the standard V-Ray renderer installed.
License server - this option only upgrades a previous installation of the
V-Ray license server on a machine that is used only for serving licenses,
but not for rendering.
Running
the
installer
Double-click
on the installation file and follow the instructions. On Windows Vista with UAC
enabled, right-click on the installation file and choose Run
as Administrator... (even if your user has administrative privileges).
Note that the 64-bit installation
of V-Ray RT will run only under a 64-bit operating system. The 32-bit installation
will run under both 32- and
64-bit OSes.
During the installation process you will be prompted for
the root
directory of 3ds Max, a directory where to install the V-Ray RT plugins for
3ds Max and a folder where to install additional files required by
V-Ray RT. In most cases, the installer will be able to fill in these automatically
from the information about installed products on your system.
Once the installation is complete, you may need to set up the V-Ray RT licenses.
Please refer to the Licensing for information
on how to set up your licenses.
Testing the installation
After you have installed V-Ray RT, you may wish to test that it works properly.
First make sure that V-Ray RT is installed properly on the main client machine
and the render slaves you wish to use (see above).
Local rendering
Local rendering is performed by only one machine that runs both the render
client plugin inside 3ds Max, and the V-Ray RT render server. If you open
the Render Servers dialog of the V-Ray RT interactive
renderer inside 3ds Max, you will notice an option Auto-start
local server at the bottom of the dialog. This option is on by
default and means that the V-Ray RT interactive renderer will attempt to
automatically start a local V-Ray RT render server when an ActiveShade
interactive session is initiated.
Open 3ds Max;
Create a simple scene;
Open the Render Setup dialog and choose V-Ray interactive
renderer as the current ActiveShade renderer. It is also preferable
to choose the classic V-Ray as the production renderer so that you can
view V-Ray specific materials in the Material Editor and control various
other aspects of the rendering;
Click on the Render servers button in the
V-Ray interactive renderer settings and make sure the Auto-start
local server option is enabled.
Click on the Perspective viewport to make it the active one;
Set the current rendering mode to ActiveShade from the Render Setup dialog
and press the Render button;
The 3ds Max ActiveShade window will open (with the resolution specified
in the Common tab of the Render Setup dialog) and V-Ray RT will print some
diagnostic messages related to setting up the interactive renderer;
A local V-Ray RT render server will also be automatically started with
its console window minimzed.
After the scene is transferred to the local render server, you should
see a preview of the perspective viewport in the ActiveShade window.
If you do not see a preview of your scene, check the ActiveShade window
for any error messages. Also check the console of the V-Ray RT render server
for any warnings or errors. Then check the Troubleshooting section for
a possible solution. If you cannot fix the issue, please contact our support
at vray@chaosgroup.com
Remote rendering
Remote rendering allows you to use more machines to increase the speed
of V-Ray RT. It is also possible to use only remote rendering, without
starting a local render server (for example, if you have a relatively slow
workstation, but faster machines as render slaves).
First make sure that V-Ray RT is properly installed on your workstation
and on the render slaves (see above).
On the render slaves, start the V-Ray RT render server application, for
example from Start menu > All Programs > Chaos Group > V-Ray
RT for 3ds Max > V-Ray RT render server;
The V-Ray RT render server will be started and a console window will
appear;
On the render client, open 3ds Max;
Create a simple scene;
Open the Render Setup dialog and choose V-Ray interactive
renderer as the current ActiveShade renderer. It is also preferable
to choose the classic V-Ray as the production renderer so that you can
view V-Ray specific materials in the Material Editor and control various
other aspects of the rendering;
Click on the Render servers button in the
V-Ray interactive renderer setting;
Click on the Add server button and fill in
the IP address or name of each machine that you want to use as a render
server. Optionally, clear the Auto-start local server option,
if you do not want your workstation to take part in the rendering;
Click on the Perspective viewport to make it the active one;
Set the current rendering mode to ActiveShade from the Render Setup dialog
and press the Render button;
The 3ds Max ActiveShade window will open (with the resolution specified
in the Common tab of the Render Setup dialog) and V-Ray RT will print some
diagnostic messages related to setting up the interactive renderer;
After the scene is transferred to the render servers, you should see
a preview of the perspective viewport in the ActiveShade window;
If you do not see a preview of your scene, check the ActiveShade window
for any error messages. Also check the console window of the render servers
for any warnings or errors. Then check the Troubleshooting section for
a possible solution. If you cannot fix the issue, please contact our support
at vray@chaosgroup.com
The V-Ray RT render server as a Windows service
You can register the V-Ray RT render server as a Windows service so that
it can run automatically on the machines that you plan to use as render
slaves.
Important note:you
can also register the V-Ray RT render server on your workstation. However
you must set the user
login for the service to be a valid user account for the system. Otherwise,
the V-Ray RT plugin for 3ds Max and the V-Ray RT render server will not
be able to communicate properly. This is only necessary for your local
machine; it is not required for dedicated render server machines.
To register the V-Ray RT render server as a Windows service, select Start
menu > All Programs > Chaos Group > V-Ray RT for 3ds Max > Register V-Ray
RT render server as a service.
To unregister the V-Ray RT render server service, select Start
menu > All Programs > Chaos Group > V-Ray RT for 3ds Max > Remove
V-Ray RT render server as a service.
![[V-Ray RT installer]](images/controls/installer.png)
Double-click
on the installation file and follow the instructions. On Windows Vista with UAC
enabled, right-click on the installation file and choose Run
as Administrator... (even if your user has administrative privileges).