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In this section we give a quick overview of the VFB and the ways we can control it via App SDK.
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Introduction
The redesigned V-Ray Frame Buffer (VFB) is a second generation V-Ray virtual frame buffer.
VFB is much more than a render image holder window. The new enhanced version provides a higher level of post processing adjustments and ability to modify your scene from inside the VFB. Here is a list of old and new benefits you should know:
- Image preview:
Loads render elements channels via a dropdown list;
Works with display corrections;
Loads various 8bit and 32bit file formats, including V-Ray resumable files;
Image comparison between 2 or 4 renders;
- Image management:
Keeps the rendered image in full 32-bit floating point format;
Can store history of rendered images with their post rendering corrections;
Can save corrected output to various image formats;
- Image editing and post processing:
Set Color Corrections to rendered image and its elements;
Composite mode for Back to Beauty workflow including layers corrections;
LightMix control on lights contribution in the rendered image;
- Scene editing:
Can modify actual lights values by transferring updated intensity and color from LightMix mode (requires implementation);
IPR camera navigation control from inside VFB;
- Render management:
Denoiser control;
Region rendering control;
Allows you to choose the order in which the buckets are rendered;
User Interface
VFB Menu
The V-Ray Frame Buffer menu holds the main frame buffer commands. Some of the options are also available in the VFB toolbar for a quick access.
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Menu
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Menu Options
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File
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Save current channel – Saves the currently loaded channel to an image file format.
Save all image channels to separate files – Saves all the render elements to separate files.
Save all image channels to single file – Saves the image to a single multi-channel EXR or .vrimg file.
Load image – Opens an image file to be previewed in the V-Ray Frame Buffer.
Batch image processing – Allows processing of multiple .vrimg files with the same layer tree changes at the same time.
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Batch Image Processing
Input folder – Specifies a path to start images.
Output folder – Specifies a path for the output images.
Layer preset – Specifies a layer tree corrections preset.
Output filenames suffix – Specifies a suffix added to the output image filenames.
Overwrite existing – Enables overwrite of existing files with the same name in the output folder.
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Render
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Start interactive rendering – Calls the VFBRenderInteractive
callback. Requires showVfbButtonInteractiveStart
to be set to true in RendererOptions
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Abort rendering – Stops the current rendering.
Render – Starts rendering. If the VFBRenderLast
callback is set, it will not start rendering, only call the callback.
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Image
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Follow mouse – Renders the closest bucket found to the mouse pointer, when using the bucket image sampler. If the progressive sampler is used, V-Ray samples the closest pixels to the mouse pointer.
Follow mouse – Drag the mouse over the VFB while rendering to change what part of the image is sampled first;
Follow mouse (locked) – Locks the bucket (or sampling) starting point.
Copy current channel to clipboard – Copies the current channel to the clipboard.
Clear image – Clears the contents of the frame buffer. This is useful when starting a new render to prevent confusion with the previous image.
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View
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Display color space –Specifies the color space, in which the image is displayed.
None – Does not specify a color space;
sRGB – Displays the image in sRGB color space;
OCIO – Displays the image in a color space loaded from an OCIO configuration file;
ICC – Displays the image in a color space loaded from an ICC configuration file;
Gamma 2.2 – Displays the image in Gamma 2.2 color space.
Zoom VFB – Zooms in/out the rendered image in the VFB.
Zoom 50% – Zooms out to 50%;
Zoom 100% – Zooms to 100%. Alternatively, double-click in the VFB with the left mouse button;
Zoom 150% – Zooms in to 150%.
Zoom to fit – Zooms the current image to fit in the VFB. If Render Region is active – zooms to the region.
Channels – Chooses which channels to see.
View red channel – Displays the red channel;
View green channel – Displays the green channel;
View blue channel – Displays the blue channel;
Switch to alpha channel – Displays the alpha channel;
Monochromatic mode –Displays the image in monochromatic mode.
Color clamping – Opens the color clamping submenu options:
Force color clamping – Forces color clamping;
View clamped colors – Displays the clamped colors.
Use pixel aspect – Enables visualization of the pixel aspect ratio.
Panorama View – Shows the image in 360° view.
Show History – Shows the History panel.
Show Layers – Shows the Layers panel.
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Options
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VFB Toolbar
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Specifies RGB values. Click on the arrow to open a context menu with the available option.
None – Does not specify the RGB value.
HSV – Specifies the Hue, Saturation and Value of the pixel under the current mouse position.
Web – Specifies the HEX of the pixel under the current mouse position.
8bit – Specifies the 8bit color palette of the pixel under the current mouse position.
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Save current channel – Saves the current channel to an image file format;
Save all image channels to separate files – Saves all the render elements into separate files;
Save all image channels to single file – Saves the image into a single multi-channel EXR or .vrimg file.
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Render History
The V-Ray VFB keeps a history of previously rendered images, and lists each with a number, thumbnail, and textual details in the Render history panel. Up to four images can be called from the history to be compared in the VFB (as shown below). History files are stored as .vrimg files in a user-specified folder. Render history settings can be configured in the VFB Settings window.
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Enables or disables image A/B vertical comparison. Select images A and B from the render history.
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Layers
The V-Ray Frame Buffer includes a suite of color corrections and tools for adjusting the image. The tools are added as layers and displayed in a layer tree. You can enable or disable a particular tool using the visibility icon () to the left of its name.
For more information on using the Layers, see the Layers page.
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Creates a layer. Multiple layers of the same type can be added.
Folder – Allows grouping multiple layers;
Background – Adds a background color correction layer;
Render Element – Selects a render element from your image that you can use in compositing. This is only available when the Source layer is set to Composite;
Constant – Adds a solid color that can be used to achieve an effect on another layer (for example to multiply by the constant);
Exposure – Adds an Exposure color correction layer;
White Balance – Adds a White Balance color correction layer;
Hue/Saturation – Adds a Hue/Saturation color correction layer;
Color Balance – Adds a Color Balance color correction layer;
Curves – Adds a Curves color correction layer;
Lookup Table – A Lookup Table layer allows loading a LUT file for color transformations;
Filmic Tonemap – Contains different types of mapping curves and gamma corrections. Also allows selection of a color space.
For more information, see the Layers page.
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Each layer has a context menu. Right-click to display it:
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Stats
The V-Ray Frame Buffer allows monitoring of different statistics and information about your scene in the Stats panel. The exact contents of the Stats changes depending on the scene, the rendering mode (interactive vs production, bucket vs progressive) and others.
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Right-click to display a context menu, allowing you to copy the Stats values. |
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Render Region
Region rendering can be used in both IPR and Production modes to isolate only part of the frame for rendering.
Saving a region to an .exr file saves only the render region and the rest of the frame is rendered black.
VFB Shortcuts
These shortcuts navigate through the VFB image. You can also find them in the VFB Settings window. Please note that the VFB window must have the current focus for the shortcuts to have effect:
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Camera control for interactive (RT) rendering
This VFB feature is currently only available in AppSDK-based V-Ray products.
You can modify the camera view while the RT engine is running with the following combinations:
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Move the camera forward or backward
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Control from code
If you don't want the VFB window opened besides your app main window, you can hide it using the showFrameBuffer
option:
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You can also completely disable the window creation using the enableFrameBuffer
option (for example to avoid allocating additional resources or for faster startup):
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The VFB class
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There is also a plugin called SettingsVFB
that controls the lens effects of the VFB. The complete list of its parameters can be found in the AppSDK reference guide or inside the installation package in the help/
folder.
VFB Progress Bar
You can add text content and a percentage value to the VFB progress bar, e.g. like in the example with the data received from the Progress Event callback.
VFB Viewport Context Menu
You can add also custom context menu items to the VFB viewport.
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Light Mix and Transfer to scene
Here is an example showing how to setup Light Mix, and how to use the transfer to scene callback.
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Other callbacks
Here are example usages of the other VFB related callbacks that the VRayRenderer
offers:
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RendererOptions
The VRayRenderer
class has an options member which can be passed to its constructor. It's a struct in C++ and .Net and in Python and Node.js it is a dictionary. These options are immutable and can't be changed after the renderer is constructed. They are mostly related to the VFB so they are listed here:
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showVfbButtonInteractiveStart -(default: false) - Show an additional Start Interactive Rendering button and menu action. When pressed, calls a user callback (does not start rendering by default).previewRenderer - (default: false) Optimize the renderer for small preview purposes. Should not be used for production.
hideToSceneButton - (default: false) - Hide the Light Mix transfer <To Scene> button in VFB. If you don't plan on implementing that functionality, it's a good idea to hide the button (otherwise it will always be disabled).useVfbLog - (default: true) - Use the built-in VFB log
vfbDrawStyle - This enum controls the style and colors of the VFB GUI. The available styles are those of the V-Ray Standalone product as well as V-Ray for 3dsMax and V-Ray for Maya
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