Quick Tip: Using VRay in Cinema 4D

Tutorial Details
  • Software: Maxon Cinema 4D
  • Difficulty: Beginner
  • Estimated Completion Time: 30 Minutes

In this Quick Tip you will learn how to illuminate a simple scene using the Cinema 4D VRay plugin. Both the infinite light , and also how to set up VRay tags and settings, will be discussed in this short introduction to using VRay in Cinema 4D.

Final Effect Preview

Step 1

Create a Cube object (Objects > Primitive > Cube) with the dimensions “1300 x 450 x 500″.

Step 2

Make it editable (Functions > Make editable).

Step 3

Select the top and two sides polygons with the “Polygon tool” (Tools > Polygon).

Step 4

Delete them. You should have something similar to the image below.

Step 5

Create a Sphere object (Objects > Primitive > Sphere) with 40 segments and 100 cm radius. Make it editable (Functions > Make editable).

Step 6

Create an Infinite Light (Objects > Scene > Infinite Light).

Step 7

Place it far away from the sphere object, but make sure it is pointing towards the sphere.

Step 8

To add “Vraylight” tag to the Infinite light, select the Infinite light , right click and go to “VrayBridge Tags > VrayLight”.

Step 9

Under the “Vraylight” tag settings , choose the “Sun light” tab, and turn on the “Physical Sun” and “Physical Sky” sections.

Step 10

Under the “Common” tab, turn on the “Enable shadows” section.

Step 11

Enter the “Render Settings” (Cmd + B).

Step 12

Choose the Vraybridge section from the right panel to enable it.

Step 13

Click the VrayBridge which has just appeared in the left panel.

Step 14

Choose the “Indirect Illumination” (GI) tab, and select “GI on”.

Step 15

In the same screen you can find the “Presets” section. Here you can set the quality.

Step 16

Choose “Very Low Quality” for a fast render.

Step 17

Add a camera object (Objects > Scene > Camera).

Step 18

In the Perspective view, go to “cameras > scene camera > camera” and select it to make it the default scene camera.

Step 19

To add a “VrayPhysical” camera tag to a camera object, select the camera object , right click and go to “VrayBridge Tags > VrayPhysical camera”.

Step 20

Change the “F-Stop” value to 1, and the “Shutter Speed” to 6000.

Step 21

Select the “Vraylight” tag which is assigned to the Infinite light, and under the “Sun light” tab, set the “Turbidity” value to 5 and the “Intensity” multiplier for “Phys cam” to 0.3.

Step 22

Turn the GI quality up to a higher preset, hit render, and you’re done!

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  • ShahrezRafiq

    Being a newbie I had no idea about how beautiful and realistic VRay can make a scene look. Definitely gonna get it and try.

  • Tamerlan

    Very good tutorial! Thank you very much!

  • xsid

    never knew tht vray is available for c4d.
    will it work for v10.1?
    thanks for the tut.

  • CHAOS

    Yes!!!

    Please more Cinema4D tuts.

    Thanks for this one!

    • timurko

      YEAH! )

  • CHAOS

    I got one question.
    Will it work with Cinema4D r 11.5?

    Greetings from Germany

  • Gapipro

    Is vray GI render faster render in Cinema?

    • nico socha

      Yes Vray is much faster than the Advanced Renderer from Cinema4D for the most purpose.

  • Rhoger

    Me leyeron la mente!!! Estaba buscando un tutorial de esto!

  • KJ

    @CHAOS, they just released ver 1.2 which is compatible with C4D 11.5.

    • CHAOS

      thx for the information

  • http://francoandrade.com/blog Franco Bertoncini Andrade

    Thanks, I had already seen one tutorial of you from deviantart about c4d and vray. You could do one more difficult hehe.

  • http://www.daveglanzproductions.com Dave Glanz

    I’m curious about weather V-Ray is a faster render option, too. It’s a very expensive purchase, so it’d be great to know if it was worth it.

    • Peter Lustig

      That’s what the bay’s for, bro

  • Tomm Edwards

    Question… I downloaded the vrayforc4d plugin demo from the website, but when I right click on the light, I don’t have the option for Vray Bridge Tags.,. help?

    • Doğacan
      Author

      Are you sure you have installed it properly ?
      There must be a PDF file to lead you how to install it.
      Also check your C4D version, maybe there is an incompatiblity

  • Matt

    I can’t change my shutter speed above 2000, what versions of c4d and vray are you using for this tutorial?
    Thanks!

  • http://raw-canvas.com Oliver Sumpton

    Tried this tutorial with C4D R11.5 and Vray 1.2 but everything looks all blown out and WAAAAY over illuminated on render. Double, triple and quadruple checked all the settings but everything seems setup exactly as instructed. Maybe the defaults are different in 1.2?? Thought it might just be an intensity thing, or something just cranked up in the render settings, but I really don’t know my way around this VRay stuff. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    • matt

      yo man. 1.2 is a bit different from 1.1. If its blown out turn down the sky intensity multiplier. ozone affects the color, also turn down the intensity multiplier for std cam as well if ur usin c4d camera. phys cam if ur usin vray cam. last thing make sure enable shadows is checked off but the physical sky bugs out if it isnt sometimes.

      And very lastly make sure you check out the Manual for 1.2. It is written super well and answers so many questions in a very simple format that even people like me who hate reading manuals can dive in.

      • matt

        sorry said that backwards make sure enable shadows is checked “on” because vray will bug out if it isnt sometimes.

  • matt

    oh, haha sorry really late night for me.

    link to 1.2 manual

    http://vrayc4d.com/manuals/booktree

  • Anthony

    Is VRay a better render engine than C4D 11.5′s Advanced Render?
    Would it be possible to accomplish the same results using the built-in renderer?

  • kaspar

    it will work

  • Rob

    Hey,
    I’m new to C4d so i gave this a try.. Everything is very clearly explained..
    Only one thing went wrong when i tried it: the sphere is gone in the final render!?
    How can i make it visible in the final image? ;-)

    Thanks

  • sreejith

    pls send vray1.2 c4d manual or tutorial

  • isliiik

    I dont have the same result! :/

  • http://www.facebook.com/kolydesign KD

    Great tuts very easy to understand. I sometime have a problem using vray camera and physical lighting!!! More tuts about it please!!! Thanks

  • http://www.facebook.com/m00ha Mohammad al-Manea

    Fantastic tutorial

    Thank you

  • iPsy

    Thank youuuuuuu !!! :]

  • http://njhlove.tistory.com creative2gether

    nice tuts.. Thank you..^^
    have a nice day..

  • Jesse

    I have a question: I downloaded materials for VRay, they are in .mat format. I can’t seem to import them, even with VRay installed. I tried “load material” but when I select the file, nothing happens.

  • Lee

    My sphere is not viewing in my render…? I have Vray 1.2 and had to turn down the Sky Intensity multiplier to get any image at all. Everything was looking blown out on the tutorial settings. Any idea hoe to get my sphere to view..?

    • Andy

      If you’re trying to render a sphere with the VRay render engine you need to make sure that the “Render Perfect” option isn’t ticked, hope this helps Lee :)

      • Andy Smith

        If you click on your vray expression tab for the light. And decrees the horizon illumination for phys cam in the sunlight tab.. You might find that will work.. Im no pro though

    • bagoo

      make object (sphere) editable

  • David Davidson

    When I render my image, everything is very bright yellow.. I figured this was an intensity problem but nothing I’ve tried seems to fix it.. any tips?

  • http://www.behance.net/home/dashboard Abraham Cortez

    I think if you use Global Illumination and Ambient Oclussion you can get (sometimes) better results rather than using Vray, it just depend on how you set the lights. anyway it might be useful in the future

    • biggysmawls

      nothing compares to vray…bowss. check out vray renders and ao/gi renders of the same scene compare.

  • Margarita

    Hi … I’m new to this .. could you please pass the link and steps to download vray for cinema 4d 11.5 .. And since ambient occlusion named for a render interior, which would set the values ​​for both occlusion and global illumination ..
    I would appreciate these responses muucho q ..

    Greetings ..

  • bagoo

    make object (sphere) editable =]

  • waqas

    plz help me guys i put the vray li8 tag on my light and go to its sunlight preset where i cant be able to checked on the physical sun tell me plz why it happened i m using vray 1.2.5 in r12