Quick Tip: Using VRay in Cinema 4D

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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Discussion 36 Comments

  1. ShahrezRafiq says:

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

  2. Tamerlan says:

    Very good tutorial! Thank you very much!

  3. xsid says:

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

  4. CHAOS says:

    Yes!!!

    Please more Cinema4D tuts.

    Thanks for this one!

  5. CHAOS says:

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

    Greetings from Germany

  6. Gapipro says:

    Is vray GI render faster render in Cinema?

  7. Rhoger says:

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

  8. KJ says:

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

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

  10. Dave Glanz says:

    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.

  11. Tomm Edwards says:

    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 says:
      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

  12. Matt says:

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

  13. 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 says:

      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 says:

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

  14. matt says:

    oh, haha sorry really late night for me.

    link to 1.2 manual

    http://vrayc4d.com/manuals/booktree

  15. Anthony says:

    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?

  16. kaspar says:

    it will work

  17. Rob says:

    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

  18. sreejith says:

    pls send vray1.2 c4d manual or tutorial

  19. isliiik says:

    I dont have the same result! :/

  20. KD says:

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

  21. Fantastic tutorial

    Thank you

  22. iPsy says:

    Thank youuuuuuu !!! :]

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

  24. Jesse says:

    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.

  25. Lee says:

    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 says:

      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 says:

        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

  26. David Davidson says:

    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?

  27. 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

  28. Margarita says:

    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 ..

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