Overview
In earlier versions of V-Ray, switching between V-Ray and V-Ray GPU would reset all settings to their defaults; the V-Ray GPU sampling defaults were too aggressive and transitioning scenes from CPU to GPU was a complicated task.
As of V-Ray 6, the V-Ray GPU UI has been improved with updated sampling value defaults for better representing the universal settings, and a new functionality to keep all relevant settings when switching from V-Ray, which includes: Color Management, Global Illumination, Frame Buffer, Global Switches, Image filter, Render mask, Environment, Camera, Color Mapping and some IPR settings.
The improvement simplifies the transition to V-Ray GPU by automatically adjusting settings to get comparable results.
Optimized GPU defaults
In recent times, V-Ray’s workflow has been all about ease of use. Currently, V-Ray GPU is able to render noise free images without any manual work on the artist's side. Individual sampling settings are handled automatically by V-Ray GPU, which uses smart sampling and scene adaptivity to learn about the scene and assign the optimal number of samples for each component, be it diffuse, reflections, refractions, etc.
V-Ray GPU uses 2 sliders to control the noise and render time: Samples Limit and Noise Threshold.
-
Samples Limit
Specifies the maximum samples per pixel for refining the image. -
Noise Threshold
Determines when to stop refining a pixel. Higher values allow more noise in the image, while lower values reduce it.
Performance
The Samples limit has the biggest impact on performance. The default was set to 2500, as it represented a better universal default and should work well in most scenes. For cleaner renders, you should first experiment with a lower Noise Threshold.
Recommendations
Our recommendation for rendering with V-Ray GPU is to use the Progressive image sampler for local rendering and the Bucket image sampler for Distributed Rendering.
For most cases, using the default Sample limit of 2500 and a Noise Threshold between 0.01 - 0.005 should work well. Utilizing the enhanced NVidia AI or Intel Denoiser will be beneficial as they excel at preserving shading details.
Supported features
Although we are constantly updating V-Ray GPU, not everything is supported. To avoid surprises, get familiar with the list of the V-Ray GPU supported features: