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VRay for 3ds Max Manual
V-Ray for 3ds Max licensing system
The V-Ray licensing system is an independent licensing routine (the
V-Ray floating license server, tied to a hardware
locking device) and the V-Ray renderer itself. The communication between the
two is based on the HTTP protocol, even if the license server and the V-Ray
renderer are on the same computer. This means that in order for the
licensing to work, the computer must have TCP/IP
installed properly.
In order to run, the V-Ray license server requires that a USB hardware
lock (dongle) is attached to the computer where it is running. The dongle
contains information about the number of available licenses for V-Ray. You
can attach more than one dongle to the same machine to increase the number
of available licenses. Before using the dongle, you must install a driver for
accessing it.
For more detailed installation and trouble-shooting instructions, please
check the
installation PDF guide.
The V-Ray floating license server consists of a single executable file
that has to be run prior to launching the V-Ray renderer. The V-Ray
installer creates a shortcut to the license server in the Start menu. The
installer can also optionally register the V-Ray license server as a Windows
service that is started automatically by Windows. Note that the license
server requires that a dongle is attached to the machine in order to run, as
well as installed WIBU-key dongle driver. By default, the V-Ray installer
automatically installs the required WIBU-key drivers.
All of the settings for the license server are saved in an .xml file
vrlservice.xml which is placed in a
ChaosGroup directory located in the
Common files directory provided by Windows, which
is typically found in the Program Files
directory. Thus usually the full name of the settings file is
C:\Program Files\Common Files\ChaosGroup\vrlservice.xml.
In case of any problems the user can edit the file directly, but we strongly
recommend that, unless the user is experienced, they should not do so.
Please keep in mind that it is up to you and/or your system administrator
to keep the machine running the V-Ray license server secure from
unauthorized access and usage of your V-Ray licenses, especially if the
V-Ray license server is running on a machine that can be accessed from the
Internet.
When you open the Render Scene dialog inside 3ds Max and choose the V-Ray
renderer, press the Edit/set license server information
button in the Authorization rollout. It will prompt you for the license
server name or IP where the V-Ray license server is running. Leave the User
and Password fields blank. You need to close and re-open the render scene
dialog to see the changes. Note that if you are running the V-Ray license
server on a different machine, you do not need to install the WIBU-key
dongle drivers on your workstation.
All of the V-Ray client settings are saved in the
vrlclient.xml file in the Common Files\ChaosGroup
directory which is usually located in the Program files
directory. Thus the full file name of the settings file usually is
C:\Program Files\Common Files\ChaosGroup\vrlclient.xml.
It can be edited by hand but we strongly advise you not to do so, unless you
are certain of what you are doing.
Although V-Ray does not require a separate license to render through
backburner, it does require access to the V-Ray license server. The same is
true for distributed rendering. After you install V-Ray on the render slave,
you must tell it where to look for the V-Ray license server. If 3dsmax is
also licensed for that machine, you can use the Render Scene dialog as
described above. If a 3dsmax license is not installed on the render slave,
you can use a small external program which is accessible from the start menu
if you used the V-Ray installer (Start menu > Programs >
Chaos Group > V-Ray for 3dsmax > Licensing > Administration > Change V-Ray
client license settings) or from the
<maxroot>\V-Ray folder if you installed manually from a .zip file.
This program can also be run from the command line (use
-help option to see usage notice).
Typical single-computer licensing
After installing V-Ray, plug your V-Ray dongle into a free USB port on
your computer, if you have not done so. Start the V-Ray license server (Start
Menu > Programs > Chaos Group > V-Ray for 3dsmax > Licensing > Launch V-Ray
license server). It may take a few seconds for the license server to
start completely. Afterwards run 3dsmax and open the Render scene dialog.
Press the Edit/set license server information
button. Enter the "127.0.0.1" IP address as your license server. Close and
re-open 3dsmax. Now V-Ray should be running fine, provided that no other
V-Ray copy is connected to your computer. If you wish to start the license
server automatically, use the shortcut from the start menu to register the
V-Ray license service (Start Menu > Programs > Chaos
Group > V-Ray for 3dsmax > Licensing > Administration > Register V-Ray
license service).
Sharing a license across your network of computers
Install the V-Ray license server and the WIBU-key driver on a suitable
machine in your network (typically this would be a server machine). Plug the
dongle into a free USB port on that machine and start the V-Ray license
server. Afterwards run 3dsmax on any computer in your network and open the
Render Scene dialog. Press the Edit/set license server
information button. Enter the IP address or the name of the computer
where you have the license server installed. Close and re-open 3dsmax. Now
V-Ray should be running fine, provided that the total number of running
V-Ray copies does not exceed the number of granted licenses for the
licensing server.
When the V-Ray license server starts, it appears as an icon in the tray
area of the Windows taskbar. Double-click that icon to bring up a window
that allows you to close the V-Ray license server (simply close the window
if you do not wish to terminate the license server):
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| V-ray license server icon in the Windows
taskbar |
Clicking the icon opens a window to terminate
the license server |
Additionally, you can monitor the work of the V-Ray license server
(number of available licenses, currently connected machines etc) via a
Web-based interface. For this purpose, you access the V-Ray license server
via the HTTP protocol on the port that you have specified for it (the
default is 30304). For example, if you are
running the V-Ray license server on your local machine, open your web
browser and in the Address field enter
http://localhost:30304
Clicking on the first link opens a page with the V-Ray license server
information:
Please check the
installation PDF guide
for more detailed information and trouble-shooting instructions.
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