Key details

V-Ray is the renderer of choice across the world. It is used widely in architecture, interior design, film, and many other industries.

This V-Ray course is available for users of 3ds Max and SketchUp. You’ll learn everything you need to create photo-realistic renders and animations for your models. Sessions include:

• Materials and textures.
• Lighting – interior and exterior.
• Cameras.
• Animation.
• Rendering.

V-Ray training is arranged on-request, i.e. one-to-one training or a ‘closed course’ for your group. Your training can be tailored to take into account any existing knowledge you have, and the work you’re going to be doing.

Whilst we have a standard syllabus (see over), the approach we take is to discuss your projects with you and then adapt the training to make it as relevant as possible to your work.

In-class or online

This course is available in-class at eight centres or live online.

Expert trainers

Courses are hosted by highly experienced trainers with vast professional experience of using V‑Ray to produce photorealistic rendered images. See Expert trainers.

How will I learn?

V-Ray training is hands-on and practical.

Our trainers teach the necessary theory then demonstrate techniques step-by-step. You then practice the techniques taught on a computer running V-Ray.

There is plenty of time to ask questions, and you can take away all the files you create.

V-Ray training guide and certificate

Course delegates receive:

• A comprehensive training guide for V-Ray, to refer to throughout the course, and to use as a refresher afterwards.
• An e-certificate confirming successful completion of an accredited V-Ray training course. Click here to see an example of the certificate you receive.

After course support

Following V-Ray training, delegates are entitled to 30 days’ email support from their V-Ray trainer to help with any post-course issues. For further details, see Support.

Prerequisites

Delegates should have a good working knowledge of 3ds Max, i.e. be familiar with the techniques taught in our 3ds Max Essentials course. No prior V-Ray knowledge is required.

V-Ray version

Training can be based on any recent version of V-Ray to suit you.

General information

Course times

Standard course times are 9.30am–4.30pm.

As we’d be hosting this as a ‘closed course’ for you/your group, there’s usually flexibility to change these times to suit you, e.g. start or end 30 minutes earlier or later.

Payment

Payment for V-Ray training can be made by:

• Bank transfer. Please call 01527 834783 for our bank details.
• Card. All major credit and debit cards accepted. Payment can be made securely online or over the phone. Card payments are processed by Stripe. Armada doesn’t record or store your card details.

Purchase orders

We accept purchase orders from UK-registered companies and public sector organisations.

Accommodation

See Accommodation local to our training centres.

Cancellations and postponements

If an on-request V-Ray course booking is cancelled giving less than 20 working days’ notice, a cancellation fee is payable. View cancellation terms.

If an on-request V-Ray course booking is postponed giving less than 20 working days’ notice, a postponement fee is payable. View postponement terms.

Terms and conditions

Expert trainers

V-Ray training courses are hosted by:

• Rod Cleasby
• Ricardo De Jesus
• Stewart Cobb

Rod Cleasby

Rod has over 25 years’ experience working as a designer, visualisation expert and artist. His specialist areas include architecture, interior design and the production of photorealistic 3d virtual environments. 

AutoCAD, 3ds Max and SketchUp have been the mainstay of Rod’s professional work for 20 years. He is also an expert in various related tools and technologies, including Photoshop, and he has expert knowledge of a wide range of renderers, including V-Ray, ART, Arnold and LightUp.

Rod has extensive training experience. He has worked as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Westminster on their Computer Visualisation course, and he is a long-established Autodesk Certified Instructor.

Away from his professional work, Rod is an accomplished artist and musician, and a prolific writer of novels, novella, poetry and prose.

Ricardo De Jesus

Ricardo is a creative and passionate Autodesk Certified Instructor with over 18 years’ experience delivering professional training to clients in the UK and overseas.

As a former architect with a strong foundation in visual design and technical drawing, Ricardo has expert industry knowledge. He is a skilled user of industry-leading software tools including AutoCAD, 3ds Max, SketchUp and Cinema 4D, and the most popular renderers used with these applications including Redshift and V-Ray.

He now focuses on training, passing on his knowledge to help learners master these applications. Committed to lifelong learning in digital design, Ricardo enjoys adapting teaching strategies to meet the needs of all learners.

Stewart Cobb

Stewart began his working life as a junior draughtsman, and progressed through to Design Director leading a studio of designers working on both 2D and 3D projects.

He then worked for himself for over 25 years, completing around 100 design projects per year for a myriad of clients, including household names such as Vauxhall and McDonalds.

More recently, Stewart’s focus has been on training. He has been an Autodesk Certified Instructor since 2010, hosting courses in AutoCAD, Revit, 3ds Max, AutoCAD Plant 3D, Civil 3D, AVT and Advance Steel. He’s also an expert user of Trimble SketchUp and a range of renderers including V-Ray and Twinmotion.

In between courses, Stewart uses these applications professionally when carrying out project work for clients. Using the applications regularly helps him to keep up-to-date with the latest technologies and practices.

Outside of work, Stewart enjoys music (he runs the sound desk for a number of local bands), reading and playing with any new piece of technology he can lay his hands on!

Course content

Getting started

• What is possible?
• Modelling requirements for visualisation

Materials and textures

• Introduction to materials and shaders, and their uses
• Understanding how real world materials act
• What makes a good texture?
• Where to find textures
• Editing textures
• Limits to graphics and bitmaps
• Managing your textures

Lighting – interior and exterior

• Getting to know lighting
• Techniques for interior and exterior scenes
• Adding lights and updating scenes
• Physical lighting systems and camera
• Image-based lighting
• Colour temperature
• Calculating Global Illumination

Cameras

• Understanding cameras
• Overview of motion blur and depth of field
• Exposure and white point
• Techniques for rapid setup

Animation

• Optimising irradiance/light cache set-up for animation

Rendering

• Rendering scenes
• Digital output
• Files and formats
• Do’s and don’ts
• Speed vs. quality: varying quality settings for faster rendering
• Control output quality and render speeds

Live online training

Online training lets you participate in a live V-Ray course from your place of work or home.

We do everything possible to make your online training experience as close as possible to actually being in the classroom. You can:

• See and hear our trainer, and the other delegates participating in the course…
  
• Watch our trainer demonstrate techniques in V-Ray.
• Interact by speaking, or using chat.
• Share your screen with our trainer, and allow them to take control to explain something.

Like our in-class courses, online V-Ray courses…

• Are presented by Autodesk Certified Instructors.
• Give you plenty of opportunity to carry out assisted, practical exercises using V-Ray.
• Offer 30 days’ email support from your trainer.

All you need is an Internet-connected computer with…

• V-Ray installed. If you don’t have a current subscription to V-Ray, you’re entitled to a 30-day trial that’s ideal for participating in training. We’ll send you a link to this. If you’ve already used your trial, we can lend you a license for the duration of your course.
• A webcam and audio capability. If your computer running V-Ray doesn’t have these, you can use a second device, such as another computer or tablet. See Hardware recommendations for live online training for further details.

If there’s anything you’re not sure about we’ll do our best to help you. We won’t be able to assist with your V-Ray installation, but we can provide details for Autodesk support who’ll be able to help you with this.

We provide everything else…

• Links to download the files, resources, etc. you’ll use in your course.
• A training guide. For most courses, you can choose from a printed copy that we post to you, or a PDF.

In the week before your course, we’ll send you an email containing everything you need to prepare for and participate in the training. We’re available in the days ahead of your course to assist if you need any help.

Please note that we are not able to record scheduled online courses for privacy reasons.

When you attend live online training, you’re participating in a real course, hosted by a real trainer, in real time