Step 7: render the scene with V-Ray

• Choosing the point of view for the rendering: in case of very small rooms, such as the one of the example, it is really difficult (sometimes impossible) to render the full scene while remaining inside the room. A first option you have, is to hide the wall so that you can remain outside the room and render it from there: open the Options window (see Paragraph titled Properties panel in Initial operations and configurations settings), get to the Navigation and Rendering section, and disable Show external walls control. As you find the correct point of view, save it by clicking F3 keyboard button, or My Views command in Navigation section of the Ribbon; click Save current.
• Unfortunately the solution we gave you in the previous point does not work in our project: doors and windows, in fact, still remain in the rendered scene. And, also, you cannot hide them the way you already saw for the shower-box, as doors and windows are special objects. So in this case we’ll use the following trick: save the project and, JUST FOR THE TIME OF RENDERING THE SCENE, move the wall containing the door towards the bottom. In this way the room will be longer than in real life. This is just a trick you will use in order to be able to render the scene the best way. Once launched the rendering job, you’ll exit the project without saving it. In order to extend the room, click the right mouse button over the internal wall, and select command Move. Extend the room as you can see in the following image (the camera icon allows you to see where the point of view has been placed).

• Setting up the scene illumination: let’s create a rendering sample, in order to see how the scene looks like. In the Navigation section of the Ribbon, select command Full image. Once opened the rendering mask, select the Exposure control button (should be set on Automatic), then Generate preview (it may be useful to increase preview resolution to 240x180). This procedure forces the Application to automatically calculate the exposure of the room considering the light sources; it is the same procedure you follow every time you take a photo with a digital camera (and the camera does it for you, automatically). If you think resolution is still not enough, click Generate preview again, or adjust Exposure value, available in the properties list on the right. In our situation, the area very near the washbasins may appear a bit dark, ‘cause of the small wall of the shower-box. So, as we need to adjust the scene a bit, click Cancel so that the Application will not start the rendering process. First, move the light a bit: click the right mouse button on the light and select Modify command. Pick the light clicking the left mouse button in the centre, and move it as you see in this image. Finally, double click the light with the left mouse button, and set the light properties as you can see in the next image (do not copy the position in plan, as your project may have different coordinates).

Now open the Natural light properties mask: if you are in the Layout window, the button is in the Virtual Navigation section of the Ribbon, and it is called Natural light. If you are in Navigation window, the name of the button is the same, available in Navigation section of the Ribbon.
Set the Natural light properties as you see in the following image:

• Setting up rendering parameters: now you’re ready to launch the rendering process. While in the Navigation window (and in the correct point of view), select command Full image; click the Exposure control button (should still be set on Automatic), and in type section choose Photographic. In Color Mapping section set type to Linear and Bright multiplier to 0.80: this will reduce the over-bright effect you have near the window. The correct Exposure value for this scene is 8,3 (See next image). You’re done: click OK and start rendering the scene.

Some benchmarks now: we have generated a Full HD image (1920x1080 pixels) with medium quality rendering parameters in 11 min. 31 secs.. Computer was equipped with Intel Core i7 3960X 3,3 GHz, 16 GB Ram on board (Graphic card is not involved in rendering, unless using V-Ray RT).
You can see the rendering result in the next image.

Note: if you want to switch-on the neon effect light, drag&drop over it the material called “Autoilluminante” (which means self-illuminated. By the way, you can rename the material name as you want: double click over it and change the name). Finally: you can see an image outside the window. It is called background. We have set it while in Navigation window, by clicking the Background button available in the Navigation section of the Ribbon.