Overview

V-Ray supports Alembic files directly through the Proxy Objects | VRayProxy object. A number of UI options are specifically related to Alembic files. See the Alembic sections of the V-Ray Proxy page for more information.

Supported Geometry Types

The following geometry types are supported:

• Polygonal meshes (subdivision surfaces are not supported at present)

• Spline curves

• Particles

All geometry types support motion blur, either through a velocity attribute or through interpolation.

Converting Alembic Files to .vrmesh Files

While V-Ray can work with Alembic files directly, it is also possible to convert them to .vrmesh files using the ply2vrmesh tool. Vrmesh files are more limited than Alembic files (i.e. they do not store the objects in a hierarchy and do not support sub-frame animation), but they have some performance-related advantages:

• .vrmesh files are generally faster to work with.

• ply2vrmesh can preprocess and subdivide geometry, hair and particles from Alembic files into smaller chunks which are more convenient for dynamic loading during rendering. This allows the efficient rendering if many millions of triangles, hair strands and particles.