Vray Proxy's - How to create and use them.
In this tutorial I will show you how to create a vray proxy so that you can drop it into your 3d scene - with all the materials already on it!.
What is the Vray Proxy?
A vray proxy allows you to import selected geometry from an external mesh at render time only. This enables you to use mutiple complex objects within your scene without completely bogging down 3ds max.
I will now show you how to create a simple vray proxy of a plant that you can then merge into other scenes with the material already applied. The key to being able to import your proxy with the materials applied and on the correct geometry is in the way that you both create the vray proxy and also the actual method of importing it onto your scene.
Firstly we will create the vray proxy.
I have chosen a simple plant to create a vray proxy from. So.... I have my 3ds max scene open and a plant with materials already applied in the middle of the scene. If your plant has multiple materials for different parts of the plant you should use a multi/sub-object material.
Most good plants will have 2 or 3 or more deifferent objects within the plant ie. the leaves will be an object, the trunk will be an object etc etc. And each different object will have a different material applied to it.
So for example - your plant has twigs etc. as 1 object, 1 type of leaf as another object and then a different type of leaf as the 3rd object.
Click on any of the 3 objects and go to the modify panel and click attach - now click on 1 of the other objects. You will get a dialog like this :
It is very important that you slect "Match Material IDs to Material" - this will mean that each object retains the correct material.
Now that you have all the objects that make up your plant attached to each other right click and slect "vray mesh export". This will bring up the following box:
It is important to select "export all selected objects in a single file" (browse for a folder to save your proxy to). Also give it a name. And check the "Automatically create proxies" box. Click OK - Vray will now create the proxy.
It should look a little like this:
Now you have the vray proxy created (it will appear as a wireframe mesh and you won't be able to see any materials - but they will be there - you can check this by going to the material editor and selecting a new material box and using the eye dropper - "pick material from object" tool and selecting your proxy - a multi sub object material should appear with all your plants materials in it!).
I usually save the multi- sub object material into a material library as well... just in case you need it at a later date.
Now just save the scene (it should be a completely empty scene with ONLY your newly created vray proxy in it).
Now to use your vray proxy in a scene
Simply go to import -> merge and select the vray proxy scene that you just saved. This will import the vray proxy complete with all your materials already applied! Now you can render your scene and the proxy will render with all the materials applied.
