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VRED Core

VRED® Core is a flexible, customizable, and scalable VRED® product, particularly for Cloud and server-based applications.

learnMore icon For VRED Core tutorals, see the VRED Core Tutorial Example Scripts section.

What are the Key Technical Features of VRED® Core?

  • Support of GPU and CPU Raytracing and Clustering - VRED Core’s scalable raytracing capabilities provides full flexibility to scale GPU and CPU rendering needs, according to your hardware set-up.
  • Complete Python API of VRED® Professional - Leverage Python for automated data translation (the supported data formats within Linux are limited, but we support all data formats within Windows), preparation of visualization assets, and automated visualization systems.
  • Available for Windows and Linux (limited functionality, such as data translation and embedded web engines) - VRED Core provides the option of deploying, integrating, and scaling, whether you work with on-premise servers or in the Cloud, to power online and offline rendering systems on Linux and Windows.
  • Streaming to any device - Stream your high-quality VRED real-time renderings on any device, for management reviews and internal or customer-facing visualization systems.

What You Need to Know

CPU raytracing works out of the box on all supported hardware. For GPU raytracing and OpenGL, you need a supported graphics card and to start VRED® Core with the command line parameter -hide_gui.

Why VRED Core?

Because you can:

  • stream to any device and thus enable a new spectrum of workflows, which provide access to VRED high-quality rendering to anybody from anywhere, anytime
  • easily integrate VRED Core (into your existing pipeline or rendering systems), customize for your specific needs, and extend where additional functionality is needed
  • use it in the Cloud or on a premise-server infrastructure
  • adapt software with the Python API, meeting the needs of your highly agile and flexible design environments
  • tap into Python’s ability to automate your work on data preparation or rendering
  • achieve the highest fidelity possible in real-time with Core’s scalable real-time raytracing

The launch of VRED Core marks the first step toward providing an agile and adaptable version of VRED, which can be used very flexibly as the core of modern and connected custom systems and scalable rendering applications. Made for Cloud use, VRED Core targets new workflows and connects you with your data anytime, anywhere, through the Cloud and streaming.

To see it in action, check out this Porsche Taycan Realtime GPU Raytracing with VRED 2021 video.

Prerequisites

Install VRED Core on Windows, Linux, or virtualized in Docker or Hyper-V. Independent of the operating system, open the default port 8888 for the web interface for incoming traffic to fully use all features offered by VRED Core, such as the Python API, video streaming, and web apps. To enable H264 encoding for video streaming, it is necessary to download the OpenH264 codec v2.0.0 and copy the library file into either of these VRED Core binary folders: Linux64 or WIN64.

Finally, you must set ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE to the license server. Visit the Autodesk Knowledge Network for more information.

How to Start

Linux

# Go to the bin folder of your VRED Core installation
cd {VRED-Cluster-Root}/bin

# Run VRED Core and pass your VPB file as the first argument
./VREDCore example.vpb

Windows

# Go to the bin folder of your VRED Core installation which is usually
cd C:\Program Files\Autodesk\VREDCore-13.1\bin\WIN64

# Run VRED Core and pass your VPB file as the first argument
VREDCore.exe example.vpb

It is also possible to just drag and drop the VPB file onto VREDCore.exe.

Streaming

The easiest way to start with streaming is to use the VRED Stream App. Open the browser at http://localhost:8888 and click Stream App to start the app. For the integration of just the stream without a user interface, use Stream H264 or Stream JPEG at http://localhost:8888 in another web application.

Distributing Color Profiles Across Different Machines Using VRED Pro and VRED Core

Color profile settings from the VRED Preferences should be distributed across different computers that are running VRED Pro or VRED Core. The purpose of the distribution can be to use the same color profiles for render farm job submission to a dedicated pool of computers that produce a render image output with a dedicated color profile. For complete instructions, see How to distribute color profiles across different machines using VRED Pro and VRED Core.

Python API

The web interface also offers an access point to the integrated Python API of VRED. A local firewall is recommended. Python commands can be sent to the following endpoints:

  • /python
  • /pythoneval2

The Python command needs to be set by the query parameter value and have to be URL encoded. Here is an example to load a scene from file:

# Loads a node into the root of the scenegraph
http://localhost:8888/python?value=load%28%27example.vpb%27%29%0A

For testing of Python commands, try the Terminal app at http://localhost:8888. The Postman app is also a good way to send Python commands to VRED Core.

The second endpoint /pythoneval2 is useful for Python commands with a return value such as:

# Returns an array of all viewpoints in a scene
http://localhost:8888/pythoneval2?value=getViewpoints%28%29

Detailed Technical FAQ

  • Since VRED Core doesn't have a user interface, how can I configure the web interface?

    Use -edit_preferences to configure a web interface through preferences or other VRED Core settings. Use the VREDServerNode and VRED Core -edit_preferences parameter to open the Preference Editor without a UI and replace the VRED Core preference file with the VRED Professional one.

  • I am currently running CPU raytracing on VRED Render Nodes 2021. What do I need to do to run GPU raytracing on my setup?

    As long as the hardware supports GPU raytracing, just purchase and setup a VRED® Core 2021 licenses. There is no need to install any new software components.

  • Does GPU raytracing support the same features as CPU raytracing?

    Currently, not all of the CPU raytracing features are supported, for instance, NURBS raytracing or photon mapping. The product and development teams are continuously evaluating which features to support in the future.

  • Does VRED® Core support ATF on Linux?

    As of version 2022, VRED® Core for Linux supports the import and conversion of native CAD file formats via the ATF (Autodesk Translation Framework).

    Note:

    Not all file formats are available for ATF on Linux.

    Currently Supported File Formats
    IGES JT Parasolid
    SAT STEP OBJ
    STL FBX SDK FBX

  • Does VRED® Core support Windows and Linux?

    Yes, although functionality in a Linux environment is limited (i.e./ some translators are not available).

    Note:

    We support the 2019.5 FBX SDK on Linux VRED Core. Import an FBX file using the load() Python command in VRED Core.

  • Is there support for the Substance Engine on Linux?

    Yes. As of version 2022, VRED® Core for Linux supports the Substance Engine. We've updated to the Substance Engine 8 to support the new Cross Section and Threshold filters, as well as the improved Tile Generator, Distance, and Curve nodes introduced with Substance Designer 2020.2 (10.2.0).

  • How many GPUs does VRED® Professional 2021 support?

    VRED® Professional 2021 supports raytracing, using up to 2 GPUs.

  • How many GPUs does VRED® Core support?

    VRED® Core supports raytracing, using 1 GPU.

  • Can I mix VRED® Professional 2021 and VRED® Core licenses in my setup to support all of my GPUs?

    Yes. An Nvidia RTX server with 8 GPUs, could for example, use either 8 VRED® Core licenses or 1 VRED® Professional 2021 and 6 VRED® Core licenses, as nodes for cluster usage.

  • How would 4 GPUs in a workstation running VRED® Professional 2021 be licensed?

    There are two options, either 1 VRED® Professional 2021 + 2 VRED® Core licenses or 2 VRED® Professional 2021 licenses.

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Parent page: Editors and Modules

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