Chaos has launched V-Ray 7 for 3ds Max, marking a significant update to its production renderer and the first in a new generation of enhancements for the entire V-Ray product line, currently available in beta.
This update introduces support for rendering 3D Gaussian Splats, a new scene-profiling system, and improvements to V-Ray GPU, the V-Ray Frame Buffer, and Chaos Scatter.
| Pioneering Updates for the V-Ray Family
Chaos generally rolls out new features in the 3ds Max and standalone editions of V-Ray before expanding to other versions, beginning with V-Ray for Maya. Consequently, the V-Ray 7 beta not only showcases new features for 3ds Max users but also hints at upcoming advancements across the entire product line.
| Native Support for 3D Gaussian Splatting
Among the new features in V-Ray 7 is support for 3D Gaussian Splats (3DGS). This innovative 3D scanning technique enables the high-quality reconstruction of real-world objects or scenes from photographs or videos. While there are free third-party add-ons for rendering 3DGS data in platforms like Blender, Unity, and Unreal Engine, V-Ray is the first known CG application to offer native support for this format.
| Enhanced Lighting and Rendering
V-Ray 7 also enhances lighting capabilities with the introduction of luminaires. Users can now import baked lighting data for real-world fixtures in PLW format, allowing for more accurate illumination in interior scenes. Additionally, the V-Ray Sun and Sky system has been upgraded to support the PRG Clear Sky model from Chaos’s other major renderer, Corona. The firefly removal algorithm, which eliminates bright flecks in renders, has also seen improvements.
| V-Ray GPU: Initial Caustics Support
The V-Ray GPU, which combines CPU and GPU rendering, now offers initial support for caustics, moving it closer to feature parity with the main CPU render engine. A comprehensive list of unsupported features in V-Ray GPU can be found here.
| VFX Enhancements: Vignetting and Freeform Regions
The V-Ray Frame Buffer (VFB) has been updated to include a new Vignette Layer, allowing users to apply vignetting effects to their renders. It also now supports freeform region rendering, enabling users to define arbitrary-shaped render areas.
| Updates to Chaos Scatter
Chaos Scatter, the object scattering tool introduced in V-Ray 6, has also received enhancements, including the ability to use texture maps for controlling scattering and a new Instance brush for manually painting scattered objects.
| Additional New Features
V-Ray for 3ds Max now features the V-Ray Profiler, a new tool for identifying performance bottlenecks in scenes, which was introduced in the Maya and Houdini editions. Currently, it is available only in V-Ray CPU. The release also includes updates to the V-Ray Lister and expanded support for Open Shading Language (OSL) and the Universal Scene Description (USD) framework.
XRender Farm, a leading cloud rendering service, proudly supports 3ds Max rendering. If you are looking for a tool to speed up your 3ds Max creation progress as well as creation experience, feel free to download the plug-in and give a try with CG Magic! Also, we’re excited to offer a special promotion: all student registrants receive a 50% discount! Plus, earn a 10% commission reward for every friend you invite who registers as a new user. Join us today and start rendering!
