Chaos Group Launches V-Ray Next for Autodesk 3ds Max

The Chaos Group this month has released the latest V-Ray technology for the popular 3ds Max, one of the leading 3D modeling, rendering and animation packages. With new automatic scene analysis, artists and designers can produce faster and cleaner renders with little to no input, eliminating unnecessary setup time from the creative equation.

V-Ray Next for 3ds Max

Borrowing from the way machine learning makes choices based on what is learned about a specific problem, V-Ray has been adopting learning techniques from analyzing a scene as it is rendering. V-Ray Next builds on previous smart features with two new breakthroughs.

The new Adaptive Dome Light (ADL) automatically produces cleaner, more accurate image-based environment lighting that is up to 7x faster. ADL also removes the need to setup skylight portals at windows and openings, making it especially helpful for architectural interiors.

01 – V-Ray Next for 3ds Max includes new Smart Technology and several simplified UX features.

Secondly, Scene Intelligence comes to the V-Ray Physical Camera, via a point-and-shoot-style type of camera metaphor around Automatic Exposure, Automatic White Balance, and a simplified UI. Now a perfect render will be as easy as taking a snapshot.

“Our latest R&D has helped boost overall rendering performance by up to 25 percent, giving users a much faster baseline,” said Vlado Koylazov, CTO of Chaos Group. “The speed gains from scene intelligence and a new GPU architecture make it even faster.”

“With 22 years in the business, V-Ray is still DBOX’s core renderer,” said Neil Griffiths, partner at DBOX. “With so many smart features coming to V-Ray Next, it’s safe to say that won’t be changing.”

Faster GPU Rendering

V-Ray Next debuts Chaos Group’s new fast V-Ray GPU rendering architecture, which effectively doubles the speed of production rendering. Through a redesign of its kernel structure, V-Ray GPU offers a dual blend of high-performance speed and accuracy across interactive and production renders.

Chaos Group has also prepared for new GPU hardware improvements coming down the pike and the new rendering architecture has paved this way for this.

Artists can also enjoy GPU-accelerated support for items like environmental fog, volumetric effects, and VRscans materials. Other Features include:

• Nvidia AI Denoiser — denoiser technology based on Nvidia OptiX AI-accelerated technology
• Denoise Render Elements — artists can now denoise any render element used on a still or animation
• Lighting Analysis — accurately analyze and measure the light levels in a scene with the help of heat maps and data overlays
• Layered Alembic Workflows — supports Alembic 1.7 with layering, for faster, more efficient handling and updating of Alembic data
• V-Ray Switch Materials — easily switch between multiple materials applied to an object for faster look development and variation decisions
• V-Ray Plugin and Texture — load any texture or material from any version of V-Ray into 3ds Max, including procedural textures and PBR materials for Unity and Unreal

For a full “feature tour” readers can visit the V-Ray Next for 3ds Max product page here.

Pricing and Availability

V-Ray Next will be available soon for Windows. Every purchase of V-Ray 3.x for 3ds Max from 18 May 2018 until the actual launch will result in an automatic upgrade. A full workstation license is 1,180.USD and upgrades begin at 580.USD. Annual rents can be acquired for 470.USD. Monthly options are also available so readers can inquire.