Chaos has released its Update 2 for V-Ray 7 for 3ds Max. The new update has a pair of AI tools designed to improve the photorealism of projects. Chaos continues to push forward on cutting-edge implementations of AI technologies across its product lines as it bolsters its leadership in AEC visualization.
V-Ray 7 Update 2
The first of the two AI tools included in Update 2 is an AI-powered tool that can create materials from real-world photographs, while the second AI tool can automatically improve an image and upscale it. Both of these new features solve common problems professional 3D artists encounter regularly.
V-Ray 7 Update 2 packs powerful new AI features, faster rendering, and more..
“Our goal with AI has always been to add options that address real user pain points, and that’s what today’s features offer. With the AI Material Generator and AI Enhancer, creators can build scenes faster and easier,” said Allan Poore, chief product officer of Chaos. “Adding new AI tools and better collaborative options through the Cloud will speed up and improve the entire process — from iteration to presentation — while making it easier to achieve stunning photorealism with less manual effort.”
Chaos AI Enhancer
The company is touting that at the touch of a button, V-Ray for 3ds Max users can improve their scene through the use of Chaos AI Enhancer. This AI tool can correctly identify both people and vegetation and improve them visually in the image.
A second tool, Chaos AI Material Generator, gives users the ability to create their own materials using real-world photos. A photo gets uploaded into the Chaos Cosmos asset library (accessible within V-Ray) and the AI Material Generator creates a PBR material and texture maps which now become available to use on objects in the scene.
Both of these tools are technically still in beta and will continue to get refined and updated based on user feedback.
Night Sky Option
There is also a new Night Sky option that can shift a scene to evening and populate a sky with stars. The astronomically accurate stars are based on chosen dates and geo-locations.
Automatic Night Sky tool sets accurate stars based on date and geo-location.
Other features include a new Gaussian Splats clipping feature to trim 3D splats directly within 3ds Max, plus a new scatter clustering feature that allows for three options: Clusters based on procedural noise patterns, color maps, and a brush functionality that allows for painting with overlapping layers in 3ds Max.
Further Features
While Chaos Cloud 3D Streaming is currently in beta, it is open to all users and 3ds Max users with V-Ray 7 Update 2 can utilize a new level of cloud collaboration. This makes it possible for any user with a computer or mobile device to access the 3D scene via a URL and provide feedback through a comment or pin.
More Features in Update 2:
- Multi-import from Chaos Cosmos — Quickly import multiple assets at once.
- 256 Unique Light Selects in LightMix — Control up to 256 unique light selects to control multiple lights, and edit them individually or as a group, adjusting the intensity and color of lights using LightMix.
- New Exposure Layer Controls — Adjust tone mapping and exposure with intuitive new sliders for light tones, dark tones and shadows.
- Distributed Rendering (DR) 2 — The new DR system offers better performance scaling, while progressive rendering assures better scaling with multiple machines.
- Denoiser Workflow Improvements — Raw image files are now smaller and more efficient by giving users the option to remove the extra denoised data before saving them.
- Optimized VRayProxy Viewport Performance — Delayed loading lets artists start working immediately while assets continue to load in the background.
- V-Ray Two-Sided Texture — Assign different maps to front and back surfaces for labels, fabrics or paper-based materials.
- Mapping Source in V-Ray Multisub Textures — Apply a mapping source to the MultisubTex sub-maps for faster control over all sub textures, and simpler tree structures in the material editor.
- Probability column in V-Ray Multisub Textures — Change the probability of the appearance of different textures and/or colors in the Multisub tex, increasing or decreasing the amount of a specific texture to create more texture variants with ease.
- OpenPBR Support — Support for the OpenPBR shading model ensures consistent results across compatible applications.
Additional details on all the new features can be found here.
Pricing and Availability
The new update for V-Ray 7 for 3ds Max is available now for 3ds Max versions 2020–2026. Pricing for V-Ray as a standalone tool and as part of a bundle can be found on the Chaos website.