From lighting and materials to camera control and final output, every stage of the visualization process just got better. With simplified caustics, improved scene realism, smarter camera tools, and a more powerful VFB, V-Ray makes it easier to achieve production-quality results with greater precision and less setup.
Parallax interiors add realistic interior depth and lighting to exterior renders without modeling or heavy geometry. Lightweight to render, easy to apply, and adjustable per window, they make buildings feel alive, especially in night scenes, while keeping performance fast and production-ready.
The new, quick caustics are easier to control and faster to render, removing the complexity traditionally associated with photon-based setups. For common scenarios like pools and water features, quick caustics deliver believable light patterns without the cost of full photon tracing. The result is realistic water caustics with significantly less setup and improved performance, making caustics accessible, predictable, and practical for everyday visualization.
Adjust the lighting of Gaussian Splats to better match your scene. Easily rebalance pre-baked illumination so splat assets integrate naturally into V-Ray projects. This makes it easier to use Gaussian Splats as part of a broader visualization workflow, especially when working with assets captured under ambient lighting.
AI Enhancer now brings realistic detail to large, uniform surfaces such as floors, walls, asphalt, and terrain. By adding natural variation like wear, dirt, and subtle imperfections at the correct scale, expansive areas gain depth and realism without manual re-texturing.
Enjoy more consistent and reliable single-object enhancements in the AI Enhancer. By preserving an asset’s original characteristics, it avoids misinterpretation and unwanted changes, reducing manual fixes and ensuring predictable results across scenes.
Materials, generated by the AI Material Generator, now support high-resolution 4K textures, delivering sharper detail and higher-quality results. An enhanced interactive 3D preview lets users fine-tune normal and roughness settings, adjust tiling, and preview materials on different objects before saving them to the library.
New camera controls in V-Ray for 3ds Max give artists greater precision and flexibility when framing and rendering scenes. Objects can now be included or excluded on a per-camera basis, making it easy to manage variations without duplicating geometry or relying on complex scene states. Object-based autofocus allows the camera’s focus distance to stay locked to a selected object or point in 3D space, ensuring clear focus even as the camera moves. Together, these improvements simplify shot setup, reduce manual adjustments, and make camera work more predictable in production.
Color control and working with images in the V-Ray Frame Buffer is now easier and more predictable. A new histogram widget gives you a clear view of color distribution, while the advanced Image layer makes it easier to manage backgrounds, reference images, and watermarks directly in the VFB.
The new Cosmos Sets group compatible assets into ready-made arrangements that can be placed in a scene as a single unit. From furniture groupings to decorative details, sets provide a fast way to populate scenes with assets that naturally work together. Each set can be easily rearranged after placement, giving users both speed and flexibility when building realistic, well-composed environments.
Bring more realism to large surfaces with decal scattering in V-Ray for 3ds Max. By adding decals to Scatter’s guests list, you can quickly distribute details like cracks, dirt, or wear across flat areas, eliminating repetition and making surfaces feel more natural. Simply, create a Scatter, include your decal as a guest, and adjust the parameters to get the exact look you need.
The new Reviews feature in Chaos Cloud provides a structured workflow for design approvals. Files are organized on a visual Kanban board and tracked through stages from draft to review to approval. Teams can submit files for review, receive official approvals, and monitor progress in real time, replacing the fragmented mix of emails and external tools that currently slow down the architectural design sign-off process.
Chaos Cloud Collaboration now supports video files, allowing teams to present and review animations, walkthroughs, and camera flythroughs using the platform’s existing review and annotation tools.
