Hi. After many years I am thrilled to finally be working on projects with 3ds Max and V-ray 3. It’s like a dream come true. However, the dream will be short lived because either 2020 or maybe 2021 will be my last version of 3ds Max since I will not move to their subscription plan.
That means I have a few years of usefullness left in my version.
Should I upgrade V-ray 3 to Next given this scenario? I assume if I buy 2021 I will need Next. But if I stick with 2020 then it’s a tough call. Plus I like the dongle.
Thoughts?
Well, I keep using perpetual Max + VRay 3 as long as I possibly can and will add additional subscription licenses when needed. VRay Next did not add much to my way of working. 3dsMax did not add much since it switched from single digit to 4-digit versions 
Are you able to move to their Indie plan ?
I too like the dongle, but Chaos aren’t going to change from their plan of going dongle-less and even I’m resigning myself to going to V-Ray 5 and therefore Online Licencing.
If I were you, I’d go V-Ray 5, stick with your version of 3DS Max 2020 (or 2021 if you fancy) and from there, moving forwards hopefully you can get the Indie version in your country (if you can’t already).
My 0.0000002 cents.
Thank you. I do have an RTX 2080ti in my PC does V-ray Next offer much benefit over V-ray 3 for rendering?
I also have Phoenix FD which I hope to soon start using. Any advantage in Next when working in conjunction with Phoenix?
Vray Next and Vray 5 are much better than Vray 3 all around. Adaptive Domelight, better lens effects and now Lightmix and the new Frame buffer
These features changed our workflow and saved us a lot of time. Download their trial and give it a try
Best,
Muhammed
I’ve got a couple of questions about upgrading my Vray next licences… I’ve got 4 Render Node licences that are still on version 3 (I’m running Next on my PC), I was wondering if I’d be able to upgrade the Render Nodes straight to version 5 when it comes out?
Also, as I haven’t got an army of render pcs at the moment, I’m debating selling a couple of the licences to fund upgrading the remaining two. Is this possible?
Hi Stephen,
Please note that it is not possible to upgrade straight from V-Ray 3 to V-Ray 5 perpetual (whether that is render nodes or workstation licenses). The options that are available here are:
*Either upgrade from V-Ray 3 render node to V-Ray Next render node perpetual
*Trade-in your V-Ray render nodes to V-Ray 5 annual with 20% discount for the price of each render node license for the first year.
Regarding selling your render nodes, as per our EULA (End User License Agreement) you cannot do that.
Stephen, for any purchase / sales related questions - feel free to email me at aleksander.yankov@chaosgroup.com
@Aleksander What is the reasoning to limit people from upgrading from vray 3 to 5 other than from a business standpoint? What is the point of only allowing upgrades from 3 to 4? Many companies need to hold at least one version back for backwards compatibility and has been running vray 3 and next.
In my opinion, if you want people to buy into your subscription plan, you have to make it enticing, setting up these tiered plans and paths really put you in the same league and much hated autodesk subscription plans.
When was this introduced ? I seem to remember people selling their licences including render nodes here on this very forum not so long ago, “PM me for details”…
Or is this another Autodesk EULA trick ?
Next stop you’ll be changing the meaning of Perpetual…