V-Ray 7, Update 5 is now available

V-Ray V-Ray for 3ds Max Announcements
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V-Ray 7, Update 5 is now available for download from our website for 3ds Max 2022-2027

Note:* Due to API changes, V-Ray 7, Update 5 will require updates to 3rd party plugins. Older versions will crash when used with V-Ray 7, Update 5.

Date - Nov 5, 2026

New features

V-Ray

  • Initial implementation of a V-Ray Volume object, Volume shader and Volume textures

  • Support TyFlow’s new volumetric data (Inferno)

  • Initial implementation of Chaos AI Assistant

  • Initial implementation of V-Ray SpotLight in V-Ray light

  • Cylinder type in V-Ray Light

Modified features

V-Ray

  • Hide Irradiance Map from Render setup

  • Enable light depth sampling for VRayLuminaire lights

  • VRayVelocityElement Include/Exclude Layers and IDs

  • Include converting Irradiance map to Brute Force suggestion in the scene open dialogue which pops up when old settings are detected

  • Support for Anima 7

  • Hide Prepass samples option from the UI

  • Add integration/support for animatable material index in the material switcher in 3ds Max 2026 and 2027

  • MultiMatteElement Include/Exclude Layers

  • VRayClipper Include/Exclude Layers and IDs

  • VRayAmbientOcclusionElement Include/Exclude Layers and IDs

  • VRayDirt Include/Exclude Layers and IDs

  • VRayDistanceTex Include/Exclude Layers and IDs

  • Hide Use Irradiance map parameter from VRayMtl UI and VRayToonMtl UI

  • Optimizations in the V-Ray Scene Converter

  • VRayDecal Include/Exclude Layers and IDs

  • Launch cosmos browser service automatically

  • ICX support for better CPU utilization.

V-Ray GPU

  • V-Ray GPU (CUDA / RTX) to print frame completion time on render end similar to CPU

  • Improved the rendering of 2D displacement

  • Improved GPU sampling, make it less error-prone

  • Smoother light cache updates during IPR

  • Equalize V-Ray GPU Gaussian splat rendering with V-Ray CPU

  • Add velocity data to gaussian splats

  • Support for VRayMatteShadowsRE in GPU

VFB

  • IPR with Denoise Light Cache might show noisy images

  • Add possibility to auto-remap file path in Image layer
    VRayDenoiser/vdenoise.exe, VFB

  • Optimized post effects processing during rendering

Bugfixes

V-Ray

  • Refractions in VRayMtl become progressively darker with low glossiness

  • Scatter is different in IPR after it was hidden and shown in IPR

  • VRayBitmap’s Start Frame parameter is broken

  • Add separation line above the material override

  • Render resolution from 3dsMax live-link not updated in Vantage

  • Crash resizing VFB while V-Ray IPR is running with Light cache denoise

  • VRscene is flipped when rendering it with motion blur

  • V-Ray GPU Viewport IPR + NVIDIA Denoiser + Upscale - no denoising after Light Cache

  • ActiveShade viewport render resolution drops when Safe Frame is on and the viewport is wider (in aspect ratio) than the render output

  • DR2 with V-Ray GPU Bucket rendering does not distribute reserved buckets at the end of the render to other render nodes

  • Tiled rendering issue using 3ds Max crop and separate image channels output

  • VRayMultiSubTex’s ID Generator slot info is not exported to Standalone / GPU

  • Exported Anima 4D characters are rendered wrong when Motion Blur is used

  • Incorrect render of ForestPack/RailClone with V-Ray GPU/Vantage when motion blur is enabled

  • Instanced VRayPhysicalCamera nodes are constantly updated in the viewport when “Automatic vertical tilt” is enabled

  • Crash navigating in heavy client scene with proxy deferred loading enabled

  • Incorrect MutiMatte element when using VRayBlend Mtl to mix materials with different Material/ Effect IDs

  • Displacement Amount is capped for values outside the usual 0 to 100 for maps in VRayMtl with GPU/Standalone

  • Difference in displacement shift between V-Ray Production in 3ds Max and GPU/Standalone

  • V-Ray Bitmap “View Image” window appears off-screen in multi-monitor setups with ultrawide display

  • VRayVolumeGrid with VDB file renders wrong on Chaos Cloud/Standalone Linux when ‘Flip Up Axis’ is used

  • VRayStereoscopic helper’s “Adjust Resolution” is not considered when submitting a job through 3ds Max

  • 3ds Max freezes after GPU IPR render of TyFlow scenes where Motion blur duration is above 1

  • Highlights to most modified parameters in V-Ray GPU render setup are still applied with the highlights option disabled

  • Opacity mapped objects appear outside render mask when a thick VRayEnvironmentFog is present

  • Chaos Cosmos importer - importing assets with variants show error and possibly variants do not work properly

  • VRayMtl bump map multiplier is not exported to Vrscene for VRayNormalMap when it only sets additional bump

  • Planar from Object XYZ mapping is motion blurred additionally

  • Crash with Standalone on closing VFB when VRayCryptomatte RE is used (regression)

  • Incorrect written VFB ‘primitives’ stamp data saved in animated sequence images

  • Artifacts with Adaptive lights and Environment fog

  • DR2 | The “Follow Mouse” option does not work

  • Wrong visibility overrides for decals in VRayPhysicalCamera on IPR

  • VRayLight surface is not updated in IPR when the light’s type is set to Sphere

  • V-Ray Physical Camera: crash when using focus picker during creation mode

  • VRayPhysicalCamera with object focusing flickering in the viewport when using Orbit

  • VRaySphereFade in a scene with dome light rendered incorrectly in Standalone

V-Ray GPU

  • Instanced VRayEnmeshMod randomly shows the base/source mesh after a change in V-Ray GPU IPR

  • Samples limit is not respected

  • Crash when rendering with V-Ray GPU using DR2, Bucket mode, and large image resolutions (4K)

  • Adaptive lights renders more than necessary with compact sampling enabled

  • Hide CUDA tab if there are only AMD GPU-s in the system

  • Regression: CUDA error with a VRayTriplanar projected Normal map

  • Crash with CUDA error on render with specific scene file and hiding unhiding objects

  • The metalness’s reflection of a matte object is always visible in the Alpha (even if Affect Alpha is disabled)

  • GPU memory leak approx. 215-250 MB when rendering with out-of-process from 3ds max

  • Crash with caustics and interactive light cache

  • Discrepancy between CPU and GPU with Cylindrical Point Camera

  • Support for motion blur for photon tracing for all lights

  • Freeze with 3ds Max 2026 and 2027 UI when selecting gpu device and Slate material editor is opened

  • Crash with VRayExtraTex RE with VRayEdgesTex with VRayPlane

  • Artifacts on rendering a client’s scene on HIP and HIPRT

  • RGB primaries in VRayBitmap is ignored when the same file is used

  • Endless Light cache calculation with specific scene

  • The automatic resolution adjustment from Stereoscopic rendering does not work in Standalone/Cloud

  • BRDFCarpaint2 coat bump not evaluated on GPU

  • Render elements are not rendered correctly for shaders with refraction affecting All Channels

  • Bad VRayStochasticFlakesMtl results when rendered through transparent objects

  • VFB Stats Tab displays incorrect available and used memory information

  • VRayMtl’s Bump multiplier does not work when the map type is ‘Normal map in tangent space’

  • Different results when rendering a combination of CompTex and DistanceTex with V-Ray and V-Ray GPU

  • The distance texture slot of VRayDistanceTex is not working correctly using V-Ray GPU

VFB

  • Crash when quickly loading images from VFB history

  • Crash when attempting to delete the Histogram Layer via MaxScript and afterwards switching between images in the History

  • Slow bucket refresh when using Curves or Exposure corrections

  • TIFF (8/16 bit) and 16-bit PNG saved with color corrections look washed out when loaded back

  • Wrong Composite result in history save and enhancement EXR

  • VFB Crash with missing LUT asset file

  • A denoiser layer with an opacity less than 1 is not automatically applied if a Sharpen/Blur layer is also present

  • VFB’s Image Layer Color Picker value precision issues

  • VFB does not keep the last stop render option used

  • Enhancer upload image preview is broken if we have denoiser in the VFB layers

  • The opacity slider of the Lens Effects layer is not considered in the effectsResult/Glare channels (only in the RGB)

  • Crash upon loading recent files into the VFB Image layer

  • Some options for saving History images to files do not work as expected

  • Artifacts appear in the background while rendering with Image layer added to Backgrounds folder

  • Some color transformation options in the Background layer in the VFB are not greyed out when the mode is set to Color

  • Files containing Alpha Channel cause issues when loaded as a Background or a Foreground in the V-Ray Frame Buffer

  • Vrimg file is not deleted after a completing a render with Resumable Rendering and Bucket Sampler

  • Extra attributes about raycast and primitive count stats are missing from Raw images (EXR and VRImg)

VRayDenoiser/vdenoise.exe

  • Upscaled image briefly displayed while calculating GI with using VRayDenoiser with Denoise Light cache option enabled

Security

  • Fixed security issues
2

what plugins will require update? Itoo, Tyflow, Phoenix? Will Vantage work?

3

Finding this out the hard way. Every previous project I open is crashing when trying to render with vray 7.5.

4

Hello, is it possible to unhide and still using the irradiance parameters? Because for me the render times are much faster with irradiance map and with less noise. Even if i know that irradiance map is deprecated…

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Vantage will work; however, Phoenix won’t. TyFlow, iToo, etc., will need to be updated, yes.

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Please Don’t Remove Irradiance Map from V-Ray’s GI Settings – Ongoing Concerns About DR2 Stability and Recent V-Ray Updates

Is it really necessary to hide or remove Irradiance Map from the Render Setup?

Irradiance Map has always been one of the most valuable GI solutions in V-Ray, offering extensive parameters and flexibility to achieve high-quality renders in significantly less time. In comparison, Brute Force provides fewer optimization controls and can be more time-consuming in certain scenarios.

Instead of removing Irradiance Map, why not introduce an improved hybrid GI solution combining Irradiance Map and Brute Force, or explore alternative GI workflows similar to those available in Corona Renderer?

Every rendering method has its own advantages, and users should have the flexibility to choose the most suitable solution based on their production requirements.

Please retain Irradiance Map as an available option rather than removing it entirely. Introducing new technologies should not mean eliminating established features that professionals have relied on for years.

Concerns About V-Ray’s Evolution Since Version 5

V-Ray 5 was one of the most popular and reliable versions, offering excellent control over rendering parameters. However, since V-Ray 6, the overall experience has become increasingly problematic, particularly when it comes to workflow flexibility and stability.

First, you removed the subdivision controls from V-Ray lights and Render Setup. Although many of us were accustomed to those parameters and preferred having direct control over render optimization, we eventually adapted to the changes.

Now, with recent updates, you have introduced DR2, which continues to have stability issues, and Irradiance Map is also being hidden from the GI settings.

Why are proven and useful features continuously being removed or replaced when they have been working effectively for years?

Innovation is important, but it should enhance the existing workflow rather than force professionals to repeatedly adjust to changes that do not necessarily improve productivity.

Another Major Concern: Distributed Rendering (DR2) Stability

DR2 is still a mess, while DR1 continues to work reliably in our production environment.

Despite the newer updates, DR2 remains problematic and is seriously affecting our rendering workflow.

Why is it necessary to release buggy or insufficiently tested features to paying subscribers?

As professionals, we depend on V-Ray for daily production, where rendering stability, performance, and deadlines are critical.

These issues create unnecessary downtime, force users to troubleshoot problems, and sometimes require rolling back to older versions just to maintain a stable production environment.

A newer version should provide better performance and reliability, not force users to return to an older release to get their work done.

Additional Concerns About File Crashes

I have also noticed reports from other users mentioning that their scene files are crashing with the newer updates.

Although I have not personally verified all these reports, they raise serious concerns about the overall stability of the latest release.

Considering the ongoing DR2 issues, the changes to Irradiance Map, and these reported crashes, I will definitely postpone installing this update until the major problems are properly addressed.

I cannot afford to compromise an established production workflow simply to adopt the latest version.

A Request to the Chaos Development Team

Please consider the following:

  1. Retain Irradiance Map as an available GI option rather than hiding or removing it.

  2. Explore improved hybrid GI solutions that combine the advantages of Irradiance Map and Brute Force.

  3. Resolve the ongoing DR2 stability issues and consider keeping DR1 available until DR2 is fully reliable.

  4. Thoroughly investigate the scene crashes reported by other users.

  5. Preserve useful rendering controls wherever possible instead of continuously removing familiar features.

  6. Prioritize extensive real-world production testing before releasing major updates to paying subscribers.

We genuinely appreciate the effort Chaos puts into developing V-Ray, but continuous innovation should never come at the cost of stability, reliability, and workflow flexibility.

We need a rendering engine that helps us deliver projects faster and more efficiently—not one that requires us to constantly troubleshoot new problems after every major update.

Please take these concerns seriously. Long-time V-Ray users value the software because of its powerful rendering controls, flexibility, and reliability.

Don’t sacrifice these strengths in the name of modernization. Improve what already works, fix what doesn’t, and give users the freedom to choose their preferred rendering workflow.

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Any chance to make Phoenix compatible? At least I need ocean texture

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Claude will build you stand alone IM rollout in 1 min, especially when MCP for vray is here

10

what about Ornatrix and Substance plugins?

I know Maya is not out yet but Animbot should okay, right?

11

I just watched the updated release on Youtube and the whole time I was thinking “is this what Vray is becoming?”.

I try not to be a AI doomer about this industry, the advancement in Vray since I started doing this 20 years ago has been something I’ve built an entire career on. Stability, reliability and artistic values have been the reasons I’ve stuck with it for so long.

However, it seems the overall consensus on the latest direction things are going seem more like “doesn’t matter what our users want, investors want more AI tools that we can bundle into increase subscription prices”. Look at the comments on the release video on youtube. It used to feel like our feedback was valued in the direction that Vray was being developed. The last few versions it feels like we are being ignored and its disappointing to see the direction its going.

Chat bot and Agent tools are not “freeing” us of tedious work so we can just focus on the end version.

How about giving us innovative tools to speed up the rendering process. Tools to convert our scenes into a high fidelity Gaussian Splats that we can use like vray proxies and drop into new scenes and render with animated objects. Literally anything other than AI Tools to takeover the work you deem too tedious and time consuming.

Here are some of the Youtube Comments incase you can’t be bothered to look beyond the forums for user feedback:

@akentos666 “V-Ray 10 will have only AI “rendering”. Mark my words!”

@64pipeline “It feels like Chaos is dumbing V-Ray down to target Lumion users instead of giving us advanced core rendering controls. We need deeper technical tools, not lazy text-box shortcuts.”

@viledeacon9995 “A lot of the AI stuff they are advertising in this, i believe, requires tokens so I think the grand plan is double dipping. Have us pay for a subscription, plus make us pay per AI use. I guess for companies thats not a big deal but for individuals, that kind of puts a lot of that stuff out of reach.”

@porkpie2884 “Is there anywhere where we haven’t got AI infecting everything”

Honestly it goes on and on. This is painful to watch. Thanks Chaos.