# Viewport vs Vray Materials **URL:** \ **Category:** Issues\ **Created:** [April 2, 2025, 9:31am UTC](https://forums.chaos.com/t/viewport-vs-vray-materials/122080 "2025-04-02T09:31:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![joseph\_stone](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/chaosprd/user_avatar/forums.chaos.com/joseph_stone/32/24111_2.png) [@joseph\_stone](https://forums.chaos.com/u/joseph_stone)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 9:31am UTC](https://forums.chaos.com/t/viewport-vs-vray-materials/122080/1 "2025-04-02T09:31:53Z")
I have an ongoing issue, some but not all of my Vray scene materials work in the viewport while some dont. By work i dont mean they look identical to the render but textures are at least visible and color correct etc can be previewed. However some any just Black materials, which is pretty unuseable. Are there any tips on getting max’s viewprt to display Vray materials better or at least ignore the maps that dont work so you can see the base bitmaps applied etc? Some of examples of maps we use alot: - VrayDirt - VrayCurvature - VrayTriplanarTex - VrayCompTex (for multiply / add) Id like to try and make my viewport more ‘artist’ friendly which does not mean accuracy but some rough approximation in surface responce in the viewport. Color + Specular response etc. Ive attached an example matterial that is simple 100% black in the viewport. ![image.png](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/chaosprd/original/3X/a/5/a595bef1a5f2f972a0b1905d426142c69c609be8.png)​ ---
**Author:** ![hermit.crab](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/chaosprd/user_avatar/forums.chaos.com/hermit.crab/32/46825_2.png) [@hermit.crab](https://forums.chaos.com/u/hermit.crab)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 11:01am UTC](https://forums.chaos.com/t/viewport-vs-vray-materials/122080/2 "2025-04-02T11:01:22Z")
Are we talking about the viewport preview or the material swatch previews? If the latter, try following [this guide](https://support.chaos.com/hc/en-us/articles/4413570284689-How-to-fix-incorrect-black-swatches-in-3ds-Max-Material-Editor)to resolve it. As for the viewport, those nodes that are calculated during rendering (such as VRayDirt and VRayCurvature) should preview fine. VRayTripanar/VRayUVWRandomizer 's randomization happens on render time and won’t be previewed. VRayCompTex seems to work as expected. If swatches turn black, try clearing the cache as suggested in the mentioned guide. ---
**Author:** ![joseph\_stone](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/chaosprd/user_avatar/forums.chaos.com/joseph_stone/32/24111_2.png) [@joseph\_stone](https://forums.chaos.com/u/joseph_stone)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 11:27am UTC](https://forums.chaos.com/t/viewport-vs-vray-materials/122080/3 "2025-04-02T11:27:37Z")
> As for the viewport, those nodes that are not calculated during rendering (such as VRayDirt and VRayCurvature) should preview fine. Thanks for the guide it helps a bit. But i am mainly reffering to the viewport, not the thumbnails. In my really crude example here should VrayDirt node be visible in the viewport (based on what you wrote above)? As its just black? ![image.png](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/chaosprd/original/3X/e/6/e672da1004d76b446ad91641035f87a1221cb76b.png)​ ---
**Author:** ![hermit.crab](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/chaosprd/user_avatar/forums.chaos.com/hermit.crab/32/46825_2.png) [@hermit.crab](https://forums.chaos.com/u/hermit.crab)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 11:31am UTC](https://forums.chaos.com/t/viewport-vs-vray-materials/122080/4 "2025-04-02T11:31:57Z")
As I mentioned, VRayDirt is calculated during rendering and doesn’t have a viewport preview. ---
**Author:** ![joseph\_stone](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/chaosprd/user_avatar/forums.chaos.com/joseph_stone/32/24111_2.png) [@joseph\_stone](https://forums.chaos.com/u/joseph_stone)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 12:34pm UTC](https://forums.chaos.com/t/viewport-vs-vray-materials/122080/5 "2025-04-02T12:34:34Z")
> [@hermit.crab](#): > > As I mentioned, VRayDirt is calculated during rendering and doesn’t have a viewport preview. > those nodes that are **not** calculated during rendering (such as VRayDirt and VRayCurvature) should preview fine. But you said it was ‘ **NOT** ’ calculated during render? 😄 i got double confused. Even so is there a way to change the nodes viewport representation? As simply ‘BLACK’ is not an ideal value to be used.. (mid grey or white) would be better in this example.​ ---
**Author:** ![hermit.crab](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/chaosprd/user_avatar/forums.chaos.com/hermit.crab/32/46825_2.png) [@hermit.crab](https://forums.chaos.com/u/hermit.crab)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 1:29pm UTC](https://forums.chaos.com/t/viewport-vs-vray-materials/122080/6 "2025-04-02T13:29:57Z")
> [@joseph\_stone](#): > > But you said it was ‘ **NOT** ’ calculated during render? 😄 i got double confused.​ Pardon, it was a mistake. I’ve edited my post. > [@joseph\_stone](#): > > Even so is there a way to change the nodes viewport representation? As simply ‘BLACK’ is not an ideal value to be used.. (mid grey or white) would be better in this example.​ I guess you can use 3ds Max’s Shell material. It has the option to choose which of the two slots is visible in the viewport and which is used for rendering. ---
**Author:** ![joseph\_stone](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/chaosprd/user_avatar/forums.chaos.com/joseph_stone/32/24111_2.png) [@joseph\_stone](https://forums.chaos.com/u/joseph_stone)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 2:00pm UTC](https://forums.chaos.com/t/viewport-vs-vray-materials/122080/7 "2025-04-02T14:00:40Z")
> [@hermit.crab](#): > > I guess you can use 3ds Max’s Shell material. It has the option to choose which of the two slots is visible in the viewport and which is used for rendering. Ok, sounds a bit cumbersome workflow but will try it out. ---
**Author:** ![anon88455546](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5fc32e/32.png) [@anon88455546](https://forums.chaos.com/u/anon88455546)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 2:22pm UTC](https://forums.chaos.com/t/viewport-vs-vray-materials/122080/8 "2025-04-02T14:22:13Z")
Hi Joseph, for your teapot example above if you uncheck the “Show Shaded Material in Viewport” option, the preview will take into account the diffuse color and not the map (in this case Vray Dirt). This way you can select any color you want for the preview. Also, for other complex materials, you can use the “Show Shaded Material in Viewport” option for any of the material maps. So if the material preview is not ok, you can select any other map and use that. Hope I made sense. ---
**Author:** ![Brendan\_Coyle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e99b99/32.png) [@Brendan\_Coyle](https://forums.chaos.com/u/Brendan_Coyle)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 2:41pm UTC](https://forums.chaos.com/t/viewport-vs-vray-materials/122080/9 "2025-04-02T14:41:28Z")
I’ve started to use ‘start interactive rendering’ for rough previews for materials - just be careful as I’ve had it crash when turning on/off layers with a lot of geometry. Maybe some material updates caused crashes as well if its a complex material. I’m using max 2025 You can even preview the diffuse map with no lighting if you add the diffuse channel and flip to that channel. I’ve used that to preview mixing texture maps with a noise mix which is another map you can’t easily preview in the viewport ---
**Author:** ![Vizioen](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/chaosprd/user_avatar/forums.chaos.com/vizioen/32/59355_2.png) [@Vizioen](https://forums.chaos.com/u/Vizioen)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 4:34pm UTC](https://forums.chaos.com/t/viewport-vs-vray-materials/122080/10 "2025-04-03T16:34:36Z")
> [@Brendan\_Coyle](#): > > I’ve started to use ‘start interactive rendering’ for rough previews for materials - just be careful as I’ve had it crash when turning on/off layers with a lot of geometry. Maybe some material updates caused crashes as well if its a complex material. I’m using max 2025 > You can even preview the diffuse map with no lighting if you add the diffuse channel and flip to that channel. I’ve used that to preview mixing texture maps with a noise mix which is another map you can’t easily preview in the viewport Bonustip if you use IPR: switch to debug shading, whatever map or material you have selected will be displayed instead; no need to switch to diffuse channel. ---
**Author:** ![Brendan\_Coyle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e99b99/32.png) [@Brendan\_Coyle](https://forums.chaos.com/u/Brendan_Coyle)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 5:07pm UTC](https://forums.chaos.com/t/viewport-vs-vray-materials/122080/11 "2025-04-03T17:07:27Z")
> [@Vizioen](#): > > Bonustip if you use IPR: switch to debug shading, whatever map or material you have selected will be displayed instead; no need to switch to diffuse channel. Cool feature! I don’t see an option to view material/maps without lighting - but the various debug options look neat. thanks