Archive notice: This article was originally published on October 24, 2014. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The new ray tracing core is intended to make the calculation of Global Illumination as well as shaders and lighting significantly faster. Another feature is the new Progressive Image Sampler, which is said to have a wide range of production features and is compatible with all V-Ray GI algorithms such as Irradiance Map, Light Cache and Brute Forth Path Tracing. Even with complex features such as volumetric effects, Depth of Field and Motion Blur, the sampler generates fast feedback.
The improved V-Ray RT Engine renders directly in the Maya viewport and supports animated sequences as well as final frame rendering.
In addition, characters and creatures are said to be able to be created significantly more efficiently through the optimisation of the shading and rendering of millions of strands of semi-transparent hair. To give the models more realism, V-Ray 3.0 now supports Subsurface Scattering with object-based and raytrace illumination. The new VRaySkinMtl skin shader is also supported.
V-Ray 3.0 for Maya is available now. An upgrade from version 2.0 starts at 420 US dollars, while the full licence price is 1,040 US dollars. The upgrade to V-Ray for Maya with an additional ten Universal Render Nodes costs 970 US dollars.
You can find the complete new feature list for V-Ray 3.0 for Maya here.
