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For those who don’t know the tool: V-Ray runs inside SketchUp, Rhino, and 3ds Max. Update 3 pulls real-time from Vantage, feeds assets from Cosmos, and pushes approvals through Cloud, with traffic extras via Anima.
Real time, now without the app hopping
Chaos released V-Ray 7 Update 3 for SketchUp, Rhino, and 3ds Max. Update 3 adds real-time rendering directly in the V-Ray viewport through a Vantage Viewport Live Link workflow. The goal sits squarely on convenience: keep modeling, keep assigning materials, keep nudging lights, and see the result update instantly.
The live viewport workflow supports continuous scene edits. Walls, columns, material tweaks, and object selections update in real time. Assets dropped in from Cosmos appear immediately as high-quality models, including people, vegetation, and props.
Lighting edits also happen inside the viewport workflow. Cosmos light fixtures with built-in light sources work in this mode, and V-Ray lights can be placed and adjusted interactively, including intensity adjustments while the real-time view stays active.
The real-time viewport mode supports large scenes. Vantage can handle millions of polygons with no noticeable lag in the described workflow, and it uses full ray tracing, without rasterization or approximation in that workflow description.
The real-time viewport workflow includes camera and look controls for composition and presentation. It supports adjusting the sun and adding effects including lens flares, photometrics, fog, and depth of field, while staying inside the host application viewport.
Parallax interiors go native, and finally leave OSL behind
Parallax interiors in Update 3 target a familiar archviz cheat: add convincing depth behind windows without modeling full rooms. Update 3 adds a native parallax texture map that works across integrations and also works in Vantage. This matters for integrations that do not expose Open Shading Language, where older OSL-based approaches were less usable.
Cosmos includes parallax interior shaders designed for drag-and-drop use behind windows. The shaders maintain depth and perspective from any camera angle and support variation controls to avoid obvious repetition across facades.
Quick caustics and Gaussian splats get more practical
Quick Caustics in Update 3 bring sunlight caustics through water, a common request for pools, lakes, and other outdoor scenes. V-Ray includes a general caustics engine, and the update adds a specific option intended to quickly approximate caustics caused by sunlight going through water surfaces. The workflow is enabling Quick Caustics in the material and lighting with V-Ray Sun so caustics appear immediately.
The current Quick Caustics behavior works best with displaced surfaces. It works with the built-in V-Ray water texture in SketchUp and Rhino, and it also supports other displacement textures. A depth parameter controls how far the caustics effect reaches. Reflective caustics can be enabled for shimmering patterns, and the caustics render element can be isolated for easier adjustment after the render.
Gaussian Splats Relighting allows Gaussian splats to receive illumination from scene lights so they blend more naturally with the rest of the scene. A dedicated parameter controls how the lighting blend behaves, and V-Ray lights can be used with their full parameters in this workflow.
Node materials arrive, scatter gets a brush, decals get distributed
Update 3 adds a node-based material editor for V-Ray for SketchUp and V-Ray for Rhino in preview. The node editor supports creating, picking, and editing materials and textures in a visual graph. Cosmos assets can be dragged directly into the graph. Texture nodes can be added and combined, maps can be mixed, and materials can be combined visually. Material types including blend, two-sided, overrdie, and wrapper appear as nodes.
V-Ray 7.3 also adds a scatter brush workflow in V-Ray for SketchUp and V-Ray for Rhino. Objects can be scattered using a paintbrush approach for precise distribution of plants and similar objects. The workflow supports building a base layer and painting additional clusters, following predefined lines from plans or painting freely. Density can be adjusted via brush radius, and unwanted areas can be painted out. The workflow also supports shaping vegetation placement to match camera angles for composition.
AI Mood Match and AI Enhancer focus on faster look decisions
AI Mood Match expands the Light Gen workflow for V-Ray for SketchUp and V-Ray for Rhino. It adjusts environment lighting to match a visual reference instead of trial-and-error tweaks. The workflow describes uploading a reference image, generating multiple lighting scenarios, browsing results, choosing one, and applying it with a click, then refining lighting further as needed.
AI Enhancer adds improved accuracy and object-level control. The described workflow includes detecting characters, vegetation, and large surfaces after upload, then enhancing selected elements without affecting the rest of the image.
For people, the controls include parameters such as age, gender, ethnicity, hair color, and facial expression, with results applied as an enhancement. A creativity mode adds refinement while preserving the original look. Multiple selections can be enhanced at once, enhanced objects appear in an object enhancement list, and results can be saved as a new version.
Large Surface Coverage targets fast breakup of flat or repetitive surfaces. Controls include creativity to add intrical detail and an age option intended to introduce natural weathering, including stains, micro-cracks, and subtle color variation.
AI Materials now support 4K generation and higher-resolution maps. The described workflow includes a redesigned interface and an interactive 3D preview that can switch between sphere, box, and cylinder models, plus lighting direction adjustments and normal and roughness tweaks with instant updates.
Frame Buffer tweaks and per-camera controls in 3ds Max
V-Ray for 3ds Max adds Physical Camera tools intended to make scene variations and view management easier. Objects can be excluded from visibility per camera without affecting the rest of the scene. Focus can be set to object mode by picking an object to remain in focus, keeping it sharp regardless of camera target position, which changes depth of field control behavior.
Update 3 also improves the V-Ray Frame Buffer. A new histogram widget provides insight into color distribution and exposure. Background and foreground folders support reference images, watermarks, and backgrounds. Scaling and positioning tools improve alignment, and effects apply consistently to added elements in this workflow description.
Cloud reviews, video notes, and 3D streaming annotation
Cloud Reviews adds a review hub for sharing work with teams and clients. Reviews can be started from the render engine or created in a review tab workflow. Renders can be uploaded and stakeholders invited. Stakeholders can explore images or 360-degree experiences and leave comments directly on elements that need adjustment. Project status can be updated, new versions uploaded, and an approvers list used to finalize the design.
Video collaboration adds timeline-based commenting. Comments can be pinned to an exact second or a time span, and comments can be repositioned. Annotation tools include markers such as drawing, line, and rectangle tools for pointing out specific areas. Comments can fade out automatically after their time span for a cleaner preview.
3D streaming in the same ecosystem allows real-time navigation once a scene is uploaded. The workflow includes switching cameras and adjusting lighting dynamically, sharing a 3D stream for interactive exploration, and adding annotations. Comments save automatically, and annotations can include attached images or links for context. If your review chain includes external stakeholders, run a dry test early to catch permission and browser issues before a deadline catches you. Or you have an audience, when you try to remember your password.
Have a look at the tools here: Chaos Cloud Reviews documentation
https://documentation.chaos.com/space/VCLOUD/521797640/Reviews
Anima 6: parking lots and smarter vehicle lighting
Anima 6 adds tools aimed at faster traffic population and more believable vehicle behavior. A parking lot feature lets users define parking zones and fill them with vehicles. Zones can be resized, orientations adjusted, density changed, vehicles added or removed, and layouts regenerated.
Anima 6 also adds automatic vehicle lighting for traffic simulation. Brake lights activate when stopping and turn signals engage when changing direction. A road staying tendency parameter controls whether vehicles continue straight or take available turns. If you want to show somebody how they should be driving their bloody SUVs, Anima will help make it look like it should, not like the BMW drivers do mostly behave.
Cosmos sets and new assets
Cosmos adds Sets, described as curated groups of assets that can be placed as a set and then rearranged or duplicated as needed.
Update 3 adds over 700 new assets, including 400 high-detailed plant models from Globe Plants, plus additional branded models. Cosmos also includes new models from Evermotion, new people assets, and additional scatter presets and scan material range in the described workflow.
Pricing and availability
Update 3 releases first for V-Ray for SketchUp and V-Ray for Rhino. Real-time rendering in the V-Ray viewport requires an active Vantage license or an active V-Ray Collection license.
New features can shift habits fast. Test Update 3 on real scenes, real assets, and your actual hardware before it enters a production .
