For those who don’t know the tool: V-Ray runs inside Autodesk 3ds Max and Blender and many other DCCs, with V-Ray GPU as the hybrid GPU and CPU engine alongside CPU rendering.

AMD is back on the render menu

After a long stretch of one-vendor reality for GPU finals, Chaos reinstated support for GPU rendering on AMD hardware in V-Ray GPU by implementing HIP as a render backend in V-Ray 7 Update 3 for Autodesk 3ds Max. The change lands in the V-Ray 7 Update 3 build for 3ds Max, (build version 7.30.02).

This matters because V-Ray GPU previously supported AMD through OpenCL, and that path wound down with the V-Ray Next era in 2018. In production terms, many shops treated V-Ray GPU as effectively tied to NVIDIA backends for years, even if the CPU engine remained fully cross platform. Support for HIP is also expected to roll out to other V-Ray integrations, including V-Ray for Blender.

What exactly changed inside V-Ray GPU

V-Ray GPU now exposes HIP as a backend option in the 3ds Max integration, alongside CUDA and RTX modes. HIP is designed to let developers target both AMD and NVIDIA from a single code base using a CUDA-like programming model, and it sits within the broader ROCm stack. On AMD, V-Ray GPU runs through HIP, and the team also opened HIP RT as the ray tracing acceleration path. HIPRT remains a work in progress in V-Ray GPU. In other words, this is not a checkbox labelled “AMD” that secretly does CPU. It is a new backend that runs V-Ray GPU on modern Radeon hardware, with the HIP path delivering the strongest and most consistent AMD results in the current test set.

Supported GPUs, drivers, and the fine print you actually need

The supported AMD generations for V-Ray GPU via HIP currently include RDNA2, RDNA3, RDNA 3.5, and RDNA4, across consumer Radeon and selected Radeon Pro products. The recommendation is RDNA3 and above. The minimum supported driver listed for AMD is AMD Software Adrenalin Edition 26.2.2.

A concrete example used for testing is the Radeon RX 9070 XT, a consumer GPU with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, a 256 bit memory interface, and up to 640 GB per second of memory bandwidth. AMD announced the card at a €799, while retail pricing varies by board partner and region. Currently, you can get variants around 650€.

If you want to map that to pipeline decisions, the takeaway is that the minimum bar is no longer latest flagship only. The supported list includes multiple generations and both consumer and workstation lines, with a driver baseline you can actually put into an IT image.

Performance: competitive, then weirdly spicy in out-of-core

The performance story splits into two very different conversations: in core scenes that fit in VRAM, and out of core scenes that push textures into system memory.

Across the current test scene set, results are described as solid overall, with most scenes rendering without issues and output matching expected results. The RX 9070 XT is described as delivering competitive performance for a 16 GB consumer GPU, while the RTX 5080 stays ahead in most in core cases.

Then the out of core path shows up and flips the mood.

V-Ray GPU has a Use System Memory for Textures option that moves texture memory pressure into system memory. That matters when your scene does not politely fit into VRAM and you do not want a last minute downres exercise.

In the out of core scenes tested, the RX 9070 XT is not just competitive but clearly faster in several cases, with the largest gaps reaching multiple times faster in the current dataset.

That is the part to pay attention to if you live in archviz city blocks, hero characters with absurd texture stacks, or anything where the phrase texture budget is usually followed by laughter and then silence.

HIP and HIPRT: what artists should take from that alphabet soup

HIP is the enabling layer that makes AMD execution possible in V-Ray GPU. HIPRT is a separate ray tracing library for HIP aimed at ray tracing acceleration.

In the current state, HIP delivers the best AMD results, and HIPRT remains under active evaluation and not production ready. The implication for day-to-day users is simple: backend choice still matters, and the fastest mode on one vendor does not automatically exist on the other in the same way today. That is also why you should treat this update as you would any other new render backend. Test it on your own scene types, your own noise tolerances, your own texture formats, and your own deadline pressure, before you let it touch finals.

Workflow impact: more options, more responsibility

The practical upside is hardware flexibility. Some teams already sit on Radeon cards, and some freelancers shop by VRAM per euro. Bringing AMD back into the V-Ray GPU conversation adds some choice again, especially in that midrange 16 GB bracket that appears in purchasing approvals. The practical downside is that a new backend tends to surface edge cases. Output matching is described as consistent in the tested scenes, but you still need to validate your own shading networks, your own IPR expectations, and any pipeline automation that assumes a specific engine string.

If your pipeline uses Blender for lookdev or layout, it is also worth noting that HIP is not foreign there. Cycles already supports HIP as a GPU backend option on Windows and Linux, which at least reduces the surprise factor when artists see the acronym in preferences.

The boring conclusion that saves productions

That is enough to make a lot of workstation build spreadsheets suddenly look different, adn enough to justify real evaluation time in a studio where GPU rendering is not a side hobby.

https://blog.chaos.com/amd-gpu-rendering-vray
https://documentation.chaos.com/space/VMAX/707559558/7.30.02

The post Chaos restores AMD GPUs in V-Ray first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Luxion has released KeyShot Studio 2025.3, the latest version of its CPU- and GPU-based visualisation and rendering tool. Formerly known simply as KeyShot, the application has been rebranded as KeyShot Studio, now forming part of Luxion’s wider product design-to-market suite alongside KeyShot Dock, its digital asset management system.

While still heavily used for product design and technical visualisation, KeyShot remains a go-to tool for artists seeking quick, photorealistic renders of CAD or DCC geometry. The 2025.3 update focuses on pipeline connectivity, compositing control, and AI-assisted creative workflows.

Cryptomatte and OpenPBR join the party

Two of the release’s headline features, Cryptomatte and OpenPBR, both target interoperability between visualisation and postproduction pipelines. Cryptomatte, an open-source matte ID system widely used in VFX compositing, allows KeyShot renders to carry per-object or per-material ID information directly into postproduction tools such as After Effects or Nuke. Artists can now isolate parts of an image or animation for colour correction or retouching with precision. According to Luxion’s demo, Cryptomatte support extends to both stills and animations, with EXR output formats supported.

OpenPBR, the emerging open standard for physically based materials, is now supported within KeyShot’s importer and plugin ecosystem. Users can import glTF and .glb files, including those originating from Blender or Rhino, while preserving original material parameters. This allows consistent material behaviour across applications and enables direct use of third-party texture resources such as Polyhaven’s PBR libraries.

OpenPBR in action

In Luxion’s demo workflow, OpenPBR materials were imported directly from glTF files and applied via simple Shift-click operations within the KeyShot viewport. Material scaling and UV adjustments can be performed interactively, with full control over reflectance and surface detail. The feature integrates tightly with KeyShot’s Material Graph, ensuring imported PBR assets behave predictably, without requiring manual node rebuilds. This brings KeyShot closer to real-time tools in interoperability, particularly for artists switching between DCCs and renderers.

AI Shots: now useful for labels and backdrops

AI Shots, introduced in KeyShot 2025.2, continues to evolve. The tool uses text prompts to generate concept imagery directly inside KeyShot’s UI. In version 2025.3, the interface gains better session management: all previous AI generations are now listed in a panel for easy retrieval. In practice, AI Shots can be used to generate quick placeholder textures or mockups, such as label artwork for packaging visualisation. The prompt-based system benefits from highly specific inputs, and output quality depends heavily on GPU performance. The demo showcased AI-generated label textures applied to a product bottle, later refined through mapping adjustments. AI Shots can also generate backgrounds or scene backplates, providing context imagery for product renders without leaving the application. Generated images can be saved, reused, or dragged directly into the render environment.

Material Graph: freer navigation, finer control

The Material Graph interface has gained several usability upgrades. The workspace can now be freely repositioned and zoomed relative to the cursor, significantly improving navigation in complex node trees. Two new options, Show Grid and Snap to Grid, help organise node layouts, and the window can now be docked within KeyShot’s main UI. These quality-of-life improvements make the graph feel more integrated and less like an external editor. The demo also highlighted quick-search functionality using the Q shortcut to insert nodes such as Color Adjust between existing connections. These incremental enhancements make procedural texturing workflows smoother, especially when handling imported OpenPBR networks.

Custom pivots and grouping hotkeys

Modelling-origin pivot points have long been a nuisance for KeyShot users importing CAD data. The new Custom Pivot feature solves that by letting users redefine pivot points directly within KeyShot. Pivot placement can be defined via three modes (Cylinder, Corner, Sphere), allowing accurate local rotation and animation without returning to the source application. This helps particularly with mechanical assemblies and jointed geometry. Grouping has also been simplified: artists can now use Ctrl+G to group selected components within the scene tree, mirroring conventions from DCC applications. The feature speeds up model organisation before applying custom pivots or animation transforms.

Lighting updates: precision and control

Lighting setup in KeyShot 2025.3 benefits from several new controls and refinements. The Orbit Mode for lights now includes a Lock Axis option, enabling constrained rotations for symmetrical lighting setups. Light Layers, introduced previously, are showcased here for more granular lighting management. Artists can assign lights to specific scene elements—such as bottle, pump, or label—and toggle visibility or colour temperature per layer. This is particularly valuable for rendering passes or creating attention-focused compositions. Light intensity can be adjusted directly in the viewport using Ctrl+Shift+Mouse Wheel, and highlights can be repositioned interactively by clicking in highlight mode.

Integration and availability

KeyShot Studio 2025.3 supports Windows 10+ and macOS 11.7+. Integration plugins are available for major DCC and CAD tools including 3ds Max, Blender, Cinema 4D, Maya, SketchUp, PTC Creo, SolidWorks, CATIA, and Siemens NX. The software remains rental-only, priced at $1,299/year, an increase of $111 over the previous version.

Stability before artistry

As always, users should test new features thoroughly before committing them to production workflows. While new standards like OpenPBR promise smoother interoperability, stability and output consistency remain the deciding factors in professional rendering pipelines.

The post KeyShot Studio 2025.3: Cryptomatte, OpenPBR, and a Real Pivot first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.