Chaos, the studio behind V‑Ray, Corona, Vantage and more, has formally joined the Blender Foundation’s Development Fund as a Corporate Gold sponsor. The company will contribute €30,000 every year to support Blender’s ongoing development. This places Chaos alongside major industry names like Meta, Wacom, Zeekr, Autotroph, and Superhive (formerly Blender Market) in the Gold tier.

https://twitter.com/Blender/status/1942884527002550677

Timing is Everything

The sponsorship pledge aligns directly with the full release of V‑Ray 7 for Blender, launched in early July 2025. After a free beta, version 7 was released on July 2 and officially announced July 3. V‑Ray 7 for Blender integrates seamlessly with Blender 4.2 LTS and later, offering CPU, GPU and hybrid rendering, adaptive global illumination, V‑Ray Frame Buffer for direct edits, Chaos Cosmos asset library, Chaos Cloud and a node‑based V‑Ray editor. It supports key Cycles BSDFs—Principled, Diffuse, Glossy, Sheen, Glass and Emissive—so artists can port existing materials without rebuilding them chaos.com.

Ecosystem Ties

Existing V‑Ray users can access the Blender version at no extra cost, while a standalone monthly subscription is available for $33/month or $199/year. Windows is supported immediately; macOS and Linux support are in progress. Blender users, studios and hobbyists now have access to a rendering pipeline familiar from 3ds Max, Maya, Houdini and more.

Why It Matters

Chaos’s commitment demonstrates a concrete investment in Blender’s future. Corporate Gold status ensures sustained funding, while the release of V‑Ray 7 enhances Blender’s appeal for production pipelines needing industry‑proven rendering.

Test Before Deployment

Chaos’s contributions and tools are promising, but professionals should always validate their pipeline fit through testing before integrating them into production.

The post V‑Ray Developer Chaos Becomes Blender’s Gold Sponsor first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.