Chaos released V-Ray 7.1 for Blender (branded as Update 1) on 26 August 2025. It marks the first substantial update to the freshly launched V-Ray-in-Blender integration, adding two widely awaited features: direct support for Geometry Nodes and a one-click Cycles-to-V-Ray material conversion. The release also ensures compatibility with Blender 4.5 LTS and introduces support for the OpenPBR material standard.

Integration of Geometry Nodes

Geometry Nodes is Blender’s node-based procedural geometry system, used extensively for scattering, modeling, and automating complex setups. The initial V-Ray 7 release lacked support for it, forcing users to bake geometry prior to rendering. Now, V-Ray 7.1 renders Geometry Nodes setups natively—procedural elements no longer need workaround baking or scene conversion. This addition aligns the integration with Blender’s evolving procedural landscape.

Cycles-to-V-Ray Material Converter

Previously, materials authored for Blender’s built-in Cycles renderer had to be recreated manually in V-Ray’s system. Version 7.1 introduces a converter that automates this process. With one click, users can convert Cycles materials into V-Ray equivalents. The converter works globally via a V-Ray menu or can be applied node-by-node within the shader graph. For production pipelines with extensive Cycles setups, this saves significant manual labour.

Added Compatibility: Blender 4.5 LTS & OpenPBR

The update brings official support for Blender 4.5 LTS, Blender’s current long-term support release as of mid–July 2025, expected to remain maintained through July 2027 under Blender’s release schedule. OpenPBR is an open material specification developed by the Academy Software Foundation to standardise physically based material definitions across tools. V-Ray 7.1’s support for OpenPBR aims to smooth inter-application workflows and reduce material authoring friction.

Background: V-Ray 7 for Blender’s January Launch

V-Ray 7 for Blender (or the original native integration) launched on 1 July 2025. It replaced the legacy plugin (for Blender 2.79) with a fully embedded V-Ray engine inside Blender’s viewport. Core features included CPU, GPU and hybrid rendering, denoising, the V-Ray Frame Buffer (VFB), hair system support, proxies, .vrscene exchange, and initial Cycles material compatibility. Geometry Nodes and distributed rendering were not supported at launch.

V-Ray for Blender: Chaos releases Renderer into the Open Source Universe

Licensing, Platforms & Limitations

V-Ray 7.1 for Blender is available on Windows 10+ only, using NVIDIA GPU rendering. CPU-only mode and macOS or Linux support are still unavailable. Licensing is via rental-only subscriptions:

• Standalone V-Ray for Blender: $33/month or $199/year (named-user), includes Chaos Cosmos assets and Chaos Cloud rendering.
• V-Ray Solo: $84.90/month or $514.80/year.
• V-Ray Premium: $119.90/month or $718.80/year.

Existing subscribers for other V-Ray products already have access to the Blender integration.

Production Readiness & Testing

While Geometry Nodes support and Cycles material conversion are significant steps, users should validate both in actual production contexts. Complex node setups, linked assets, or custom shaders may still require manual adjustment. OpenPBR compliance may vary depending on the material library. Testing across render farms, GPU hardware, and versioned pipelines remains essential, for both performance and visual fidelity.

The post V‑Ray 7.1 for Blender: Geometry Nodes and Material Converter first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.