For those who don’t know the tool: Veras is AI ideation inside Enscape, V-Ray, and Corona, sitting next to viewport rendering and final-frame output.

Veras stops being a side quest

Chaos has expanded Veras integration beyond Enscape into V-Ray and Corona, positioning AI ideation as a built-in step rather than a separate app. In Corona, Veras works from a screenshot taken from the Corona VFB, and can generate multiple concepts at any stage. It also supports turning a still into a short animation using Veras, with no complex animation setup required. In V-Ray, Veras appears as part of scene setup and ideation, including moodboards and fast look exploration inside the V-Ray workflow.

Credits are the new render tokens

To run the AI features and certain services across Enscape, V-Ray, and Corona, Chaos introduced Chaos Credits as a unified credit system. Credits apply to Veras, AI Upscaler, AI Enhancer, and cloud rendering, with platform availability depending on the feature. Monthly credit allowances come with active subscriptions and reset each billing cycle. Solo plans include 100 credits per month, Premium includes 500, and Collection includes 1,500. Veras standalone plans list 2,000 credits per month for Veras Pro and 6,000 for Veras Ultra. Unused monthly allowance credits do not roll over.

Top-ups also exist as subscription-style credit packs on the Chaos Credits page. A monthly refresh 250 pack is listed at €7.90, a monthly refresh 1000 pack at €23.90, and a monthly refresh 3000 pack at €47.90. Prices do not include taxes. Subscription pricing for the main renderer plans is not specified in the Sources. This is also where the wrokflow question gets real for teams: credits turn AI ideation into something you may want to track like any other billable resource. Or you have to train your artists not to follow ideas as long as the client doesn’t get a bill for them.

One installer to rule the Windows machines

Alongside the AI integration push, Chaos documents a unified installer called Chaos Installer. It installs all purchased products at their latest versions, and it is currently available only for Windows.

During installation, the installer supports two licensing models: Cloud Licensing and a License Server. Cloud Licensing relies on signing in with a Chaos account and using products from any location with an internet connection. The License Server supports centralized network setups and typically requires being on the same local network or connecting through a VPN. If you have ever had to install three different renderers, three license components, and then explain it all to IT, the idea is clear, even before you try it.

Corona 15 leans into animation and review loops

Corona 15 brings a mix of AI, shading, animation, and collaboration updates. On the rendering side, Corona 15 adds a Glints layer in the Physical Material. It also adds behavior where Gaussian splats can interact with GI bounces, letting splats bounce global illumination light onto 3D models.

A unique light override material enables different looks under specific light sources. Corona for Cinema 4D gets initial support for rendering native Cinema 4D particles, described as an early foundation.

On the animation side, Corona for 3ds Max adds faster animation parsing by updating only what changes between frames instead of re-parsing the entire scene each time. Corona also adds Video Collaboration support in Chaos Cloud Collaboration, and it introduces 3D Streaming and 3D walkthroughs via shareable links that viewers can open on any device with no software installation.

New tools and shiny integrations still need a proper test pass before you trust them in production, especially when credits, licensing, the rabid bookkeeping department and AI output variability (e.a, Halluzinations) sit in the same critical path.

https://www.chaos.com/vray

The post Chaos puts Veras everywhere first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t know the tool: DroneSiteBuilder is a script for Autodesk 3ds Max that reads drone photo metadata to assemble terrain, map context, and matched cameras, bundling GeoBuild and CameraMatch and supporting handoff to Blender, SketchUp, and Autodesk Maya.

What DroneSiteBuilder is trying to fix

DroneSiteBuilder Enterprise turns a folder of drone photos into a full site context scene inside the 3ds Max ecosystem: terrain, aerial drape, buildings, roads, land cover features, points of interest, and one matched camera per photo.

The pipeline reads XMP metadata per image and uses it to place helpers at ground level and flight altitude, then creates a renderer-aware camera per photo and refines orientation using vanishing point detection. The tool targets 3ds Max 2020 or newer on Windows and uses Python 3.9 through 3.12 with NumPy and OpenCV, plus optional modules for the Google path.

First use, abbreviated

Install a standalone Python build and make sure Add Python to PATH is enabled during install, because the tool does not rely on the 3ds Max built-in Python. Place DroneSiteBuilder_Enterprise.ms and vp_detector.py in the same folder and do not install under Program Files, since Windows blocks writes there.

Launch 3ds Max and load the script via drag-and-drop into a viewport or via Scripting > Run Script. Paste your licence key into the activation dialogue and activate, with support for an Enterprise key format and existing CameraMatch Studio keys. After activation the key caches locally for thirty days and the rollout opens.

For the first build, keep original DNG or JPEG drone files in a single folder, keep filenames ending in digits, and keep an internet connection available for the auto fetch steps. Pick a terrain DEM source, keep NOAA GEOID18 enabled for continental US sites and disabled outside the US, then run Process Folder of Drone Photos and accept the summary dialogue. Inspect the result by comparing a matched camera view against the source photo.

The new checkbox: Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles

Enterprise v1.2 adds an opt in mode that fetches Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles and imports them into 3ds Max as a single merged glb, covering the photo bounding box. The intention is simple: pull a photogrammetric backdrop mesh with terrain, textures, and buildings baked into one continuous model, using the same dataset shown in Google Earth.

The Google path requires a Google Maps Platform project with billing enabled and the Map Tiles API enabled, plus a saved API key in the rollout. The manual describes 1,000 root tileset requests per month free and a per 1,000 price after that, with one DroneSiteBuilder run treated as one root tileset request. If the fetch fails, the tool reports common causes like missing API enablement, low coverage, EEA billed accounts being blocked for this endpoint, missing Python modules, and older 3ds Max builds needing a glTF importer.

This is also where the gaudrrails get real: the Google import produces mesh only content with baked textures, so you do not get separate terrain, buildings, roads, and features objects to isolate, re material, or hide by category.

The standard path is still the controllable one

If you leave the Google option off, the pipeline builds a layered context using public services. Terrain comes from USGS 3DEP in the US or OpenTopography worldwide, aerial imagery comes from Esri World Imagery as a single bounding box JPEG, and vector context comes from OpenStreetMap via Overpass.

The scene builds under a single root helper so you can move, rotate, or scale the entire site as one unit, while cameras intentionally sit outside that parent chain to support camera transplant between scenes. If buildings and roads fail to appear on a run, the manual provides a manual Overpass refetch button that rebuilds buildings, roads, and land features without disturbing terrain, drape, helpers, or cameras.

OpenStreetMap accuracy varies by location and that the resulting geometry accuracy for this context layer sits in the one to six meter range. It contrasts that with paid city model providers such as AccuCities when millimeter level detail matters.

Export and handoff from 3ds Max

DroneSiteBuilder does not change how 3ds Max exports, but it does influence what you export. The standard path creates distinct terrain, buildings, roads, and feature objects you can selectively include in deliverables, while the Google path imports a tile based mesh group that is already baked.

For broad DCC and engine handoffs, 3ds Max includes a built in exporter for glTF and supports export workflows for USD, with export options available through File export and USD and USDZ format selection when the USD tooling is installed. For USD pipelines, the official OpenUSD plugin for 3ds Max is published on GitHub, and Autodesk documentation describes supported USD content types including meshes and cameras.

If your downstream is realtime, glTF targets web and interactive use cases, and you can also push common interchange paths like FBX into engines such as Unity and Epic Unreal Engine, depending on your studio conventions. For camera and layout continuity between scenes, the bundle includes a camera transplant workflow that exports camera data to JSON and recreates it with full precision in another scene.

Practical reality check

This toolkit aims to comperss a traditional drone to 3D context workflow into a short unattended run. The promise stands or falls on your input photos keeping XMP metadata intact, on your site area having decent public map coverage, and on you verifying the result against the plate before trusting it.

We don’t know the price yet, but if you already own the camera match tool in the Studio version, you get it for free, apparently. Quoting: Existing CameraMatch Studio licence keys activate the full DroneSiteBuilder bundle. Studio holders do not pay twice. 

Try both context modes on a test job: the standard layered build when you need controllable components and re-lighting freedom, the Google mesh mode when you need a fast photogrammetry backdrop and can live with mesh-only content and licensing constraints.

https://jamiecardoso-mentalray.blogspot.com/2026/03/dronesitebuilder-enterprise-v12-one.html

https://jamiecardoso.gumroad.com/

The post DroneSiteBuilder adds Google 3D Tiles option first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

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.

Chaos develops V-Ray, one of the most widely used production renderers, and Vantage, its real-time GPU path tracer. Together they form a rendering ecosystem used in VFX, architecture and product design. While V-Ray handles final offline rendering, Vantage enables instant GPU-based previews.

Real-time rendering directly in the viewport

The update introduces two key integrations. Houdini gains a Vantage Hydra Delegate, a fully path-traced, real-time renderer that streams pixel-accurate output straight into the Houdini viewport. Artists can use familiar camera and scene controls while working with physically correct lighting and materials. Maya receives an expanded Vantage Live Link that mirrors the same approach. It streams path-traced frames directly into Maya’s viewport. Live Link now also supports Linux and macOS through remote rendering connections, making the integration platform-independent across major production systems. Vantage 3.1 supports USD and MaterialX, ensuring shading and geometry consistency throughout a production pipeline. Artists can evaluate layout, lookdev and previs at full fidelity without test renders or external exports.

Real-time simulation and visual feedback

Chaos has added a real-time fluid simulator within Vantage. It supports interactive smoke, fire and fog previews, enabling fast iteration for explosions, exhaust trails or atmospheric effects. These can be evaluated interactively in Lookdev or Previs without resorting to slow caches or offline rendering passes. This feature links to V-Ray and Maya, allowing smoke and fire simulations to be reviewed instantly in the viewport with physically correct lighting and shadow behaviour.

V-Ray 7.2: new features for Maya and Houdini

Alongside the viewport integration, Chaos released V-Ray 7 Update 2 for both Maya and Houdini. In Maya, the release adds a new V-Ray Displacement Material system that allows complex displacements to be blended across different materials, applied to single V-Ray Proxy objects, and exported as independent texture maps. The update also introduces a Night Sky tool that generates physically accurate star fields and lunar lighting based on geolocation, date and time. This makes day-to-night timelapses and creative celestial setups possible without relying on external HDRIs.

Maya artists also gain access to several AI-driven tools in beta, including the AI Enhancer, AI Material Generator and AI Upscaler. These allow artists to create PBR materials directly from photographs, automatically enhance secondary assets such as vegetation or people, and upscale renders up to 16K resolution. In addition, Gaussian Splats clipping has been introduced, enabling selective editing of scanned environments without the need to regenerate data sets.

For Houdini users, the update brings a Pyro-ready volume shader designed for realistic fire, smoke and explosion rendering. Volume sampling has been optimised for faster performance, and the renderer now supports Deep output, matte rendering and extended light path expressions, providing more flexibility for compositing workflows. V-Ray also extends USD compatibility to versions 0.33 through 0.34.5 and expands its Distributed Rendering 2 system to remove the previous machine limit for network rendering. Procedural hair rendering in Solaris now delivers consistent results, aided by a new Cubic Samples parameter that gives artists finer control over hair tessellation. The update also adds resolution-independent bump mapping, ensuring consistent shading across output resolutions, and acceleration blur support, which improves motion blur accuracy for accelerating or decelerating objects.

Practical considerations

For lookdev, layout and animation, the ability to preview path-traced results directly in the viewport can reduce iteration times significantly. Artists no longer need to export intermediate renders, allowing faster visual feedback during creative decisions. However, Chaos classifies several features, such as AI-based tools, as beta. Real-time rendering remains GPU-intensive and depends on scene scale, lighting complexity and hardware performance. As always, stability and performance should be evaluated before adopting these tools in a production pipeline.

Pricing and availability

V-Ray 7 for Maya Update 2, V-Ray 7 for Houdini Update 2, Vantage 3.1, and the Vantage Hydra Delegate are available now for Windows, macOS and Linux. The Hydra Delegate requires a Vantage licence but does not need a V-Ray licence and can operate with any renderer. Licences can be purchased individually or as part of the Chaos M&E Collection, which includes V-Ray, Vantage, Phoenix, Player, Anima, Cosmos and Scans in one subscription. Current pricing is listed on the Chaos pricing page.

Download Chaos Vantage 3, update 1

Download Vantage Hydra Delegate builds for Houdini* (An active Chaos Vantage license and a clean installation of the Vantage Hydra Delegate build are required to run the plugin in Houdini. Users who have an older Vantage version installed should download the latest version.)

Download V-Ray 7 Maya, update 2

Download V-Ray 7 Houdini, update 2

The post Real-time Chaos: Vantage now inside Maya and Houdini first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.