Vray All Versions List

: Eliminated the need to manually set portal lights for interior renders.

4. The "Next" and 5.x Era: Intelligent Rendering (2018–2021)

Since its release in the early 2000s, V-Ray has evolved from a niche plugin for 3ds Max into the industry-standard rendering engine for architectural visualization and visual effects. Developed by Chaos (formerly Chaos Group), it has consistently pushed the boundaries of photorealistic imagery through advancements in ray tracing and global illumination [34]. V-Ray Version History

V-Ray is widely used across 3ds Max , SketchUp , Rhino , Maya , and Houdini , maintaining its edge by adapting to the latest hardware and AI advancements. vray all versions list

Chaos has moved to a Museum Licensing model . If you own a perpetual license for V-Ray 3.x or 4.x, you can continue using it forever, but you will not receive Windows 12 or macOS 16 compatibility patches.

Released in 2002, V-Ray 1.0 introduced global illumination (GI) to a wide audience. It quickly became the go-to renderer for 3ds Max users due to its speed compared to native scanline renderers.

VRay, developed by Chaos (formerly Chaos Group), is one of the most widely used commercial rendering engines in architectural visualization, visual effects, and product design. This paper provides a complete, annotated list of all major VRay versions, including beta releases, major version milestones, point updates, and notable integration versions for platforms such as 3ds Max, Maya, SketchUp, Rhino, Cinema 4D, Houdini, Nuke, and Unreal. The chronology is organized from the first public release in 2001 to the current version as of 2025. Each version entry highlights key technical innovations, hardware support changes, and industry impact. : Eliminated the need to manually set portal

: The original release series that established the engine's reputation for high-quality global illumination [5]. The Evolution of Rendering Technology

: Allowing multiple computers to work on a single image simultaneously. V-Ray Denoiser

Introduced Irradiance Map and Light Cache algorithms, which drastically cut rendering times for interior architectural visualization compared to traditional brute-force radiosity. Developed by Chaos (formerly Chaos Group), it has

: VRayCarPaintMtl, VRayDistanceTex, and lens effects like bloom and glare directly inside the VFB. V-Ray 3.0 to 3.6 (2014 – 2017)

Provided alternative methods to calculate secondary light bounces.

The Modern Era: Intelligence, Cloud, and Real-Time (2018–Present)

These versions were phased out or integrated into broader Chaos products (such as Chaos Vantage for real-time ray tracing) to centralize development on core host software.