Page History

This page provides information on how the latest version of V-Ray handles scenes saved with previous versions of V-Ray.

Overview

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V-Ray 5 7 adds a number of rendering optimization features. However, for compatibility reasons, some features and workflows have been adjusted and are discussed in detail below.

V-Ray for SketchUp is not forward-compatible, meaning projects done with V-Ray 5 6 are not guaranteed to work with V-Ray Next or older previous versions. If a project is opened using an older V-Ray version than the one it was created with, a prompt message will offer offers wiping all V-Ray data to ensure file stability.

GPU

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Starting with V-Ray 7 the CUDA and RTX are replaced with a GPU tab for render engine. V-Ray GPU uses NVidia CUDA or RTX device(s) to perform the raytracing calculations. The GPU engine can be specified from the V-Ray GPU rollout. 

Lights

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The Portal Light option in V-Ray Rectangle light is now a legacy option and is no longer exposed in the UI. This is done because with the introduction of the adaptive sampling for dome lights and environments, the Skylight portals are not needed anymore.

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A new Surface Control option (metalness control) is added to the Reflection rollout. It serves as a switch from Glossiness to Roughness and affects Coat, Reflection, and Sheen.

The VRayMtl The VRayMtl now has built-in Bump parameters.  This This allows users to set up linear shaders that are more optimal for rendering. It also keeps the workflow up to date with other host apps, such as 3ds Max and Maya.  Materials Materials previously using the Bump attribute now use the built-in Bump.

Materials Preset Material Library materials previously using Reflection Coat layer now use the built-in Coat. Previously, the  The old workflow was to create a base material and a separate Coat material and use a Blend shader to blend them together. The new Coat layer is easier to set up and faster to render. It is suitable for materials that have a reflecting coating similar to a varnished wood floor or a coated plastic. The Coat layer is also more compatible with cloud rendering, vrscene files, and V-Ray Standalone.

Fabric Preset Material Library fabric materials previously using Diffuse Coat layer now use the built-in Sheen. The new Sheen layer helps to make soft fabric materials like velvet, satin, and silk. Now that it is built into the V-Ray material, it can be used directly with cloud rendering and it makes it more compatible with vrscene files and V-Ray Standalone.

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A new Displacement object modifier is implemented. The Displacement material attribute is now deprecated. Note that the displacement effect no longer appears in the Preview Swatch. The Displacement material attribute was unreliable - it was working only if the material is a top-most shader applied to the geometry. The new Displacement object modifier can be applied directly to geometries no matter the applied material, so multiple objects can use the same displacement but different materials.

The legacy SSS Subsurface Scattering material is removed and migrated. Materials created with previous versions are migrated to Raytraced by default. It is done because this method is physically accurate and produces the best results.

 Materials Materials with Normal opacity mode are now migrated tocalculated with the Stochastic opacity mode.  Stochastic opacity gives Stochastic is now the default mode and replaces Normal in old scenes, as it gives the same results but is faster.   Stochastic is now the default mode and replaces Normal in old scenes.The Clip mode calculates faster and gives better and more accurate results when there is only pure white and pure black in the opacity map.

Starting with V-Ray, 6 the Fresnel formula is now calculated more precisely. As a result, some materials, mainly metallic ones, may render slightly differently (with more physically-accurate reflections).

Starting with V-Ray 6, the V-Ray Preset Material Library is part of the Chaos Cosmos Browser. Materials that have already been downloaded with any earlier V-Ray version remain unchanged and can still be loaded as a custom folder.

Starting with V-Ray 7, the Binding section in the materials is now renamed to Viewport Display. The Texture helper has been removed and can now be replaced with a custom texture.

Enscape Compatibility

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 Scenes set up using Enscape will now render in V-Ray. Materials and even the Enscape assets will be automatically handled by V-Ray providing a great starting point when transitioning from the Enscape design stage to the high-end visualization in V-Ray. For more information, go to Enscape Compatibility. 

Special Objects

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Starting with V-Ray 7 there is a new Remove from Selection function. It removes the Special object applied on another object.

Render Elements

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A new Contours Render Element is added. This render element stores a mask for both the global and individual material contours. It can be used for compositing. Note that the Contours will only appear in a Contours render element and not in the RGB/Beauty image.

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Migration from Previous Versions

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V-Ray 56 for SketchUp licenses also work with V-Ray Next5, allowing anyone who purchases an upgrade, to complete unfinished projects using V-Ray Next 5 if needed.

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If you need to migrate an outdated scene, you will need to perform a 2-step migration - the first one to V-Ray 3.6 and the second one to V-Ray 5.

To do so, first, visit download.chaosgroupchaos.com, enable the Show older versions checkbox, and download V-Ray 3.6.

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Note that in order to work with V-Ray 5 builds, you need to have the proper License Server. For more information about the License Server, see Installing the License Server.

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V-Ray 6 is the latest version that supports the import of V-Ray 2 models, components and materials.

Scatter Viewer In Previous SketchUp Versions

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Here is what the Scatter Viewer used to look like in SketchUp 2022 an earlier versions. See the Scatter Viewport Preview Workflow for versions 2023 and later.

UI Paths

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Workflow

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