View Source

This page provides details on the render settings used to adjust the V-Ray renderer.

Overview

The 3ds Max Render Setup window hosts many V-Ray settings for both V-Ray and V-Ray GPU. Choosing the V-Ray GPU engine changes the available settings. For more information about the V-Ray GPU render settings, follow the link.

This section provides information on render setup with the V-Ray engine.

The Common tab contains no custom or unique V-Ray settings. For more details on the parameters found under this tab, please refer to the 3ds Max help documentation.

With V-Ray 6, Hotfix 1, the render settings are now kept when switching between V-Ray and V-Ray GPU.

||Main Toolbar|| > Render Setup button and then set Renderer to V-Ray

V-Ray for 3ds Max > V-Ray Render Settings > Max2023_VRay6_RenderSettings_toolbar.png

||Rendering menu|| > Render Setup... and then set Renderer to V-Ray

V-Ray for 3ds Max > V-Ray Render Settings > Max2023_VRay6_RenderSettings_menu.png

||Render Setup window|| > Renderer > V-Ray

V-Ray for 3ds Max > V-Ray Render Settings > Max2023_VRay6.1_RenderSettings_Renderer.png

V-Ray for 3ds Max > V-Ray Render Settings > Max2024_VRay6.2_RenderSettings.png

Selecting the V-Ray Renderer

In order to use V-Ray, you must first select one of its renderers as your current renderer.

Open the Render Setup window from Main Toolbar > Render Setup button.
At the top of the Render Setup window, choose Production Rendering Mode as the Target.
For Renderer, choose V-Ray.

Older scenes saved with ActiveShade mode can still be opened in V-Ray in order to convert them to Production Rendering Mode.

Render Settings Tabs

V-Ray parameters are under several tabs in the Render Setup window. Additionally, each tab is divided into several rollouts.

V-Ray Tab

Selection of the image sampler type for antialiasing and image filtering, customizable settings for cameras and environment, VFB settings.

GI Tab

Selection and settings for primary and secondary GI engines, GI caustics.

Settings Tab

Global settings including displacement and texture settings.

Render Elements Tab

Creation and control of render elements for beauty pass compositing and post-production.

In V-Ray, the two tools that most greatly impact the balance of render quality vs. speed are the image sampler (under the V-Ray tab) and GI engine(s) (under the GI tab). Learning the basics of how these two features work will greatly enhance your ability to adjust settings in V-Ray and maximize image quality while keeping render times to a minimum. See the linked pages for explanations on how these features work.