Chaos V-Ray for SketchUp
Version 7.40.02 · Chaos Software · Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit) · ranked #38 in the library
A production renderer that lives inside the modelling application, turning a working model into a photographic image without exporting geometry anywhere or rebuilding the scene in another package.
Read the installation section below before you start. The order of the steps matters on this release.
About this release
Overview
V-Ray attaches to the modeller as a toolbar and a set of panels, and from that point the model you are already working in is the scene. Materials, lights, cameras and render settings are all applied to the geometry in place, so there is no export step, no file format in the middle and no risk of the render being out of date with the model. Change a wall, hit render, and the change is in the image.
The interactive renderer is the part that changes how people work. A separate window renders the current view continuously and refines as it goes, so moving a light, adjusting a material roughness or nudging the camera shows the result within a second or two rather than after a full render. Most of the look development happens in that window, and the final high resolution pass is only run once the image is already decided.
Materials and lighting are where the realism comes from and both are physically based. The material library ships with several hundred prepared surfaces covering timber, stone, metals, glass, fabrics, liquids and finishes, all with correct reflectance behaviour. Lighting covers the physical sun and sky model, image based environment lighting, area lights, IES profiles from real fixtures, and mesh lights for anything self illuminated in the scene.
What it does
Feature breakdown
Interactive rendering in the viewport
A continuously refining render window that updates as you move a light, change a material or adjust the camera, which is where look development actually happens.
CPU and GPU engines
Render on processor cores, on the graphics card, or on both together, with the same materials and lights producing matching results in either engine.
Physically based material library
Several hundred prepared surfaces with correct reflectance, plus a full layered material editor for building anything the library does not cover.
Sun, sky and image based lighting
A physical sun and sky model with geographic positioning, environment lighting from a spherical image, area lights, IES profiles and mesh lights.
Proxy geometry and scattering
Reference heavy assets as proxies so the viewport stays responsive, and scatter vegetation or crowds across a surface with density and randomisation control.
Frame buffer with post processing
Exposure, white balance, curves, bloom, glare, lens effects and denoising applied to the rendered image in the frame buffer, without re-rendering.
Changed in this build
Version 7.40.02
- Denoiser quality improved on interior scenes, cutting the sample count needed for a clean image substantially.
- New material presets added for architectural glass, brushed metals and textile finishes.
- Faster scene translation on large models, which was the main wait before the first pixel appeared.
- Light mixing in the frame buffer now lets you rebalance individual light intensities after the render has finished.
- Improved handling of imported geometry with inconsistent normals, which previously produced dark patches.
Installation
Follow these in order
- Install and launch the host modelling application at least once before installing this plugin.
- Close the modeller completely, the installer cannot register the extension while it is running.
- Go offline and extract the archive.
- Disable real time protection.
- Run the installer as administrator and let it detect the host version automatically.
- Open the modeller, confirm the toolbar appears and a test render completes, then restore protection.
Release notes
From whoever packed it
- The plugin build must match the host application generation. An older host will not load it.
- The bundled material library is large. If space is tight, install it to a secondary drive using the custom path option.
- Block the licensing service in your firewall. An online check will invalidate the applied state.
System requirements
Minimum and recommended
| Operating system | Windows 10 version 22H2 or Windows 11, 64-bit |
|---|---|
| Processor | Multicore x64 processor with SSE 4.2, more cores directly reduce render time |
| Memory | 16 GB minimum, 32 GB or more for large scenes with high resolution textures |
| Graphics | For GPU rendering, a card with 8 GB VRAM or more and a current driver |
| Storage | 6 GB for the plugin and the bundled material library |
Questions about this release
Answered before you ask
- Does GPU rendering give the same image as CPU?
- Effectively yes for the standard material set. A small number of legacy shaders behave differently and are flagged in the material editor.
- Can I render animations?
- Yes, camera and scene animations render out as image sequences through the animation settings.
- Do I need the modeller installed first?
- Yes. This is a plugin, not a standalone renderer, and the installer looks for the host during setup.
Download
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