The next big update to V-Ray for Blender is here, bringing faster workflows, expanded compatibility, and powerful new tools that make it easier than ever to create high-end, photorealistic renders. From stunning fur to AI-powered material creation, faster rendering, and expanded Blender compatibility, this update introduces smarter, more flexible ways to turn ideas into high-quality images.
Download V-Ray for Blender, update 2 →
What’s new in V-Ray for Blender, update 2
- macOS support: You can now use V-Ray for Blender on macOS, opening the door to industry-standard rendering for even more artists.
- AI Enhancer (beta): Refine textures, vegetation, and characters with advanced controls, maintaining consistent visuals with just a few clicks.
- AI Material Generator (beta): Instantly convert photos into PBR materials with all necessary maps.
- AI Upscaler (beta): Boost resolution 2x or 4x up to 16K while preserving sharp detail and saving hours of rendering time.
- V-Ray Fur: Fast setup for realistic fur, grass, and carpets with shorter render times and full control over length, direction, and thickness.
- Distributed rendering: Render across multiple machines to handle any project size or deadline with ease.
- Blender 5.0 support: Full compatibility with Blender’s latest version.
- Cycles’ Material Override support: Apply a single material to all scene objects for easier lighting analysis, clay, or wireframe renders.
Bring characters and details to life with V-Ray Fur
V-Ray for Blender, update 2, introduces the V-Ray Fur workflow, designed for fast setup and optimized rendering. V-Ray Fur offers a streamlined way to create believable fibres.
You can now:
- Create realistic fur, grass, and carpets with minimal setup.
- Add natural variation across strands for a more believable grooming effect.
- Render fibres with improved shading, softness, and realism.
- Control length, tapering, and density with intuitive tools.
Handle larger projects more efficiently
With the addition of distributed rendering, Blender artists can now harness multiple machines to accelerate their work on large and complex scenes. Whether you’re working on highly detailed interiors, expansive environments, or long animation sequences, distributing render tasks across several computers dramatically reduces wait times and boosts productivity. Studios also gain easier scalability, allowing teams to work more efficiently across hardware of different sizes and capacities.
Smarter AI tools for faster creation
This update puts Chaos AI technology directly into the hands of Blender artists, freeing you from the tedious and letting your creative vision shine.
- AI Material Generator: Upload a real-world photo and instantly generate a render-ready PBR material with diffuse, roughness, and normal maps included.
- AI Enhancer lets you automatically refine secondary elements such as vegetation, props, and terrain, or fine-tune specific physical traits and clothing on human assets.
- AI Upscaler allows you to increase the resolution of your renders by 2x or 4x while maintaining clarity, detail, and realism. This helps reduce rendering times for preview or mid-resolution tests, while allowing you to instantly upscale to presentation quality.
Streamlined workflows and expanded Blender support
With this release, you get the latest Chaos tech as soon as it’s out and stay fully up to date in Blender. You can render with V‑Ray in Blender 5.0 and use Cycles’ Material Override to apply a single material across all scene objects for easier lighting analysis, custom clay, and wireframe renderers.
These additions make your workflows smoother, help you handle complex scenes with less effort, and ensure you always have the newest tools at your fingertips.
Ready for what’s next?
V-Ray for Blender continues to evolve rapidly, bringing cutting-edge Chaos features directly into the world’s most accessible 3D creation platform. Whether you are visualizing architecture, designing products, or creating cinematic environments and characters, this release gives you the tools to produce high-end work with more speed and less friction.
FAQ
How do I enable or set up distributed rendering in V-Ray for Blender for the first time?
To set up distributed rendering, install V-Ray for Blender on all machines that will take part in the render (the Render Client, Render Servers, and optionally a Dispatcher). Ensure the Render Servers have access to a V-Ray Render Node license, then start the V-Ray render server application on each of them. On the Render Client, open Blender, go to Render Properties → System tab, and enable Distributed Rendering. From there, you can add or manage Render Servers in the Preferences window. Once configured, your renders will automatically be distributed across the selected machines.
What licenses do I need to run distributed rendering?
If you are a Blender-only license holder and have a small render farm of your own, you will need an additional Render Node license for each extra machine you want to use for rendering. For larger setups, typically with ten or more machines, Render Node packages are the most cost-efficient option.
Alternatively, you can render through one of our certified render farm partners or use Chaos Cloud, our cloud-based rendering service.
Which Blender versions does V-Ray support?
V-Ray for Blender currently supports Blender 5.0, Blender 4.5 LTS, and Blender 4.2 LTS. Our goal is to always maintain compatibility with the two latest releases and at least one LTS version.
When would you choose V-Ray Fur over the native Blender Hair System?
V-Ray Fur is ideal when you need a fast, efficient solution for creating non-dynamic furry surfaces. It works best for objects like carpets, rugs, grass, and other stationary or lightly stylized fur where quick setup and rendering speed are priorities.
For any situation where the fur needs to be animated, the native Blender Hair System is the better choice. It provides the tools needed to animate strands and achieve more complex, dynamic behaviour.
What is the maximum output resolution of an AI-enhanced or upscaled image?
AI Enhancer can generate output up to 4K, while AI Upscaler can generate output up to 16K if the input image is at least 4K.
Can I use the AI-powered tools for animations?
- AI Material Generation: Yes, the generated materials can be used in animated projects.
- AI Enhancer and AI Upscaler: These tools can enhance or upscale textures used in animations, but they operate on single frames only and cannot process full animation sequences.
Is V-Ray for Blender supported on macOS?
Yes, V-Ray 7, update 2, introduces support for macOS. You can find the full system requirements here.
Your fast track to high-end renders in Blender.
Try V-Ray for Blender update 2 today and experience the latest features for yourself.