Chaos ships V-Ray 5 for Cinema 4D Update 2

Originally posted on 24 June 2021 with the release of Update 1. Scroll down for news of Update 2.

Chaos has updated V-Ray for Cinema 4D, the Cinema 4D edition of the production renderer.

V-Ray 5 for Cinema 4D Update 1 adds support for Cinema’s new node-based material system.

Other changes include support for V-Ray Fur and the V-Ray Clipper tool, plus progressive caustics, better masking in the V-Ray Frame Buffer, and better handling of material translucency.

V-Ray for Cinema 4D Update 2 adds support for light instancing, new texture randomisation options, native support for Apple’s M1 processors, and a new live link to Chaos Vantage.

The update also restores support for V-Ray render masks and .vrscene import.

Create V-Ray materials inside Cinema 4D’s new Node Editor
The main change in Update 1 is, unsurprisingly, the feature most requested by V-Ray for Cinema 4D users: the option to create V-Ray materials using Cinema 4D’s new node-based editor.

Switching to the new V-Ray Node Space inside the Node Editor provides access to a set of nodes for creating material set-ups, plus output nodes for standard and two-sided materials.

Chaos describes the toolset as making it possible to “manage your entire V-Ray shading network … from creating materials and textures to adding the finishing touches”.

The new V-Ray material nodes are not compatible with Classic Materials like VRayMtl, so you can’t mix the two within a material, although you can use separate Node and Classic materials in the same scene.

It’s also important to note that while node-based materials were first introduced in Cinema 4D R20, V-Ray’s implementation requires Cinema 4D R21.1 or higher.

Updated 28 June 2021: We contacted Chaos to find out more about how the new node-based workflow compares to the old Clasic materials.

Chaos told us: “You should be able to recreate any material effect possible with the new Node materials just like you do with the Classic ones.”

However, not all individual V-Ray features are supported: when users switch to V-Ray Node materials, only comaptible maps and shaders are displayed.

Chaos told us: “V-Ray MultiSubTex and the Gradient Ramp shader are two examples [of features not available when using Node materials], but we hope to support them in the future.

Support for V-Ray Fur and the V-Ray Clipper Tool
V-Ray 5 for Cinema 4D itself was Chaos’s first major update to the software after acquiring it from LAUBlab, and brought the feature set more in line with other editions of the renderer.

Update 1 adds support for two further existing V-Ray features: V-Ray Fur and the V-Ray Clipper Tool, used to create cutaway renders.

Better handling of translucency, caustics, and masking in the V-Ray Frame Buffer
The release also introduces more recent features originally rolled out in V-Ray 5 for 3ds Max Update 1.

They include better handling of material translucency, the option to render multiple dome lights at the same time, support for all of V-Ray’s native masking elements in the V-Ray Frame Buffer, and a new system for calculating caustics progressively. You can find more details in our original story.

Updated 9 December 2021: Chaos has released V-Ray 5 for Cinema 4D Update 2.

New features include support for light instancing, support for V-Ray’s UVW Randomizer node for randomising texture placement in materials, and a new Sharpen/Blur layer in the V-Ray Frame Buffer.

The update also restores support for V-Ray render masks, and for importing scenes created in other editions of V-Ray in .vrscene format.

Performance improvements include native support for Apple’s M1 processors; and the V-Ray Light Cache now runs on the GPU, reducing start times for renders.

Outside the core software, there is a new live link to Chaos Vantage, Chaos’s software for exploring large V-Ray scenes in real time; and 200 V-Ray materials have been added to the Chaos Cosmos asset library.

Pricing and system requirements
V-Ray 5 for Cinema 4D Update 2 is available for Cinema 4D R20+, running on 64-bit Windows 8.1+ and macOS 10.14+. The software is rental-only, and costs $80/month or $470/year.

Read an overview of the new features in V-Ray 5 for Cinema 4D on Chaos’s website

Read a full list of new features in V-Ray 5 for Cinema 4D Update 2 in the online release notes

Read a full list of new features in V-Ray 5 for Cinema 4D Update 1 in the online release notes