Overview

Setting up V-Ray for 3ds Max comprises of three steps: installing and licensing through your OS and then setting V-Ray as the renderer inside 3ds Max.

Additional pages in this section cover setting up the V-Ray Render Server, Distributed Rendering, and running V-Ray from an arbitrary location.

Installing V-Ray

The V-Ray installer for 3ds Max is pretty straightforward and easy to follow and can be downloaded from the V-Ray | Max Downloads section of the Chaos Group website (please make sure you use your login credentials to ensure access to the download links). Before installing V-Ray, please make sure your computer meets the System Requirements for running 3ds Max with V-Ray. If you would like a step-by-step guide, please check out the Install V-Ray for 3ds Max page. If you run into any problems like installing V-Ray, please check out the Frequently Asked Installation Questions page.

Licensing V-Ray

Once V-Ray is installed you will want to make sure that your V-Ray license is properly configured. The Set Up Your V-Ray License page includes everything you need to get V-Ray licensed and running properly. If you need more help on configuring your setup as a Render Server/Node or Distributed Rendering, please check the appropriate pages.

Selecting a Renderer

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

1. Open the Render Setup window.

2. At the top of the Render Setup window, choose Production Rendering Mode as the Target.

3. For Renderer, choose either V-Ray or V-Ray GPU. Both renderers can be used for Interactive Production Rendering (IPR).