Chaos V-Ray
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Chaos develops 3D visualization software, and its V-Ray renderer imports, renders and relights Gaussian splats across nine host applications.
Location
Karlsruhe, Germany
Size
700+
Total raised
Platform
Plugin for 3ds Max, Maya, Houdini, Cinema 4D, Revit, Rhino, SketchUp, Unreal and Blender, on Windows, macOS and Linux
GPU
V-Ray GPU requires NVIDIA CUDA or RTX, with AMD rendering through HIP in V-Ray GPU for 3ds Max and Blender. V-Ray CPU has no GPU requirement
Pricing
Paid, subscription or perpetual. V-Ray for Blender has a free Community Edition that renews every three months
License
Proprietary
Best for
Relighting Gaussian splats inside a production renderer
Updated
July 2026
Chaos is a rendering software company headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany, with roughly 700 staff and a product line spanning V-Ray, Corona, Chaos Vantage and Enscape. V-Ray is its flagship renderer and ships as a plugin rather than as a host application, which is why a Gaussian splat capability in V-Ray propagates to nine digital content creation tools at once instead of one.
Chaos announced that V-Ray 7 would support Gaussian splatting in October 2024, and the first shipping builds read trained PLY files and drew them in the viewport as points before rendering them at full quality. Cinema 4D followed in January 2025, and Revit in March, which put splats in front of architectural teams working in BIM rather than in a DCC package.
The capability that changed what a splat is worth in a render is relighting. V-Ray 7 Update 3 added Gaussian splat relighting in April 2026, so a splat responds to the lights in the scene instead of carrying only the illumination present when it was captured, and the splat loader gained animation support at the same time. V-Ray 7.4 for Maya brought relighting to Maya in July 2026. V-Ray 7 Update 4 adds Blender 5.1 and 5.2 support, Linux support for V-Ray for Blender, AMD GPU rendering through HIP in V-Ray GPU for Blender and 3ds Max, and a free Blender Community Edition that renews every three months. Chaos lists splat relighting and the Chaos Vantage Live Link as available for 3ds Max, Maya, Houdini and Vantage, and as coming for Blender.
The rest of the Chaos line moved on the same schedule. Chaos Vantage 3 added Gaussian splatting support in October 2025 and Vantage 3.3.0 added splat relighting to the real time ray tracer in June 2026. Corona 14 added native Gaussian splatting in November 2025, and Corona 15 made splats participate in global illumination, so a splat both receives and bounces light rather than sitting inert in the solve.
Licensing is per seat and V-Ray Solo, Premium or Enterprise all include the splat loader. What Chaos does not publish is whether the Gaussian splat loader is included in the free Blender Community Edition or gated to a paid seat, and the update numbering is not global across hosts, so 3ds Max relighting dates to Update 3 while Maya's dates to 7.4.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does V-Ray support Gaussian splatting?
Yes. Chaos V-Ray imports and renders trained Gaussian splat PLY files, and V-Ray relights them so that scene lights illuminate the splat instead of the lighting baked in at capture.
Which applications can render Gaussian splats with V-Ray?
V-Ray brings Gaussian splats into 3ds Max, Maya, Houdini, Cinema 4D, Revit, Rhino, SketchUp and Unreal. Splat relighting is available today in the 3ds Max, Maya and Houdini viewports, and Chaos lists Blender as coming.
Does Chaos V-Ray run on AMD graphics cards?
Yes. V-Ray 7 Update 4 added AMD GPU rendering through HIP in V-Ray GPU for 3ds Max and Blender. V-Ray CPU rendering has never required a particular GPU vendor.
Is there a free version of V-Ray?
Chaos ships a free V-Ray for Blender Community Edition that renews every three months. Every other V-Ray host requires a paid subscription or a perpetual licence.
What is Chaos Vantage?
Chaos Vantage is Chaos's standalone real time ray tracer, and Vantage 3.3.0 added Gaussian splat relighting. A Live Link streams the Vantage render back into the Maya, Houdini and 3ds Max viewports.
Alternatives
Recent Headlines
Chaos Brings Gaussian Splat Relighting to Houdini in V-Ray 7, Update 4
V-Ray 7.4 for Maya Adds Gaussian Splat Relighting
V-Ray 7 Update 3 Adds Gaussian Splat Relighting
Chaos V-Ray 7 Brings 3D Gaussian Splatting to Revit
V-Ray Expands Gaussian Splatting Support to Cinema 4D
Chaos V-Ray 7 to support Gaussian Splatting