3ds Max Compatibility

This page contains information on V-Ray compatibility with standard 3ds Max features.

 

Overview

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As a rendering plugin for 3ds Max, V-Ray supports most of the standard 3ds Max features and many of the 3rd party plugins. However, some features of 3ds Max are not supported or work only partially. The most common of these are listed below.

Note that the list is not complete; there may be other 3ds Max features which do not work or work only partially with V-Ray. In many cases, V-Ray provides replacements for unsupported standard features; those are noted wherever applicable.

Note that features specific to renderers other than the default Scanline renderer are in general not supported, but are not listed below.

 

3ds Max Version Compatibility

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Maps

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Raytrace map

This map is not fully supported by V-Ray; using it with V-Ray is not recommended, as it can lead to artifacts in the image. 

Reflect/refract map

This map is not supported by V-Ray; using it with V-Ray is not recommended. V-Ray does not provide an equivalent functionality.

Flat mirror map

This map is not supported by V-Ray; using it with V-Ray is not recommended. V-Ray does not provide an equivalent functionality.

 

Materials

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Raytrace material

This material is not fully supported by V-Ray; using it with V-Ray is not recommended as it can lead to artifacts in the image. Use the specific VRayMtl instead.

Advanced lighting override

This material is not supported by V-Ray. Some of its functionalities are available in the VRayMtlWrapper material.

Matte/shadow

V-Ray only partially supports this material. Specifically, the Opaque Alpha parameter is not supported. The standard Matte/shadow material also does not pick up GI shadows. Instead, extended matte/shadow capabilities for V-Ray are available in the VRayMtlWrapper material or in the V-Ray Object settings.

 

Lights

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Skylight

The standard 3ds Max skylight is not supported by V-Ray, and V-Ray prints a warning about this if you attempt to render it. Instead, use the Dome mode of VRayLight or the GI Environment override option in V-Ray's Environment Settings rollout.

 

Shadow Types

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Raytraced shadows

This shadow type does not work with V-Ray; using it is not recommended as it can lead to artifacts in the image. Use the specific VRayShadows instead.

 

Shaders

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Translucent Shader

This shader is not supported by V-Ray; using it is not recommended. Use the translucency options in the VRayMtl material instead.

 

Antialiasing Filters

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Plate match/MAX R2

This filter is not supported by V-Ray. Using it produces an entirely black image.

 

Standard Render Elements

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V-Ray does not support the standard 3ds Max render elements, but instead supplies its own, both for normal rendering and for texture baking. See the Render Elements section for more information.

 

Exposure Control

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V-Ray supports exposure control only partially. Exposure plugins that require presampling of the image (Automatic Exposure, Linear Exposure) or separate render elements (Pseudo Color Exposure) do not work properly with V-Ray. Of the standard 3ds Max exposure control plugins, only Logarithmic Exposure control is fully supported. Also use V-Ray's own Color mapping mechanism. See the Color Mapping section for more details.

 

Texture Baking

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Use the V-Ray texture baking elements (e.g. VRayCompleteMap instead of CompleteMap, etc.). See the section on Texture Baking for more information.