This page provides some details on how to get V-Ray up and running.
Overview
Setting up V-Ray for Houdini comprises of several steps: installing and licensing through your OS, and then loading the V-Ray Shelf and setting V-Ray as the renderer inside Houdini.
Installation can be done via a pretty straightforward and easy to follow installer as well as via a zip file. Follow the step-by-step guide below to set up the V-Ray installation.
Installing V-Ray via Installer
The V-Ray installer automatically removes any previous installations. Thus, you can seamlessly upgrade from previous versions. If you experience problems, you can manually uninstall the previous versions to perform a clean install.
Before running the installation, make sure your Windows account has administrative privileges.
Run the installer.
1. Upon the start of the installation, Windows may ask you for permission to run the installer with administrator privileges. Please confirm.
2. You are presented with the V-Ray licensing agreement. Please take a moment to review the agreement. Enable the I accept the Agreement checkbox, and then click Install to proceed with standard installation.
If you need to customize your V-Ray installation, click the Advanced button.
3. You are presented with the Chaos License Server installation options.
Chaos License Server Options
At this step you can choose the license server directory.
Migrate data during installation – When enabled, transfers all of your settings made with earlier versions of Chaos License Server, such as enabled dongle subsystem, proxy settings, etc. When disabled, installs Chaos License Server with all settings at their defaults and any custom settings from the previous installation are lost.
Add firewall exception – When enabled, the default licensing port (TCP 30304) can pass the firewall. If you disable it at this step, you need to manually add firewall exceptions later.
4. After you click the Install button, the installer proceeds to uninstall any previous versions and installs V-Ray on your machine.
If the installer detects any applications that need to be closed, it shows an error before being able to continue. Please close the applications and click Continue anyway, or restart the installation.
5. Once V-Ray installation has finished, the V-Ray Material Library installation starts. Note that the download process might take a while. If you cancel the download, it affects only the V-Ray Material Library download and not the whole V-Ray installation.
6. Now V-Ray 5 is ready to render!
Before running the installation, make sure your macOS account has administrative privileges.
Run the installer.
1. Upon the start of the installation, macOS may ask you for permission to run the installer with administrator privileges. Please confirm.
2. You are presented with the V-Ray licensing agreement. Please take a moment to review the agreement. Enable the I accept the Agreement checkbox, and then click Install to proceed with standard installation.
If you need to customize your V-Ray installation, click the Advanced button.
3. You are presented with the Chaos License Server installation options.
Chaos License Server Options
At this step you can choose the license server directory.
Migrate data during installation – When enabled, transfers all of your settings made with earlier versions of Chaos License Server, such as enabled dongle subsystem, proxy settings, etc. When disabled, installs Chaos License Server with all settings at their defaults and any custom settings from the previous installation are lost.
Add firewall exception – When enabled, the default licensing port (TCP 30304) can pass the firewall. If you disable it at this step, you need to manually add firewall exceptions later.
4. After you click the Install button, the installer proceeds to uninstall any previous versions and installs V-Ray on your machine.
If the installer detects any applications that need to be closed, it shows an error before being able to continue. Please close the applications and click Continue anyway, or restart the installation.
5. Once V-Ray installation has finished, the V-Ray Material Library installation starts. Note that the download process might take a while. If you abort the download, it affects only the V-Ray Material Library download and not the whole V-Ray installation.
6. Now V-Ray 5 is ready to render!
Before running the installation, make sure your Linux account has administrative privileges.
Run the installer.
1. Upon the start of the installation, Linux may ask you for permission to run the installer with administrator privileges. Please confirm.
2. You are presented with the V-Ray licensing agreement. Please take a moment to review the agreement. Enable the I accept the Agreement checkbox, and then click Install to proceed with standard installation.
If you need to customize your V-Ray installation, click the Advanced button.
3. You are presented with the Chaos License Server installation options.
Chaos License Server Options
At this step you can choose the license server directory.
Migrate data during installation – When enabled, transfers all of your settings made with earlier versions of Chaos License Server, such as enabled dongle subsystem, proxy settings, etc. When disabled, installs License Server with all settings at their defaults and any custom settings from the previous installation are lost.
Add firewall exception – When enabled, the default licensing port (TCP 30304) can pass the firewall. If you disable it at this step, you need to manually add firewall exceptions later.
4. After you click the Install button, the installer proceeds to uninstall any previous versions and installs V-Ray on your machine.
If the installer detects any applications that need to be closed, it shows an error before being able to continue. Please close the applications and click Continue anyway, or restart the installation.
5. Once V-Ray installation has finished, the V-Ray Material Library installation starts. Note that the download process might take a while. If you abort the download, it affects only the V-Ray Material Library download and not the whole V-Ray installation.
6. Now V-Ray 5 is ready to render!
Licensing V-Ray
Once the Chaos License Server installation is complete, you are directed to the Chaos License Server local host (127.0.0.1:30304) in order to sign in.
The Chaos License Server will skip its installation process for two reasons:
- If it detects a previous installation of the Online License Server on your machine.
- If you choose the Remote V-Ray license server on the network option.
For full information on the Chaos License Server options and settings, see the Licensing section of the documentation.
Loading the V-Ray Shelf
When starting V-Ray for Houdini for the first time, you need to manually load the V-Ray Shelf. From the Houdini shelf, click the plus + icon, navigate to Shelves, and select V-Ray from the list.
Selecting a Renderer
To render with V-Ray, simply click the Render button from the V-Ray Shelf. This automatically creates a vray_renderer node in the Network Editor (if one is not already present) and launches the V-Ray Frame Buffer.