We tried V-Ray for blender beta
- Jonas Grumann
- Jan 9
- 3 min read
Blender users have long awaited a fully integrated version of V-Ray, and now Chaos has delivered with the V-Ray for Blender beta. As someone who regularly uses both Blender and V-Ray for architectural visualization projects, I was excited to see how well this new beta lives up to the hype. After spending some time with it, I’ve discovered a lot to love, a few quirks, and some missing features that will hopefully be addressed soon.
Thanks, Chaos, the V-Ray for Blender beta is great!
The first thing that stood out to me was how well integrated V-Ray is within Blender. It doesn’t feel like a clunky add-on or an afterthought; it’s smooth, polished, and cohesive. Chaos has clearly put effort into making this tool feel like a natural extension of Blender, and it shows. Even the Cosmos library, which provides a treasure trove of high-quality assets, works flawlessly in this beta. Having that library at my fingertips within Blender is a game-changer, especially for quickly populating scenes with detailed models and materials.
Another highlight is the community and developer engagement. The forums are buzzing with activity, and it’s clear that the Chaos team is listening. They’re quick to address bugs and genuinely value user feedback. It’s refreshing to see a development team so actively involved, and it gives me confidence that this beta is only going to get better.
I love to see that Chaos also included their world famous sun and sky system. It’s incredibly powerful and intuitive, making it easy to achieve realistic outdoor lighting with minimal effort. The subtle gradients and natural light transitions it provides are perfect for creating breathtaking exterior renders or even interior shots with strong daylight emphasis. It’s a joy to use and further demonstrates Chaos’s attention to detail.
One last thing, Chaos took the time to write an extensive documentation specifically for V-Ray for Blender, which is nice.
But...
Of course, no beta is without its hiccups, and this one is no exception. One issue I ran into is that object isolation isn’t currently supported. For intricate scenes where you need to focus on specific elements, this can be a bit of a hassle. Another bug I encountered was related to UV scaling in GPU mode, which occasionally caused textures to look off. While these are relatively minor issues, they’re still worth mentioning.
The bigger limitation, for me, is the lack of geometry nodes support. This makes it difficult to work on exterior scenes, especially if you rely on tools like GeoScatter to create complex environments. Without geometry nodes, creating detailed outdoor settings becomes a challenge. That said, the developers have already mentioned on the forums that geometry nodes support is on the way, which is promising. Another limitation is that Node Wrangler doesn’t currently work with V-Ray materials. While this is understandable given that Node Wrangler is a separate add-on, it’s still something I missed during my workflow.
Final verdict
Despite these limitations, V-Ray for Blender beta is a fantastic tool for architecture visualizations. The integration is solid, the results are stunning, and the active involvement of the Chaos development team is reassuring. For now, it might not be the go-to solution for client projects, but it’s clear that Chaos is heading in the right direction. I can't wait for the full release!
If you’re curious about trying the beta, I’d say it’s worth diving in. Just be prepared to work around some of the current limitations, and keep an eye on the updates—this tool has a lot of potential to grow. Have you tried V-Ray for Blender beta? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
The scene I converted to try out V-Ray rendered in about 12 minutes in 4k
