Discovering what’s new in Foundry Mari 7.1

Chaos just released the newest version of V-ray for Maya. The update brings in support for 3D Gaussian Splats and native OpenPBR, enhances USD capabilities, and includes improvements for V-Ray GPU, V-Ray Frame Buffer, and Chaos Scatter.
Following its integration with 3ds Max, SketchUp, and Cinema 4D, Maya now joins the lineup of DCC applications integrated with V-Ray 7.

Let’s discover this latest version with iRender in this blog! 

Key new features in V-Ray 7 for Maya include support for 3D Gaussian Splats (3DGS). 3D Gaussian Splatting is a method used to create a 3D scene from images or videos. It requires several pictures of an object, each taken from a different angle.

With Gaussian Splatting, the images are blended to produce a detailed, three-dimensional representation of the object. Instead of depicting the scene as a collection of meshes, a Gaussian splat represents the scene as a type of point cloud, where each point is a 3D Gaussian.

V-Ray is among the first CG applications to natively support 3DGS, which is expected to appeal to both architectural visualization and VFX studios.

The release introduces shadow support within V-Ray’s Light Path Expressions, allowing users to isolate shadows in renders using LPEs for enhanced control during compositing.

Additionally, the V-Ray Sun and Sky system now includes the PRG Clear Sky model from Corona, Chaos’s other major production renderer. This update delivers more realistic lighting effects, particularly at sunrise, sunset, and higher altitudes.

The firefly removal algorithm has been improved to eliminate bright specks in renders, and V-Ray’s implementation of Open Image Denoise now includes a prefilter pass.

V-Ray GPU, the hybrid CPU and GPU renderer, now introduces initial support for rendering caustics, enhancing its feature parity with the main CPU engine.

Among the performance enhancements are the option to use system memory for textures, enabling the rendering of larger scenes without depleting GPU memory. For animation rendering, the update optimizes V-Ray’s bitmap caching algorithm between frames, potentially accelerating the rendering of image sequences by up to 50% in certain cases.

Moreover, V-Ray GPU now supports Apple’s Metal API, significantly boosting performance on macOS. According to Chaos, rendering is up to three times faster on MacBooks equipped with current M4 processors.

The V-Ray Frame Buffer (VFB), used for viewing and editing images produced with V-Ray, has been enhanced with a new Vignette Layer that allows users to add vignetting effects to their renders.

Additionally, the VFB now features freeform region rendering, enabling users to define render areas of any shape for more efficient focus on important parts of an image.

This update also introduces a new Filters tab that provides access to pre-made color correction presets.

V-Ray 7 for Maya also supports the OpenPBR material standard, enhancing look development for VFX. 

Managed by the Academy Software Foundation, OpenPBR aims to streamline VFX look development, ensuring materials created in one application display similarly in others.

The base V-Ray Material (VRayMtl) now features a new OpenPBR mode, providing more control over Sheen effects and simplifying layered material creation.

Additionally, V-Ray for Maya supports the native OpenPBR Surface introduced in Maya 2025.3, including within MaterialX implementation.

Chaos Cosmos, the online asset library, now supports asset variants and multi-selection.

Chaos Scatter, V-Ray’s new object scattering system, gets a Look At function, making it possible to orient scattered objects to face the camera.

Other changes specific to Maya include support for USD for Maya 0.30, the current version of Maya’s USD plugin. V-Ray Clipper, V-Ray’s geometric primitive for creating cutaway renders, is also now supported in USD workflows.

iRender provides high-configuration servers that increase CPU and GPU rendering speeds. We offer the most powerful RTX 4090 configuration packages on the market, all equipped with AMD RyzenTM ThreadripperTM PRO 3955WX @ 3.9 – 4.2GHz and AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ PRO 5975WX @ 3.6 – 4.5GHz processors, 256GB RAM and 2T NVMe SSD hard drive capacity. With a wide range of GPU servers (1/2/4/6/8x) – RTX 4090, you can choose the server that suits your needs to start the rendering process.

Vray is commonly used alongside several other software tools in the 3D industry, especially for texturing and look development such as Maya, Houdini, Cinema 4D, 3ds Max…Whether or not you use any of those 3D software, you still can find a suitable package at iRender.

Moreover,  iRender provides useful features to help you switch among the server’s configurations without having to reinstall anything. You can even run multiple servers simultaneously to speed up the renders, without having to re-install anything.

Let’s watch the video below to understand our workflow more easily. 

For Windows:

For MacOS:

Currently, iRender offers a special promotion for new users, a 100% bonus program for the first deposit within 24 hours of registration, making it an attractive option for those looking to optimize their rendering budget.

For more detailed information, please contact us via Live chat 24/7 or WhatsApp: +(84)915875500 or Email: [email protected]

References & image sources: cgchannel & chaos.com