Yes. It’s here. V-Ray 3 for SketchUp is officially released today. With it comes compatibility with SketchUp 2017, something most people have been crying out for. Beyond this there are actually many more substantial changes. With this iteration, V-Ray for SketchUp radically improves live adjustments and utilises GPU power.
As with all upgrades, V-Ray for SketchUp incorporates the latest V-Ray render engine and this includes support for the latest hardware architecture and new and developing graphics card technology. The interface has been rebuilt to be easier and quicker to use, with changes to enhance fast set up. There are also better underlying improvements for error handling and features most people won’t see but which should result in improved stability and performance.
V-Ray 3.5 for SketchUp – New Features
- New UI – Designer-friendly user interface for faster workflows.
- Material library – Over 200 drag and drop materials for your next project.
- V-Ray Swarm – Powerful, scalable distributed rendering system that’s simple and fast.
- One-click VR – Render VR-ready content for popular virtual reality headsets.
- Section cuts – Create quick cutaways and section renders with V-Ray Clipper.
- Aerial perspective – Add realistic atmospheric depth and haze.
- Denoiser – Automatically remove noise and cut render times by up to 50%.
- Grass – Create realistic grass, fabrics and carpet with V-Ray Fur.
For more information on, save your seat on the V-Ray 3 for SketchUp webinar!
License Changes
Online Licensing
With the release of V-Ray 3 for SketchUp, Chaos will now offer an online licensing option as well as the USB dongled licenses. Electronic licenses are currently not available for upgrades.
Render Nodes
The basic V-Ray 3 for SketchUp Workstation license no longer includes any additional render nodes. For those users taking advantage of v2’s render nodes, it will be necessary to upgrade based on need. Five and ten render node addons are available as standard, more on request.
30 Day Free Trial
If you’d like to try a full featured trial version of V-Ray 3, please contact us.
Upgrading to v3
Free Upgrades (licenses purchased after November 1st 2015)
Users that purchased a new license or upgraded to V-Ray 2 for SketchUp, after November 1st 2015, qualify for a free upgrade to V-Ray 3 for SketchUp. This free upgrade includes one workstation license and one render node.
To process your free upgrade, we will need a file from your dongle. Please follow the instructions to generate a .wbc file from your V-Ray dongle. Once this has been created, please submit your V-Ray upgrade request, choosing V-Ray Upgrade Request as your Enquiry Type. Please include your original order number if you have this.
Please note: Free upgrades can take up to 10 business days to be processed.
Upgrade from v2 (licenses purchased before November 1st 2015)
You can purchase your V-Ray 2 upgrade here. You will receive an email requesting a file from your dongle. Please follow the instructions to generate a .wbc file from your V-Ray dongle.
Can I Still Use My V-Ray 2.0 License?
After upgrading to v3, you will have access to your V-Ray 2.0 license for 6 months.
Older Versions of V-Ray
With the release of version 3, Chaos Group no longer support V-Ray 1.49 for SketchUp and there is no upgrade path from 1.49 to any other version.