Quinray

Path-traced. Real-time. Linked live to 3ds Max and Blender.

Open the scene you already have — V-Ray, Corona or Cycles — and see it live. Quinray is in beta with testers today; join the community to get the next build.

The Quinray Q with light rays bouncing through a scene

A letter from the team

Why we built Quinray

For more than ten years we have rendered architecture for clients around the world. Every day we chose between the quality of V-Ray and Corona and the speed of real-time tools.

Quinray is our answer: path-traced light, live, linked to the tools you already use, reading the materials you already made. First, it has to do everything we rely on V-Ray, Corona and Vantage for — lighter on your hardware and on your license budget. Next, it should look beautiful by default and let you steer 3ds Max or Blender from the rendered view. After that come AI features.

This is a beta. Tell us what breaks, what you love and what you need next. We read every message.

France — Founder, Quinray

Live Link

Your host stays the source of truth

Quinray opens next to 3ds Max or Blender and follows every edit: camera, objects, materials, lights and environment.

  • Works with 3ds Max and Blender, with your V-Ray, Corona or Cycles scene as it is
  • Light linking, the host timeline and Forest Pack / RailClone scatters come along
  • Final frames from 3ds Max Render Setup (F9) or as a Blender render engine (F12), from the next beta build
Live Link: 3ds Max and Blender send the scene to Quinray; light and material edits go back3ds MaxBlenderQuinrayScene, camera, materials, lightslive, as you editLight and material edits go backmaterials to both hosts, lights to 3ds Max, one undo step each

Compatibility

Your materials, converted automatically

Quinray reads V-Ray, Corona and Cycles materials and lights when you start Live Link. No manual export, no rebuilding your library. Statuses come from side-by-side renders against the original renderer and from tests in 3ds Max and Blender.

V-Ray, Corona and Cycles materials are converted to Quinray automaticallyV-RayCoronaCyclesConverted on Live Linkno export, no rebuildingGlassMetalWood
  1. 1

    Install

    One installer adds the toolbar to 3ds Max and the add-on to Blender.

  2. 2

    Start Live Link

    Keep your V-Ray, Corona or Cycles materials, lights and cameras.

  3. 3

    Work live

    Quinray converts the scene and renders it in real time; edits in the host appear as you make them.

3ds Max

Partial

Live Link toolbar and Quinray in Render Setup (F9). Fully tested on 3ds Max 2024. The next beta build adds 3ds Max 2021–2027 (built, installation tested) and fixes Quinray not showing in Render Setup.

  • Live Link: camera, objects, materials, lights, environmentSupported
  • Light linking (include / exclude)Supported
  • Animation from the host timelineSupported
  • Adding and deleting objects while linkedPartial
  • Final render from Render Setup (F9), next beta buildSupported
  • Forest Pack and RailCloneSupported
  • Chaos ScatterPartial

V-Ray

Partial

Materials, maps, lights and sun/sky from V-Ray for 3ds Max, compared with V-Ray 7 renders.

  • VRayMtl: diffuse, reflection, glossy, opacity, normal and bumpSupported
  • Clear and frosted glass, coat, thin-walledSupported
  • Multi/Sub-object and Blend materialsSupported
  • 2-Sided, Override and Wrapper materials, CarPaintPartial
  • VRayDirt and displacementSupported
  • Procedural maps (Noise, Tiles, Falloff, Mix, Triplanar…)Partial
  • VRayLight rect, disc, sphere, mesh, cylinder, IESSupported
  • Dome lightSupported
  • Finite domePartial
  • SSS, translucency, hair and furPlanned
  • VRScansNot supported

Corona

Partial

Corona materials, maps and lights in 3ds Max, compared with Corona 12 renders.

  • Corona Physical and Legacy materialsPartial
  • Layered materialSupported
  • CoronaLight rect, disc, sphere, cylinder (all units)Supported
  • Directional and IES area lightsPartial
  • Corona Sun and SkySupported
  • Mix, Color Correct, Select, RaySwitch mapsPartial
  • SSS, Skin and Hair materialsPlanned

Blender Cycles

Partial

Cycles node materials and lights through the Blender add-on, compared with Cycles renders. Tested on Blender 5.2; the current build installs for Blender 4.5 and later, the next beta build for Blender 3.6 and later.

  • Principled BSDF (subsurface and anisotropy to come)Partial
  • Diffuse, Glossy, Glass, Emission and Mix shadersSupported
  • Procedural textures (baked on Live Link)Partial
  • Blender lights in watts, Sky TextureSupported
  • Final render as a Blender render engine (F12), next beta buildSupported
  • Adding objects while linked (press Update Scene for now)Planned

Partial means it works with documented differences. We publish what is not supported yet. Statuses checked 2026-11-09 against the internal parity tables.

Technology

Built for light

A GPU path tracer designed for archviz, with defaults that are physically correct from the first frame. Today it needs an NVIDIA RTX graphics card; AMD and Intel support is partial.

Real-time path tracing

Hardware ray tracing with DirectX Raytracing: global illumination, glossy reflections, glass with coloured transparent shadows, and a light tree for scenes with thousands of lights.

Denoising and upscaling

NVIDIA NRD and DLSS Ray Reconstruction keep the view clean while you move; AMD FSR and DLSS upscaling keep it fast; Intel Open Image Denoise finishes stills and animations.

Live Link with 3ds Max and Blender

Cameras, objects, materials, lights and environment update as you edit in the host. From the next beta build, render final frames from 3ds Max Render Setup or as a Blender render engine.

Next beta build

Lightmix and Light Lister, written back

Switch, dim and tint every light in Quinray. While linked, light and material changes go back to 3ds Max as one undo step each; material changes and object moves also go back to Blender. Your file is never saved for you.

Next beta build

Material editor and library

Edit materials in Quinray, drag presets from the library onto objects, check the lighting in Clay mode, and move, rotate or scale objects and lights with gizmos in the view.

Next beta build

Scene states per view

Keep different lighting, layout and materials for each camera, switch in one click, and queue high-quality renders per state.

Next beta build

Physical sky, sun and lights in watts

Physical sun and sky in real-world units with geolocation, procedural volumetric clouds and lighting presets from sunrise to overcast. Lights in watts, camera exposure, white balance.

Next beta build

Production output

Render elements with Cryptomatte and light select, multilayer EXR, 360° and VR panoramas, and H.265 or ProRes video. Textures are compressed when the scene is prepared and streamed to the GPU as the view needs them.

Next beta build

Quinray Player

Publish a scene as a single .quinray package. Clients open it in Quinray Player, fly through it, and switch cameras and moods. Streaming by link is on the roadmap.

[Owner: add measured fps, VRAM and render times, with the test machine and method, before showing numbers here.]

Lightmix

Next beta build

Relight without re-rendering

Every light gets its own slider. Dim the sun, warm up a lamp, switch a strip off — the view updates instantly, and while linked the change goes back to 3ds Max as one undo step.

  • Light Lister with intensity, colour and on/off for every light
  • Light select render elements for compositing
  • Scene states keep a different mix per camera
Lightmix: dim, tint and switch every lightLightmixSunLampStrip

Quinray Player

Next beta build

Hand the scene to your client

Publish a scene as one .quinray file. Your client opens it in Quinray Player, walks through it and switches between your cameras and moods — no 3ds Max, no Blender.

  • One file with everything the scene needs
  • Cameras and scene states you prepared, ready to switch
  • Streaming by browser link is on the roadmap
Publish a scene as one .quinray file and open it in Quinray Playerscene.quinrayQuinray Player

How Quinray is different

Quality you know, speed you need

A fair comparison with the tools you use today.

QuinrayV-RayChaos Vantage
Where it runsLive viewer linked to 3ds Max and Blender, plus final render from the hostInside 3ds Max and other hostsSeparate application with live link
Real-time path tracingYesInteractive renderingYes
Reads V-Ray and Corona materialsYes, converted automatically (see the support list)V-Ray materialsYes, via export or live link
Edit lights and write back to MaxYes, Lightmix and Light Lister (next beta build)Light Lister, Light Mix in the frame bufferNot verified
How you buy itFree during beta; pricing announced before launchSubscription (Solo from US$540/year)Only inside the Collection bundle (from US$790/year)

Competitor facts from chaos.com pricing and product pages. "Not verified" means we could not confirm it from public information. Last checked 2026-11-08.

Changelog and future

What’s new, what’s next

We ship beta builds often and plan in public.

Changelog

  1. Beta

    View modes, faster first start and more V-Ray material maps.

    • newView modes and render elements: Beauty, Diffuse, Lighting, GI, Reflection, Refraction, Self-illumination, Normals, Z-depth, Alpha, Object and Material ID
    • newLight linking (include / exclude) from 3ds Max and Blender
    • newMetalness, IOR, coat, sheen and refraction roughness maps; anisotropy
    • newComposition guides and Scene statistics
    • improvedMuch faster first-time shader compilation and first scene open, without “Not Responding”
    • improvedFaster response when dragging objects, cameras and lights over Live Link
    • improvedFrosted glass and anisotropy rotation maps now match V-Ray
    • improvedLights seen through clear and frosted glass now match V-Ray
    • improvedTwo-column panel layout; Live Link progress inside 3ds Max; narrow-window toolbar
  2. Beta

    Quinray light, camera and material in 3ds Max, and full undo.

    • newQuinray Light, Camera and Material in 3ds Max, with V-Ray and Corona conversion
    • newLive Link adds objects without preparing the whole scene again
    • newFull undo / redo, Preferences and a custom resolution per camera
    • improvedHDRI orientation and V-Ray light spread match V-Ray
    • improvedHDRI changes in 3ds Max update live; sharper on high-DPI screens

Roadmap

In progress

  • Every V-Ray and Corona materialPhase 1

    Done: VRayMtl, glass, coat, Multi/Sub-object, Blend and Layered, VRayDirt, displacement, Corona lights and sun/sky. Next: SSS and translucency, hair, more procedural maps, CarPaint.

  • Live Link on a par with VantagePhase 1

    Adding and deleting objects while linked, lower latency on very large scenes.

  • Blender on a par with 3ds MaxPhase 1

    Cycles materials, lights and F12 render are in. Next: adding objects live, subsurface and anisotropy, testing Blender 3.6 and 4.x.

  • Animation from 3ds Max and BlenderPhase 1

    Done: deforming meshes, animated materials and visibility per frame. Next: smoother motion with the DLSS denoiser, full Blender testing.

  • Vantage-class speed with less VRAMPhase 1

    Texture streaming is built. Next: measured A/B against Vantage on real studio scenes.

  • Lightmix, Light Lister and two-way Live LinkNext beta build

    Done, in the next beta build: light and material edits in Quinray write back to 3ds Max, one undo step each; material and placement edits write back to Blender.

  • Scene states per viewNext beta build

    Done, in the next beta build: lighting, layout and materials per camera, with a high-quality render queue.

  • Quinray Player (.quinray packages)Next beta build

    Done, in the next beta build: publish a scene as one file; clients open it in Quinray Player.

  • Automatic updates with stable and beta channelsNext beta build

    Built and tested; switched on with the first published update.

Planned

  • Beautiful by defaultPhase 2

    Live Link and it already looks right; you only adjust for art direction.

  • Quick 3ds Max and Blender control from the rendered viewPhase 2
  • Quinray Player streaming by link

    Publish a scene and share a browser link.

  • AI featuresPhase 3