Iray for 3ds Max Feature List

Rendering

Utilizes the power of NVIDIA's Iray technology on all supported GPUs and CPUs, with user control of hardware resources
Physically based path-trace rendering within 3ds Max's ActiveShade Mode enables accurate preview of final results during scene composition
Super-fast Iray Interactive ray tracing provides immediate feedback on object transforms and lighting edits
AI De-noise filter delivers fast, high quality, noise-free images
AI Upscaling further accelerates rendering performance with almost no loss of quality
Optimized sampling for accurate caustics and highly indirect lighting
Simultaneous Render Element generation with negligible speed impact
Custom Light Path Expressions for tremendous flexibility in post-production editing
Highly responsive Depth of Field and Motion Blur via 3ds Max's camera multi-pass system
Toon Shading post-process support for creating images similar to traditional 2D animated cartoons
Matte shadow and reflection support for compositing flexibility
Backplate image supported independent of lighting
Lighting Analysis feature for simulating and visualising the effects of light and heat on architectural designs
Iray Section Plane slices through entire 3ds Max scene for interior visualization
Lens type for 360 panoramic rendering and stereo viewing with VR hardware

Interactive updates (in ActiveShade) upon adjusting scene materials
Physically based materials using an intuitive layering approach leveraging the NVIDIA Material Definition Language (MDL) for substantial flexibility
Extensive material flexibility, including subsurface scattering, thin film, gemstone, etc.
Work directly within 3ds Max material editing interfaces such as the Compact and Slate Material Editors
MDL material export for building custom, shareable material libraries
MDL import and export for sharing materials between different Iray applications or MDL-compliant renderers (e.g., mental ray®)
Supports up to 4 UV mapping channels per material layer
Conversion of native Arch & Design materials and mental ray® photometric lights and environments
Supports native 3ds Max Maps and custom MDL procedurals (always GPU accelerated)
Material measurements from supported devices
Complex layering parameters including Decals, Coating, and Surface
Extensive, verified library of materials to represent real-world results with confidence

Interactive updates (in ActiveShade) upon adjusting light parameters and position
Image Based Lighting for fast photographic environment lighting
Supports 3ds Max standard and photometric lights
New Iray photometric light type, IES profile support
Real-world units of lighting attributes for accurate simulation
Lighting from emissive (self-illuminated) materials & geometry
Physical Sun and Sky system for lighting simulation based on date, time, and GPS location
No slow down from adding additional light sources
Irradiance lighting analysis mode for accurate light and heat simulation
Viewport preview of IBL for fast positioning
User-enabled caustic sampling
Define custom Light Path Expressions (LPEs) as 3ds Max Render Elements

Continuous feedback with progressive rendering of final results after scene adjustments
Effortless switching between fast ray tracing (Iray+ Interactive) and accurate path tracing (Iray+)
Interactive tone mapping for quickly achieving desired exposure, white balance, and contrast adjustments
Animation support for material and light parameters
MAXScript support
Iray Server support for efficient, scalable offline rendering
Interactive Iray Server support for streaming from an external machine
Quadro VCA and DGX-1 support for remote interactive rendering with linear scalability
Intuitive controls for frame completion criteria and render optimizations
Simple scene conversion between mental ray® and Iray includes lights, materials and environments.