Chaos Group at CG Event Kyiv 2013 Don t miss this trademark event on the hottest in CG and VFX to be held in the Ukrainian capital on May 25th. V-Ray is headlining CG Event Kyiv with two main stage presentations and a master class. The day will start with One Step Beyond with V-Ray for 3ds Max, V-Ray for Maya and Phoenix FD, then the best kept secret of the CG Event Kyiv will follow the joint presentation of Chaos Group and The Foundry. And for those who want to finish the day with some more in-depth V-Ray knowledge, there s the V-Ray master class with one of our best master-trainers Konstantin Gaytandzhiev. Find out more about CG Event Kyiv at our dedicated page and the event s website.

V-Ray 1.6 for SketchUp Open Beta Announced Today, we are announcing the biggest expansion to SketchUp s rendering capabilities the V-Ray 1.6 for SketchUp Beta Program is now open! This massive upgrade to V-Ray for SketchUp includes a series of new feature introductions that enhance visualization workflow and render quality (V-Ray RT , V-Ray Dome Light) and streamline scene complexity (V-Ray Proxy). You can view the full feature list here. The Beta program will run for approximately 3 months. The official release is expected in early August. Learn more and apply at V-Ray for SketchUp Beta page.

Chaos Group FMX 2013 Program Announced At FMX 2013, we will demonstrate how V-Ray encourages artistry across every stage of a user s career through a series of presentations that target the needs of VFX professionals and students. Check out the special website we ve prepared for our FMX 2013 participation. Those who are planning to go to FMX can find out details about our workshops and booth program. Students can register in a draw for a chance to win 6 student passes. And for all who can t make it to Stuttgart, we will stream live Niklas Jakobson s workshop on the visual effects in Norwegian feature film Kon-Tiki. Learn more at http://fmx2013.chaosgroup.com

Industrial Light Magic and Important Looking Pirates will be joining us at FMX! We have a great line up in store for FMX 2013. Industrial Light Magic and Important Looking Pirates will be on hand to present their latest feature film work rendered in V-Ray. Plus, we will be hosting Student Day, a Master Class workshop, and showing a sneak peek of the upcoming animated short - Portals. For conference details visit the FMX website, and stay tuned for the launch of our FMX 2013 event website, where we ll share up to the minute details and provide a chance to win some great prizes!

Vlado Koylazov to present at EUE 2013! V-Ray creator and Chaos Group cofounder Vlado Koylazov will be a featured speaker at this year's End User Event. EUE 2013 is a must-attend event, but don't just take our word for it, as the organizers put it, "Be there or be an alien!" EUE 2013, June 27-28, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Chaos Group Supports Student Work by Sponsoring New 3D Challenges To celebrate young talent and support the educational community, Chaos Group has joined two great CG challenges that will help students gain international visibility for their work the 3DArtist CG Student Awards and the CGArchitect 3D Awards. The 3DArtist CG Student Awards is an international event showcasing top student projects. The awards represent a tremendous promotional opportunity for all young artists to share their work with the world. The CGarchitect Architectural 3D Awards are the largest awards event for the architectural visualization industry. Now in its 10th year, the awards attract entries from top studios, freelancers and students from around the world. Chaos Group is proud to sponsor the newly established Student Image category. We wish all students taking part in these challenges the best of luck and endless inspiration!

Pdplayer Update An update to Pdplayer is now available featuring various optimizations and improvements. The update is free for Pdplayer users and can be downloaded from the Chaos Group downloads page. See the full list of optimizations in Pdplayer 1.0.6.35.

Chaos Group Website Maintenance (16-17 March) Our website will be undergoing routine maintenance this weekend (16-17 March 2013). During this time it may be unavailable or its performance interrupted. This includes the Chaos Group forum and Downloads page. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

V-Ray for 3ds Max Update Available Chaos Group is pleased to share an update to V-Ray for 3ds Max featuring several optimizations and new features. With this service release V-Ray adds support for rendering hair created with HairFarm 2.0 and V-Ray Proxy support for Alembic .abc files. There are also several new features and optimizations within V-Ray RT such as support for instancing, support for Forest Pro instancing, and faster update in ActiveShade rendering with the CPU engine when adjusting VrayLights. V-Ray RT GPU now offers CUDA speed optimizations and optimizations for GK110 cards. Check out the full list of new features, improvements, and fixes in build 2.40.01. This update is free for V-Ray 2.0 customers and can be downloaded from the Chaos Group website.

V-Ray 1.6 for Softimage Available V-Ray 1.6 for Softimage contains several bug fixes, optimizations, and new features, including: - Improved ICE support - Distributed rendering - New noise texture - Alembic import - Improved mapping of multi-cluster geometry to V-Ray proxies - Improved exporter performance - Property overrides - Multimatte improvements, including material IDs - Environment fog gizmo - Sphere fade support V-Ray 1.5 for Softimage customers may access the update at Chaos Group downloads. To purchase V-Ray for Softimage, please contact your local reseller.

HDR Light Studio 4 Adds Live Connection for Autodesk 3ds Max and V-Ray The new HDR Light Studio 4 Live connection for Autodesk 3ds Max with Chaos Group V-Ray launches today. Artists can now light their scenes with real-time feedback using V-Ray RT as the ActiveShade renderer and HDR Light Studio s innovative interactive HDR canvas. Sophisticated lighting environments can be created in moments to perfectly light and reflect in your shot. It s a great new approach to light V-Ray scenes, seeing the lighting interact with your materials in your final shot. Learn more about pricing and availability and watch the first demo

CG Workshop in Mexico Dates: 25, 26 and 27 January 2013 Venue: 3DMetrica, Nicolás San Juan 430, Narvarte, Benito Juárez, Ciudad de México, 03020 México, D. F. Following the great success of its international V-Ray workshops, in 2013 Light Render Group will visit Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, and Spain as part of its third V-Ray Tour. The first event will be held in Mexico City on 25th, 26th and 27th of January! Don t miss the opportunity to meet renowned Spanish artist Javi Martinez and learn his professional V-Ray workflow. All event attendees will get the chance to participate in a contest with great prizes including a V-Ray for 3ds Max license. The event is sponsored by one of Chaos Group s Mexican resellers - Dibujo Arquitectonico por Computadora S.A. (www.darco.com.mx). Check event details and register for the event here!

Chaos Group's Office Closed for Holidays We would like to inform you that our headquarters in Bulgaria and our US office will be closed on December 24th, 25th, 26th, 31st, and January 1st. Happy Holidays from the Chaos Group team!

V-Ray for Rhino Service Pack Available We are pleased to announce that a new service pack for V-Ray 1.5 for Rhino is now available. This service pack includes optimizations, improvements, and fixes and is available for download for all V-Ray 1.5 for Rhino clients. Please check a detailed change log for version 1.50.22564 V-Ray 1.5 for Rhino is also fully compatible with Rhino 5.

An Update to Pdplayer is Now Available We are pleased to announce an update to Pdplayer now offering extended capabilities. It adds support for Quicktime in Pdplayer 64 under Windows and Mac OS X, audio support under Mac OS X and Linux, support for RED Epic and Scarlet via RED SDK 4.3, support for Quicktime files under Linux via libquicktime, support for DNG files under Windows, improved Nuke integration, support for Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) and 10.8 (Mountain Lion), support for CentOS 5, and numerous other improvements. Check out a list of some of the new features available with Pdplayer version 1.0.6.25. This update is free for Pdplayer users, just log in to our website to download it. Check out the pricing policy for new users and the volume discounts at the Pdplayer product page.

We've just hit 20,000 fans on Facebook! We would like to thank our fans for their continuous support and for joining the V-Ray online conversation at facebook.com/chaosgroup. Keep liking, commenting, and sharing!

Take the V-Ray Quiz and get a chance to win a V-Ray sweatshirt! Celebrating V-Ray's first 10 years on the market, we'd like to ask you 10 simple questions for a chance to win 10 V-Ray anniversary sweatshirts. Just answer seven out of 10 questions correctly to enter the draw. Test your V-Ray knowledge now!

Chaos Group Provides Support to Client Offices Closed for Hurricane Sandy Our team has set up a server for remote access to V-Ray licenses for our clients whose operations have been temporarily suspended due to Hurricane Sandy. This service will be available till November 12th, 2012. Please contact us at sales.software@chaosgroup.com for more information. The Chaos Group Team

Chaos Group at Siggraph Asia 2012 Get ready for an exciting time in Singapore! We are participating in Siggraph Asia for the 5th time and once again we are bringing cool demos and great news. This year, we are featured at booth C12. And to spice up the must-see V-Ray demos, we have also gathered some of our top clients to show their latest projects and discuss their backstage experience with V-Ray. Learn more

New Media Section Launched at SmartXchange ICT Hub and Incubator, South Africa Chaos Group and COA Group are proud to announce that a New Media Section was officially launched at SmartXchange ICT Hub Incubator in Durban, South Africa. Designed to provide SMMEs with a support facility for full visual production pipeline, the New Media Section additionally provides the opportunity to explore new media technologies and has been specifically designed to act as a hotbed for up-and-coming talent. Contact COA Group for more information.