Chaos rolls out Chaos Cosmos
Chaos Group – now simply ‘Chaos’, following a change of branding earlier today – has launched Chaos Cosmos, a new online library of stock architectural assets optimised for use with V-Ray.
The library, which is free to users of selected editions of V-Ray, was announced in a livestream, alongside software releases V-Ray 5 for Revit and V-Ray 5 for 3ds Max Update 1.
A curated collection of architectural assets, optimised for V-Ray and Chaos Vantage
Chaos describes Chaos Cosmos as a “high-quality, highly curated” collection of HDRIs and 3D models, including furniture, trees, cars and people, all intended to “work across the Chaos ecosystem”.
As well as offline rendering, the models are optimised for use in real-time rendering tool Chaos Vantage and the new V-Ray Vision mode in V-Ray 5 for SketchUp and V-Ray 5 for Revit.
Each has three levels of detail: the lowest for display in the modelling viewports of V-Ray host software, the mid level for V-Ray Vision, and the highest for offline rendering.
The format in which the assets are delivered varies according to the software in which they are used: in V-Ray for 3ds Max, they come in as V-RayProxy objects with native V-Ray materials.
The assets respect the existing scale set up in a scene, and are correctly scaled in relation to one another.
It should also be possible to render them without any additional set-up, at least in Chaos’s own software: while they can be used in third-party renderers, how well they work depends on how well the software supports V-Ray materials, lights, and proxies.
“This is different from the usual content you might be used to,” commented Chaos CEO Peter Mitev during the livestream. “From a technical standpoint, this is a breakthrough.”
Available via selected editions of V-Ray 5, but Corona support to come
The library can be accessed online, or directly from inside the interface of qualifying editions of V-Ray: currently, V-Ray 5 for 3ds Max, SketchUp, Revit and Rhino.
Cosmos support is also planned for other versions of V-Ray “to be announced in the coming months” – and also, according to the online FAQs, to Corona Renderer.
Assets created by specialist partner firms
The initial batch of Chaos Cosmos content seems to have been produced largely by specialist partner firms.
That includes furniture models from Design Connected, vehicles from Hum3D, plants from Maxtree and Vizpark, scanned 3D people from Renderpeople, and HDRIs from NoEmotion.
Branded products aren’t included, although Chaos says that it is open to working with manufacturers.
There are also no animated characters: the initial batch of content is all static assets.
At the time of writing, there are 650 assets available, although Chaos says that the library will continue to grow, “incorporating a mix of Chaos and partner-driven assets”.
Pricing and system requirements
Chaos Cosmos is free to users of qualifying Chaos software products, including their trial editions.
Content can currently be accessed via V-Ray 5 for 3ds Max, SketchUp, Revit and Rhino – although not V-Ray Next – with support for Corona Renderer and other editions of V-Ray due in future.
Once inserted into a scene, the assets can be used indefinitely, including in commercial work.