Chaos releases Vantage 3.1
Chaos has released Vantage 3.1, the latest version of its real-time ray tracing renderer, intended for exploring large production scenes for architectural visualization and visual effects projects.
The release makes Vantage available as a viewport renderer inside Houdini, via a new Hydra delegate, and adds an experimental real-time fluid simulator for quick smoke and fire effects.
A GPU-accelerated ray tracer for exploring large production scenes in real time
First released in 2020, Vantage is a GPU ray tracing renderer intended for exploring large production scenes – initially, V-Ray scenes exported in .vrscene format – in near-real time.
It was originally targeted at visualization, but in 2023 Chaos added support for rendering deforming meshes, like animated characters, and began pitching Vantage at VFX work.
Vantage 3.0, released in 2025, added initial support for importing and rendering scenes in USD format, opening up the possibility of using the software in non-V-Ray-based pipelines.
Separate new Hydra delegate makes Vantage available as a viewport renderer in Houdini
Vantage 3.1 makes Vantage available as a viewport renderer inside Solaris, the layout and look development environment inside Houdini, SideFX’s VFX-industry-standard 3D software.
The integration is provided by a new Vantage Hydra render delegate, available separately to the standalone renderer.
In keeping with the new USD workflows, it does not require V-Ray to operate.
Houdini already has its own native GPU path tracer, in the shape of Karma XPU, the rapidly evolving hybrid CPU/GPU version of its Karma renderer, intended for near-real-time feedback.
Chaos pitches the new Vantage Hydra delegate as giving Houdini users access to “production-quality real-time rendering” for lookdev and previs workflows.
The firm also says that it plans to roll out similar integrations between Vantage and other DCC applications that support Hydra render delegates.
New Fluid Volume object for creating quick fire and smoke effects
Other new features in Vantage 3.1 include the experimental Fluid Volume object.
Chaos describes it as a complete real-time fluid simulator, primarily for ideation work, making it possible to test ideas for smoke and fire effects “before committing to heavy offline simulations”.
The existing Volume Grid, which can import more complex simulations from other software in VDB format, gets support for different Smoke Color sources.
Workflow and UI improvements
Other workflow improvements include the option to duplicate a material in Vantage’s material editor, and to overlay a solid color or texture over a render as a post effect.
It is also now possible to split the side panels of the UI into two columns to reduce scrolling.
Price and system requirements
Chaos Vantage 3.1 is compatible with Windows 10+ and DXR-compatible AMD, Intel or NVIDIA GPUs. The software is rental-only, with subscriptions costing $108.90/month or $658.80/year.
The Vantage Hydra delegate is a separate download, and is compatible with Houdini 20.0+.
Read an overview of the new features in Vantage 3.1 on Chaos’s blog
Read a full list of new features in Vantage 3.1 in the online documentation
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