Visual outlook of the new features: major speed improvements, volume precedence, new materials and textures, volume emission, strands, better integration in Blender and 3DSMax to name just a few. Paolo, Reality plugin author, has experimented more than 10x speed improvements with the new rendering modes:
Corona 16 adds GPU-accelerated Gaussian Splat relighting and a new Parallax Interiors system that renders furnished rooms behind windows using flat geometry, cutting memory overhead for multifamily and tower facades. New AI Assistant beta helps with mood matching and scattering.
A new Windows tool reads native .max files and rebuilds V-Ray and Corona materials for target renderers, letting multi-software studios skip re-setup work.
Epic Games has made the full 23,000-asset Megascans library free on Fab indefinitely as of November 5, 2026, with refunds for 2025 purchases and new AI training rights. The Fab Standard License covers any game engine or tool without renderer lock-in.
Claude Opus 5.5, released September 22, cuts API costs by 40% and speeds output by 30%, making AI-driven scene assembly in Blender more practical for solo artists. The model excels at staging, lighting and rig fixes but not production mesh generation.
Chaos shipped V-Ray 7 Update 5 on November 5-6 with 30+ features including an embedded AI Assistant, Cosmos AI asset generation, and MCP server connections to ChatGPT and Claude. 3ds Max users face delays while Rhino and SketchUp gain immediate native AI access.
Arnold 7.5.4 adds true render pausing, expands viewport acceleration to 3ds Max and Cinema 4D, and introduces a Shader Imager for pixel-level compositing without full rerenders. GPU instance performance jumps 3x for large scene updates.
Chaos embeds AI assistants, MCP server integration with Claude and ChatGPT, 2D-to-3D asset generation, and AMD GPU support into V-Ray 7, Update 5. The update also bundles Vantage real-time ray tracing access for Collection license holders, targeting faster workflows without compromising offline render quality.
Mach9's web-based CAD software now processes drone and helicopter point clouds with automated feature extraction, cutting survey-to-model time by 40%. Export goes to DXF, DWG, LandXML and GIS formats.
Corona 16 adds GPU-accelerated Gaussian Splat relighting and a new Parallax Interiors system that renders furnished rooms behind windows using flat geometry, cutting memory overhead for multifamily and tower facades. New AI Assistant beta helps with mood matching and scattering.
In this walkthrough, we guide you through the process of building a polished 3D interior scene inspired by the cover of Archmodels vol. 306 – Table Sets.
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