Initially released in 2020, Vantage is a hardware-accelerated ray tracing renderer designed to handle large V-Ray scenes in near real-time. The reason Chaos employs Vantage compared to other real-time rendering solutions, including Unreal Engine, which is free for such work, is its ease of use. Instead of converting scenes created for offline rendering or for use in a game engine, which can be time-consuming, despite tools like Datasmith, Vantage can render the original .vrscene files directly.
Vantage doesn't support all V-Ray features. The list of supported features for each V-Ray host application can be found in the online documentation. However, it's important to note that it's intended as a close visual analog.
The initial release was oriented towards visualization, but this year, Chaos has added support for rendering deforming meshes, such as animated characters, and started offering Vantage for VFX work as well.
In Vantage 2.1, support for DLSS 3.5 has been added, the latest version of Deep Learning Super Sampling, an AI-based image reconstruction technology from NVIDIA. DLSS 3.5 introduces Ray Reconstruction, a new AI-trained noise removal system designed to replace traditional denoising tools like NVIDIA's OptiX AI for "ray-tracing intensive scenes." DLSS Ray Reconstruction is available on compatible NVIDIA RTX GPUs: GeForce RTX 20 and newer models from 2018 onwards.
Among the other new features in Vantage 2.1 is support for reflective caustics, which improves the accuracy of materials like frosted glass. Additionally, this release introduces experimental support for Intel Arc graphics processors, making Vantage compatible with discrete GPUs from all major manufacturers. It's worth noting that Chaos has added support for scene state animations, enabling smooth transitions between Vantage scene states.
Chaos Vantage is compatible with Windows 10 and higher, as well as DXR-compatible GPUs from AMD, Intel, or Nvidia. The software is available by subscription only, with a cost of $108.90 per month or $658.80 per year. It's also included for free with V-Ray Premium and Enterprise subscriptions.