--- title: "V-Ray Standalone Rendering" canonical: "https://documentation.chaos.com/space/PHX4MAYA/125701532/V-Ray%20Standalone%20Rendering" format: markdown --- This page provides information on Rendering Chaos Phoenix using V-Ray Standalone. ## **Overview** --- [V-Ray Standalone](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VNS) is full-featured and programmable command-line renderer that allows you to render scenes exported in V-Ray’s native .vrscene file format. V-Ray Standalone supports V-Ray's complete feature set including CPU & GPU rendering capabilities. When rendering Phoenix volumes ( such as smoke and fire, Phoenix meshed liquids or Phoenix particle systems such as Foam, Splash and Mist or any of the Phoenix [textures](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/PHX4MAYA/pages/125862209)) on a machine that will be used only as a render node, but will not simulate - Phoenix will not require a license for rendering - you just need Phoenix installed on the machine which will render the data. ## **Setting up Phoenix Rendering using V-Ray Standalone** --- For more information on installing V-Ray Standalone, see the [V-Ray Standalone Installation Guide](https://docs.chaos.com/display/VNS/Installation+Guide) page. ### **Windows** 1. Installing Chaos Phoenix on a machine which will be used only as a render node, where there is no DCC application installed (such as Maya) is straightforward  - just follow the steps in the [Phoenix Setup and Installation](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/PHX4MAYA/pages/125829336) page. 2. Alternatively after running the Phoenix installer, you could append the **C:\Program Files\Chaos Group\Phoenix FD\Maya 20xx for x64\vray6plugins** path to the **VRAY_PLUGINS** environment variable, but please note that this would affect **all installed V-Ray Standalone versions**. If you're using a Phoenix [installation from an arbitrary location](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/PHX4MAYA/pages/125634372) and If you are rendering with **V-Ray Standalone 6** or newer (meaning you render vrscenes or render using **V-Ray GPU**), you can append the **/phoenix_builds/my_version/phoenix/vray6plugins** path to the **VRAY_PLUGINS** environment variable. Note that this would affect **all installed V-Ray versions.** For V-Ray versions **older** than **V-Ray 6** you can append the **/phoenix_builds/my_version/phoenix/vray5plugins** path to the **VRAY_PLUGINS** environment variable. Note that this would affect **all installed V-Ray versions**. ### **Linux** 1. Install Chaos Phoenix following the instructions in the [Phoenix Setup and Installation](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/PHX4MAYA/pages/125829336) page. 2. Go to the installation folder for Phoenix - by default this is **/usr/ChaosGroup/PhoenixFD/Maya20xx-x64/ **and copy the files from /**usr/ChaosGroup/PhoenixFD/Maya20xx-x64/vray6plugins **folder to the **V-Ray Standalone **plugins folder - by default this is **/usr/ChaosGroup/V-Ray/Standalone_for_linux_x64/bin/plugins** If you're using a Phoenix [installation from an arbitrary location](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/PHX4MAYA/pages/125634372) and If you are rendering with V-Ray Standalone 6 or newer (meaning you render vrscenes or render using V-Ray GPU), you can append the **/phoenix_builds/my_version/phoenix/vray6plugins** path to the **VRAY_PLUGINS** environment variable. Note that this would affect all installed **V-Ray versions.** For V-Ray versions **older** than **V-Ray 6** you can append the **/phoenix_builds/my_version/phoenix/vray5plugins** path to the **VRAY_PLUGINS** environment variable. Note that this would affect **all installed V-Ray versions.** ### **MacOS** 1. Install Chaos Phoenix following the instructions in the [Phoenix Setup and Installation](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/PHX4MAYA/pages/125829336) page. 2. Go to the installation folder for Phoenix - by default this is **/Applications/ChaosGroup/PhoenixFD/Maya20xx/** and copy the files from **/Applications/ChaosGroup/PhoenixFD/Maya20xx/ChaosPhoenix.app/Contents/MacOS/vray6plugins** folder to the **V-Ray Standalone** plugins folder by default it is located in** /Applications/ChaosGroup/V-Ray/Standalone_for_mavericks_x64/VRay.app/Contents/MacOS/plugins** If you're using a Phoenix [installation from an arbitrary location](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/PHX4MAYA/pages/125634372) and If you are rendering with **V-Ray Standalone 6** or newer (meaning you render vrscenes or render using V-Ray GPU), you can append the **/phoenix_builds/my_version/phoenix/vray6plugins** path to the **VRAY_PLUGINS** environment variable. Note that this would affect all installed V-Ray versions. For V-Ray versions **older** than **V-Ray 6** you can append the **/phoenix_builds/my_version/phoenix/vray5plugins** path to the **VRAY_PLUGINS** environment variable. Note that this would affect all installed V-Ray versions. ## **Troubleshooting** --- If the Phoenix fluid is missing when rendering with V-Ray Standalone or you get any errors in the console, please try the following: - Try using the latest versions of Phoenix and V-Ray. - Confirm that the versions of Phoenix and V-Ray are matching. Phoenix has different installers for V-Ray Next, V-Ray 5 and V-Ray 6. - If you're doing a DR render - make sure the simulation caches are shared on a network location that all the machines can see. Note: They all must have permissions to access this network folder. *For more details, see **[Distributed Rendering of Fluid Caches for Phoenix](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/PHX4MAYA/pages/125829849)**.*