---
title: "VRayVolume"
canonical: "https://documentation.chaos.com/space/VMAX/1441956138/VRayVolume"
format: markdown
---
This page provides information on the V-Ray Volume geometry object.
## **Overview**
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The VRayVolume object is used in the new implementation of volumetric rendering in V-Ray 7 Update 5 for 3ds max. When shaded with VRayVolumeMtl it is used for clouds, smoke, fire, and magical effects.
> ℹ️ The VRayVolume object works only with OpenVDB (.vdb) caches.
> ℹ️ The object must have a properly set and applied VRayVolumeMtl to render.
UI Paths
||V-Ray menu|| >** Create** >** Geometry** >** V-Ray Volume**
||Command panel|| > **Create** tab > **Geometry** > **V-Ray** category > **VRayVolume**
## **General**
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The General rollout sets the input file path and makes general adjustments.
**File **– Opens a dialog for choosing a OpenVDB (.vdb) cache file. A sequence of files can be specified in the filepath field afterwards by replacing the digits with suitable tag: %d, , or ##..# (have in mind only caches with the same count of numbering digits in their filename as the count of the # symbols specified will be loaded).
> ℹ️ When selecting a file, a dialogue pops up to suggest automatically applying VRayVolumeMtl to the object with the available channels (density, temperature, etc.) from the asset automatically input in the respective material channel text fields.
**Flip axis** – Adjusts loaded cache up-axis. You may need to enable this option if the cache was exported from a Y-up host app.
**Step scale** – Controls the detail of volumetric data rendering. Larger values speed up render results but produce thinner and less detailed smoke. Smaller values increase visual detail but slow rendering.
**Motion blur** – Toggles the motion blur on and off.
**Velocity scale** - Scales the velocity channel values from the OpenVDB cache to control the strength of the volumetric motion blur. A value of 0.0 disables motion blur, while 1.0 uses the default velocity of the simulation. Higher values increase the blur length, and negative values reverse the motion blur direction.
## **Animation**
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This section contains options to control animation from the loaded cached sequence.
**On **– Enables all animation controls in the rollout
**Playback mode** – Choose between 3 modes of animation playback
**Linear **– Plays the animation just once.
**Loop **– Loops the animation, skipping back to the first frame once it has finished;
**Ping-pong** – Loops the animation by playing it backwards once the last frame has been reached, and then playing it forward again when the first frame is reached.
> ⚠️ Set a valid, non-zero Play length to use the selected mode properly.
**Timeline origin** – Specifies the frame on your scene timeline where the cached animation should start playing.
**Cache origin** – Specifies the first frame (cache file number) to use from the cache sequence as animation start.
**Play speed** – A multiplier for the playback speed. A value of 1.0 means that each consecutive cash file is used in the respective consecutive scene frame. A value of 2.0 doubles the animation speed by loading every other cache in the consecutive scene frame.
**Play length** – The animation duration in scene frames. In Linear mode the animation is played up to this frame length. In Loop and Ping-pong modes this parameter sets the loop length in scene frames. When set to 0 the full animation is played once regardless of the current playback mode.
The Info text at the bottom of the Animation rollout displays the name of the currently loaded cache file and sequence.
## **Channels**
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**Frame info** – Displays the available channels and their ranges at the current frame.
**Parameters channels** – Lists the names of the available channels which can be used as parameter input for shading.
**Velocity channels** – Lists the names of the available channels with velocity data.
## **Preview**
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**Preview** – Controls how the volumetric cache is represented in the 3ds Max viewports.
**None** – Disables the volumetric preview entirely. Only the wireframe bounding box of the VDB cache is displayed, providing the fastest viewport performance and navigation.
**Voxels** – Represents the volume as a simplified cloud of points (voxels) in the viewport, showing the structure and distribution of the volume.
**Shaded** – Displays a shaded viewport preview of the voxels. This mode approximates the volume's density and transparency, offering a clear sense of depth and volume directly in the viewport.
**Voxel merging** – Determines the detail-reduction level of the viewport preview by merging adjacent voxels (e.g., a value of 2 merges blocks of 2x2x2 voxels into one). Higher values significantly decrease viewport memory consumption and improve scene interactivity when previewing very large or dense OpenVDB cache files.
**Voxel scale** – Controls the visual size of the viewport voxels/points. Adjusting this scale makes the viewport preview appear denser or more legible, depending on the scene's zoom level and the grid's complexity.
**Scene lights** – When enabled, the viewport shaded preview is illuminated dynamically by the lights in your 3ds Max scene, giving an interactive representation of their interaction with the volume. When disabled, it uses default viewport lighting.
