This  article guides you through the troubleshooting steps of plugin compatibility issues between V-Ray and Phoenix.  Using incompatible Phoenix and V-Ray versions may result in:

• Crash during rendering;
• Crash or error upon host-app startup (3ds Max, Maya)

Sample Error messages in Maya:
(Messages vary depending on the setup):

• Error: V-Ray : There was a fatal error building the scene for V-Ray
• Could not create plugin PhoenixFDSim !
• The procedure entry point vallocDeclareTag could not be located in the dynamic link library...

Root causes and solutions

Phoenix has separate installations for the corresponding V-Ray version, for example:

• Phoenix FD 4.xx.xx for V-Ray Next
• Phoenix FD 4.xx.xx for V-Ray 5

Here is how to identify if your issue is due to compatibility - check if

• The crash during the rendering stage disappears when Phoenix objects have been removed from the scene.
• The crash during the simulation stage occurs even with a basic Phoenix simulation setup with Volumetric or Liquid.

Solution 1

Make sure the current installations of V-Ray and Phoenix are compatible with each other.  The Phoenix plugin installation should match the V-Ray one, for example:

Phoenix for 3ds Max for V-Ray 5.x  requires the V-Ray 5 version in order to be compatible with it. Other major V-Ray versions like V-Ray Next or V-Ray 3.6 will not work with it.

Here is how to check and verify Phoenix and V-Ray versions for 3ds Max and Maya - they should look like the following:

• 3ds Max: Phoenix version, V-Ray version
• Maya: Phoenix version, V-Ray version

In case the installed versions are not compatible, go to the Download section and find the  corresponding Phoenix or V-Ray version.

Solution 2

Perform a full uninstall to both of the plugins -  V-Ray and Phoenix, then proceed with a new installation in the following order:

1. First, install V-Ray
2. Then, install Phoenix

As mentioned in Solution 1, make sure that the installation versions are compatible!  

Note: We plan to add automatic checks for plugin compatibility during Phoenix installation in the future.  

Note: that the same applies to the Phoenix nightly builds. They Should always match the already installed V-Ray plugin!