Chaos (company)

Chaos is a rendering and simulation software developer headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany and Sofia, Bulgaria. It was founded in 1997 by Peter Mitev and Vladimir Koylazov as Chaos Group. Chaos is best known for the development of V-Ray.[2] In 2022, it merged with Enscape, with the resulting company keeping the Chaos brand.[3]

This article is about the Bulgarian software developer. For the defunct Australian online retailer, see Chaos.com.
Chaos
TypePrivate
IndustrySoftware
Founded1997
Founder
  • Peter Mitev
  • Vladimir Koylazov
Headquarters
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Christian Lang (CEO)
Products
Number of employees
700[1] (2022)
SubsidiariesSee § Divisions and Subsidiaries
Websitewww.chaos.com

History

Chaos was founded in 1997 in Sofia, Bulgaria as Chaos Group by Peter Mitev and Vladimir Koylazov. The company released its first product, fire and smoke simulation software Phoenix, then called Phoenix FD. In 2002, it released the first version of 3D rendering software V-Ray. In 2017, Vladimir Koylazov, then CTO of Chaos, received a Scientific and Engineering Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his work on V-Ray.[4] In 2021, Chaos went on to win an Engineering Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for their work on it.[5][6][7] Other products released by Chaos include Cosmos, Vantage, Scans and Cloud, most of them tying into V-Ray.[8]

In 2017, the company acquired Czech software developer Render Legion, known for Corona Renderer, later rebranding the subsidiary to Chaos Czech.[9] As part of a larger rebranding effort by Chaos, Corona Renderer was rebranded to Chaos Corona in 2022, bringing it in line with the rest of the company's products.[10][11]

In 2021, the company rebranded from Chaos Group to Chaos.[12] In January 2022, the company merged with German software developer Enscape, with the resulting company maintaining the Chaos brand.[3]

Following the merger, Chaos acquired Danish 3D product visualization platform developer Cylindo in April.[13][1] In May, the company acquired architectural visualization website CGarchitect, best known for their 3D Awards program.[14] As part of the latter purchase, all paid features of the newly acquired website were made available to all accounts for free.[15]

On July 11 2023, Chaos acquired Italian software developer AXYZ design, known for their crowd animation software anima and their range of stock 3D characters metropoly.[16]

Divisions and Subsidiaries
Name Location Founded Acquired Notes
Chaos Software Sofia, Bulgaria 1997 - Founded as Chaos Group and the source of the parent company's name, best known for developing V-Ray and Phoenix.
Chaos Czech Prague, Czech Republic 2009 2017 Acquired as Render Legion and rebranded to Chaos Czech, develops Chaos Corona, formerly known as Corona Renderer.
Enscape Karlsruhe, Germany 2013 2022 Merged with Chaos, with the merged company retaining the Chaos name. Known for the eponymous real-time rendering software.
Cylindo Copenhagen, Denmark 2012 2022 Develops the eponymous product visualization platform and related software, including Cylindo Studio and Cylindo Curator.
CG Architect Culver City, California 2001 2022 Architectural visualization website that hosts the CGarchitect Architectural 3D Awards,
AXYZ design Rovereto, Italy 2007 2023 Develops crowd animation and visualization software anima and supplies stock 3D characters under the metropoly name.

References
  1. Wear, Anne Flynn (Apr 12, 2022). "Tech company Chaos acquires Cylindo". Furniture Today. Retrieved Dec 21, 2022.
  2. Nikolov, Konstantin (Dec 10, 2021). "Имало едно време в "Гео Милев", после в Холивуд" (in Bulgarian). Capital. Retrieved Jul 29, 2022.
  3. "Chaos and Enscape to Merge, Backed by TA Associates and LEA Partners". Yahoo! Finance. Jan 11, 2022. Retrieved Jul 29, 2022.
  4. "18 SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENTS TO BE HONORED WITH ACADEMY AWARDS". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Jan 4, 2017. Retrieved Jul 29, 2022.
  5. "Chaos' V-Ray wins Engineering Emmy 2021 award". October 14, 2021.
  6. Hipes, Patrick (Oct 7, 2021). "Engineering Emmy Awards Winners Include Reed Hastings, Dolby, More". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved Aug 1, 2022.
  7. "Engineering Emmy Award Winners". National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Retrieved Aug 1, 2022.
  8. "The ultimate 3d rendering and simulation toolset". Retrieved Aug 1, 2022.
  9. "Chaos Group buys Corona developer Render Legion". CG Channel. Retrieved Jul 28, 2022.
  10. Bekerman, Ronen. "Chaos Corona 8 Released - 3D Architectural Visualization & Rendering Blog". Retrieved Aug 2, 2022.
  11. McLaughlin, Colin (Apr 13, 2022). "Chaos Corona 8 for 3ds Max and Cinema 4D Now Available". GlobeNewswire. Retrieved Aug 2, 2022.
  12. "Chaos Group becomes Chaos". CG Channel. Retrieved Jul 28, 2022.
  13. Petrova, Aleksia (Apr 13, 2022). "Bulgaria's Chaos Group acquires Danish firm Cylindo". SeeNews. Retrieved Dec 21, 2022.
  14. Mottle, Jeff. "CGarchitect Joins the Chaos Family". CGarchitect. Retrieved Aug 2, 2022.
  15. "Chaos Acquires Industry Website CGArchitect—Makes All Accounts Free". Architosh. Jun 2, 2022. Retrieved Aug 2, 2022.
  16. Thacker, Jim (Jul 11, 2023). "Chaos acquires AXYZ design". CG Channel. Retrieved Jul 12, 2023.
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