Chaos Corona for 3ds Max

About this release

Corona built its following on a simple proposition: a renderer that produces photographic results without a page of sampling settings to tune. There is essentially one quality control, which is how long you let it run, and the image refines progressively from a rough preview toward final quality. Artists spend their time on lighting and materials rather than on render parameters.

The interactive renderer is the working method. It runs live in a window while the scene is edited, updating as lights move, materials change and geometry is adjusted, so lighting decisions are made by looking rather than by test rendering. On a machine with cores to spare it is fast enough to treat as the viewport for the whole lighting pass.

Materials are physically based and forgiving. The standard material covers everything from painted surfaces through metals, glass and liquids with layered coatings, and the included library gives sensible starting points for the surfaces architectural work uses constantly. Light emitting materials, portals for interior daylight and sun and sky models handle the lighting side without workarounds.

The post processing stage is built in, which matters more than it sounds. Exposure, highlight compression, bloom, glare, sharpening and colour grading apply to the rendered result inside the frame buffer and can be adjusted after rendering has finished, so an image does not have to be re rendered to change its look. Render elements export for anyone who prefers to finish outside.

What it does

Almost no sampling settings

Quality is a function of time rather than a page of parameters to balance.

Interactive rendering

A live window that updates as lighting, materials and geometry change.

Physically based materials

One material covering paint, metal, glass and liquids, with layered coatings.

Included material library

Sensible starting points for the surfaces architectural work uses constantly.

Built in post processing

Exposure, bloom, glare and grading applied after the render, adjustable without re rendering.

Render elements

Full pass export for anyone finishing in a compositor.

Changed in this version

• Faster convergence on interior scenes lit through openings.
• Improved caustics on glass and liquid surfaces.
• Material library expanded with more architectural surfaces.
• Frame buffer post processing gains additional grading controls.
• Reduced memory use on scenes with heavy displacement.

System requirements

Install order

1. Close the host modelling application before installing.
2. Unpack the archive to a short path.
3. Run the installer and select the host version to attach to.
4. Set the material library location and the interactive render resolution on first use.

Worth knowing before you start

File details