The next version of the photorealistic rendering engine Chaos Corona 12 for 3DS MAX and Cinema 4D is now available at the developer’s website. Below, we take a look at some of the new features. A trial version of Corona 12 can be accessed by everyone even if their trial period on Corona 11 or older has expired.
VFB 2
The most noticeable change is the Corona frame buffer update, now called Virtual Frame Buffer 2 (VFB 2). The overhaul affects not only the UI but also the functionality. CXR files can be opened by dragging them into the frame buffer, where they can be tweaked without loading the scene file. It is now possible to switch between several LightMix setups and keep them in a single scene (for example, both day and night lighting scenarios). It is also possible to A/B compare previous renderers even if their resolutions don’t match. Gamma, Lift, and Gain settings have been added to the Tone Mapping menu. The overall speed and responsiveness of VFB 2 have increased.
Curved Surfaces Decals
Corona Decals now work correctly on curved surfaces. It is possible to apply decals to spheres and other objects with high curvature without the textures stretching or distorting, thanks to the addition of double-axis bending. If it is important to save the original aspect ratio of the decal, use the new toggle lock.
Chaos Scatter and Corona Sky Updates
Using the new Scatter Instance Brush, you can draw in additional instances inside an existing Chaos Scatter. Instances can be either added or erased without changing anything about the rest of the scattered objects. Whether the scatter settings would affect the new instances is decided before painting.
Corona Sun and Corona Sky performance during sunsets has been improved (V-Ray 7 also includes these changes). Now, the sun can be placed lower below the horizon (up to -12 degrees) for more photorealistic results. The difference is especially noticeable for time lapse animations. The density of clouds can be adjusted with a new slider.
Corona 12 also includes preliminary Chaos Vantage integration, Chaos Pattern improvements, and increased rendering speed for multi-core processors. The full list of changes can be found at the Chaos website which is now the main source of all Corona-related news. Soon, we will add Corona 12 to Megarender to let you render your projects even faster.