Topics

1

[C4D] General Discussion / CRITICAL SPEED ISSUE WITH APPLE M SYSTEMS

« on: 2023-10-19, 10:37:11 »

Dear Community and Mac-Users. Please read this if you own a new Apple M-System.

Since around 12 years I work as a professional visualization artist. I have been using CoronaRender for years on Mac computers and with the latest upgrade to Apple M-chipsets I would like to share my experience, as the issue I am having could be very much relevant and critical for every Apple ARM user.

1 Introduction
I work in the field of architectural visualization. In the past 3 years all my renders were based on a setup using my Apple iMac i9 and Corona v9. It has been a great, reliable setup, but I wanted to upgrade. I skipped the first batch of Apple M-systems, but with a fully maxed out Mac Studio M2 Ultra I stepped into the game. So once bought, I updated all my systems to C4D 2023 and Corona V10 to test speed and have a comparison. Using the latest Corona Benchmark and running Cinebench it turned out the new system everywhere speeds up 2.2x compared to my previous setup. So the numbers were as I expected and I got excited.

2 Reality
The reality is very much different and it took me quite a while to notice it. When opening existing scenes, I sensed that the new Mac Ultra somehow did not feel as fast as expected. So I tested both computers with a basic scene, including some models, a few textures and a simple light setup. Of course all systems are updated, run the same software and have the scene saved as project-file with assets. It turns out that the Mac Studio easily gets beaten by a three year old Apple Intel system in real conditions. Depending on many different scenes I tested, the new Mac Studio was not twice as fast, but instead up to 3 times slower than my old Intel iMac ! So in fact it is up to 5 times slower as it should perform. Same is true for parsing times, which are not significantly lower than on the i9. I also noticed the same results using C4D 26 and/or trying Corona V9. Also a friend of mine had similar results on his Apple M1 Ultra. That is beyond imagination, a disaster and I have not found any explanation yet.

3 Issue

So I would like to address this issue to the community. Attached you will find my simple test-scene (DropBox link below) and also a screenshot of the VFB of my Apple iMac i9 and my Mac Studio M2 Ultra. I would be interested if you face the same troubles rendering that scene and hopefully detect something that dramatically slows down the M-chips. If this turns out to be a general issue, using CoronaRender with Apple M-Chipsets does not make any sense at all. It is a failed investment.

Hopefully we can find a solution, as my prediction is, that users who bought a new Apple M system might not even be aware that their computers are not performing to the fullest. You might have paid a lot of money for limited power and not even noticing it.

All best – ASIMO
_

DropBox Link to file : https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/rv6cwapzmy7qfvhbf31x4/h?rlkey=elghyfyv4lqzmw4o49ex3haqg&dl=0

2

[C4D] General Discussion / QUICK FLOATING LICENSE QUESTION

« on: 2023-09-26, 16:29:30 »

Hello Community

I am a single license user and I have two computers on my desk with two C4D licenses.

If I would like to run C4d + Corona at the same time on both machines do I need two Solo Licenses or is one Premium License enough ?

In other words, can I use the Premium License on different computers in my office at the same time ? Is this called the Floating option ?

I am asking because I do not understand what Floating really means.
_

I bought my license for CoronaRender years back and anyway I am able to activate either on computer A or B. So this already is floating or not ?

Thank you for letting me know !

Best

A

3

[C4D] I need help! / Displacement Problem / Triangle Mesh / Edges

« on: 2022-06-15, 09:57:47 »

Hello

Since I use Corona (for some years) I always encounter the same problem. When I use geometry provided by clients or myself I often have triangular mesh, as this is how openings are connected to the surface.

It seems impossible to avoid wrong Displacement. As you can see I am always confronted with artifacts along lines. Especially when they are close. It creates dark areas.

Is there any work-around or solution on this ?

Thank you very much :)

Asimo

4

[C4D] General Discussion / AO DIRT PROBLEM / SURFACES + EDGES

« on: 2022-05-23, 17:55:00 »

Dear Community

I have a question regarding the AO shader, mostly used for dirty edges. I use it for concrete objects in architecture.

From time to time a face a problem I can not solve as the Max. Distance also includes the objects surfaces, not only the edges.

See screenshot with the object gets colored red in thin parts or where surfaces get close.

For me it seems impossible to make a thin object (concrete plate) without getting dark or colored on the surface when Max. Distance is bigger.

Is there a work-around or a different function ?

Thank you so much for your help.

Asimo

5

[C4D] I need help! / New vs. Old Material System / Reflection Amount

« on: 2022-02-10, 18:54:05 »

Dear Community

Since the release of the new material system with Physical material I miss the option to control the exact intensity of a reflection.

This was possible by using the Level-Amount or even apply a color in the Reflection Tab in the Old System (Legacy Material)

It was possible to create surfaces that have 100% Glossiness but would reflect only 50% if needed. IOR would stay the same.

This was helpful for less reflective glass surfaces to create an anti-glare effect for switched Computer or Tablet screens.

How would this be correctly done in the new system ?

What is the logic behind it ?

Thank you for your feedback :)

best – Asimo

6

[C4D] I need help! / SHADOW CATCHER ON OBJECT / WRITE PNG ?

« on: 2021-11-26, 15:15:42 »

Hello Community

I have a (hopefully) simple question.

I would like to have a simple object like a cube that is above a landscape and casts a shadow caused by Sun/Sky or an HDRI on that landscape. See attachment.

Is there a possibility to have the scene rendered with just the cube and the shadow to get a transparent PNG file featuring both elements ? Without the landscape and background visible ?

I would like to have the cube with the shadow in Photoshop so I can put different colors in the Background.

How do I get that shadow and the object as one thing ? Is this even possible ?
_

Thanks a lot !

7

[C4D] I need help! / Surface Problem – Broken Geometry along Edges

« on: 2021-10-28, 15:48:43 »

Hello

I am very satisfied using Corona Render together with Cinema4D. I usually build models in ArchiCAD and use the DIN3D Exporter. So a quite common setup that works very well.

Still I sometimes recognize the same problem with subdivided plane surfaces. There seems to be an edge break along the diagonal line in the model.

It has nothing to do with the material, the Phong Tag or the Mapping.

It is invisible and always correct in Interactive Rendering preview. But the final render is always wrong. This is very strange, no ?

I have attached two images and the file where you can see the one surface creating that shaded diagonal.

It would be great to know what is the exact problem with the model or the scene to avoid this things or create a proper workaround.

Thank you so much for your help.

8

[C4D] I need help! / Reflection Issue / Wrong in VFB / Correct results in Interactive Render

« on: 2020-10-25, 16:29:00 »

Hello

I am struggling with a major problem. Since years I build and render buildings with the same workflow. I never had this kind of problem.

I have a simple model of a facade. When I render with interactive render mode everything looks alright and as it should be.

Starting the render inside the VFB the reflection is in some parts completely broken. It almost looks as if bended / distorted.

Also I noticed that the reflection breaks along the polygon lines.

You see it in the lower glass panels as well as in the green facade panels, where the reflection goes missing. One green panel is just dark.
_

I work with Cinema4D 18 and Cinema4D 22 and have tried to render with Corona V5 and V6.

This is a very strange behavior as in interactive mode Corona-Render does the right job ?

Attached there are two screenshots. Also there is the scene I use.

Thank you very much for your suggestions and help.

best – David

9

[Max] I need help! / Multipass channels increasing render-time ?

« on: 2018-11-11, 11:17:26 »

Hello Community

Usually I render some interior images with sizes like 3000 x 3000 px. Depending on complexity it takes around 2-6 hours to have satisfying results. At the moment one render takes up to 12-16 hours. I thought maybe it could be the multi-pass channels that can be added like Alpha / Reflect / Translucency and so on. Are they evaluated during the render (on the fly) or are they separately calculated ?

In fact my question is : Do this extra added channels in multi-pass increase the render time dramatically ? Any experience on this ?
Is there a way to post-render them ?

Thank you
best - A

10

[C4D] General Discussion / output autosave / how does it work ?

« on: 2018-02-15, 11:32:50 »

Hello community

Last night i rendered out an image and unfortunately my machine crashed. (MacOSX / Cinema4D 18)

Since I have checked the "Enable Autosave" option I was sure to find at least some saved images of the project. But i did not.

There was nothing saved at the preset autosave path. Have I missed something ? Do I have to change some rights first ?

I changed the interval to two minutes and 5 images to be kept during render.
_

I would be happy to have my image stored with every pass limited to 10 images.

Like I would save it manually every 10 minutes - Is this possible ?
_

Can you help to set it up correctly ?

Thank you very much.

all best !
_

11

[C4D] General Discussion / Old Versions Download ?

« on: 2017-08-30, 18:02:38 »

Hello community !

I am new to the forum. Maybe my question is quite simple but I could not find the right section in the forum.
_

I had two versions of Corona render in use. A version 1.6 (I think with Hotfix 2) and a new daily-build from yesterday.

Since I found out that in C4D there is no functionality for the round edges feature at the moment ?
_

Can you tell me where I can find the download link for the old versions that could be downloaded from the official site ?

Hotfix 1 / 2 / 3 etc.
_

I need at least a version to use that round edges feature again.

Thank you very much

all best

Asimo