Messages

16

[Max] I need help! / Re: Maxscript: Test if one viewport is the interactive window

« on: 2025-03-14, 17:46:08 »

Hi,

Assuming Corona is set as active renderer, and regular viewports are used (no TrackView, materials, booleans etc.), we can check for layout and get the number of viewports/sections.
Then we can get the number of 3d viewports - 3ds Max seem to not count Corona Interactive as 3d viewport. If the layout number is bigger than 3d viewports, it is safe to tell (in regular/most cases) that the non-3d viewport is CoronaInteractive.

Here is the script:

Code: [Select]

fn checkCoronaInteractiveViewport = (

numLayout = (viewport.getLayout() as string)[8] as integer
--format "Current layout viewports: %\n" (numLayout as string)
--format "Renderable viewport count: %\n" (viewport.numViews as string)

if viewport.numViews < numLayout then (
format "Corona Interactive viewport is present.\n"
True
)
else (
format "No Corona Interactive viewport.\n"
False
)
)

checkCoronaInteractiveViewport()

Haven't checked for floating viewport case, but it should be easy to do through viewport IDs.

Hope this helps.

17

[Max] I need help! / Re: 3ds max (corona) files crash when open on another computer

« on: 2025-03-13, 09:51:42 »

The minidump reports Corona version which is older than Corona 12 update 1 hotfix 1.
Most probably you don't have Corona 12 update 1 hotfix 1 installed on the machine where the scene crashes on open.

Please do a clean uninstall/install of Corona 12 update 1 hotfix 1 and try again.

18

[Max] I need help! / Re: 3ds max (corona) files crash when open on another computer

« on: 2025-03-13, 09:32:46 »

Just to make sure - both machines have exactly the same version of 3ds Max and Corona, right?

While we check this, can you please try merging the scene part by part - this will greatly help to understand which part/object exactly causes the crash.

19

[Max] I need help! / Re: 3ds max (corona) files crash when open on another computer

« on: 2025-03-11, 09:11:01 »

Hi,

Are you sure you also have all the other plugins (Scatter, forest pack, floor generator etc.) on the other machine as well where it crashes?

If you are absolutely sure there is nothing missing, then please submit a ticket at: https://support.chaos.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

and attach the minidump.

20

[Max] Daily Builds / Re: Chaos Corona 13 for 3ds Max - Daily Builds Discussion

« on: 2025-03-10, 10:30:14 »

Hi,
on Interactive Lightmix is no more possible to select the lights in the scene by pressing the right  mouse botton.

Hi,

It is possible, you just have to click on the free space after the layer name.
Nevertheless, this is reported now and will be improved - right click on any part of the row should open the context menu.

(Report ID=CMAX-1514)

21

[Max] I need help! / Re: How to brighten shadows in a white scenery?

« on: 2025-03-07, 09:44:46 »

You are welcome!

22

[Max] I need help! / Re: Shadow Catcher too big!

« on: 2025-03-05, 11:18:36 »

Hi Maru - Thanks for replying.

So the 'Wrong' image is directly rendered.

I've tried changing the way the scene is illuminated (HDRI to achieve a studio look).

I've done some digging since and concluded that this is beyond the ability of Corona, whilst vray is able.

If you have any suggestions, I'd love to try them.

I had to manually edit shadows in Photoshop after the event, which was painful.

Hi,

I think you have done everything right, you just expect to see the shadows in a different way, while in reality the shadows are/should be as rendered.
I don't think this is anything about what Corona or VRay can (not) do. It is a matter of lighting/compositing the scene in a way to get the desired results.

Can you please show how it looks for you in VRay, and what is the setup?
A scene will be appreciated of course, to check.

23

[Max] I need help! / Re: How to brighten shadows in a white scenery?

« on: 2025-03-03, 18:22:42 »

Yes, it is possible. RaySwitch with no color (greyscale) base color should do it.

It is not simply shadows, it is global illumination, and objects' surface color do affect it. So you may need to rayswitch the objects which cast shadow and also the shadowcatcher (but probably not).

Anyway, a very slight tint in the shadows won't do much harm in my opinion, as it is used with some opacity, so see if the current workflow suffices.

24

[Max] I need help! / Re: CMasking masks aren't completely white

« on: 2025-03-03, 11:39:14 »

If I keep doing a 'Save All' when a rendering is completed, would there be any harm in setting the Color Conversion to 'No Conversion' even for the non-mask images? I've been leaving it set to Automatic this entire time.

it should be fine if you are saving in high dynamic range format (e.g. EXR). View transform should be automatically ignored for these formats.

25

[Max] I need help! / Re: STANDARD SURFACE material to CORONA MATERIAL

« on: 2025-03-03, 11:37:09 »

Hi,

Are you referring to Scanline Standard (legacy) material?
If yes, they should be converted by Corona Converter, but they also should render with Corona.

If you can, share the scene (or simplified version) so we can check.

26

[Max] I need help! / Re: How to brighten shadows in a white scenery?

« on: 2025-03-03, 11:21:45 »

Good to hear!

I would say keep the scene as is. Just do the trick to your scene as well - create a single rectangular light, which illuminates just the shadowcatcher (include list).
Increasing the light intensity will make the shadows cast to shadowcatcher (no matter how many there are, where they are placed, you are illuminating the shadow receiving surface) lighter or stronger through alpha channel.

27

[Max] Daily Builds / Re: Chaos Corona 13 for 3ds Max - Daily Builds Changelog

« on: 2025-03-03, 11:15:51 »

Please check this article covering the risks of using daily builds: Daily Builds FAQ
If you are familiar with the daily builds and know how to use them, download the newest one here:
chaos-corona-13-3dsmax-daily-2025-02-28.exe

User-facing improvements

• Implemented differential ray filtering. This improves texture filtering seen through reflection/refraction, and directly visible textures in fisheye, spherical and alike projection cameras.
  Enabled by default in new scenes, old scenes have it OFF and should show a message for switching to new filtering.
• Optimized parsing in interactive rendering when changing time - only objects/textures that have animation will be re-parsed.
• Significantly improved DOF (Depth of Field) solver. It should now work well in all supported cases (perspective camera with no VR and no distortions).
• VFB scrollbars are now brighter for better visibility.
• VFB history item thumbnails now update when edited.
• Enabled toggling of Tone mapping operators by clicking on their label (but only if they are not collapsible, in that case those are collapsed/expanded as before).
• Added 'Only unsupported' option to Material override to override only unsupported materials.
• LightMix in VFB2: Toolbar and source element label are locked and only the layers are scrolled.
• Curves histogram tooltip displays "Histogram type" instead of "Histogram kind".
• Added label saying where to find histogram controls to Curve editor in pop out Tone mapping menu.
• Added Global Volume override for CoronaCamera.
• Added option to reset all curves.
• Added shortcut to start/stop Vantage Live Link to Corona toolbar.
• Changed installation root from 'C:\Program Files\Corona' to 'C:\Program Files\Chaos\Corona'.
• Added automatic virtual tours (auto panorama recognition, auto hotspot generation) support for images uploaded to Chaos Collaboration.
• Added support for importing multiple Cosmos assets at once.
• VFB - Region draw is enabled when editing CXR, but only when edited CXR is of the same size as current/last rendering, which is necessary for resume render.
• Added progress bar showing Vantage upload progress. Scene upload to the Vantage can be cancelled now.
• Added missing tooltips to VFB's Auto adjustment properties.
• Added dialog with Chaos account information (opened from System > About Chaos Corona/Licensing).
• Added mix alpha option to CoronaMix map.
• Chaos Collaboration - Image uploaded from history item keeps the item's name.

Bug fixes

• Fixed color management warnings being displayed even when Corona is not the active renderer.
• Fixed lightmix looking different than beauty when OCIO color management is on.
• Fixed highlight of checkboxes in Tone Mapping and Lightmix VFB tabs.
• Fixed issue where adaptivity and denoising was incorrectly computed when using DOF solver.
• Removed clamping for negative values in CoronaColorCorrect texture when not needed.
• Fixed missing update of IR/LiveLink when new objects are imported into 3ds Max.
• Fixed ScannedMtl triplanar mapping moving with the camera.
• Fixed differences in Beauty vs Lightmix render channel for complex materials.
• Fixed crash when rendering with geometry motion blur enabled.
• Fix for not working sub-surface scattering on objects with decals seen in reflection.
• ScannedMtl:
• Fixed file not rendering/displaying in UI even when it is found in 3ds Max Asset Tracker
• Fixed "Adjust UV tiling" button being incorrectly enabled when Triplanar mapping is enabled at the same time
• Fixed issue where translucency settings were not considered in thin mode during conversion from V-Ray material.
• Fixed issue where using reflection/refraction override together with black environment could lead to incorrect results in some rare cases.
• Fixed issue where NAN in Corona Color Texture would propagate further.

28

Gallery / Re: Conventional Lighting Concepts for ArchViz

« on: 2025-03-03, 10:12:38 »

Nice study.

I would only make the warm tones in the night/evening render warmer. It seems too cold.
The low sun view would love some volumetrics (fog) too, in my opinion.

29

[Max] I need help! / Re: Long rendering time

« on: 2025-03-03, 09:19:58 »

Hm hm, the include exclude doesn't stop the calculations from actually happening. It just removes them from the image so that you don't need to worry about caustics looking noisy in a part of a scene you're not really concerned with - hence you can stop rendering sooner. The calculations do still happen though.

Yes, it is just like internal masking.

I suggest you render the caustic-y part separately (region, selected mask etc.) and all the rest in another render. That should bring reasonable render times.

DEV INSIGHT EDIT:
Photons are sent for the entire scene but gradually Corona learns that photons should not be sent in the direction of the excluded objects. The actual computations of caustic illumination from the photons are NEVER done on the excluded objects. So we could say that the caustics are NOT computed for these objects.

30

[Max] I need help! / Re: How to brighten shadows in a white scenery?

« on: 2025-02-28, 22:59:28 »

You should have mentioned the Corona version earlier. The scene was made with latest public Corona 12 Update 1 Hotfix 1.

Try merging the scene. If it doesn't work, I will prepare the same scene with earlier version of Corona, newer version should be irrelevant for your case.