Topics

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[C4D] General Discussion / Projector Shader in Corona

« on: 2023-01-11, 20:19:21 »

Is the projector shader supposed to be working with the latest build of Corona?  I found a thread from 2020 but no follow up.  I am having mixed results.  Is there a better option via use of Corona shaders?  Thanks!

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[C4D] General Discussion / Personal Tutor for Corona for C4D Rendering

« on: 2023-01-06, 01:21:16 »

I hate to admit that I’ve been using Corona for C4D for several years now and I have yet to achieve any quality renderings.  I’ll spend hours changing materials, render settings, and post-production to no avail.  I always end up with a murky, gray, hazy result (example attached) – not the crisp clear images others are producing.  This is a link to the type of images I hope to produce:

https://rebusfarm.net/blog/3797-the-making-of-bedroom-by-white-balance

To say the least, after so many years this is disheartening…

I am quite familiar with Corona as I’ve been using it for so long (obviously incorrectly).  I won’t need anyone to go through the basics.  I’ve also been a C4D user for almost 20 years, so I know my way around the software and am quite familiar with various rendering engines.  I was a Vray user prior to Corona and achieved the same subpar results.

It has only come to my attention recently that I can increase material values above 70% and that you’re in the “safety” zone if not exceeding 90%.  I’ve been using this 70% cap as I was taught incorrectly when Vray was first introduced to Cinema 4D.  To make matters worse the earlier versions of Vray for C4D were glitchy in the way materials and light were calculated – as some users may remember.

As our firm creates mostly kitchen and bath design, we work in inches.  I have often wondered if Corona isn’t converting the units correctly as some of the light settings need to be lowered substantially to avoid over-exposure.  An example would be having to set under cabinet lighting to 50 lumens or less in an LED strip span of 5’ which is not realistic or 25 watts of fill light blowing out the entire scene.  Further, none of the PBR materials I create in Substance look the same as they do in Substance.  I always must adjust glossiness/roughness and base color considerably.

Due to my suspicions of the units not converting correctly, I would at the very least appreciate someone trying the scene for themselves.  I will upload upon request.

I am looking for a C4D user who is capable of stunning results to tutor me.  I thought it would be a good idea to use the file from which the attached image was produced as an example scene – hopefully having someone walk through/dissect the scene and tell me where I’m going wrong.  I am willing to pay well for your time.  Please PM me if you’re interested.  I work from home so I can be flexible with the hours.  Thank you.

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[C4D] General Discussion / Making HDRi visible in viewport

« on: 2022-09-10, 14:47:45 »

I downloaded an HDRi from the Cosmos Browser to use in my scene.  How do I make the image visible in the viewport in order to position it correctly?  Note - I am still using S24  with Corona version 8.  Thanks!

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[C4D] General Discussion / Adding grunge map over several individual objects

« on: 2022-07-11, 23:12:37 »

I’ve got some individual floor tiles that I’ve texture using multishader.  I now want to add a consistent layer of grunge/dirt over the entire floor to add realism.  Keeping in mind that these are individual objects, what is the best way to achieve this?  Thanks in advance, Kevin

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[C4D] General Discussion / Diffuse Values Above 70%

« on: 2022-07-09, 16:55:24 »

Something I don’t understand about the more recent versions of Corona for C4D – It seems that you need to bump up the white values of the diffuse channel to avoid getting gray materials and renders.  Even the material library comes with materials that break the rules.  In earlier versions I was told never to exceed 70% in value for the diffuse channel as this would be physically incorrect.  Does this not apply to newer versions of Corona where the material libraries are supposedly PBR?  Further, the Physical Material has 73.536% as it's default value which I assume is what most are using for quick clay renders?

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[C4D] General Discussion / Corona stopped rendering today

« on: 2020-09-30, 17:47:49 »

I am running C4D R21.207 with Corona 6 for Windows.  When I attempt to use interactive rendering C4D freezes to the point where I need to use the task manager to close it.  I have done a fresh install of Corona 6, restarted Cinema, restarted my computer and I have the same problem.  All was working fine just yesterday with the same file.  I don't understand this and am now out of business until I get it resolved.  Please advise as soon as possible as I have work piling up.  Thanks!

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[C4D] General Discussion / Iridescent Material

« on: 2020-08-16, 23:40:37 »

I've been searching through the forum on a technique to get an iridescent type material.  I've found a few posts, but nothing with a sample file.  I am a bit confused on where to use the fall-off/fresnel mentioned in these posts.  Can anyone point me to a sample file?  Does C4D's thin-shader work for this effect?  Thanks, Kevin

8

Hardware / Monitor Recommendations

« on: 2020-07-10, 15:24:21 »

I had a power outtage this week that fried my 3-year old LG UM95... 34" monitor.  Not sure why, as it was protected by a very good surge suppressor.  Anyway, I'm looking to replace it with a similar size for under $1,000 USD.  The newer models from LG have horrendous reviews and still function at a 60Hz refresh rate.  I've been looking into a Samsung of the same size with a 75Hz refresh which is much cheaper than the comparable LG; however, not much is said about accurate color reproduction.  I definitely do not want a curved monitor which seems to be the trend right now.  Has anyone got any advice based on recent research/purchases?  Thanks, Kevin

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[C4D] General Discussion / Interactive Render Region

« on: 2020-06-27, 20:28:29 »

In the latest daily build (6), I am unable to move (drag around) the interactive render region without C4D freezing up.  I am using R21.207.  Is this on the radar as I am unable to test materials in my scene without this capability?  Thanks, Kevin

10

[C4D] General Discussion / Material Help: Glass w/ Normal on 1 Side

« on: 2020-06-10, 12:56:17 »

I've got a display cabinet that has 2mm thick glass.  The client has requested restoration glass which has a raised pattern of what looks like scratches on the exterior face and smooth on the back.  When I apply my normal map with cubic mapping, this raised pattern is applied to both sides making it too busy and therefore, unrealistic.  If I assign a selection tag to the front plane of the glass only and assign the material with a normal to this selection only and a "normal-free" version of the glass to the rest, I appear to lose the refractive quality of the glass.  Is there a way to do this short of having to model the tiny pattern on the face of the glass?  The attached image shows the cubic mapping with normal on both sides (too busy and unrealistic).  I really need it on the outside face only while retaining the refractive quality of the glass.  Any ideas?  Thanks, Kevin

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[C4D] General Discussion / Interactive Rendering vs. Full Render

« on: 2020-06-07, 00:26:51 »

I've got an interior scene that renders correctly when using Interactive Rendering, but displays an artifact when performing a full render - see comparisons attached.  In my opinion, the overall look of the Interactive Rendering looks much, much better than the full render.  In fact, I would prefer to use IR; however, I am unable to apply denoising under this mode.

I am using the latest official build (not one of the daily builds).

I've also noticed that during Interactive Rendering if I change the skies ground color, I never get accurate results that match the full render.  In fact, lowering the value from the default 25% (to something like 22%), sometimes results in a brighter ceiling when it should become darker.  This is frustrating as I often change the ground color for my work and defeats the entire purpose of using IR.  I spend a lot of time getting it just right in IR only to have it change significantly in the full render.  I'd really appreciate some help getting to the bottom of this as I've been dealing with this problem ever since I've been using Corona.  I know, my fault for not speaking up earlier.  Thanks!  Kevin

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[C4D] General Discussion / Interactive rendering and node material editor

« on: 2020-05-20, 18:03:43 »

I am just diving into the Corona's node material editor.  Is it designed to work with interactive rendering?  I have attached 6 diffuse channels to Corona Color Correct and when I make changes it has no effect on the interactive rendering.  Perhaps it's not supposed to work this way?  Thanks, Kevin

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[C4D] General Discussion / HDR background to show upon PNG export

« on: 2020-04-09, 23:12:11 »

This is perhaps a stupid question, but here goes...  I've got a scene using an HDR as environment light source.  After render, when I save the image from the frame buffer as a PNG, the background disappears and I am left with an alpha.  How do I get the HDR to show upon export?  Do I need to use another file format when saving my image (would prefer PNG if I can get it to work)?  Thanks in advance, Kevin

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[C4D] General Discussion / Variation Shader Limit?

« on: 2019-11-24, 15:14:19 »

I've got a stone wall created out of a single mesh.  I'm using C4D's variation shader to assign random textures to individual blocks that are defined with polygon selection tags.  The bottom half of the wall seems to work fine, but when you get towards the top, the selection tags fail.  The material is applied with cubic mapping and each selection tag has a unique name.  Has anyone run into this and if so, do you have a solution?  Does the variation shader have a limit as to how many selection tags it will recognize?  I am using R21 and prior to this, this method worked just fine.

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[C4D] General Discussion / Creating displacement map using ZDepth

« on: 2019-07-09, 17:59:01 »

I'm attempting to create a displacement map using the ZDepth pass.  For some reason the entire ZDepth pass is not rendered - see attached result.  What am I doing wrong?  Thanks!