Author Topic: Old bugs / shortcomings in Corona for C4D  (Read 1962 times)

2023-01-19, 14:06:27

jojorender

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Do we need a current inventory list of old bugs/ shortcomings that still exists in corona 9/10 for C4D? Too many times these issues seem to get “forgotten” in the bug/ feature request sections.

We are almost 8 versions into CoronaC4D and there are still things that never worked in C4D but they do work in Max.
A “big” one for me is deformation motion blur & velocity pass not working in C4D but they work in Max.
To be clear, I’m not asking about new features that we might want to have, I’m just asking to give us the same features Max users already have.
After all, we are paying the same for Corona as the max users do!

Does it make sense to start a “missing features - inventory list” that developers can work on before V10 comes out?
Instead of spending time on "fun" new features like Chaos Phoenix, maybe working on something we C4D users can actually use would be great.

Thoughts?

2023-01-19, 17:09:10
Reply #1

TomG

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If the bugs are already reported on here, they will already be on our internal to-do lists and are being prioritized accordingly. Prioritization is of course tricky- C4D users don't want to be left behind without new features because older things were being worked on, so it's a balancing act (as is all things when it comes to picking what is being worked on and when). Listing them again will not help at all and will just confuse things with multiple reports of the same issue.

Meantime, for anything that hasn't been posted about already, feel free to report that, but again in a separate thread. That makes it easy for us to find the reports, and to list things ourselves internally :) Thanks!

PS - not much has been done for Phoenix lately, the only change was the inclusion of the licensing. Phoenix compatibility was actually finished a long time ago :)

PPS - and done by the Max team, so it took no time away from the C4D team.
Tom Grimes | chaos-corona.com
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2023-01-19, 19:23:00
Reply #2

jojorender

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Prioritization is of course tricky- C4D users don't want to be left behind without new features because older things were being worked on,…
Thanks Tom,
I get that, but as I said, I’m talking about VERY OLD bugs/ missing features.
As an example of another “big” one, the missing SOLO NODE in C4D first came up in Nov. 2018. See https://forum.corona-renderer.com/index.php?topic=22286.msg137119#msg137119
This is a very useful feature for EVERY user but since this feature seems to be supported in Max OTB for all render engines, this is probably not important enough to make it work just for C4D users. The workaround for this missing feature is very time consuming and makes the workflow for C4D users so much slower!

Are you saying this feature has been on your to-do-list for the past 4+ years and there was never any time to work on this?
Or, is this feature in your view not important enough to get any prioritization?

2023-01-19, 20:26:40
Reply #3

TomG

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Prioritization is an art, tricky, and one of those "you can't please everyone all of the time" situations. Out of interest, all the solo node and the motion blur improvements and the velocity pass are already on our list, so long as there is a post here, it will be on our list. Best steps to do a "reminder" is to post to an existing thread, but doing a whole new list here just means we have one more post to reply to when action is taken, and we have to spend time going through the list to see if all are on our list (time better spent doing things on our list ;) ). So as ever, the best way to get something done is to post a specific issue to its own specific thread, and where possible keep everything about that specific issue to that one thread. Thanks!
Tom Grimes | chaos-corona.com
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2023-01-19, 20:30:30
Reply #4

TomG

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PS I am not so sure Max has a "solo node" like has been requested here. You can choose which maps to display in the viewport (usually when Max can only display one and you have to pick between two or more maps/shaders that are in the material - and if you did it to diffuse, that wouldn't turn off bump, displacement, glossiness maps), but that doesn't affect IR or final renders. So I don't view this feature as one that is "available in Max and not C4D".
Tom Grimes | chaos-corona.com
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2023-01-20, 18:11:09
Reply #5

jojorender

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Sorry, I should have been more clear. The solo node was not meant to turn off maps in IR / final render. It’s meant to just make a certain map visible in the viewport for easier mapping. So, what you are describing is effectively a “solo node in viewport” in max.

C4D - Besides IR, how do you QUICKLY map metal, glass, etc with bump/ roughness correctly in the viewport?

2023-01-20, 18:43:57
Reply #6

TomG

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Not having tried it in C4D, I thought it was "rather than display the result of combined maps, limit it to just showing one before the combination" whereas in Max it is "Cannot display the result of combined maps, pick which of the inputs you want to see because you can only see one". Even the second can be useful of course, and maybe that is all that happens in C4D too, you can only ever see one if something goes through a Mix or Layer or some other thing that combines maps - just so we understand what the request is, and see if the comparison is apples to apples between Max and C4D :)
Tom Grimes | chaos-corona.com
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2023-01-21, 15:28:18
Reply #7

jojorender

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Not having tried it in C4D, I thought it was "rather than display the result of combined maps, limit it to just showing one before the combination”
Not sure I understand what you are saying…
You never tried to map a corona metal material with a roughness texture and see the result in C4D viewport???

When you get a chance please bring “solo node” up with Nejc, he fully understands the importance of this feature!
He even requested this more than 1000 times ;-) in his pre corona-team days…
Solo node works in max and we need it to work in C4D too!

2023-01-21, 21:03:19
Reply #8

James Vella

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While I understand the request, do you not have a workaround?

For example in 3dsmax when we map things on UV Channel 2 there is no solo mode. So as an example if I want to blend materials using UV2 I have to copy the material, change it to UV channel 1, apply it as a base diffuse map to see what's happening in the viewport. When I see the change I expect I can switch everything back and hope that it renders correctly (which it does if I didnt mess something up) but my point is in this scenario we don't have a solo node for UV channel 2. Its just a workaround.

2023-01-22, 15:41:19
Reply #9

jojorender

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Hi James,
thanks for your input and yes of course I use workarounds but as I said “The workaround for this missing feature is very time consuming and makes the workflow for C4D users so much slower!”

This thread is not about the solo node, There are a number of things C4D users have asked for again and again over the years that just got forgotten/ ignored.
This is speculation, but I think it’s mostly because developers don’t really use Corona in a real life workflow, and why would they? It’s not their job, but it’s my job and everything that makes my everyday workflow faster is far more valuable to me than let’s say adding Chaos Scans.
« Last Edit: 2023-01-23, 15:36:09 by jojorender »

2023-01-23, 09:42:00
Reply #10

Beanzvision

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Hi, Speaking of speculation ;) ''There are a number of things C4D users have asked for again and again over the years that just got forgotten/ ignored.'' - This is not the case at all. There are limitations to how much of the API we can access. So if something hasn't been implemented after it has been requested, please consider something other than ''forgotten/ignored''. ;)
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2023-01-23, 10:48:52
Reply #11

John_Do

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Hi, Speaking of speculation ;) ''There are a number of things C4D users have asked for again and again over the years that just got forgotten/ ignored.'' - This is not the case at all. There are limitations to how much of the API we can access. So if something hasn't been implemented after it has been requested, please consider something other than ''forgotten/ignored''. ;)

Come on Bengamin, you can't say that when some of the bugs are known for years and are still not fixed.

- Like the random bump behavior with Layered / Triplanar / Noise shaders
- or the motion blur issue with render instances
- or the anisotropy mapping
- or the many issues the Shared shader has
- or the way the Layered Material is handled in the Asset Browser ( introduced in S24, but I don't know if the API was available. Works flawlessly in Octane though )
- or the IPR less responsive than on 3dsMax ?

And the API ? Let's talk about the Corona UVW Randomizer which still doesn't support the Corona Bitmap ? And the Override UVW which does nothing ? Even the Corona shaders are not working properly.

I understand that development is hard and you can only do so much in the amount of time you have between two releases, we all understand that bugs are to be expected and it's part of software development, but come on, relying on workaround for years is really what is expected from your customers ? I think many of us would appreciate to have the basics work flawlessly before implementing fancy features like Chaos Scans.

2023-01-23, 11:29:09
Reply #12

Beanzvision

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Hi, I'm not saying that this is the case for all delays. But something being forgotten/ignored is certainly not one of them. There are various reasons why some implementations take time. Also, as a heavy user of Corona myself, I'd also love to see some of these bugs be resolved. We do listen though so please feel free to continue sharing your thoughts :)
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2023-01-25, 11:05:54
Reply #13

mte

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I have the most sympathy for the problems and challenges that software development brings with it.
But I also sometimes have the feeling that bugs are endlessly pushed back, no one is interested in them or other political decisions get in the way of fixing them. I am thinking, for example, of:

- 2.5D Displacement is almost not working in animations. (why did you kicked the old, but stable version out?)
- Render Instances are a mess to work with
- Layered Bump
- MotionBlur issues since ever

you know the list is endless and a lot was mentioned in the thread.
Maybe a more transparent prioritization would help?

2023-01-25, 13:34:01
Reply #14

TomG

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We get as transparent as we can with the Road Map - thing is, people take transparency as "promises" and then when something doesn't happen and it was something we were thinking/hoping to do, people get upset. And if something does happen but wasn't planned, people get upset. This is why we had to change the roadmap to be called "Tentative Road Map" :)

Getting any more granular than we do would bring those problems back. And sharing all the ins and outs and detail of every decision and prioritization would take time away from, you know, actually developing. We believe we've found the best level of transparency, given the challenges of development, and we even went as far as to explain some of the prioritization process in 2020 (back when we were forced to rename the roadmap) in https://blog.corona-renderer.com/behind-the-scenes-the-corona-renderer-development-process/

Hope this helps!
Tom Grimes | chaos-corona.com
Product Manager | contact us

2023-01-26, 11:28:46
Reply #15

mte

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Hi Tom,
I totally get your point. It's always hard as a customer to understand how the internal processes work.
We also tend to see and address the software bugs that have existed for years, but no one talks about the really good and useful new features. That must be really frustrating for you. But of course, as a company that makes money from using your product, we are sometimes frustrated when we have to work around technical deficiencies instead of focusing on our actual business.
You probably can't make everyone happy.

2023-01-26, 13:27:49
Reply #16

TomG

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Would be nice if we could make everyone happy :) And we do try!

And of course, "pinging" about an old bug is still perfectly fine (in its own thread lol), we're not saying not to do that. Can be worth asking, just in case there are plans and the roadmap is not updated yet, or to help with the prioritization of things by giving us an ongoing count of how many are affected by a bug and how seriously, so that is definitely still valid.

Really all the stuff above I pointed to is just to say "Whatever the reason for it not being fixed yet, it won't be because it's forgotten about", but yep still feel free to ping on a report and go "Any update yet?"
Tom Grimes | chaos-corona.com
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