Last update: 21/07/2021

Version: Corona 7
plugin: 3ds Max

RE N D E RE R FE AT U RE S
RENDER ENGINE INTERACTIVE LIGHTMIX
• Biased and Unbiased solution • Adjust color and intensity of lights, during
• Path Tracing: unbiased solution and after rendering
• UHD and 4K (experimental) cache: two • Single-click set up (by instances, groups or
options for faster biased cached solution for individual lights, with memory requirements
interiors reported)
• Denoising • Supports multiple suns and multiple
— Reduces the number of passes needed to environments for different times of day from
get a noise-free image, with render time
one render (see Corona Sky and Corona Sun
reductions of 50 to 70%
in the Lights section)
— NVIDIA AI GPU-based denoising can be
used for final renders at the user’s • Manual set up if required
discretion (requires a compatible NVIDIA • Controlled from the VFB
GPU) • Results can be pushed to the scene
— Intel AI denoising can be used for final
• Can be used for anything from subtle
renders. CPU-only, and works with any
CPU (not just Intel) adjustments, to turning day into night,
— Interactive amount adjustment without re-rendering
— Checkbox to enable/disable the result in • Each light select pass can be denoised
the VFB independently (this can be enabled during
• Fast Caustics Solver: automatic setup)
— Easy to use, and fast to render • LightMix result can be saved to a CXR file and
— Includes caustics from reflection,
then adjusted in the Corona Image Editor, or
refraction, and dispersion (splitting light
into separate colors) saved for compositing in other post-
— Enable or disable for specific light sources processing software
— Works with LightMix • Lights can be selected in the scene from the
— Separate render element available for LightMix tab
compositing caustics in post processing
for even greater control
— Works correctly with motion blur
• Adaptive Image Sampling INTERACTIVE RENDERING
— Balances out the rendering calculations • 100% the same render engine as for the
over the image to focus more processing final frame
power on tricky areas
• All final frame rendering features
• High Quality Image filtering, gives a more
supported, including Interactive LightMix,
natural and “less CGI” look to noise, making it
post-production effects such as bloom &
less noticeable to the eye
glare, LUTs, etc.
• Progressive rendering
• NVIDIA AI GPU-based denoising, for
• Max Sample Intensity (MSI): automatically
denoising during Interactive Rendering
removes fireflies - accuracy/render speed
(requires a compatible NVIDIA GPU)
tradeoff
• Pick objects directly in the docked viewport
• Proudly CPU based
• Set DOF focus point directly in the docked
viewport (for Corona Cameras)
 Last update: 21/07/2021
Version: Corona 7
plugin: 3ds Max

INTERACTIVE RENDERING — Thin mode for glass correctly blurs

reflections and refractions
(contd) — Opacity
• Image upscaling factor to allow rendering to — Adaptive displacement with low memory
a smaller resolution and upscaling (ideal for requirements
HighDPI displays) — Vector displacement
— SSS mode for wax, marble, and other
• While zooming-in in the IR, rendering is
materials that do not use Thin Mode or
focused on visible area only full Refraction
• Subsampling lowers initial resolution at the — Volumetric scattering and absorption
beginning of rendering, for virtually real-time mode for fog, mist, and for colored glass,
performance liquids and other materials that use
Refraction without Thin Mode
• Blue Noise Dithering to give visually pleasing
— Self-illumination
results in the first few passes, for quick
• CoronaLegacyMtl
assessment of a scene when using Interactive — Uses Lambertian shading model
Rendering — Legacy material, to preserve identical
• Results shown in 3ds Max viewport or Corona results from scenes created in earlier
VFB versions of Corona Renderer
• CoronaSkinMtl
— Dedicated material for skin
— Three independent Subsurface Scattering
MATERIALS layers
• CoronaPhysicalMtl — Two independent Reflection layers
— Default material since Corona 7 • CoronaHairMtl
— Base Layer for diffuse, roughness, — Dedicated material for hair and fur
reflection, bump, and translucency — Colored and Colorless reflection layers
controls — Color controls via melanin amounts, or
— Base layer uses Oren-Nayar shading directly
model — Adjustable random Glints
— Clearcoat Layer for adding a layer of • CoronaLayeredMtl
varnish, lacquer, etc., featuring separate
— Similar to 3ds Max Blend material
bump from the Base Layer
— Combines multiple materials instead of
— Sheen for creating realistic fabrics
just two
— Choice of Roughness or Glossiness
workflow, both per-material and as scene • CoronaSelectMtl
default — Store multiple materials for one object,
— Choice of IOR or Disney Specular and select between them via radio
workflow, both per-material and as scene buttons
default — Radio buttons can be keyframed, and
— Metalness workflow, where Metalness accessed via MAXScript
can be mapped • CoronaLightMtl
— Metals can be controlled by simple Edge — Identical performance to CoronaLight
Color, or by Complex IOR — Various non-physical settings
— UI interactively enables or disables — Textured emission (useful for backplates)
parameters based on whether a material • CoronaRaySwitchMtl
is Metal or Non-Metal — Uses different material for different ray
— 35 presets built-in to the material, as types: direct, GI, reflections, refractions
starting points, or to ‘reverse engineer’ to • CoronaShadowCatcherMtl
learn in creating your own materials
— Custom backplate textures
— Refraction, including dispersion, caustics,
— Screen, spherical, or no projection
and thin absorption (for Thin Mode)
— Supports glossy surfaces
— Anisotropy correctly affects both
— Bump mapping
Refractions and Reflection (both correctly
affect caustics) — Lights work additively (illuminators) or
subtractively
 Last update: 21/07/2021
Version: Corona 7
plugin: 3ds Max

MATERIALS (contd.) • CoronaDistance

• CoronaVolumeMtl — Gradient based on distance to other
objects
— Simplified material for volumetric
— Supports textures
scattering and absorption
— List of objects to calculate distance from
— “Inside Mode” allows for true 3D
volumetric materials — Can be used in Corona Scatter density
map to control placement of objects
• 3ds Max materials
— Wide range of other creative uses, e.g.
— Standard
ripples on water around objects,
— Blend (including nested blend materials) controlling light intensity and color, etc.
— Multi/Sub-Object — Supports all geometry including Corona
— XRef Proxy, Corona Scatter, and 3ds Max
— Shell particle objects, as well as Cameras and
— Double Sided other objects
— Top/Bottom — Works as an input to bump mapping
— DirectX Shader • CoronaColorCorrect
• Support for 3ds Max physical material — Adjust brightness, saturation etc. of a
texture map (and still have it affected by
VFB post-processing)
— Unique tone mapping capabilities (not
MATERIAL LIBRARY present on other output nodes), including
• Over 520 ready-to-use high quality materials LUTs, gamma, curves, green-magenta tint,
• Drag-and-drop from the Library to the etc.
— Mode available so that one
viewport, slate material editor and compact
CoronaColorCorrect controls multiple
material editor other CoronaColorCorrects, allowing you
• Real World Scale or Triplanar mapping used to apply the same adjustments to
where possible, to reduce tiling and give multiple maps and adjust those from one
location
expected scaling
• CoronaTonemapControl
• Materials organized by category
— Specify whether a texture map should be
• Set favorites, with display favorites only affected by VFB Exposure, Tone Mapping,
option etc.
• Sort by name, favorites, or most used • CoronaUvwRandomizer
• Select all objects in the scene that use a — Apply random offset / rotation / scale to
particular material textures and maps by instance, material
id, mesh element, etc.
• Resizable material previews
— Options to allow randomization of
• Open standalone large preview windows for seamless textures, e.g. to avoid visibly
materials obvious tiling
• CoronaMix
— Advanced mix shader
— Texture or color inputs, different blending
TEXMAPS modes
• CoronaSky — Works as an input to bump mapping
— See the Lights section • CoronaRaySwitch
• CoronaAO — Same as RaySwitch material, but on
— Ambient occlusion shader texmap instead of material level
— Supports textures • CoronaColor
— Includes/Excludes — Allows to input single constant color
— Additional controls: spread, directionality, using a color picker
inverted mode, etc. — HDR numerical values, Kelvin
temperature, web hex input
 Last update: 21/07/2021
Version: Corona 7
plugin: 3ds Max

TEXMAPS (contd.) • CoronaWire

• CoronaTriplanar — Wire shader
— Allows to set edge/vertex size in world or
— Apply textures without explicit UV
screen coordinates
mapping, with no stretching or seams
thanks to the built-in blending — Falloff between Base and Edges / Vertices
color
• CoronaBitmap
— Can be used as input to bump mapping
— Works similarly to 3ds Max bitmap, but
faster (10-20%) • CoronaUserProperty
— Spherical, Dome, Cross and Mirrorball — Assign a numeric value to a node, for use
modes for use as an Environment with MAXScript
— Rotation via degrees or U Offset (for • CoronaOutput
environments) — Legacy only, used in scenes created
— Asynchronous loading (start work on a before Corona Renderer 2. Replaced by
scene without wait for all textures to load) CoronaColorCorrect and
• CoronaSelect CoronaToneMapControl
— Store multiple maps in a material, and
select between them via radio buttons
— Radio buttons can be keyframed, and LIGHTS
accessed via MAXScript • CoronaSky
• CoronaMultiMap — New PRG Clear Sky model based on
— Randomly assigns colors/maps to atmospheric data
instances or mesh elements — “Aerial Perspective” via Volume Effect
— Frequency spinners — Altitude sets the height of the observer
— Hue and Gamma randomization — Turbidity controls whether sky is clear or
— Features advanced blending modes overcast
— Global blur multiplier to affect all — Artistic control over Horizon Blur
multimaps elements — Can be linked to a Corona Sun, allowing
— Supports up to 25 inputs directly, with different times of day
another 75 accessible via MAXScript — Supports dawn/twilight with the Corona
— Can be used with just one input, applying Sun as low as -2.85 degrees
gamma and hue randomization (approximately 5.4 sun diameters) below
• CoronaRoundEdges the horizon
— Rounded corners shader — Allows changing of the ground color
— Works as an input to bump mapping and — Also offers Hošek & Wilkie, Preetham et al.,
other material slots and Rawa-fake sky models
— Fast mode for faster rendering and no — Multiple skies are supported, and each
noise, with no parameters needed one can be paired with specific Corona
— Precise mode for blending across other Suns, for use in LightMix
objects / elements / materials • CoronaSun
• CoronaNormal — Standalone object or part of 3ds Max
— Automatic detection of incorrect input daylight assembly
gamma — Multiple Suns are supported, and each
• CoronaBumpConverter one can be paired with specific Corona
— Converts RGB maps to be compatible with Skies, for use in LightMix
the Bump channel (e.g. 3ds Max native — Allows non-physical properties (such as
Marble, Wood, ColorCorrect, etc.) changing size, color, disabling visibility in
reflections, etc.)
• CoronaFrontBack
— Shows different colors/texmaps on
front/back sides of a material
 Last update: 21/07/2021
Version: Corona 7
plugin: 3ds Max

LIGHTS (contd.) • Integrated color mapping controls,

• CoronaLight including exposure, filmic tone mapping,
— Shapes: sphere, rectangle, disk, cylinder LUTs, green-magenta tint, etc.
— IES profiles • Save and load post-processing
— Directionality configurations, and exchange those to and
— Textured emitters from the Corona Image Editor and Corona
— Physical units
Cameras
— Color (RGB input, Kelvin temperature,
texmap) • Save and load LightMix configurations, and
— Non-physical settings: disabling shadows, exchange those to and from the Corona
includes/excludes, disabling visibility in Image Editor
reflections, preventing black appearance • Pick objects directly in the VFB
for lights with directionality
• Set DOF focus point directly in the VFB (for
• Corona Light Material
Corona Cameras)
— Turns any object into a light
— No render time differences compared to • VFB History and Comparison, with ability to
using a CoronaLight toggle between using the current post-
• 3ds Max native lights processing, or the post-processing at the time
of saving the image to history
• Statistics: render time, remaining time,
ENVIRONMENT performance, polycount, tooltip explanations,
• Drag and drop any texture into the 3ds Max etc.
environment slot to illuminate your scene • Displaying/saving render elements
• No dome object required • Pixel color probe on right mouse button
• Adaptive Environment Sampler ensures fast • Controls: start render/stop render, resume
and accurate sampling of HDRI and Sky last render, resume rendering from file,
environments, without the need for portals save/clone/copy image, etc.
• Importance sampling speeds up rendering • Optional stamp with scene info at the bottom
• Direct/Reflect/Refract overrides of rendered image
• Global material for volumetric effects such as • Customizable information in the title bar
fog (also see Volume Effect under Corona Sky • Interactive and Multiple Render Regions
for an “aerial perspective” instead) • Render Regions scale with the VFB, are saved
with the 3ds Max scene file, and can be
globally disabled or enabled
• Fuzzy render regions
CORONA VIRTUAL FRAME
• Zoom buttons for use when accessing a
BUFFER machine remotely
• An optional, feature-rich replacement for the
3ds Max native VFB
• Integrated Interactive LightMix, allows
changing color and intensity of lights without
re-rendering
• Integrated lens effects offering a high
degree of realism and creativity for bloom &
glare effects affected by lens scratches, dirt,
etc.
• Integrated post-processing effects,
including vignette, sharpening/blurring,
histogram, curves, etc.
 Last update: 21/07/2021
Version: Corona 7
plugin: 3ds Max

CORONA IMAGE EDITOR • Tone mapping parameters respond

• Runs outside of any 3D software immediately in Interactive Rendering without
• All the familiar controls from the Corona VFB restarts
• Adjust lighting in the rendered image using • Render to fisheye, orthographic, perspective,
the full range of LightMix controls (on Corona spherical, cylindrical or cubemap projections
EXRs)
• Apply Denoising (on Corona EXRs)
• Apply all the Corona post-processing options CAMERA EFFECTS
(on any EXR) • High quality (raytraced) depth of field and
• Save and load post-processing motion blur effects
configurations, and exchange those to and • Photographic controls (optional): shutter
from the Corona VFB and Corona Cameras speed + ISO + f-stop
• Save and load LightMix configurations, and • Fisheye lens effects
exchange those to and from the Corona VFB • Bokeh shape
• Bloom & Glare virtual element which can be — Circular
viewed or saved separately — N-gonal (bladed aperture)
• Save to EXR, PNG, JPG and BMP — Custom image
— Center Bias
— Vignetting
— Anisotropy
POST-PROCESSING EFFECTS • Multi-segment (curved) motion blur
• Controlled from render settings, Corona • 3ds Max 2016 Physical Camera support
Camera, or VFB • Virtual Reality Camera
• All settings are adjustable during/after
rendering
• Image updated in real time EXPOSURE AND COLOR
• Bloom & Glare MAPPING
— Both controlled independently
• Controlled from render settings, Corona
— Threshold
Camera, or VFB
— Color intensity & shift to adjust colors
— Glare ray count, blurriness and rotation • All settings are adjustable during/after
— Lens Effects for scratches, dirt, etc. rendering
• Image updated in real time
• Two exposure control modes
CORONA CAMERA — Photographic exposure: shutter speed
+ ISO + f-stop
• Dedicated Corona camera offering all
— Simple exposure: single EV value
standard camera controls plus all Corona
controls such as exposure, DOF, motion blur,
LUTs etc.
• Set focus distance using a static or animated
target object
• Per-camera object includes / excludes
• Customizable viewport appearance
• Save and load post-processing
configurations, and exchange those to and
from the Corona VFB and Corona Image
Editor
 Last update: 21/07/2021
Version: Corona 7
plugin: 3ds Max

EXPOSURE AND COLOR • Masking elements

— Wire color
MAPPING (contd.)
— Primitive/Material/Object ID
• Additional settings — Option to propagate masks through
— Contrast reflection, refraction, both, or none
— Highlight compression — Custom mask
— Filmic Highlights • Object selection
— Filmic Shadows • Material G-buffer ID
— Color tint • Object G-buffer ID
— Saturation
• Shading elements
— White balance
— Albedo, individual direct/indirect BRDF
— Green-magenta tint components, raw components, source
— LUTs with opacity adjustment colors, shadows, caustics, Bloom & Glare
— Custom curves for overall brightness, and • Informational elements
individual RGB
— RenderStamp, SamplingFocus
— Sharpening/Blurring (both can be used at
the same time, to reduce “pixel-perfect” • Arbitrary texmap elements
noise) — Ambient occlusion
— Wire shader
— Vertex colors

CORONA CAMERA MOD

• Legacy Camera object modifier for
backwards compatibility
DISTRIBUTED RENDERING
• Slaves can join or quit the render session after
• Allows setting Corona exposure/DOF/ motion
it has started
blur/bloom & glare/color mapping on any
• Auto discovery of slaves on local network
camera
• Auto sending of assets to all machines (only if
required)
• Pass, Time and Noise Level limits can be used
RENDER ELEMENTS • Can be enabled / disabled during rendering
• Arbitrary number of render elements
• Optional render elements anti-aliasing
• Optional render elements Denoising (where
relevant)
CORONA OFFICIAL TOOLBAR
• Provides one-click access to many Corona
• Beauty element, with independent Denoise
Renderer functions, such as creating a Corona
amount
Camera from the current perspective view,
• Alpha element
opening the VFB, opening the Material
• Beauty composition elements
Library, creating Corona Scatters, Proxies and
— Direct, indirect, reflect, refract,
translucency, emission, caustics, Lights, etc.
volumetrics
• Geometry elements
— Geometry normals, shading normals,
primitive coordinates, UVW coordinates,
CORONA UNIFIED LISTER
world position, z-depth, Velocity render • A single Lister tool that provides access to
element and control over all Corona Lights and Corona
Scatters in the scene.
 Last update: 21/07/2021
Version: Corona 7
plugin: 3ds Max

GEOMETRY SUPPORTED 3DS MAX

• CoronaProxy FEATURES
— Cross-platform proxy format – .cgeo • Most texmaps
— Faster save/load/display of large scenes — Including Bitmap, Camera Map Per Pixel,
— Compressed format to save disk space Cellular, Checker, ColorCorrection,
— Supports animated meshes Composite, Dent, Falloff, Gradient,
• CoronaScatter Gradient Ramp, Marble, Mix, Noise,
— Fast and simple scattering tool Output, Particle Age, Perlin Marble, RGB
— Supports multiple distribution and Multiply, RGB Tint, Smoke, Speckle, Splat,
scattered objects Stucco, Vertex Color, Waves, Wood
— Supports scattering on splines • 3ds Max standard/photometric lights
— Supports scattering in regular patterns — Including soft shadows via
— Random translation/rotation/scaling of CoronaShadows
instances, with optional discrete stepped • 3ds Max render switches
values — Disabling Displacement, Render Hidden
— Different modes for using maps to control Geometry, Renderable, Object Visibility,
scatter scale, including RGB mode to etc.
define x, y and z scaling independently in • XRef geometry/scenes
one map
• 2D Pan Zoom Mode
— Supports aligning instances to local
normal • Render to Texture (RTT) basic support;
— Supports millions of instances denoising RTT results is supported
— Textured density, scale
— Vertex paint support
— Optionally avoids object intersections, MISC
with tweakable inter-object spacing
• 2.5 D Displacement
— Fast generation and viewport preview
— New default displacement calculation
using multiple threads
method, which saves significant memory
— Included Unified Lister plugin to easily and parsing times
access and control all scatters in a scene
• Asynchronous loading
• CoronaVolumeGrid
— CoronoBitmap and Proxies are now
— Allows loading and rendering of loaded in the background, allowing faster
OpenVDB files scene opening
— Useful for importing simulations such as
• V-Ray compatibility
clouds, smoke, fire, liquids, etc.
— Supports assets from V-Ray 3.60 or newer
(assets from older versions may work, but
not guaranteed)
VR — Renders VRayMtl and VRayLight, even if V-
• Corona Camera can render to spherical or Ray is not licensed or not installed,
without running any sort of conversion
cubemap format, supporting a wide range
• Hair and Fur support
of VR apps
— 3ds Max native Hair and Fur
• Easy setup, with default settings handling — Ephere Ornatrix
99% of cases — HairFarm
• Conventional stereo rendering (non-360) — Hair rendering both as billboards or as full
• Bloom & Glare supported for spherical VR cylindrical geometry
images • Phoenix FD support
— Supports Phoenix FD 3.10.00 or newer
(3.10.03 required for compatibility with
Interactive Rendering)
— Supports Foam
— List of known current Volumetric FX
limitations
 Last update: 21/07/2021
Version: Corona 7
plugin: 3ds Max

MISC (contd.) • Comprehensive support for file formats

• Corona Displacement Modifier — CoronaBitmap supports Kodak Cineon,
SGI file, RLA image file, Adobe PSD
— Allows setting per-object Subdivision
Reader, and DDS image file formats, as
Quality
well as all the more common formats
— Adaptive displacement, with low memory
(JPG, PNG, etc.)
requirements
— CoronaVFB supports saving to the most
— All displacement features and settings
common formats, including .TIF with
that are available in a CoronaMaterial
specified output color depth, alpha
• Advanced “Render Selected” channel, etc.
— Render mask by an include list, object ID, • Save and resume
or viewport selection
— Ability to save VFB and resume rendering
• Improved Color Picker later (even on a different computer)
— Can be set to replace default 3ds Max • Render only elements
color picker
— Computes render elements in seconds
— sRGB mode for ease of use with without doing shading
Photoshop and similar; can be disabled
for a linear workflow
• Autosave
— Optionally saving the VFB every few
— Perceptually uniform color gradients in
minutes and after rendering. Rendering
both modes
can be resumed from these backups
— Color selection by Temperature
— Adjustable averaging of neighboring • Bundled LUTs
pixels — Over 70 LUTs included with the install
— Inverse color picker allows setting of • Bundled IES profiles
white balance in combination with the — Sample IES files included
Color Tint parameter in the VFB • UI supports HiDPI monitors
• Error reporting with online help
— Error messages linked to dedicated
support pages with more info and
possible solutions
— Automatic selection of the offending
object
— Automatic correction of certain errors
— Error message forwarding from render
slaves in DR
• Corona Converter
— One-click solution to convert materials,
lights, and maps from other renderers,
and from older versions of Corona
Renderer
• Improved material editor scene
— More representative previews
• Override material option (with
excludes/includes; options to preserve
displacement, light materials, glass materials,
portals, and unsupported materials; also
works for multi/sub-object materials)