Caustics focus on the patterns of reflected and refracted light commonly found in examples like pool water, diamonds and wine glasses. While important, caustics have traditionally been costly to render, which has led many developers to ignore them for faster render speeds. Using a one-click solution, Chaos Czech has accelerated a process that will mainstream caustics, making them as normal as global illumination is today to artists and designers.

Caustics will work alongside all Corona Renderer features, including LightMix, which will allow artists to adjust caustics, color and light intensity simultaneously. This breakthrough was made thanks to the help of Chaos Research, a newly announced division of Chaos Group led by Chaos Czech co-founder Jaroslav Křivánek that is focused on re-inventing the ways computer graphics are created today.

Other New Features Include:

• Interactive Viewport Enhancements – Artists can now start using Corona IR in any Cinema 4D viewport. Once there, they can select objects; move, scale or rotate objects; or even use camera/perspective movement controls from within the viewport.
• Fisheye Camera – The Corona Camera Tag has been updated with a new fisheye projection mode with all the controls needed to create eye-catching interior and exterior shots.
• Intel AI Denoising – The new Intel AI denoiser is primed for any CPU and final renders. This completes a pipeline that pairs well with the NVIDIA AI Denoiser, previously announced for interactive rendering.
• Layered displacements – Cinema 4D-only feature lets users blend displacements within layered materials with ease.
• True 3D volume materials – “Inside Mode” within the Corona Volume Material now allows for the creation of true 3D volumes and non-heterogenous materials such as fog and mist.
• Multiple Corona Suns – Artists can now create as many Corona Sun light sources as they wish. This is especially effective for creating noon, evening and night images in Corona’s LightMix, as artists can depict multiple times of the day, all from one render.

“Corona has allowed me to take my visuals to a whole new level, doing things that I could have only dreamt of before,” said David Turfitt, CGI Artist & Animator. “With the addition of caustics, I feel like I am now able to capture what my eye has been seeing, but hasn’t been able to express.”

To try Corona Renderer 4 now, please visit the Chaos Czech website.

Pricing & Availability

Corona Renderer 4 is available now for the Mac OS and Windows versions of Cinema 4D, R14-R20. Pricing is subscription-based, with monthly rates set at $28.50 and yearly rates at $330. A free 45-day commercial trial is also available at: https://corona-renderer.com/download.