Corona Renderer Elements Manager

Render elements in the Corona Renderer Render Elements tab are used to separate different aspects of the rendering process into individual passes. They provide additional control and flexibility during the post-processing stage. By rendering specific elements separately, such as diffuse, specular, reflections, shadows, and ambient occlusion, you can have more precise control over each element in the final composition.

Here is a list of Corona Renderer render elements and their descriptions:

CESSENTIAL_Direct - Render element that shows the light source that was directly reflected only once in the scene before entering the camera lens.

CESSENTIAL_Emission - Render element that displays light sources that emit light directly into the camera lens without any reflections (visible light sources/environment of the scene).

CESSENTIAL_Indirect - Render element that represents the light source that has been reflected at least twice in the scene before reaching the camera lens.

CESSENTIAL_Reflect - Render element that highlights 3D objects in the scene that have reflection properties. In simple terms, it is a convenient render element for manipulating reflections on objects in your scene.

CESSENTIAL_Refract - Render element that highlights 3D objects in the scene that have refraction properties. It is a useful render element for manipulating refractions on objects in your scene.

CESSENTIAL_Translucency - Render element that displays translucent illumination penetrating through semi-transparent 3D objects (such as fabrics, thin plastic, vegetation, etc.).

CESSENTIAL_Volumetrics - Render element that displays volumetric scattering. In other words, it is useful in 3D scenes where cloud effects, fog, or large clusters of dust clouds are present.

CGeometry_NormalsDotProduct - Render element that displays the angle between the surface normal and the direction of the lighting ray. Similar to a Falloff map, this render element will turn all surfaces facing the camera directly into white and surfaces facing away from the camera into black.

CGeometry_NormalsGeometry - Render element that displays surface normals as color values. The surfaces are displayed without smoothing groups and irregularities (Bump maps).

CGeometry_NormalsShading - Render element that displays surface normals as color values. The surfaces will be displayed in their final form with shading based on the lighting, as well as with bump effects and smoothing groups.

CGeometry_UvwCoords - Render element that displays surfaces with the selected channel. It is useful for identifying mapping discontinuities of objects (such objects will be colored black).

Channel ID - Parameter that allows selecting the channel for viewing the corresponding polygon mapping.

CGeometry_Velocity - Render element that displays information about the movement speed of 3D objects in the scene (the actual movement is represented in RGB colors). It is a useful element for working with motion blur effects without the need for re-rendering.

Mode - Parameter that allows choosing one of two display modes for velocity.

Camera - Displays movement relative to the camera in the scene (your screen). Rightward movement is marked in red, and upward movement is marked in green.

World - Displays the movement of the 3D object in world coordinate space. XYZ coordinates are represented as RGB colors. Camera movement is ignored in this mode.

Multiplier - Parameter that allows adjusting the coefficient that increases or decreases the speed.

Offset - Parameter that adjusts the offset on the image.

CGeometry_WorldPosition - This render element displays the positions of objects in the scene as RGB colors based on their XYZ coordinates.

CGeometry_ZDepth - This render element displays the Z-buffer channel with adjustable minimum white and maximum black values. Objects farther away from the camera will appear darker, while those closer will appear whiter.

Clip output to 0-1 range - When enabled, the camera range will be taken into account from 0 to 1.

Use camera environment range - When enabled, the camera range in the scene's environment will be used.

Min Z (white) - The minimum distance value at which 3D objects will be colored white.

Max Z (black) - The maximum distance value at which 3D objects will be colored black.

Override enviro distance - When enabled, the distance to the scene's environment will be overwritten with the value specified by you.

CInfo_NetworkRenderDebugging - This render element displays the render node where distributed rendering is taking place (multiple computers rendering simultaneously). It is useful for troubleshooting issues with computers participating in the rendering process.

CInfo_RenderStamp - This render element displays various rendering statistics (CPU model, number of passes, rendering time, etc.) It can be useful if you want to keep track of such information about the rendered image.

CInfo_SamplingFocus - This render element displays how sample elements are distributed across the image during rendering. Brighter areas indicate a higher number of samples, while darker areas indicate fewer samples. The image with this element is updated only every 5 rendering passes during visualization.

Intensity - This parameter allows you to adjust the intensity of the displayed render element.

CMasking_ID - This render element displays objects of a specific type in the frame using random colors. It is a useful tool for post-processing in software like Photoshop (e.g., changing color, contrast, hue, etc.) without the need for re-rendering. You can choose one of four options in the "What ID to display" parameter:

• Primitive ID - Displays each primitive in the scene with a different color.
• Material ID - Displays each material in the scene with a different color.
• Instance ID - Displays each 3D object in the scene with a different color.
• Geometry group ID - Displays each geometry group in the scene with a different color.

CMasking_Mask - This render element allows you to create custom masks for objects in the scene.

CMasking_WireColor - This render element displays 3D objects in the scene using the default wire color set when creating the object in 3ds Max.

CShading_Albedo - This render element displays the Albedo level in your 3D scene.

CShading_Alpha - This render element duplicates the built-in alpha channel for separate saving.

CShading_Beauty - This render element displays the standard image without any effects. Its distinctive feature is the ability to combine the following effects for comparison:

• Denoise amount - Adjusts the level of image denoising.
• Apply bloom - Activates the light bloom effect on the image.
• Apply glare - Activates the glare effect on the image.

CShading_BloomGlare - This render element displays the light bloom and glare on a black background for further post-processing in Photoshop.

Apply bloom - Activates the light bloom effect on the image.

Apply glare - Activates the glare effect on the image.

CShading_Caustics - This render element displays only the reflected and refracted caustics. It is a convenient element for working with caustics during image post-processing.

Apply bloom - Activates the light bloom effect on the image.

Apply glare - Activates the glare effect on the image.

CShading_Components - This render element displays some of the aforementioned render elements with the ability to adjust and enable them using checkboxes in the settings subsection.

CShading_LightMix - This render element displays all the parameters applied in the separate Corona LightMix tool.

Apply bloom - Activates the light bloom effect on the image.

Apply glare - Activates the glare effect on the image.

CShading_LightSelect - This render element displays the light sources in the scene that have been added to the active list in the settings. It facilitates manual light post-processing.

CShading_RawComponent - This render element displays the "raw" lighting on the image without color/textures on object surfaces. The "Which raw lighting component to show" parameter allows you to choose which lighting component to display on the image:

• Diffuse - Diffuse light.
• Refract - Refracted light.
• Reflect - Reflected light.
• Translucency - Translucent light.

CShading_Shadows - This render element displays shadows as white on the image.

CShading_SourceColor - This render element displays the color of the selected component in the "Which color/texture to show" parameter below:

• Diffuse - Diffuse color.
• Refract - Refracted color.
• Reflect - Reflected color.
• Translucency - Translucent color.
• Opacity - Opaque color.

CTexmap - This render element displays any texture map added in the settings below.

Conclusions

So, we have covered all the render elements of Corona Renderer in 3ds Max. Each of them has its own application and will help facilitate your work with the rendering engine and subsequent post-processing. However, remember that it is not necessary to add all the elements at once, hoping that they will be useful to you someday. Each of them to some extent burdens your computer and thus slows down the rendering process. Therefore, only add the elements that you will actually need after completing the rendering.

It is important to use render elements wisely according to the specific needs of your project and desired effects. Some elements can be particularly useful for post-processing in programs like Photoshop, where you can modify colors, contrast, add effects, etc., without the need for re-rendering.

Some general recommendations:

• If you have limited resources or want faster rendering, consider using only the essential render elements that are necessary for your desired output.
• Experiment with different combinations of render elements to achieve the desired look and flexibility in post-processing.
• Keep in mind that adding more render elements can increase the complexity of the rendering process and require more time and computational power.
• Regularly monitor and optimize your render settings and elements to achieve the best balance between quality and efficiency.

Remember, the goal is to use render elements strategically to enhance your workflow and achieve the desired visual results efficiently.