Corona Renderer alpha 3 released

Corona is a renderer being developed by Czech artist and programmer Ondrej Karlik. It’s currently in alpha and available as a 3DS Max plugin. Some great images are being created with the renderer, which is already used in architectural visualization projects. The latest version brings the following improvements:

• Motion blur
• Micro-triangle displacement (still somewhat unoptimized)
• Max interface for render elements supported
• Bokeh effect
• Optional custom material editor scene
• Better direct lighting sampling (combined direct light solver)
• Corona Solid texture added (for blackbody emission, HDR color input)
• Corona Mix texture added
• Blend material support
• Added masking render element
• Corona Sun is now supported by the daylight assembly
• CoronaMtl displayed better in viewport, lights are selectable
• Per-material background overrides added
• Interactive documentation for the renderer settings
• UI is better, defunct features hidden, better defaults
• C:/!Corona folder is no longer needed – corona saves logs to default 3DS Max plugin configuration directory
• 3DS Max 2013 support

Corona Renderer is freely available for download, though it’s expected to turn into a commercial project sometime in the future. Check out the renderer’s image gallery, online help/manual and find out more on Corona’s forum (registration is required to download the renderer).