Redshift, a powerful GPU-accelerated renderer, built to meet the specific demands of contemporary high-end production rendering, has several exciting updates. NVIDIA RTX ray tracing in Redshift is now fully supported with OptiX 7.2, providing further performance boosts. Rendered in Redshift with OptiX. IRender Cloud GPU Server Rendering Service & CPU/GPU Render Farm Service 5-10 times cheaper than AWS or any other competitor. Our powerful, dedicated GPU servers (1/6/12 x Gpu RTX 3080/3090/2080Ti ) in the cloud are at your disposalfor GPU 3d Rendering, processing Big Data, or any other GPU intensive task. Optimize for (Redshift, Octane, Blender etc.) Multi-GPU Rendering Tasks. Cinema4d Redshift Tools command to clear baked textures cache Improved RenderView toolbar behavior when the window is smaller than the required space RS Proxy Export Options in Render Settings LOP node Re-introduced MatteShadowCatcher features: AO, Reflection fog and alpha.

Redshift Rendering Technologies co-founder Rob Slater previews some of the new features due in Redshift in a presentation at Siggraph 2018. The firm has just released the first experimental builds of Redshift 3.0.

Originally posted on 31 May 2019. Scroll down for news of the latest experimental 3.x release.

Redshift Rendering Technologies has released the first experimental builds of Redshift 3.0: its first major update to the GPU renderer since being acquired by Maxon earlier this year.

The update introduces early support for hardware-accelerated ray tracing via Nvidia’s new RTX architecture, increases the renderer’s maximum trace depth, and improves support for AOVs.

The experimental builds – they aren’t feature-complete or production-ready, so they’re effectively alphas – are available only to existing users, and cover all of Redshift’s host DCC applications.

In current builds: early support for hardware-accelerated ray tracing on Nvidia RTX GPUs
Major changes in Redshift 3.0 include preliminary support for hardware-accelerated ray tracing via Nvidia’s new RTX hardware architecture, available in its Quadro, Titan and GeForce RTX GPUs.

The implementation is currently “not on 100% parity” with the existing ray tracer, but supports “the majority of features” and results in an increase in render speed in most scenes.

According to Redshift, the “typical worst-case scenario” is simply that scenes do “not render that much faster” with the new implementation than the legacy ray tracer.

In current builds: increased trace depths, better handling of AOVs
Other changes include support for higher trace depths when rendering: Redshift now supports up to 64 diffuse, reflection, refraction bounces and 256 transparency levels.

As well as improving the visual quality of renders, the engine’s rendering core has been sped up “by a good few percentage points” to handle the increased number of calculations required.

The update also improves handling of Arbitrary Output Variable (AOV) render passes, with lighting-related AOVs like diffuse and specular now being visible through transparency and refraction effects.

In future releases: automatic sampling, OSL support, new real-time rendering mode
Other upcoming features include a new automatic sampling system, partly implemented in the experimental builds, and described as “one of the [highest]-priority items” for future releases.

Redshift is also working on support for Open Shading Language; “full” support for OpenColorIO, including for texture maps; and better handling of Deep EXR images, including support for VDB volumetrics.

Work is also continuing on Redshift RT, a new ‘real-time’ render mode.

In practice, that means renders will complete “several times faster” than normal, not literally be generated at 30fps, and advanced features like ray traced DoF and motion blur “will very likely be missing”.

Redshift says that it hopes “to be able to at least tease something in the next few months”.

Updates to Redshift for Cinema 4D
In the wake of the Maxon deal, Redshift’s Cinema 4D plugin is also set for some significant updates, including better preview rendering and scattering workflow, and better handling of C4D’s native scene scale.

Redshift also plans to support Cinema 4D’s native noise nodes directly within the renderer: not just in the Cinema 4D edition, but on all of its host applications.

All of Cinema 4D’s 32 procedural noise types, shown in a video recorded by Zeljko Grgic. The new Redshift 3.0.12 update enables users of the renderer’s other host DCC applications to make use of Cinema 4D noises.

Updated 5 December 2019: Redshift Rendering Technologies has released Redshift 3.0.12, the latest experimental build of the renderer, adding the Maxon noise shader.

The release, which Maxon describes as “the first achievement of our collaboration since Maxon’s acquisition of Redshift”, enables users of any host DCC application to use Cinema 4D’s procedural noises.

The build also adds “initial support” for the node-based material system introduced in Cinema 4D R20, although you need Cinema 4D R21.1 to make use of nodal materials in the Redshift plugin.

Since we originally posted this story, previous experimental builds have added experimental support for Redshift interactive preview rendering directly in the Cinema 4D viewport.

Houdini users get support for Redshift as a viewport renderer within Solaris, Houdini 18‘s new look dev and shot layout toolset, available as a separate preview build.

Previous experimental builds of the Houdini plugin have added a range of new features, including better handling of proxies and AOVs; while the Maya plugin has a new option to isolate selected shaders.

Recent changes common to all editions include support for NVLink for geometry data as well as volumes.

NVLink enables users to pool GPU memory across two supported GPUs – currently just Nvidia’s high-end Quadro cards – making it possible to render much larger scenes without a major performance hit.

Updated 26 May 2020: Redshift Rendering Technologies has released Redshift 3.0.21, another significant new experimental build, adding intial support for Cinema 4D’s Sky and Physical Sky objects.

The release also adds supoort for Ornatrix for Maya, Ephere’s popular hair plugin.

Other changes since we last wrote about the software include support for tyFlow, Tyson Ibele’s next-gen replacement for 3ds Max’s Particle Flow toolset, and for gaseous fluid simulation tool FumeFX.

In addition, the Altus render denoiser, previously available as a $149 add-on, is now included free with the software, following the closure of innoBright, its developer.

According to Redshift, the integrated version is CUDA-based, and is faster than the previous OpenCL version. Both single- and multi-frame denoising are supported.

Updated 28 July 2020: Redshift Rendering Technologies has released Redshift 3.0.24.

Since the last update to this story, the new Hydra render delegate, which enables Redshift to run as a viewport renderer in Houdini, has gained support for proxies and proxy instancing.

In addition, Maxon has shown off previews of Redshift RT, the new near-real-time render engine, and Redshift running on Metal on current Mac hardware.

You watch videos of Redshift RT, Redshift on Metal and Redshift for Blender, the upcoming Blender integration plugin, in a separate story.

Updated 15 September 2020: Redshift Rendering Technologies has released Redshift 3.0.28.

The features added since our last update have been mainly workflow and performance improvements, and support for the latest versions of Redshift’s host apps.

However, the big change is that version 3.0.28 is available as a public demo, making it possible for new users to test the functionality from the entire series of Redshift 3.0 releases for the first time.

Pricing and system requirements
Redshift 3.0 is available as an experimental preview for Windows, Linux and macOS. Redshift hasn’t yet announced an official release date.

The current stable release, Redshift 2.6, costs $500 for a node-locked licence; $600 for a floating licence.

Integration plugins are available for 3ds Max 2014+, Cinema 4D R16+, Houdini 16.5+, Katana 2.6v1+ and Maya 2014+. There is also a plugin for Softimage, although it’s no longer officially supported as a host app.

Read a full list of new features in the Redshift 3.0 builds on the Redshift forum
(Note: you need a free user account to view the board)

Tags: 3ds max, Altus, AOV, AOVs, API, Blender, Cinema 4D, Cinema 4D noise shader, Cinema 4D R20, CInema 4D R21, Cinema 4D R21 service release, Cinema 4D R21.1, CUDA, Deep EXR, demo, DeNoiser, ephere, FumeFX, GeForce RTX, GPU renderer, GPU rendering, hair, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, Houdini, Houdini 18, Houdini packed proxy, Hydra, Hydra delegate, innoBright, Isolate Selected, Katana, macOS, Maxon, Maya, Metal, new features, node-based materials, noise, NVIDIA, NVLink, OCIO, Open Shading Language, OpenColorIO, OpenEXR, Ornatrix, OSL, Particle Flow, particle system, physical sky, price, procedural noise, proxies, Quadro RTX, ray tracing, Redshift, Redshift 3.0, Redshift 3.0.12, Redshift 3.0.21, Redshift 3.0.24, Redshift 3.0.28, Redshift Rendering Technologies, Redshift RT, RedshiftRT, release date, render denoising, rendering, RTX, Sitni Sati, softimage, Solaris, Titan RTX, trace depth, Trial Edition, tyFlow, VDB, Viewport IPR, viewport rendering, volumetric

Let’s Talk Render Engines: Octane vs Corona vs Redshift

There are multiple different methods for rendering 3D scenes these days, from built-in systems such as MentalRay or Arnold in Maya, to the magic spouting from Cinema4D. Other engines have popped up alongside these more mainstream systems, each boasting a long list of projects and accomplishments, and also a similarly realistic end-product.

When seeking out a new render engine things can get a tad confusing, though, and a lot of these newer bushy-tailed plugins seem to do a very similar job for those with experience in 3D texturing. A few years ago, those with keen eyes could tell what renderer was used based on what the final product looked like, but these days, the lines are blurred. That means your choice comes down to affordability, usefulness, and what you’re comfortable with. Today, we’re looking at three competitors: Octane, Corona, and Redshift.

CPU/GPU and biased/unbiased

Each one of these rendering engines works on a slightly different mix of CPU/GPU and biased/unbiased. For those who don’t quite know what this implies, here’s a very watered-down explanation:

The CPU is short for ‘central processing unit,’ and up until relatively recently was the main source of rendering power. Arnold, for instance, is a CPU-based renderer. The GPU, or ‘graphics processing unit,’ was originally sold to the public for uses such as 3D game rendering. Artists and programmers (among other unrelated fields) quickly discovered its programmability and potential.

If you have good hardware, a GPU-based rendering engine can spit out renders insanely fast- but again, if you have good hardware, cause that hardware can leave you with a rather large bill or tricky setup process.

Perhaps one of the best explanations of the differences between CPU and GPU processing power is by Kevin Krewell from Nvidia:

“Architecturally, the CPU is composed of just few cores with lots of cache memory that can handle a few software threads at a time. In contrast, a GPU is composed of hundreds of cores that can handle thousands of threads simultaneously.”

Now, onto biased versus unbiased:

• An unbiased renderer does its absolute best to compute your scene and lighting exactly as it is. Error or uncertainty will be rendered as noise, unless given enough time to resolve the errors to mathematical perfection. Arnold, yet again, is a good example, and an engine I’ve personally worked with. I have seen unpleasant graininess in difficult areas, which took a bit of fiddling to rectify.

• Biased renderers, on the other hand, are built for efficiency and speed. If there is an area that the program is uncertain about, it will do some calculations to fill in said area with perhaps a bit of blur or interpolation. Your end render won’t be mathematically perfect, but you’ll get more of them done. Biased renderers are also typically more customizable, and if you know what you’re doing, can produce an end result of similar quality to an unbiased render in a lot less time.

If you were going to match a specific job to these different techniques, I’d say that biased renders are good for high-volume jobs such as film and animation, whereas unbiased renders are good for still images, so they can be perfect. This is, of course, a personal take.

Let’s file this information away and move on to the three render engines in question, though.

Octane

First, we have Octane. On their website, the makers of Octane tout it as ‘the world’s first and fastest GPU-accelerated, unbiased, physically correct renderer’. This means it uses the powerhouse of a GPU to do the longer process of unbiased rendering, which seems like a nice compromise. You’ll need a CUDA enabled NVIDIA video card to use it, though, and they suggest having one of the newer, faster ones.

As for operating systems, the 64-bit version of Windows Vista, 7, 8, and 10 support Octane, as well as the 64-bit versions of Mac OS X and Linux. If you’re unsure about your hardware/software setup, there is a free demo and benchmark tool that will evaluate your computer.

Regarding workflow, Octane supports 21 different plugins, and imports geometry and materials through .obj and .abc formats from your original 3D modelling program (unless Octane itself is being used as a plugin). From there, you adjust the materials and lighting to your liking, keeping an eye on the viewport. Once you’re happy, increase your resolution and render settings. One thing to note is that Octane has a Standalone version, and a plugin to go with it. Unfortunately you can’t just get the plugin and put it in your host 3D program, you need the Standalone, too.

This is where things get a bit sticky with Octane. You need to buy a license for every active computer you use it on, because the software snatches its license from your account and only releases it once you close down the program. Even more complications arise when looking at Octane 3 versus Octane 2, the latter having a difficult and involved license activation process. Price-wise, expect to pay $400 for a single Standalone program, which is necessary to run the plugins. Those cost about +$220 on average if you buy them as a combo.

Despite the video card requirements and somewhat complicated licensing/pricing, Octane has an impressive resume in regards to ability and speed. So far, it has only been used in small projects by teams or individual artists. There’s a great community of these avid fans online, and Octane’s website gallery shows the quality and potential of its render engine. There are some experimental videos by smaller companies such as Bulwark, and a rather impressive animation called Reebot.

Not much can be found about large project involvement, though IAMAG Master Classes did use Octane to render a trailer for 2018.

Corona

Corona is a ‘proudly’ CPU based renderer with unbiased path tracing and biased UHD cache. It has a big material library and looks nice, but here’s the catch: it only works with Autodesk 3DS Max, and even then, that’s only a plugin. There are other program types in development, including Cinema 4D, Blender, and a Standalone version, but those are currently still in alpha.

Fortunately your hardware options are pretty vague and open, the creators say Corona will run on basically any PC that’s 10 years or younger- as long as it’s running Windows, because that’s the only system it will work on right now. Obviously they advise running their renderer on the newest computers, and have a legacy option for the older ones. There’s a little warning label, though, that says those older, legacy versions might chug up to 20% slower.

The software requirements are a bit confusing, since they differ from the currently available plugin to the alpha development versions.

• For Autodesk 3DS Max x64, 2012-2018: 64-bit Microsoft Windows (7, 8, 8.1, 10) (no MacOS). You must have access to administrator privileges. Distributed rendering requires matching Backburner version of program.

• For the alpha Cinema4D version: 64-bit Maxon Cinema4D R14-R19. Again, administrator privileges. 64-bit Microsoft Windows (7, 8, 8.1, 10) OR MacOS 10.7 or newer.

• For the alpha Standalone version: 64-bit Microsoft Windows (7, 8, 8.1, 10)

For those of you who use 3DS Max and can get Corona without jumping through a few hoops, it’s a plugin and supports mostly whatever you throw at it. So, what does this plugin cost? It’s actually a monthly price, set at 24.99 Euros. There’s no cancellation penalty, and you get one floating workstation license + 3 floating render nodes.

This might make it a nicer option for small businesses (if they have 3DS), and to support that, there’s a large artist network online and for festival films. Corona has been used in smaller projects such as:

• Forester project by Andrew Krivulya, a 3D fantasy world that used Corona as its main renderer.

• On My Way music video by Grand Yellow.

• Rendering in the movie Monkey Talks, January 2017.

Redshift

Out of the three render engines here, Redshift seems to be the heaviest hitter regarding company use. It’s a GPU accelerated, biased renderer, and supports a nice selection of 3D programs: Autodesk Maya, Autodesk Softimage, Autodesk 3DS Max, Maxon Cinema4D, and Houdini.

Redshift also works on multiple platforms, which is a bonus:

• Microsoft Word 64-bit (7, 8, 10)
• Linux 64-bit distribution with glibc 2.12 or higher
• MacOS El Capitan (10.11) or higher

The 3D program requirements are listed in detail on Redshift’s website, but for the sake of facilitating access to information, here’s a summary:

• Autodesk Maya (Windows, Linux, MacOS) 64-bit, 2014+
• Autodesk Softimage (Windows) 64-bit 2011+
• Autodesk 3DS Max 64-bit 2013+
• Maxon Cinema4D (Windows, MacOS) 64-bit R16 or higher
• SideFX Houdini (Windows, Linux, MacOS) 64-bit 14.0 or higher
• Katana (Windows, Linux) 64-bit 2.5v4 or higher

Apart from the stringent-yet-lenient software and platform requirements, Redshift is also very specific about its hardware requirements, setting both a minimum requirement and suggested optimal.

Minimum Requirements: 8GB system memory, SSE2 support (Pentium 4 or better) processor, NVIDIA GPU + CUDA 2.0 or higher, 2GB of VRAM, and a single GPU.

Suggested Optimal: 18GB system memory, Core i7 or Xeon equivalent, 3.0GHz or more, NVIDIA GPU + CUDA 5.0+, 8GB of VRAM, and multiple GPUs.

Phew! Ok, that was a lot of information. It’s nice that Redshift lists this, though, and that they developed their program for so many different programs and platforms. So, what does this all-encompassing render engine cost?

Well, you receive one node-locked (or floating) license per machine at $500. For this half-a-grand you get a render engine that does not distinguish between render nodes, and there’s no limit on GPUs (well… not exactly. The limit is 8 before you have to add other computers). If you want more licenses, you can get them for $600 (floating), and must get a minimum of 5. It’s a tad difficult to tell if they mean $600 per extra license, or $600 for all 5. You have to contact their support team to buy that option, anyhow, you can’t just add it to your cart.

Redshift distinguishes itself from the other two render engines when it comes to its claim to public exposure, being used from small teams on passion projects to companies as prominent as Blizzard.

Personally, the most notable films are the ever-popular Overwatch shorts by Blizzard, with millions of views and an avid fanbase. Apart from those, Redshift has been used in:

• Nike commercials
• Empire: Four Kingdoms commercials
• Heineken beer commercials
• Singing Babies for Cadbury commercial
• More Stuff by Blue Zoo Animation short film
• Many, many other short films all over the internet (it’s a very popular render engine)

So, what’s the rundown?

Redshift seems to be the popular, heavy-hitter here, allowing for a wide number of platforms and programs. Depending on how the floating-node-pricing works, it is also the most expensive of the three, and requires a decent computer.

Redshift Rt

Corona is CPU-based, which might make it more accessible for the regular artist. Its low price helps, especially since you get 3 floating nodes with your plugin. The problem with Corona is that unless you dig your fingers in and get the alpha versions of in-development-programs, you’re stuck with 3DS Max, which not everyone has access to without dropping some extra money.

Octane is the interesting child here. It’s very fast, has a good fan base, and a very promising future. You could consider it a breakout program, but it’s been around for 6 years with not much major news compared to Redshift, the other GPU-powered renderer. Buying a single version costs only $100 less than Redshift, but getting extra nodes seems to be less than half the price (again, unsure about Redshift’s pricing). I feel like Octane has a lot of promise, but still needs to catch on.

To be fair, all three of these render engines produce gorgeous final images, and seem to be built for different tiers of production and different purposes. Some are more affordable, and some are built for chugging out large products over many machines. They focus on different strengths of your computer, Redshift and Octane being GPU based and Corona being CPU based. All three have a free trial, so in the end, it may just be down to preference, and what software you already have and are willing to experiment with.

Referenced Articles

Ashley, Chad. “Octane vs Arnold vs Physical – What Renderer is Right for You?” GrayScaleGorilla. March 29, 2016, Acc. March 13, 2018

Krewell, Kevin. “What’s the Difference Between a CPU and a GPU?” NVIDIA. December 16, 2009. Acc. March 13, 2018

Pizzini, Joe. “GPU Rendering vs CPU Rendering – A method to compare render times with empirical benchmarks” Boxx. October 2, 2014. Acc. March 14, 2018

Redshift Plugin

Slick, Justin. “Rendering Terminology Explained” LifeWire. February 19, 2017. Acc. March 13, 2018