Hi everyone!

CentiLeo 0.54 for Cinema 4D R16-R19 is ready! Quality becomes better! Bump is much better, however the majority of time was spent on glass+liquid correct IOR handling.

Download link (site registration required): http://centileo.com/forum/forum18/141-download-link-centileo-for-cinema-4d-v0540-alpha

Change Log: cntlc4d 0.541 alpha (2018 January 9)
[core] Fixed bug for CentiLeo in Cinema R19 where animation frames were not recorded.

Change Log: cntlc4d 0.540 alpha (2017 December 18)
[core] Support nested Transmissive refractive objects with different IOR (e.g. liquid in a glass with ice cubes inside). A liquid object geometry must overlap slightly the glass (same as in other modern renderers). The material of liquid object must enable the flag “Is Liquid” (available in cntlMaterial->Transmission menu). Same works with water droplets on the bottle or any other liquid objects that are modeled inside or outside a glass with slight geometry overlapping. This way all relative IORs between refractive mediums will be computed correctly internally.
[core] Added procedural Dirt shader which can enable different colors and material properties on crevices, convex and concave geometry regions. Occluded, Unoccluded and Distance parameters can be textured. Dirt shader can be nested into other Dirt shader.
[core] Fixed bump mapping “terminator” artifacts that can be visible on lowpoly objects and lit by small area light source. User can tune the effect of this fix with “Light Shift” parameter which is available in cntlMaterial->Bump menu for Cinema 4D and in cntlMaterial->Common for 3ds Max. This works for all material properties (diffuse, reflections, etc.).
[core] Fixed reflection artifacts on low poly geometry where smooth normals differ too much from real normals of geometry.
[core] Fixed reflection loss of energy when combined with other material properties such as diffuse or SSS.
[core] Fixed SSS color and weight automatic normalization.
[core] For easy handling in cntlBitmap there is no need to select type of texture “image”, “b/w bump” or “normal map”. This is resolved automatically, except for normal maps where user must enable “Is Normal Map” flag.
[core] Added option “Output Alpha channel” to cntlBitmap. Useful for application with PNG and cntlMaterial->Alpha channel.

Known issues to be solved
- May not initialize if AMD GPU is in your computer together with NVIDIA GPU.
- Very limited scene converter tool from Cinema 4D native materials (only diffuse color and texture are converted and translated if assigned to the object)
- May not support non-latin texture paths.

Important note
We are currently using JUCE library (https://juce.com/) for IPR GUI under Personal license (which is free) for initial testing purpose. In IPR window it will show in the right bottom corner a splash screen for the first start and it dissapears in few sec. It may also connect to Google Analytics to collect end-user stats. Juce guys claim this is nothing bad but stats collection so they know who is using them. However, the plugin works perfectly without any Internet connection.
If everything works well on main technical side then we will buy the full license of JUCE and get rid of these small issues.

Please test and report about any issues in this pack.

Best regards,
Kirgman

Some pic, will make more

Hi everyone!

CentiLeo 0.54 for 3ds Max 2014-2018 is ready! Quality becomes better! Bump is much better, however the majority of time was spent on glass+liquid correct IOR handling.

Download link (site registration required): http://centileo.com/forum/forum13/139-download-link-centileo-for-3ds-max-v0540-alpha

Change Log: cntlmax 0.541 alpha (2017 December 25)
[cntlmax] Fixed various cntlLight bugs (bad GUI when create several lights, not working size of rollout, wrong radius export for spot and sphere shapes).
[cntlmax] Fixed crashing bugs in cntlProxy when input non ”.cntlproxy” files.
[cntlmax] Fixed some export bugs for instancing and Max Compound Scatter objects.
[cntlmax] Fixed IPR bugs not receiving keyboard input for post processing controls.

Change Log: cntlmax 0.540 alpha (2017 December 18)
[core] Support nested Transmissive refractive objects with different IOR (e.g. liquid in a glass with ice cubes inside). A liquid object geometry must overlap slightly the glass (same as in other modern renderers). The material of liquid object must enable the flag “Is Liquid” (available in cntlMaterial->Transmission menu). Same works with water droplets on the bottle or any other liquid objects that are modeled inside or outside a glass with slight geometry overlapping. This way all relative IORs between refractive mediums will be computed correctly internally.
[core] Added procedural Dirt shader which can enable different colors and material properties on crevices, convex and concave geometry regions. Occluded, Unoccluded and Distance parameters can be textured. Dirt shader can be nested into other Dirt shader.
[core] Fixed bump mapping “terminator” artifacts that can be visible on lowpoly objects and lit by small area light source. User can tune the effect of this fix with “Light Shift” parameter which is available in cntlMaterial->Bump menu for Cinema 4D and in cntlMaterial->Common for 3ds Max. This works for all material properties (diffuse, reflections, etc.).
[core] Fixed reflection artifacts on low poly geometry where smooth normals differ too much from real normals of geometry.
[core] Fixed reflection loss of energy when combined with other material properties such as diffuse or SSS.
[core] Fixed SSS color and weight automatic normalization.
[core] For easy handling in cntlBitmap there is no need to select type of texture “image”, “b/w bump” or “normal map”. This is resolved automatically, except for normal maps where user must enable “Is Normal Map” flag.
[core] Added option “Output Alpha channel” to cntlBitmap. Useful for application with PNG and cntlMaterial->Alpha channel.

Important note
We are currently using JUCE library (https://juce.com/) for IPR GUI under Personal license (which is free) for initial testing purpose. In IPR window it will show in the right bottom corner a splash screen for the first start and it dissapears in few sec. It may also connect to Google Analytics to collect end-user stats. Juce guys claim this is nothing bad but stats collection so they know who is using them. However, the plugin works perfectly without any Internet connection.
If everything works well on main technical side then we will buy the full license of JUCE and get rid of these small issues.

GPU Drivers
Please, install modern NVIDIA display drivers. E.g. at least 372.70 or one of the newest.

Adjust GPU Rendering Low-priority settings
Can be found in CentiLeo Renderer Settings -> Hardware Settings.
Low-priority flags are ON by default in IPR mode for ALL GPUs. For fluent work in IPR mode it’s HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to keep enabled “low-priority” setting for DISPLAY GPU and switch if OFF for other render GPUs which are not connected to the monitor. Low-priority option is useful for display GPU because it is used to display the elements and models of 3D Viewport and OS.
If you have many GPUs in one computer then Display GPU can be excluded from IPR render to have less competition between Viewport and CentiLeo for Display GPU, this can improve the system feedback overall.

Please test and report about any issues in this pack.
Best regards,
Kirgman

Quote
Daniel Westlund wrote: Locking forward to it //D

All the weekend continued development, and can upload new release just now
I have looked just today at the bug with Max compound object scatter. It happend because 3ds Max API function GetInstances returns not only instances but also references which can evaluate to different geometry actually. Will need to fix it with more attention not to break IPR geometry/instancing accounting, needs experiments because 3ds Max API/forums don't always have needed info. So, now will release new build with this bug and later fix it.

Hi Daniel, it seems in about few days. Trying to make it before weekend. It will contain a bit more than planned, e.g. quite some time was spent on bump mapping artifact elimination for low poly things, also glass+liquid was a challenging and nice task

Hi Daniel, thanks for reporting about it! Will try to fix it. Don't hesitate to report about any problems in the renderer.
Btw, there will be release (something around 0.61) dedicated to scatters. At least would like to connect with MultiScatter and ForestPack and maybe do something else with that

Quote
Aimar NL_21 wrote: ok i install Arnold and work without any issue . about Lod if i change camera distance ( screen size H) object change from Full object to concex Hull but in centileo ( Ipr , pv ) nothing change . new Polygon Reduction just reduce Polygon count and preserve uv and 3d boundaries

1) I have fixed the issue with Polygon Reduction.
2) But not yet fixed the issue with a LOD. C4D produces several LOD-objects and doesn't provide which one we should be displayed and this is unclear when we have object hierarchies under LOD. Actually this LOD trick is not needed in a renderer based on ray tracing (the LOD will save nothing because ray tracers are logarithmic depending on geometry complexity). But it's needed for rasterization based renderer inside C4D viewport. Will investigate this issue in some future to find a way for proper LOD selection for renderer.

Polygon Reduction and few other fixes will be uploaded soon. Just need to fix some problem for transmissive inside transmissive object with absorption thing (when we model a liquid inside glass).

Quote
Aimar NL_21 wrote: Lod doesn't work in both ipr and pic viewer ( current level not change ) . new Polygon Reduction doesn't show up in IPR only in pic viewer .

Hi Aimar!
Pls, can you describe what these features should do inside the renderer? I never used them, probably it's the limitation of C4D but maybe we may overcome it.
CentiLeo IPR behaves like PV if you enable FIN GEO btw (but supports only material and camera updates).

Hello everyone!

Available CentiLeo 0.53 for 3ds Max 2014-2018!
We have updated CentiLeo material system completely. The GUI and settings remain the same but the models of reflections, refractions, SSS, absorptions have all been updated to improve the quality and paramter response.
E.g. SSS have become correct and 10x faster (not a big deal because it was very slow before). But now it looks like diffuse if subsurdace scatter radius = 0 and shows logical behavior when increase the radiuses and combine the channels.
We have also intelligently killed the fireflies that could be seen through several glossy-glossy surface reflections using much smarter new GI Clamp algorithm.

Download link: http://centileo.com/forum/forum13/137-download-link-centileo-for-3ds-max-v0530-alpha

Change Log: cntlmax 0.530 alpha (2017 November 20)
[core] Subsurface Scattering is correct now and has 10x faster noise reduction due to improved maths. The speed of SSS is close to diffuse. Same as before it is based on 3 layers.
[core] GGX anisotropic reflections and refractions. Better looking highlights and fast. Some old scenes with rough reflections may seem to render slower 5-10%, but this is due to different look and changed highlights, the speed isn’t really degraded.
[core] Faster (less noisy) rough glass and shadows under rough glass due to better maths.
[core] Fixed Absorption parameters. They now affect transmissive and translucent objects and also their shadows.
[core] Improved quality of GI Clamp params. They now preserve glossy highlights better and kill the hotspots a lot smarter while keeping the highlights. Default GI Clamp values of 10 are very good if final post production image exposure is 0.
[core] Added “Expected Exposure” parameter that should be similar to the post production planned exposure. This is useful in cases when the lighting is very low in the scene and then user compensates it increasing the post exposure. In this case to make GI Clamp params and noise detector more efficient just set Expected Exposure similar to Post Exposure (+-1). Efficiently tuned GI Clamp and Noise detector may accelerate image rendering.

Known issues to be solved
- May not initialize if AMD GPU is in your computer together with NVIDIA GPU.
- Very limited scene converter tool from other renderers (only diffuse property and textures from Standard material and Vray material)
- UVW mapping change of parameters may not be accounted by IPR scene auto update mode. To be solved.

Important note
We are currently using JUCE library (https://juce.com/) for IPR GUI under Personal license (which is free) for initial testing purpose. In IPR window it will show in the right bottom corner a splash screen for the first start and it dissapears in few sec. It may also connect to Google Analytics to collect end-user stats. Juce guys claim this is nothing bad but stats collection so they know who is using them. However, the plugin works perfectly without any Internet connection.
If everything works well on main technical side then we will buy the full license of JUCE and get rid of these small issues.

GPU Drivers
Please, install modern NVIDIA display drivers. E.g. at least 372.70 or one of the newest.

Adjust GPU Rendering Low-priority settings
Can be found in CentiLeo Renderer Settings -> Hardware Settings.
Low-priority flags are ON by default in IPR mode for ALL GPUs. For fluent work in IPR mode it’s HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to keep enabled “low-priority” setting for DISPLAY GPU and switch if OFF for other render GPUs which are not connected to the monitor. Low-priority option is useful for display GPU because it is used to display the elements and models of 3D Viewport and OS.
If you have many GPUs in one computer then Display GPU can be excluded from IPR render to have less competition between Viewport and CentiLeo for Display GPU, this can improve the system feedback overall.

Pls, make the tests and send us feedback!
Kirgman

Hello everyone!

Available CentiLeo 0.53 for Cinema 4D R16-R19!
We have updated CentiLeo material system completely. The GUI and settings remain the same but the models of reflections, refractions, SSS, absorptions have all been updated to improve the quality and paramter response.
E.g. SSS have become correct and 10x faster (not a big deal because it was very slow before). But now it looks like diffuse if subsurdace scatter radius = 0 and shows logical behavior when increase the radiuses and combine the channels.
We have also intelligently killed the fireflies that could be seen through several glossy-glossy surface reflections using much smarter new GI Clamp algorithm.

Download link: http://centileo.com/forum/forum18/135-download-link-centileo-for-cinema-4d-v0530-alpha

Change Log: cntlc4d 0.530 alpha (2017 November 20)
[core] Subsurface Scattering is correct now and has 10x faster noise reduction due to improved maths. The speed of SSS is close to diffuse. Same as before it is based on 3 layers.
[core] GGX anisotropic reflections and refractions. Better looking highlights and fast. Some old scenes with rough reflections may seem to render slower 5-10%, but this is due to different look and changed highlights, the speed isn’t really degraded.
[core] Faster (less noisy) rough glass and shadows under rough glass due to better maths.
[core] Fixed Absorption parameters. They now affect transmissive and translucent objects and also their shadows.
[core] Improved quality of GI Clamp params. They now preserve glossy highlights better and kill the hotspots a lot smarter while keeping the highlights. Default GI Clamp values of 10 are very good if final post production image exposure is 0.
[core] Added “Expected Exposure” parameter that should be similar to the post production planned exposure. This is useful in cases when the lighting is very low in the scene and then user compensates it increasing the post exposure. In this case to make GI Clamp params and noise detector more efficient just set Expected Exposure similar to Post Exposure (+-1). Efficiently tuned GI Clamp and Noise detector may accelerate image rendering.

Known issues to be solved
- May not initialize if AMD GPU is in your computer together with NVIDIA GPU.
- Very limited scene converter tool from Cinema 4D native materials (only diffuse color and texture are converted and translated if assigned to the object)
- May not support non-latin texture paths.

Important note
We are currently using JUCE library (https://juce.com/) for IPR GUI under Personal license (which is free) for initial testing purpose. In IPR window it will show in the right bottom corner a splash screen for the first start and it dissapears in few sec. It may also connect to Google Analytics to collect end-user stats. Juce guys claim this is nothing bad but stats collection so they know who is using them. However, the plugin works perfectly without any Internet connection.
If everything works well on main technical side then we will buy the full license of JUCE and get rid of these small issues.

GPU Drivers
Please, install modern NVIDIA display drivers. E.g. at least 372.70 or one of the newest.

Adjust GPU Rendering Low-priority settings
Can be found in CentiLeo Renderer Settings -> Hardware Settings.
Low-priority flags are ON by default in IPR mode for ALL GPUs. For fluent work in IPR mode it’s HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to keep enabled “low-priority” setting for DISPLAY GPU and switch if OFF for other render GPUs which are not connected to the monitor. Low-priority option is useful for display GPU because it is used to display the elements and models of 3D Viewport and OS.
If you have many GPUs in one computer then Display GPU can be excluded from IPR render to have less competition between Viewport and CentiLeo for Display GPU, this can improve the system feedback overall.

Pls, make the tests and send us feedback!
Kirgman

Quote
Daniel Westlund wrote: Actually I´m not sure there is a renderer that can do it in max. Maybe on smaller scenes.

The future research on this topic will reply. Sometimes the problem is with 3ds Max itself. E.g. it delivers mesh polygons quite slowly compared e.g. to C4D.

Quote
Thank you for this renderer, all though limited right now I like to use it and even planing a future project for it.

The overall internal development TODO list has almost 200 items to make
After 0.53 release on GGX and SSS I will work on dirt and curvemap shaders, then displacements and then mesh lights. And later would like to fix that bump problems. Then should make more noise shaders, uv projection manipulations and optimize renderer overall at 0.6 release. And later move on other important things.

Quote
Daniel Westlund wrote: I read in the plan that you will do something to the bump map. It is very sensitive right now and you start to see the actual geometry- polygons if you crank it up. Is this something you will work on?

Yes, the bump is important e.g. for carpaint flakes. We must improve it.
I have noticed that some renderers hide the bump mapping artifacts just shifting the diffuse shadows so that problematic areas with bump are hidden under shadow and lit area of surface is a bit narrow. Maybe it's good like that, at least looks ok.

Hi Daniel, I think that if someone on CPU can make deform MB on animated p-flow particles then we will find the ways to do it too.

The fact is that there was just the first version with MB and there will be other updates with MB improvements later.

I haven't yet tested any particles or p-flow with CentiLeo, but the plan is to work on this later of course. E.g. there will be special features/routines to work with very many particles in more efficient way.

Quote
hubert higgletron wrote: I don`t have any material editor/browser open just default loaded 3dsmax and render dialog window, change renderer to centileo and bang, I don`t even see the settings window, it crashes as soon as I choose the centileo renderer.

So it means this problem is related to 2 potential reasons: 1) latest build of CUDA8 not supporting a dinosaur GPU or 2) the driver is old for CUDA8 (most likely).
Will be looking for your tests! After 0.60 release new demos, updated docs and few videos will come out. Even today CentiLeo looks much better, faster than on currently published demos

Did you have material editor or material browser opened while changing a renderer?

The specs are nice, except of the GPU which is from 2010. However, it should still at least work.
Pls, try to update the Nvidia display drivers to at least 372.70 or higher. This driver update is needed because we build CentiLeo with CUDA8 and it is needed for latest generation GTX1080 and other gpus from 10xx.

Btw, in latest CUDA9 release notes Nvidia says that soon it will abandon CUDA support for old GPUs (compute capability 2.x) such as GTX4xxx, GTX5xx and Quadro 4000 (from these years).
The best recommendation for CentiLeo is 10xx series GPUs like 1060, 1070, 1080. While 2GB GPUs should also work but they may face some problems if the 3ds Max viewport or OS (with large monitor) grabs GPU resources for own needs.

Quote
hubert higgletron wrote: I just installed CL for 2018, thought I`d have a play. I loaded a scene from Vray and I switched to centileo and max just shut down. Tried in just a new empty scene and the same, instant shutdown(crash?) no errors just off. Hardware requirements maybe ?

Hello Hubert, welcome to our forum! That's not good that you have found a problem so early. But thanks for telling about it.
Which version? 0.52?

Quote
hubert higgletron wrote: I loaded a scene from Vray and I switched to centileo and max just shut down

Even without actually starting ther renderer or IPR?
What is your GPU? How many GPUs? How much RAM do you have? Maybe you have some one AMD GPU there as well?
What is the version of Display driver?

Update 0.521: support Cinema 4D R19

Update 0.521: support for 3ds Max 2018

Yes, one 8000x4000 HDR should generate aroung 500MB file

Actually there is some texture caching system in CentiLeo which exploits the disk space and assumes there is a lof of disk space (better if it is SSD, but working from USB is also ok). So, the idea of this cache is to create once and store prepared texture data for potentially out-of-core texture access from RAM and later from GPU renderer. If there is enough disk space then everything should be fine even if we have 500-700MB of texture cache inside GPU and 4GB on RAM. The scene amount of textures can be very high in this case (100s of GBs). It also saves and limit RAM size for other tasks. And the other good thing is that if texture cache .mctx is built once then texture parsing is not repeated again after later program launches.

The problem of this method is that it pollutes the disk, creates raw uncompressed bitmaps out of even jpegs and so on. And we still have no utility/accounting manager to clean this thing if they become unnecessary. We plan to make compressor for this in the future and some asset manager.

Btw, the behavior you describe can be the reason of wrong HDR rendering (just the part of file is missing).

Small example with deformation and transformation motion blur