This page provides information on the Scene Converter tool in Corona for Cinema 4D, its settings, and its usage.
Overview
The Scene Converter is a tool you can use to convert scenes made with other renderers to Corona. It automatically converts materials, shaders, lights, and more. It is installed with Corona by default and can be launched from the Corona menu.
The Scene Converter tool works only if you have both Corona and the other renderer installed on the machine where you are using it. It is fine to use the trial or even an expired trial license of the other renderer. For example, if you are converting V-Ray materials to Corona, you need to have both Corona and V-Ray installed on your computer.
The Scene Converter tool from Corona 11 supports converting elements from V-Ray and the native Standard Cinema 4D render engine.
Instructions on how to convert a scene are as follows:
- Open a previously created scene or import a model
- Open the Corona menu and click on the Convert Scene tool
- Decide if all available and supported elements are going to be converted or only part of them.
- Start the conversion process and wait for the result.
The Scene Converter tool is located in the Corona menu.
UI Path: ||Corona menu|| > Convert scene...
Options
List – All available and supported elements are listed here when automatically detected in the scene project.
Elements to be converted can be manually selected by enabling/disabling the corresponding checkboxes.
Select active materials – Using this button enables the checkboxes only for the listed materials available for conversion. The remaining elements available for conversion are disabled.
Select active objects – Using this button enables the checkboxes only for the listed objects available for conversion. The remaining elements available for conversion are disabled.
Metalness – This allows for choosing whether all the converted materials should be metals or non-metals or if the converter should decide automatically based on the material's reflectance parameters before conversion. Available modes are:
- Autodetect – Corona attempts to automatically detect whether a material should be converted to a metal or non-metal. This may not always be accurate, so some manual adjustments may be needed after the conversion.
- No metal – This mode sets the Metalness mode to Non-metal for all the converted materials.
- All metal – This conversion mode sets the Metalness mode to Metal for all the converted materials.
Cancel – Cancels the elements conversion.
Convert – Starts the conversion of the selected available supported elements.
The Scene Converter tool tries to keep as many of the original settings as possible in newly created materials. For Refractive, Translucent, and Volumetric materials, sometimes there will be more shaders/nodes than in the original material. Nevertheless, the converted materials will look and render just fine.
Supported and Unsupported Items
Materials
Shaders
| Category | Original | Result |
|---|---|---|
V-Ray Shaders | VRayBitmap | Do not convert, but can be rendered using Corona. |
| VRayC4DBake | Does not convert. | |
| VRayCurvature | Does not convert. | |
| VRayDirt | Does not convert. | |
| VRayDistance | Does not convert. | |
| VRayEdges | Does not convert. | |
| VRayFallof | Does not convert. | |
| VRayFresnel | Does not convert. | |
| VRayHairSampler | Does not convert. | |
| VRayLayered | Do not convert, but can be rendered using Corona. | |
| VRayMix | Do not convert, but can be rendered using Corona. | |
| VRayMultiSubTex | Does not convert. | |
| VRayNormalMap | Do not convert, but can be rendered using Corona. | |
| VRayOCIO | Does not convert. | |
| VRayOSL | Does not convert. | |
| VRayParticleSamplerTexture | Does not convert. | |
| VRayRamp | Do not convert, but can be rendered using Corona. | |
| VRaySamplerInfo | Does not convert. | |
| VRaySky | Do not convert, but can be rendered using Corona (Use the self-illumination channel from a Corona Physical Material or a Corona Light Material). | |
| VRaySoftBox | Do not convert, but can be rendered using Corona (Use the self-illumination channel from a Corona Physical Material or a Corona Light Material). | |
| VRayTriPlanar | Does not convert. | |
| VRayUsercolor | Do not convert, but can be rendered using Corona. | |
| VRayUserInteger | Does not convert. | |
| VRayUserScalar | Does not convert. | |
| VRayUVWChannel | Does not convert. | |
| VRayUVWRandomizer | Do not convert, but can be rendered using Corona. | |
| VRayUVWTransform | Does not convert. | |
Cinema4D Standard/General | Color | Do not convert, but can be rendered using Corona. |
| Fresnel | Do not convert, but can be rendered using Corona. | |
| Gradient | Do not convert, but can be rendered using Corona. | |
| Noise | Do not convert, but can be rendered using Corona. | |
| Colorizer | Do not convert, but can be rendered using Corona. | |
| Filter | Do not convert, but can be rendered using Corona. | |
| Fusion | Do not convert, but can be rendered using Corona. | |
| Layer | Do not convert, but can be rendered using Corona. | |
| Posterizer | Do not convert, but can be rendered using Corona. |
Lights
| Category | Original | Result |
|---|---|---|
V-Ray Lights | Rectangle Light | Does not convert. |
| Sphere Light | Does not convert. | |
| Dome Light | Do not convert, but can be rendered using Corona. | |
| Mesh Light | Does not convert. | |
| IES Light | Does not convert. | |
| V-Ray Sun | Corona Sun | |
| V-Ray Sun with Sky | Corona Sun and Corona Sky | |
| V-Ray Environment | Does not convert. | |
V-Ray Lights | Ambient Light | Does not convert. |
| Direct Light | Does not convert. | |
| Omni Light | Does not convert. | |
| Spot Light | Does not convert. | |
Cinema4D Standard | Light | Corona Light |
| Spot Light | Corona Light | |
| Target Light | Corona Light | |
| Area Light | Corona Light | |
| PBR Light | Corona Light | |
| IES Light | Corona Light | |
| Infinite Light | Corona Light | |
| Sun Light | Corona Sun | |
| Physical Sky | Do not convert, but can be rendered using Corona. | |
| Sky | Do not convert, but can be rendered using Corona. | |
| Environment | Does not convert. |
Other
| Category | Original | Result |
|---|---|---|
V-Ray Cameras | Physical Camera | Corona Camera |
V-Ray Geometry | V-Ray Particles | Does not convert. |
| V-Ray Proxy | Does not convert. | |
| V-Ray Scene | Does not convert. | |
| V-Ray Fur | Does not convert. | |
| V-Ray Clipper | Does not convert. | |
| V-Ray Decal | Does not convert. | |
| V-Ray Enmesh | Does not convert. | |
V-Ray Volumetrics | V-Ray VolumeGrid | Does not convert. |
| Environment Fog | Does not convert. | |
| V-Ray Toon | Does not convert. | |
Cinema4D Standard | Camera | Corona Camera |
| Target Camera | Corona Camera | |
| Stereo Camera | Does not convert. |