Chaos Corona 16: What's New for 3ds Max and Cinema 4D

POSTED 11th OF Nov, 2026, Posted by Summer Magdaraog

Chaos has released Corona 16 for 3ds Max and Cinema 4D, introducing new rendering features, AI-assisted tools, and workflow improvements for architectural visualization. Released on November 4, 2026, the update adds relightable Gaussian Splats, Parallax Interiors, a beta AI Assistant, and expanded Chaos Vantage integration.

Both versions also receive improvements to materials, rendering, scene management, and stability. Here's a breakdown of what's new in Corona 16.

What's New in Corona 16?

The following major features are available in both the 3ds Max and Cinema 4D versions.

Relightable Gaussian Splats

Corona 16 allows Gaussian Splats to receive illumination from the surrounding scene. The update also adds clipping masks and support for the compressed SPZ format.

3ds Max users additionally gain native Gaussian Splat rendering support, along with an Exposure (EV) control for adjusting splat appearance.

Parallax Interiors and Displacement

Parallax Interiors creates the appearance of furnished and illuminated 3D rooms behind windows using a flat plane instead of fully modeled interior geometry. Sample assets are available through Chaos Cosmos.

Corona 16 also introduces parallax displacement mapping for the Corona Physical material. This option can use less memory than geometry displacement.

AI Assistant (Beta)

The new Corona AI Assistant provides product usage guidance and suggestions for improving renders. Its capabilities include:

Answering questions about using Corona.
Suggesting rendering improvements.
Matching a visual mood based on a reference image.
Assisting with scattering workflows.

Corona 16 also integrates Collaboration, AI Enhancer, and Veras into the Corona Image Editor (CIE).

Improved Chaos Vantage Integration

Corona 16 expands support for transferring scenes between Corona and Chaos Vantage through improved export and Live Link compatibility.

Updates include support for Normal maps, metalness, refraction, Legacy materials, Corona Slicer, and Ambient Occlusion. The release also improves support for Corona Volume Grid, Mapping Randomizer, and additional MultiMap randomization modes.

Other improvements include more accurate roughness conversion, multiple camera export, and basic Vignette support.

Additional Rendering and Workflow Improvements

Other shared improvements include:

CoronaSky: Improved atmospheric shader and Volume Effect. Earlier scenes load with the Volume Effect in legacy mode to preserve their appearance.
Render Selection: Added options to include reflections, refractions, and shadows from selected objects.
Lighting Analysis: Added a new render element for analyzing scene illumination.
Alpha Denoising: Enabled denoising for Alpha render elements to improve compositing.
VFB Background: Added background image support that remains unaffected by post-processing, removing the need for Tone Map Control for this purpose.
Material Previews: Improved preview rendering and update speed. In 3ds Max, users with only one interface license can now render material previews using that license.
Chaos Notifications: Added the initial implementation of Chaos notifications.

Chaos Scatter Improvements

Corona 16 also introduces several Chaos Scatter updates:

3ds Max: Preset distribution patterns now automatically link bitmaps to the density map slot for bitmap-driven scattering. Added X, Y, or Z axis overrides for edge trimming, bulk enable/disable controls for Areas, and improved distribution map preview synchronization.
Cinema 4D: Added curve-based adjustments for scale and density in Scatter Area include/exclude controls.

What's New in Corona 16 for 3ds Max?

The 3ds Max version receives additional improvements to Gaussian Splats, rendering, Vantage export, and scene management.

Key updates include:

Faster Chaos Scatter export: Scatter can now be exported to Vantage without exporting every individual scattered instance, resulting in faster export and Live Link workflows.
Gaussian Splats: Added native 3ds Max Gaussian Splat rendering support and improved crop box size display after scaling.
Color Management: Added ICC profile support for the Color Management system introduced in 3ds Max 2027.2.
Rendering: Optimized tyFlow volume rendering and added options to preserve translucency in Material Override settings and scale Bloom and Glare alpha intensity.
Corona Cameras: New cameras no longer copy settings from existing cameras, including tone mapping, post-processing, projection, distortion, environment, clipping, overrides, depth of field, motion blur, and other photographic settings.
Vantage Live Link: Added support for CoronaDisplacementMod, scatter object displacement, Cellular maps, Composite maps, and rendering color space export. Live Link sessions also continue running after objects are merged into a scene.
Chaos Cosmos: The browser now starts on demand and notifies users about missing or incomplete assets.
VFB and Interface: Added Performance and System sections to VFB settings, toggleable VFB icon animation, and zoom shortcuts for Cosmos, AI Assistant, and collaboration dialogs.

What's New in Corona 16 for Cinema 4D?

Cinema 4D users gain compatibility with Cinema 4D 2027, alongside improvements to viewport previews, Vantage Live Link, materials, and scene management.

Key updates include:

Enhanced Material Previews: Added Normal map, basic metalness and refraction, Triplanar shader, Legacy material, and Mapping Randomizer support. Scene loading is also faster when enhanced viewport previews are enabled with many textures.
Vantage Live Link: Improved initial scene export and subsequent updates, added cross-machine functionality including macOS-to-Windows workflows, and improved error detection and export progress reporting.
Chaos Cosmos: Added automatic downloading of missing scene assets and automatic relinking when assets are already available in a different Cosmos download directory.
Materials and Shaders: Improved conversion of Cinema materials using non-physical Corona Physical properties, added Glints mapping options, and improved loading of bitmaps with incorrect file extensions.
Rendering: Added simple linear motion blur for particles rendered through the Render Particles tag and a warning when ACES OT and an OCIO view transform are used together.
CXR Files: Added support for saving CXR files with 16-bit layers to reduce file size. Layers requiring 32-bit data, including Cryptomatte, retain 32-bit precision. CXR files are also registered with Corona Image Editor on macOS so they can be opened from Finder.

The Cinema 4D version also removes the legacy VFB 1 and changes the minimum Windows requirement to Windows 10.

Bug Fixes and Known Limitations

Corona 16 includes fixes for identified security vulnerabilities, crashes, and inconsistencies across rendering, materials, scene management, and Vantage Live Link.

Notable fixes include:

Rendering and Stability: Fixed crashes involving renderer switching, Corona materials, and scene initialization. 3ds Max also receives deterministic adaptivity, tyFlow volume seam fixes, and improved Deadline tile rendering.
Materials and Viewport: Addressed material-related crashes, incorrect texture and alpha handling, and enhanced viewport preview issues in Cinema 4D.
Interactive Rendering: Fixed issues involving CoronaDistance updates and Auto Adjustment resetting during material editor updates in 3ds Max.
Color Management: Fixed several VFB and OCIO-related crashes and display issues, including bright pixels appearing black with certain view transforms in Cinema 4D.
Corona Image Editor: Addressed crashes, image processing issues, render region handling, and file association problems.
Chaos Scatter: Fixed scene-loading crashes, instance translation, cluster offset, visibility updates, and interface issues across both applications.
Vantage Live Link: Fixed issues involving light direction and intensity, camera export, texture color space, refractive roughness, displacement, and material transfer.

Two limitations are worth noting:

Chaos notifications are not currently supported on Intel-based Macs.
Parallax displacement automatically switches to regular displacement when used with layered materials or decals.

Explore Chaos Corona Licensing at Motion Media

Looking to use Chaos Corona for your architectural visualization projects? Motion Media is an authorized Chaos reseller offering Corona licensing options for 3ds Max and Cinema 4D users.

Explore the ArchViz Collection: Corona Edition at Motion Media