Sometimes, installing Corona manually may be the simplest solution to some installation issues. Here is how to do it:
Windows users
1. Uninstall Corona and Scatter:
To avoid issues, it is best to uninstall Corona and Scatter first. To do it, simply go to the Windows "Add or remove programs" list, search for "Corona", and uninstall it. Also, search for "Scatter" and uninstall it as well.
2. Unpack the files:
- Run the Corona installer.
- Select the "Unpack files" option and specify the location where the files should be unpacked.
- Proceed with the installation.
Optional: to save time, it is safe to cancel the installation while the Corona Material Library is being downloaded (the material library will be missing). You can also use the offline Material Library file to speed up the installation. - The folder with the unpacked files will automatically pop up once the installation is finished.
Note: after unpacking the files, you should see a readme.txt file. The installation instructions are also included in that file.
3. Install the plugins:
The unpack directory contains files and folders for all supported versions of 3ds Max / Cinema 4D.
Note: You can delete the folders of the versions you don't need. Keeping them is also ok, but it will take additional space on your hard drive.
For 3ds Max, check the following folders:
- \Autodesk
- \Corona\Corona Renderer for 3ds Max
- \Chaos Group\Scatter
For example, the content of the "Autodesk" folder in the unpacked directory looks like this:
Go back to the root folder where the Corona installation files were unpacked, copy all the folders, and paste them into your Program Files folder. Usually, it is: C:\Program Files\
Note #1: You can find your Program Files folder by typing %PROGRAMFILES% in the Windows Start Menu or in the Explorer path.
Note #2: in some rare cases, Corona does not appear in 3ds Max even after manual installation. The solution is to copy the content of the Corona "plugins" folder (\Autodesk\3ds Max 20XX\plugins) into the 3ds Max 20XX\stdplugs directory instead of the default 3ds Max 20XX\plugins directory.
See also: Corona is not showing up as available renderer and is not present on the plugins list - 3ds Max
To install Chaos Scatter included with Corona 11 or newer in 3ds Max 2022 or newer:
Copy the unpacked "ApplicationPlugins" folder to "C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins".
For Cinema 4D, check the following folders:
- \Cinema 4D XXXX (look for your specific version)
- \Corona
For example, the content of the unpacked directory looks like this:
The content of the Corona folder looks like this:
To install the software, move the content of the folder specific to your Cinema 4D version to the root folder where Cinema 4D is installed on your computer (usually C:\Program files\Maxon Cinema 4D XXXX for newer versions or C:\Program files\MAXON\Cinema 4D XXXX for older versions, where XXXX represents the installed version of Cinema 4D). The reason for 2 different Cinema 4D paths is due to a change in the way MAXON are now installing their software in the most recent versions.
Then move the Corona directory from the unpacked folder to the following location: C:\Program files
Last, move the remaining files (XML and txt files) from the unpacked folder to the Corona folder: C:\Program files\Corona
After copy-pasting the right files into the right folders, as explained above, Corona will appear on the list of available renderers once you start 3ds Max / Cinema 4D.
Note #3: the additional files (NVIDIA AI Denoiser and Material Library) do not have to be downloaded during the installation. You can also install them in offline mode. See:
- How to install the NVIDIA GPU AI Denoiser in offline mode?
- How to install the material library in offline mode?
Mac users
1. Uninstall Corona:
To avoid any possible issues, please first remove Corona by following the instructions provided in this article: How to remove an old Corona version.
2. Unpack the files:
- Run the Corona installer
- When prompted, choose the "Customise" option:
- From the list, enable the appropriate C4D version and then change the destination folder for them, using the "Other" option:
- Create a folder where the files will be extracted (e.g., you can create a folder named "Corona" on your Desktop) and click on the "Choose" button:
- Click on the "Install" button to continue with file unpacking:
3. Install the files:
- Once the unpacking process is complete, a new folder named "plugins" will appear inside the newly created folder (for this example, the "Corona" folder is located on the Desktop):
- Next, copy the contents of the "plugins" folder to the appropriate path:
~/Applications/Maxon Cinema 4D XXXX/plugins/
(where the XXXX represents your installed Cinema 4D version)
- Run Cinema 4D, and if successful, you should now see the Corona menu right in the app's menu bar.