Tuesday, April 26th, 2022 Posted by Jim Thacker

U-Render releases U-Render 2022.4 for Cinema 4D


U-Render Visual Technology has released U-Render 2022.4, the latest version of its physically based ‘really real-time’ render engine for Cinema 4D, adding a new non-photorealistic rendering toolset.

Other changes include support for Screen Space Global Illumination and multi-materials.

U-Render has also also discontinued to perpetual licences of the software in favour of annual subscriptions.

A genuine real-time render engine with good support for Cinema 4D’s native features
U-Render promises genuine real-time rendering – the software is designed more like a game engine than a conventional offline renderer – with good support for Cinema 4D’s core features, including MoGraph.

It supports PBR materials – standard Cinema 4D materials are automatically converted – with displacement and subsurface scattering; volumetric rendering; and a range of post effects.

The software is now fully integrated into Cinema 4D, making it possible to use as a viewport renderer.



U-Render 2022.4: versatile new non-photorealistic rendering toolset
The main new feature in U-Render 2022.4 is the non-photorealistic rendering system, which enables users to render toon-shaded images in real time.

The software’s new NPR material comes with standard controls to adjust the colour ramp, plus a range of interpolation modes, making it possible to create hard-edged bands of colour, or smooth colour gradients.

As well as the Color channel, the NPR material includes Specularity, Emissive and Rim Light channels, so the toon-shaded highlights respond both to material properties and scene lighting.

It is also possible to combine the base colour gradient with bitmap textures or Cinema 4D’s native noises.

In addition, artists can apply toon outlines to renders: either at the outline of the model; at material or colour boundaries; or based on the angle and distance of an edge from the camera, to generate internal details.

Outlining can also be applied to the standard PBR material, creating interesting hybrid looks.



Other changes: SSGI, multi-materials and a new sharpening filter
Other new features include support for Screen Space Global Illumination (SSGI) for indirect lighting effects, support for multi-materials, and a new sharpening material, aimed at rendering for print.

There is also a new online library of assets – mainly tutorial and demo scenes – to download for free.

Perpetual licences now discontinued in favour of annual subscriptions
U-Render has also changed its licensing model, discontinuing perpetual licences in favour of subscriptions.

Annual subscriptions cost around €249/year – the exact cost varies from country to country, depending on local taxes – or $275/year in the US, compared to €299 for an old perpetual node-locked licence.

Pricing and availability
U-Render 2022.4 is available for Cinema 4D R20+ running on Windows 10 only. It should work with any modern Nvidia or AMD GPU. You can find a list of GPUs that U-Render has tested here.

The software is now rental-only, with subscriptions priced at $275/year.

Read a full list of new features in U-Render 2022.4 on the product blog