Ambient Occlusion

Ambient Occlusion (i.e. the blocking of ambient light by neighboring surfaces) is a new method with which realistic shadows can be quickly rendered in Advanced Render. The lighting of neighboring surfaces will be occluded – the closer the surface, the greater the degree of occlusion.

Until now, a realistic simulation of this natural phenomenon was only possible with the use of Global Illumination. A major disadvantage of GI, though, was the long time it often took to render. Although GI still has numerous advantages, a near realistic casting of shadows is often sufficient.

Ambient Occlusion can be created in one of two ways in MAXON CINEMA 4D: Either as a shader for the entire scene (or individual objects) that is calculated during rendering, or as a "baked" texture. In both cases, render times are noticeably shorter than with GI, with comparable shadow quality.

Ambient Occlusion can also be used to "hide" objects. Your scene looks a little too clean? Well, the Ambient Occlusion shader offers several settings that let you add "dirt" to your objects' seams and edges.