Redshift ACES and OCIO in Cinema 4D: Render Space, View Transform and Matching Renders
Redshift manages color in three places: texture import, the rendering space and the final output. The main points from Maxon's documentation:
- ACEScg by default: Redshift renders in ACEScg; the legacy look is scene-linear Rec.709-sRGB with an un-tone-mapped view.
- View transform: The Maxon-cg config defaults to the ACES 2.0 SDR view, softer than ACES 1.0. Choose one and keep it across the project.
- Textures: Color maps use sRGB; data maps such as roughness and normal should be Raw. OCIO file rules can set this from file names.
- Matching renders: Different config, view or texture color spaces on another machine produce a different look; check them before batch rendering.
- Remote rendering: On iRender servers you open the scene in Cinema 4D and compare a test frame with your local render in the RenderView before the full job.
ACES gives Redshift renders a wider gamut and a filmic tone curve, but it also adds settings that must match everywhere the scene is opened. When a frame looks washed out, too contrasty or different on another machine, the cause is almost always one of these settings. This guide follows Maxon’s Redshift color management documentation.
Checked against the Cinema 4D and Redshift documentation, November 2026.
Symptoms this guide fixes: renders that look washed out or too contrasty, colors that differ between the RenderView, saved files and compositing, or a different look when the scene renders on another machine.
1. Where does Redshift manage color?
Maxon describes three key areas: texture import, the rendering space and the final output (Maxon: Color Management, OCIO & ACES). The figure shows the path a color takes.
A texture is converted from its own color space into ACEScg, where lighting is calculated. For viewing, a view transform tone-maps the result for an sRGB display. For compositing, the same ACEScg data is written to a linear EXR and viewed later with the same transform. If any of the three steps differs between machines, the image differs too.
Color management settings that decide the look
From Maxon's Redshift Color Management (OCIO & ACES) and Globals documentation.
| Setting | What it does | Default / tip |
|---|---|---|
| Rendering color space | Linear space Redshift renders in. | ACEScg; legacy setups use scene-linear Rec.709-sRGB |
| Display | Output display transform for your monitor. | sRGB for most displays |
| View | Tone mapping applied for viewing. | Maxon-cg config defaults to the ACES 2.0 SDR view; older setups use ACES 1.0 SDR-video |
| Use OpenColorIO File Rules | Sets texture color spaces automatically from file names. | Check data maps still read as Raw |
| Compensate for View Transform | Bakes the view transform into the output. | Only for display-ready images, not for compositing EXRs |
| Config | Redshift ships its own OCIO config; a custom config can be set. | Use the same config on every machine |
2. How to set up ACES in Redshift (step by step)
Use this as a checklist. The block below shows the target values; each step explains where to find them.
Project Settings (Ctrl+D / Cmd+D) › Project › Color Management Color Management ...... OpenColorIO Render Space .......... ACEScg Display ............... sRGB View Transform ........ ACES 2.0 SDR (or ACES 1.0 SDR-video, same on every machine) OCIO Config ........... built-in, or the same custom file on every machine Redshift Texture node › Color Space Color maps (JPG / PNG albedo, base color) ...... sRGB Color EXR / HDR (HDRI, backplates) ............. scene-linear Rec.709-sRGB Data maps (normal, roughness, metal, bump, displacement) ... Raw Render Settings › Save (for compositing) Format ................ OpenEXR Depth ................. 32 Bit/Channel Format Options ........ Use 16 Bit Floats = on (half-float EXR) View transform ........ not baked into the EXR
Step 1: Set the project color management
Open Edit › Project Settings (Ctrl+D / Cmd+D), Project tab, Color Management. Set OpenColorIO, Render Space ACEScg, Display sRGB, and choose the View Transform (Project). Leave the OCIO Config on the built-in config unless your studio uses its own; if it does, every machine must load the same file. Maxon notes Cinema 4D 2026 changed the default color management for new projects, while older projects may still use Legacy, so check this whenever you open an older scene (Maxon support).
Step 2: Keep Redshift on the project settings
By default Redshift follows the Project Settings color management; its own color options only appear for legacy setups (Maxon: Globals). The RenderView can override the view for display, so set it back to the project view before judging color.
Step 3: Set the color space on every texture
Select each Redshift Texture node and set Color Space in the Image section as in the table below (Maxon: Texture Sampler).
Which color space to set on each texture
From Maxon's Redshift Texture Sampler documentation. Auto is the default and is usually right, but Maxon notes it can get the conversion wrong.
| Texture | Color Space | If it is wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Albedo / base color JPG, PNG, BMP | sRGB | Set to Raw by mistake: washed out, low contrast |
| Color EXR / HDR (HDRI, backplate) | scene-linear Rec.709-sRGB, or the space it was authored in | Lighting and background tint shift |
| Normal, roughness, metalness, bump, displacement | Raw | Set to sRGB by mistake: bumps and roughness look wrong |
| Not sure | Known space if you have it, otherwise Raw for data and sRGB for 8-bit color | Compare against the source image |
Step 4: Save EXR for compositing
In Render Settings › Save, choose OpenEXR and set Depth to 32 Bit/Channel. For smaller half-float files, open the format options and enable Use 16 Bit Floats. Maxon support explains that choosing 16 Bit/Channel instead can produce EXRs encoded as linear Rec.709 rather than the project space (Maxon support: EXR output). Do not bake the view transform into EXRs meant for post (Maxon: OCIO basics); 8-bit or 16-bit integer formats such as PNG or JPEG are for display-ready previews.
Step 5: Verify before the batch
Render one frame to the Picture Viewer and compare it with the RenderView. Open the EXR in your compositor as ACEScg with the same view transform and check it matches. On every other machine that will render, render the same frame and compare it with this reference before starting the sequence.
Quick check for washed-out or crushed results: if only textured surfaces look wrong, check texture color spaces (Step 3); if the whole frame looks wrong, check the view transform (Steps 1–2); if only the saved EXR looks wrong, check bit depth and baking (Step 4).
3. Why does the same scene look different on another machine?
- Different config: a custom OCIO config on your workstation but the default on another machine. The Texture Processor, for example, uses the OCIO environment variable unless a path is given (Maxon).
- Different view transform: ACES 1.0 vs ACES 2.0, or un-tone-mapped.
- Texture color spaces: data maps read as sRGB, or file rules assigning differently.
- Baked vs linear output: one file saved with the view transform baked in, another without.
For compositing, Maxon’s guide shows reading EXRs as ACEScg with the same view in Nuke, After Effects and Resolve (Maxon: Compositing with ACES).
4. Where should you render color-managed scenes: SaaS or IaaS farm?
A SaaS render farm renders with its own setup, so confirm which OCIO config and Cinema 4D color settings it uses and check a test frame. An IaaS render farm such as iRender lets you open the scene in Cinema 4D on the render machine, set the same config and compare a frame in the RenderView. Read more in SaaS vs IaaS render farm.
These videos show Cinema 4D and Redshift jobs on iRender multi-GPU servers.
On iRender you rent a whole server with 2x, 4x or 8x RTX 5090 or RTX 4090 GPUs, with Cinema 4D and Redshift pre-installed; Prime members get activated Cinema 4D and Redshift licenses. Related: Redshift AOV compositing. Real render times are in our Redshift benchmark, and plans are on the Cinema 4D Redshift render farm page.
5. Redshift ACES and OCIO FAQ
What color space does Redshift render in?
ACEScg by default, a wide-gamut linear space. For the legacy look, Maxon says to use scene-linear Rec.709-sRGB as the render space and un-tone-mapped as the view transform.
What is the difference between ACES 1.0 and ACES 2.0 view transforms in Redshift?
Maxon describes the ACES 2.0 SDR view transform as a more neutral starting point than ACES 1.0, with softer contrast and a more natural look. The Maxon-cg config uses ACES 2.0 by default; either is valid.
Why does my Redshift render look different on another computer?
Usually because color settings differ: the OCIO config, the view transform, or the color space assigned to textures. Check that every machine uses the same Cinema 4D project color settings and the same config, and compare a test frame.
What color space should roughness and normal maps use?
Raw (no color conversion). Color textures such as albedo use sRGB. Wrong assignments change shading, so check data maps after OCIO file rules assign spaces automatically.
How do I composite Redshift ACES renders?
Save linear EXR without baking the view transform, read them as ACEScg in your compositor, and view them with the same view transform used in Redshift, as Maxon’s compositing guide shows for Nuke, After Effects and Resolve.
What does Compensate for View Transform do?
It bakes the view transform into the output so the saved image looks like the RenderView. Use it for display-ready images, not for EXRs you will grade in compositing.
