Redshift Car Paint in Cinema 4D: Flakes, Clear Coat and Thin Film
Realistic car paint in Redshift comes from three layers working together. The main points from Maxon's documentation:
- Maxon's recipe: A Standard Material with Metalness 1, the Flakes node's Out Normal in Geometry > Bump Map, and a strong, low-roughness Coat on top.
- Sparkle control: Flake Scale, Density and Randomize set size, coverage and how much light each flake catches. 3D flakes add depth with Depth and Step Size.
- Animation: Use Object coordinate space so flakes stay on a moving car, and the Blend Minimum/Maximum settings to fade flakes that are smaller than a pixel and would flicker.
- Color shift: Thin Film in the Standard Material adds iridescence; Out Flakes ID with a gradient gives multicolored flakes.
- Rendering turntables: Automotive turntables render on iRender 2x, 4x or 8x RTX 5090 or RTX 4090 servers, where you can check flake flicker in the RenderView before the full sequence.
Car paint is one of the most common materials in product and automotive work, and one of the easiest to get wrong: flat color, flakes that flicker, or a coat that looks like plastic. This guide follows Maxon’s Redshift documentation to build car paint from a Standard Material and the Flakes node, explains each flake setting, and covers flicker in animation and color-shifting paint.
Checked against the Cinema 4D and Redshift documentation, November 2026.
1. How is car paint built in Redshift?
Car paint is modeled as layers: a colored metallic base, tiny flakes that tilt the base’s reflection in random directions, and a glossy clear coat on top (Maxon Redshift: Car Paint). In current Redshift you build it from a Standard Material plus the Flakes node (Maxon: Flakes node).
The figure shows how light moves through those layers.
Part of the light reflects from the clear coat as a sharp, mirror-like highlight. The rest reaches the metallic base, where each flake points in a slightly different direction, so some flakes catch the light and flash while their neighbours stay dark. That mix of a smooth coat reflection and scattered flake highlights is what reads as metallic paint.
2. How to make car paint in Redshift (step by step)
Settings checklist (copy or follow line by line):
Redshift Standard Material Metalness ............. 1 Base Color ............ paint color Coat Weight ........... raised Coat Roughness ........ low (glossy lacquer) Flakes node Out Normal ............ › Geometry > Bump Map (direct, no Bump Map node) Scale / Density / Randomize ... tune in close-up and wide shot Lighting ................ HDRI dome light or large area lights
Step 1: Create a Standard Material
Set Metalness to 1 so the reflection becomes fully metallic, and choose the paint color as the base color. The reflection color tints reflections at glancing angles.
Step 2: Add the Flakes node
Connect the Flakes node’s Out Normal directly to the material’s Geometry > Bump Map input. Do not route it through a Bump Map node.
Step 3: Add the clear coat
Raise the Coat weight and set a low coat roughness for a glossy lacquer.
Step 4: Tune the flakes
Adjust Scale, Density and Randomize while watching a close-up and a wide shot in the RenderView; flakes that look right close up can be too strong from a distance.
Step 5: Light it
Car paint lives from reflections, so give it something to reflect: an HDRI dome light or large area lights.
Quick check: flakes that look right in a close-up are often too strong in a wide shot; compare both in RenderView snapshots before rendering.
Flakes settings that matter for car paint
Based on Maxon's Flakes node documentation for Redshift in Cinema 4D.
| Parameter | What it does | For car paint |
|---|---|---|
| Scale | Flake size; higher values give larger flakes. | Keep it small for factory metallic paint, larger for custom glitter paint. |
| Density | How much of the surface is covered, 0 to 1. Can be driven by a texture. | Lower it for a subtle sparkle, raise it for heavy metallic paint. |
| Randomize | How far each flake tilts from the surface normal; more tilt catches more light. | The main control for how much the paint sparkles. |
| Coord Space | Object, World or UV. World keeps flake size consistent, but flakes swim when objects move. | Use Object space for a moving car so the flakes stay on the body. |
| Blend Minimum / Maximum | Fade flakes out based on the estimated number of flakes per pixel, to avoid flicker when flakes are smaller than a pixel. | Widen the range if distant panels flicker in animation. |
| Depth / Step Size | 3D flakes: how deep flakes sit below the surface, and the ray-march step; layers equal depth divided by step size. | For flakes that look embedded in paint; smaller steps cost render time. |
| Out Flakes ID | A greyscale value per flake. | Drive a gradient for multicolored flakes. |
3. Why do car paint flakes flicker in animation?
Because flakes smaller than a pixel alias: from one frame to the next a pixel catches a different flake, so the paint shimmers or boils. Redshift has two settings for this:
- Blend Minimum and Blend Maximum: below the minimum, flakes render normally; between the two they fade out; above the maximum they disappear. A wider range gives a smoother fade on distant panels.
- Coord Space: in World space flakes swim when the object moves. Use Object space for a moving or turntable car so the flakes stay attached to the body.
Making flakes smaller or rendering at a lower resolution pushes more flakes into each pixel, so recheck these settings when you change scale or output size.
4. How to make pearlescent or color-shifting paint
- Thin Film: the Standard Material’s Thin Film settings simulate a thin layer that shimmers in rainbow colors, as on oil or soap bubbles. Varying its thickness with a noise texture creates a stronger color shift.
- Multicolored flakes: connect Out Flakes ID to a gradient ramp and use the result as the base color of the metallic material, as in Maxon’s example.
- OpenPBR: Redshift’s OpenPBR material also has a thin-film layer between base and coat if you prefer that material model.
5. Where should you render automotive turntables: SaaS or IaaS farm?
A SaaS render farm suits a finished turntable whose look is signed off. An IaaS render farm such as iRender suits paint that still needs tuning: you open the scene on the render machine, scrub to the frames where flakes flicker, adjust Blend Minimum/Maximum in the RenderView, and render the sequence on the same GPUs.
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: clay renders with Redshift for form approval before final paint. Real render times are in our Redshift benchmark, and plans are on the Cinema 4D Redshift render farm page.
6. Redshift Car Paint FAQ
How do I make car paint in Redshift for Cinema 4D?
Create a Standard Material, set Metalness to 1 and pick the base color, connect a Flakes node’s Out Normal to Geometry > Bump Map, then raise the Coat weight and set a low coat roughness for the clear coat. This follows Maxon’s car paint example for the Flakes node.
Why do my car paint flakes flicker in animation?
Flakes smaller than a pixel alias from frame to frame. Use the Flakes node’s Blend Minimum and Blend Maximum to fade flakes based on how many fall inside a pixel, and keep Coord Space on Object so flakes do not swim across a moving car.
Should I connect Redshift flakes through a Bump Map node?
No. Maxon’s documentation says to connect the flakes shader’s Out Normal directly to a bump input, such as the Standard Material’s Geometry > Bump Map, rather than through a Bump Map node.
How do I make pearlescent or color-shifting paint in Redshift?
Use the Thin Film settings of the Standard Material to add a thin iridescent layer, and vary its thickness with a texture for a stronger shift. For colored flakes, connect Out Flakes ID to a gradient and feed it to the base color.
What are 3D flakes in Redshift?
3D flakes are flakes rendered below the surface by ray-marching. Depth sets how far below the surface they go and Step Size sets the distance per step; the number of layers equals depth divided by step size. A depth of 0 disables them.
Is there still a dedicated car paint material in Redshift?
Yes, Redshift has a legacy Car Paint material with base, flakes and clear coat layers. Maxon’s current Flakes documentation builds car paint from a Standard Material plus the Flakes node instead.
