Chaos Corona 16: Fast Scene Setup with AI Assistant and Gaussian Splatting

This guide explains how to quickly set up an arkviz scene using Chaos Corona 16's new AI Assistant feature and native Gaussian Splat render support, and how to inspect it in real time via Chaos Vantage. The content is based on features documented on Chaos's official product pages and Vantage release notes.

What you'll learn

• Installing Corona 16 on 3ds Max or Cinema 4D with a trial version

• Adding Gaussian Splat content to a scene and lighting it with Corona lights

• Writing prompts for sky matching and scatter generation with AI Assistant

• Controlling the scene in real time via Chaos Vantage

Required software and accounts

Before starting, you'll need:

• 3ds Max or Cinema 4D (Corona works in both applications)

• Chaos Corona 16 (a 30-day free trial is available)

• A Chaos account (required for access to Chaos Cosmos and AI Assistant features)

• Optionally, the latest Chaos Vantage version (for real-time preview and Live Link); according to the Vantage 3.4.1 release notes, previous performance and render issues with AMD GPUs have been fixed in this release

• An NVIDIA GPU is recommended for those wanting to use DLSS 4.5 in Vantage

Step by step: setting up a scene with Gaussian Splat and AI Assistant

1. Install Corona 16 and open your project. Download the trial from Chaos's website and activate it in 3ds Max or Cinema 4D. The new version was released simultaneously for both applications.

2. Add a Gaussian Splat to the scene. Corona 16 brings native Gaussian Splat render support inside 3ds Max; now the Corona lights in your scene can illuminate this splat content as well. This lets you place a scanned capture of a location into the scene and position your 3D model on top of it with natural lighting. The Parallax Interiors and Parallax Displacement features also add depth to rooms behind windows or surface detail without heavy geometry.

3. Match the sky to a reference image with AI Assistant. According to Chaos, AI Assistant can adjust your scene's sky based on a reference image you provide. You could write a prompt like this:

Match the sky to this reference image: warm golden hour lighting, soft scattered clouds, slight haze near the horizon.

This prompt tells AI Assistant to adjust your scene's sky settings to target the atmosphere in the reference image.

4. Generate scatter with a simple prompt. Instead of manually configuring Chaos Scatter, you can give AI Assistant a natural-language description:

Scatter sparse wildflowers and tall grass along the garden path, denser near the fence line, avoiding the stone pavement.

Such a prompt aims to generate a suitable distribution in your scene using ready-made vegetation assets from Chaos Cosmos.

5. Ask for feedback on your render. AI Assistant is said to be able to comment on renders; after getting a test render, you could try a prompt like this:

Review this render and suggest improvements to composition, lighting balance and material realism.

6. Add a background image with one click. Corona 16 makes it possible to add background images with a single click through the VFB and preserve them as shot, saving time on exterior presentations that require photo compositing.

7. Watch the scene in real time with Vantage. According to Chaos, Vantage Live Link now supports Corona 16's new features more broadly, so you can instantly see changes made in 3ds Max or Cinema 4D on Vantage.

Common mistakes

• Being surprised that native Gaussian Splat render support doesn't work while still on an older Corona version; this feature only arrived with Corona 16.

• Giving AI Assistant overly generic prompts; not specifying concrete details like the ground material, plant type or light direction in your scene weakens the results.

• Using an outdated Vantage version and not being able to fully see Corona 16's new features through Live Link; you need to update to the current version.

• Wanting to benefit from DLSS 4.5 but continuing to work with an old setup without checking which Vantage version (3.4.0) gained this support.

Impact on architecture and interior design workflows

Gaussian Splatting support makes it easier for architecture and interior design firms to integrate site scans directly into a scene, allowing a new design proposal to be placed over the real image of an existing building or street. AI Assistant's scatter and sky-matching functions can reduce manual adjustment time, especially for landscape and exterior presentations. However, these features consume Chaos AI credits, and the credit amount varies depending on the chosen plan; so for large-scale projects, it's necessary to calculate credit consumption in advance.

Next steps

After completing the basic steps, you can enroll in Chaos Academy's free Corona courses to learn scene setup from start to finish, follow community content via CGconnect and the Chaos Forum, and review Vantage's current release notes to optimize GPU compatibility and DLSS settings for your project.

Source and license

This guide has been adapted into Turkish based on Chaos's official product page (chaos.com/corona), the official Chaos Vantage release notes (documentation.chaos.com), and Chaos's Vantage 3 press release; the sample prompts were written originally based on features documented in these sources.