Thank you very much, DjeisonCanuto, for your kind feedback!

As a side note:
With those tests, we can exclude more and more things. Your overall hardware setup seems to work just fine, would be my conclusion, otherwise the problem would show up elsewhere.

The problem is not the image format, another great point to exclude, it is most likely that an image is added at all that triggers it. Which excludes testing more on the image side.
I have also tried to use a Shader in the Hair-material to see if that triggers a problem. Which might not deliver much more insight, but the more data, the easier the tech support to focus.

I will have an eye on the development. Thank you for your very much appreciated patient replies. I'm sure it is annoying to have to deal with this.

Fingers crossed, it will be easily fixed.

Cheers

Hi DjeisonCanuto,

Thanks for the reply. When tech support can already reproduce it, then the hope is much greater for a fast fix.

Have you tried a Tiff file instead, or even a jpg? Just for tests. OR what happens with a Tex node in Redshift if you load the PNG or another format in?

Without being able to reproduce it here, I can't tell more, and stuck with questions, while perhaps wasting your time. The motivation is here to find something that works.

My best wishes

Thank you for submitting a ticket, DjeisonCanuto.

Thank you as well for the file. I can load textures and render. 2026.1.0 and 2026.1.1 (Mac)

What I saw is that the png is in "Index" mode. (An old technique to create small files, and reduce all possible colors to 256 different values in total. From my point of view, I suggest avoiding this kind of image coding.)
Perhaps open it in Photoshop, go to Main Menu> Image> Mode: RGB
Save this file with a new name, and please try again.
If needed I can do that for you, please let me know.

I hope you get a fast solution.

All the best

Thanks for the additional information, wheel-city,

I have checked the usual sources again, but I haven't found anything related.

The only questions I could think of: Can you switch the color management to something else?
Attribute Manager> Mode> Scene >Colormanagement
If you are in ACES, use for a test Legacy sRGB.
Or check in the Preferences> Viewport Display> System> Display Color profile, if a change will help.

Just wild questions, and since wild questions might waste your time, please check in with tech support.
https://www.maxon.net/en/support-center

Thank you!

My best wishes

Thank you very much, tonight-excitement, for the reply.

Great!

My best wishes for your project.

Hi DjeisonCanuto,

Not fun for you, sorry to hear this.

I have explored it and used ACES or the Legacy sRGB Linear space. Either way, no Problem here.

I’m happy to test more if you would provide more details.

Please check with Tech Support
https://www.maxon.net/en/support-center

I hope there is a simple solution for that.

All the best

Hi wheel-city,

Sorry to hear about this, not anything that should happen.

I have checked the usual sources, but I could not find a gray Picture viewer problem. But 2026.1.1 is fresh.
Next, I downloaded the version from the support site, just to make sure we see the same with a fresh installation. I can render fine. Sorry, I can’t confirm this here (Mac)

Please share a small example file, and I will run it on a 2026.1.1 version. Files below 1MB can be attached here as a “.c4d” file directly.

However, it seems like something you should go instantly to tech support:
https://www.maxon.net/en/support-center

I assume the Picture Viewer does not have an active Filter setting running, which is the only way, to my knowledge, to get this RS render View working and Picture Viewer Gray
Here is an example, just to exclude this option, just in case.
CV4_2026_drs_26_REpv_01.c4d
Screenshot 2026-01-14 at 11.23.53 AM.jpg
Again, I don’t think you missed it, but I like to share it.

Please use two different questions for two “chats”, as mixing themes will be hard to read. Thank you.

I’m not clear what frame you like to render. Particles can be rendered as stil anywhere in time; however, I’m not clear about your setup and what might cause the problem. Caching is surely an advantage, as otherwise an image on frame 300 doesn’t need to calculate all the frames before again, to get where they need to be in frame 300; with a cache, they have the data already for frame 300. Similar for Simulations, the editor view will often not update when the timeslider is moved manually; the rendering should look as if it is cached. Also, here, I’m not clear what setup you have, as we can create nearly infinite setups, and I have surely not explored all.

Fingers crossed, the problem will be solved ASAP.

My best wishes

Hi tonight-excitement,

Thank you very much for the file.

Yes, that is not following typical MoGraph behavior.

The Plain Effector provides the Field Color to the Object Color. If you set the User Color's Attribute Name to "RSObjectColor" (It is in the Object Preset, as in the example below, you should get the wanted result.

Your file (please render)
CV4_2026_drs_26_MGmt_01.c4d

Please let me know if that is working for you.

My best wishes for your project.

Hi wheel-city,

Yes, feed both into the same particle Group “folder” and add a Blend Modifier to it.

The Particle Group can then be used in a new Vertex Map. Note that the Liquid Mesh is set to export Geometry and Color for this example.

Example and preview render
https://projectfiles.maxon.net/Cineversity_Forum_Support/2026_PROJECTS_DRS/20260113_CV4_2026_drs_26_PAsc_02.c4d.zip
Redshift Sampling is set to 1.0 for preview quality, and to speed things up, Global Illumination is off.

This should get you close to the color mix you might need. Note that practical colors (subtractive or additive, as well as pigment-based mixtures) might mix differently, so some color grading later on is needed.

Let me know if you have any questions. I'm happy to look into it.

Enjoy

Thank you so much, resort-sand.

Sorry that you had to experience a problem in the first place.

Fingers crossed that the switch on and off "dance" is soon not needed anymore.

My best wishes for your project!

Thank you very much, resort-sand, for the extra data.

I'm glad we got at least the crashes tamed via the workaround.

There is surely something not OK. I hope the tech support is getting to the bottom of it quickly.

The evaluation of a bug is done by the tech support, which is not my scope here.

All the best

Hi reading-card,

Sorry when you get the idea of an argument here. Not my intention. The example was to show case that the numbers changing, while using a simplified model.

Please continue to explore this with tech support. I saw the ticket and you are in excellent hands over there.

Take care.

Hi clue-minute,

This is a clear question with complex-to-answer content, as rendering can be so much, but in short, typically not. I leave an option open here, just in case I miss something that is so far not communicated about your target.

When an object is rendered, it has influenced the scene, typically with reflections, shadows, and bouncing light. Eventually, it has refracted what is behind it, or mixed some parts from the scene based on depth of field or motion blur, and is perhaps overwritten (value-wise) by post effects of Bloom (or Flare, Glow, etc), etc.

The answer is no, if the object was not rendered with a specific mask and with a separate render that leaves the data behind it in the scene. So, if the object allows a separate rendering pass, then animating in After Effects, or even in Cinema 4D, is again possible. But any animation requires a new calculation, as any compositing takes the foreground and subtracts the pixels from the background. This requires at least a new writing of the file.

One more point, objects have a typically perspective and moving it without adjusting it to the new “view” will make it sit not well in the scene, given it is 3D.

The idea of faster rendering is typically that you get a fast preview, make your adjustments, and if needed, render in higher quality and resolution.

Perhaps I missed a point, and you have something else in mind, then please share a little bit more. Thank you!

I'm happy to look at your question more in detail if you share more.

Cheers

Thank you very much, resort-sand.

Does it make a difference if you have it on an Instance Render Instance or a Multi-Instance?

So, caching while the Cloner is off works, and switching the Cloner on after caching shows problems or not?

Either way, that needs to go to Tech-support, so it can move along the fixing "pipeline".
https://www.maxon.net/en/support-center
If you have a minute, please use this URL. Thank you very much!

Have a great morning as well. It is past midnight here, and I will call it a day soon.

Cheers

P.S.: This evening I explored this a little bit more.
Can you share if that happens as well, based on the scene you shared when you create just the cache for the particles - Cache Object?

Thank you!

Thank you very much, MaverickMongoose, for the reply and the 2026 wishes.

My best wishes for your project.

Hi Simon,

The picture should be fine, 500 pixels vertical is the max, and wide can be larger.

I can't tell how to write a prompt in AI, nor is that the forum to do so. I can provide some tips. But since you use AI, ask what the qualities of Skin appearance are. To create perhaps a communication base with the AI entity. AI will not know the difference in images of retouched toon skin, perhaps, if not defined what qualities you are looking for.

Perhaps find an AI engine that allows you to use reference images, and then mark the area where you would like to have that quality.

Eventually use a subsurface scattering (SSS) material and get the lighting already close to the final, before asking AI to take over.
Test as well the Skin Material of Redshift:
https://help.maxon.net/c4d/2026/en-us/Default.htm#html/COM_REDSHIFT3D_REDSHIFT4C4D_NODES_CORE_SKIN.html

Skin is typically the main challenge as the light goes through several layers. Even small emotions change the blood flow, and tiny changes in color might occur. We are all reading this, more or less conscious.
When it is missing, it often works like with shadows; most people can tell it looks like CG, but what goes wrong is often not clear. Like, often you might notice in CG comps that the light wrap is not even established.

The list of Skin qualities or influences is long and not limited to the ones in the list:

• Subsurface Scattering (SSS)
• Detailed Texturing (Albedo and Displacement):
• Displacement/Normal Maps
• Layered Shading Model
• Dynamic Changes
• Anatomical Accuracy
• Lighting

More about light: Think also of the effect of small hairs catching light. Using only "white" light is typically a mistake; bouncing light is typically colorful. Abstract painters have exaggerated this extremely. Cinematographers sometimes use even a color-full bounce board.
Lots of Reference and Observation (Avoid web-based stuff, shoot your own with a gray card)

If nothing helps, add a slightly smaller model (Normal Shift) and create the "under the Skin" results, then blur them a little bit and comp those to a small percentage into the image. (Fake SSS, but only as extra, not replacement of SSS)

All the best

Hi resort-sand,

Thanks for the file.

Please run this version of your Project:
https://projectfiles.maxon.net/Cineversity_Forum_Support/2026_PROJECTS_DRS/20260112_CV4_2026_drs_26_PAcp_11.zip

I used these steps:
The Cache Object to cache (not the Cache Scene)
The Remesh was converted into a polygon mesh (Object Manager>Objects> Modify> Current State To Object
As wild guess as the Clones were set to Multi-Instances.

When this works for you, and all is as you need it, we can pinpoint more where it comes from and file a report.

All the best

Hi PlatPlat,

Your description is, the bags are cached, and the particles need to react to them. To be clear, anything that is cached will not get new deformations (softbody-wise) from new collisions.

Have you added the Collision from the Particle Menu as well?

The project file …_61.c4d is a simplified setup. The …71.c4d is an updated from the 51.
The bounced Particles go into a new group, not needed, but to showcase which one bounced.

If you have to re-cache the bags, switch the Collider tags off for the time of caching.
Examples
https://projectfiles.maxon.net/Cineversity_Forum_Support/2026_PROJECTS_DRS/20260109_CV4_2026_drs_26_SIcb_61-71.zip

Have a nice weekend

Hi Simon,

The problem is, whatever we used to see our whole life will make us the most critical viewers.

To recreate human appearances is not just about doing some things for the model; the light interaction is surely a major part of it. That goes deep, literally. That you try to prompt it indicates to me that you don’t have a lot of development time.

Being aware of the problems, it is not an easy task, for a still being already a challenge, but for an animation, which is extremely difficult, if you like “photorealism”. I placed this before my suggestions, as I am aware, there is no quick fix to do that, if one sets the bar to “photorealism”.

How about https://www.metahuman.com/en-US
Depending on the licensing that applies, it might be a solution or a good start.
https://www.metahuman.com/en-US/license
This is a tip, and I can’t give support for this.

My best wishes for your project.