Maxon has released Redshift 2026.6, the new version of its GPU renderer. The big new feature is a hex tiling system that eliminates visible repetitions in textures by organizing them into a hexagonal grid with random rotation and scale. Ideal for surfaces without straight patterns, such as scratches or wear, although it is not compatible with Smart Bake and can cause issues with normal maps.
OpenPBR as base material and new features for Houdini 🚀
The OpenPBR material is now the default in all host applications, not just Cinema 4D. For Houdini, a Quick Material LOP node was added, along with support for custom attributes in point instance lights and compatibility with Render Pass LOP. In Cinema 4D, there is a new Presets section in materials, and the camera behavior in the render view has been fixed. Compatible with Windows 10+, Linux, and macOS 14.0+.
Goodbye to patterns that looked like they came from a picnic tablecloth 😅
Finally, those of us who have seen the same brick texture repeat endlessly can breathe a sigh of relief. Now, thanks to hex tiling, your scratches will look real and not like a nightmare fractal. Of course, if you use normal maps, get ready for results that could confuse your cat. But hey, at least you won't have to pretend you don't see the repetition anymore.