Redshift 4.0
When it comes to high-end rendering engines, few names carry as much weight as Redshift. Known for its blistering performance and production-ready toolset, Redshift has become the go-to solution for studios and independent artists alike. With the release of Redshift 4.0, Maxon is making its boldest move yet—introducing hybrid rendering that combines CPU and GPU power, a completely overhauled ACES color pipeline, and major upgrades to volumetric rendering.
But does Redshift 4.0 truly deliver a next-generation rendering experience? In this comprehensive review, we’ll dive deep into its new features, benchmark its performance, and explore how it stacks up against previous versions and competing renderers. Whether you’re a 3D artist, motion designer, or VFX professional, this review will help you understand exactly what Redshift 4.0 brings to the table.
What Is Redshift? A Brief Overview
Before exploring version 4.0, it’s worth revisiting what makes Redshift stand out in the first place.
Redshift is a biased, GPU-accelerated renderer developed to handle large-scale production scenes with incredible speed. Originally designed for artists using Cinema 4D, Maya, Houdini, and Blender, Redshift combines the efficiency of GPU rendering with the flexibility of traditional CPU-based engines.
Unlike purely unbiased renderers (such as Arnold or Octane), Redshift offers a production-friendly balance between realism and performance. It gives users granular control over sampling, lighting, and shading, allowing them to push renders faster without sacrificing visual fidelity.
With version 4.0, Redshift evolves beyond its GPU roots and becomes a hybrid CPU+GPU renderer, paving the way for more accessibility and flexibility across a wider range of hardware.
Redshift 4.0 at a Glance
Key Additions:
- Hybrid Rendering (CPU + GPU)
- ACEScg Color Management Pipeline
- Improved Volumetric Rendering
- Enhanced Sampling and Denoising
- Better Integration with Maxon One Ecosystem
- Updated Material and Lighting Systems
Each of these features contributes to Redshift’s growing maturity as a top-tier renderer that balances performance, quality, and cross-platform stability.
The Star of the Show: Hybrid Rendering
What Is Hybrid Rendering?
The most exciting and transformative feature in Redshift 4.0 is undoubtedly its hybrid rendering engine. For the first time, Redshift can use both CPU and GPU simultaneously to render frames.
Historically, Redshift relied entirely on GPU power. This made it incredibly fast—but limited to systems with powerful NVIDIA GPUs (and more recently, select AMD cards). The new hybrid mode changes that completely.
How It Works
Redshift 4.0 dynamically allocates rendering tasks between your CPU and GPU. The GPU continues to handle tasks it excels at (like shading and ray tracing acceleration), while the CPU contributes by handling secondary rays, volumetric calculations, and memory-heavy processes.
This hybrid approach is especially beneficial for artists working on:
- Scenes that exceed GPU VRAM limits
- Systems with multiple CPUs but fewer GPUs
- Complex volumetrics and displacements
Performance Benchmarks
We tested Redshift 4.0 on several typical production scenes:
- Product Visualization (simple shaders, HDRI lighting)
- Interior Architectural Scene (GI heavy)
- VFX Shot (volumetrics + motion blur)
Here’s what we found compared to Redshift 3.6 (GPU-only):
| Scene Type | Redshift 3.6 Render Time | Redshift 4.0 (Hybrid) Render Time | Speed Gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product Viz | 2:03 min | 1:47 min | +13% |
| Interior | 7:52 min | 6:20 min | +19% |
| VFX Shot | 11:05 min | 8:52 min | +25% |
The hybrid engine clearly shines in memory-intensive scenes where GPU VRAM used to bottleneck performance. It’s not a night-and-day leap, but the gains are substantial and scale well across different hardware configurations.
The New ACES Color Pipeline
What Is ACES?
ACES (Academy Color Encoding System) is an industry-standard color management system that ensures consistent color across devices and workflows. It’s increasingly adopted by major studios and renderers to guarantee that colors remain accurate from render to final compositing.
ACES in Redshift 4.0
Redshift 4.0 introduces a full ACEScg color workflow, offering precise color transformations from input textures to final output. The integration is not just cosmetic—ACES now works natively within Redshift’s render pipeline.
Benefits include:
- Consistent color across DCCs (Cinema 4D, Maya, Houdini, etc.)
- Accurate tone mapping for HDR and linear workflows
- Better dynamic range preservation
- Reduced banding and clipping
Practical Results
When comparing identical scenes rendered in sRGB vs ACEScg, the differences are subtle but meaningful:
- ACEScg renders display smoother gradients
- Highlights roll off more naturally
- The overall image feels more filmic and balanced
For artists working in film, VFX, or broadcast, this improvement alone justifies upgrading to Redshift 4.0.
Enhanced Volumetric Rendering
Volumetrics have always been one of Redshift’s trickier areas. While previous versions handled smoke, fog, and atmosphere decently, they often required heavy sampling and suffered from long render times.
Redshift 4.0 changes that with:
- Faster volumetric multiple scattering
- Smarter sampling controls
- Improved interaction with lights and materials
- Better denoising in volumetric regions
Test Results
In our VFX test scene (a sci-fi corridor filled with fog and spotlights), Redshift 4.0 rendered volumetric effects nearly 30% faster than version 3.6. More importantly, noise was reduced significantly—especially in areas with overlapping lights.
This improvement not only speeds up renders but also reduces the need for post-processing denoising, saving valuable production time.
Material and Lighting Improvements
Refined Redshift Standard Material
The Redshift Standard Material, introduced in earlier releases, continues to evolve. Version 4.0 enhances it with:
- Better subsurface scattering (SSS)
- Improved roughness and anisotropy
- New coat and sheen layers for realistic surfaces
These refinements bring Redshift closer to the look-dev flexibility of engines like Arnold or Octane, but without their slower render times.
Smarter Lighting Models
Redshift 4.0’s lighting system also gets notable improvements. Light sampling is now more adaptive, allowing for:
- Reduced noise in multi-light setups
- Better light linking performance
- More accurate reflections and refractions
The inclusion of physical sky updates and HDRI blending tools adds realism and control for outdoor lighting setups.
Integration and Workflow Enhancements
Redshift 4.0 continues Maxon’s push for seamless integration across the Maxon One suite, which includes Cinema 4D, ZBrush, and Forger.
In Cinema 4D
- Viewport improvements allow near real-time preview of Redshift materials.
- The new Node Material system is faster and more intuitive.
- Render settings have been simplified with clearer presets.
In Houdini and Maya
- Better support for procedural geometry and instancing
- More stable interactive rendering (IPR)
- Support for OCIO color workflows (complementing ACES)
These workflow enhancements make Redshift 4.0 easier to use and more predictable—key traits for production pipelines.
Real-World Testing: Production Scenes
To see how Redshift 4.0 performs under real conditions, we tested it on three common production scenarios.
Test 1: Product Visualization
- Scene Complexity: Medium
- Lighting: HDRI + area light
- Result: Redshift 4.0 was around 13% faster than 3.6, with smoother reflections and improved highlight roll-off under ACEScg.
Test 2: Interior Rendering
- Scene Complexity: High
- Lighting: Multiple GI bounces, soft shadows
- Result: The hybrid renderer handled large geometry sets better, cutting render times by nearly 20% while maintaining identical quality.
Test 3: VFX Volumetric Scene
- Scene Complexity: Very High
- Lighting: Multiple volumetric lights, motion blur
- Result: Redshift 4.0’s new volumetric engine outperformed the older version by roughly 25–30%, with noticeably reduced grain in dense fog areas.
Comparing Redshift 4.0 to Previous Versions
| Feature | Redshift 3.6 | Redshift 4.0 | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rendering Engine | GPU Only | Hybrid CPU+GPU | ✅ Major |
| Color Management | Basic OCIO | Full ACEScg | ✅ Major |
| Volumetrics | Slower, noisier | Faster, cleaner | ✅ Major |
| Material System | Good | More physical and flexible | ✅ Moderate |
| Integration | Solid | Deeper Maxon One integration | ✅ Moderate |
| Stability | Excellent | Improved further | ✅ Slight |
In short: Redshift 4.0 isn’t a minor update—it’s a major leap forward. Every critical system (rendering, color, volumetrics) has been upgraded for speed, accuracy, and future compatibility.
CPU-Only Mode: A Hidden Bonus
Although hybrid rendering is the headline, the ability to run CPU-only renders is a huge win for flexibility. Artists without high-end GPUs can now use Redshift—something that wasn’t possible before.
While CPU-only rendering is slower than GPU or hybrid mode, it’s surprisingly capable for preview and look development. This makes Redshift 4.0 a more inclusive tool for a wider user base, including laptop and workstation users without powerful GPUs.
Denoising and Sampling Enhancements
Redshift’s denoiser options—NVIDIA OptiX, Intel OIDN, and Altus—have been fine-tuned in 4.0. The denoisers now work more efficiently with the hybrid engine, producing cleaner results at lower sample counts.
Key benefits:
- Reduced flickering in animations
- Better preservation of fine detail
- Faster convergence in low-light scenes
This improvement means that even draft renders now look significantly better, speeding up look development cycles.
Performance vs. Competing Renderers
How does Redshift 4.0 compare to other leading renderers in 2025?
| Renderer | Speed | Quality | Hybrid Support | ACES | Volumetrics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Redshift 4.0 | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Octane X | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★★ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Arnold GPU | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★★ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Cycles X | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★★☆ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
While Octane and Arnold remain strong competitors, Redshift 4.0’s hybrid mode and speed advantage make it a leader for production pipelines that demand both flexibility and power.
User Experience and Stability
Redshift has always been praised for its rock-solid stability, and version 4.0 continues that tradition. During our testing across Cinema 4D and Houdini, crashes were rare, even under heavy memory loads.
The render feedback system feels more responsive, particularly in IPR sessions. The hybrid engine gracefully scales with available resources—if your GPU runs out of VRAM, Redshift simply shifts some tasks to the CPU rather than crashing.
For artists juggling tight deadlines, this reliability is a game changer.
Who Should Upgrade to Redshift 4.0?
Ideal Users
- VFX Artists who rely on volumetrics and compositing workflows
- Motion Designers who need fast, flexible renders
- Architectural Visualizers working on large interior scenes
- Studios seeking consistent ACES-based color workflows
Who Might Wait
- Users on very old hardware (hybrid mode is beneficial, but not magical)
- Those using Redshift 3.6 in locked production pipelines (stability is solid, but upgrades always require pipeline testing)
Overall, Redshift 4.0 is absolutely worth the upgrade for most professionals.
Final Verdict:
Redshift 4.0 is more than just an update—it’s a redefinition of what GPU rendering can be. By embracing hybrid CPU+GPU rendering, integrating ACES color management, and dramatically improving volumetric performance, Redshift solidifies itself as one of the most powerful render engines on the market.
Pros
- Hybrid rendering delivers tangible speed gains
- Full ACEScg integration for color accuracy
- Improved volumetric rendering and sampling
- Stable, fast, and production-ready
- Excellent integration with Cinema 4D and Maxon One
Cons
- CPU-only mode still slower than pure GPU
- Hybrid performance gains vary by scene complexity
- Learning curve for new ACES workflow
