Environment Per Camera version 5.0 PRO Instructions for EPC 4.2 owners

New features
in EPC 5.0 PRO

Updated
Camera Switcher

Updated
Exclude Objects

Updated
CoronaSky & HDRI

Updated
Lights

Layers management
for each camera

Changing materials
for each camera

Objects transform
for each camera

Useful
Utilities

Viewport Background
for each camera

Global Volume MTL
for each camera

New
EPC Lister panel

Updated
Image Size & Camera

6 new
plugin sections

New
global settings

Common information

Support for 3DS Max 2023-2026 and higher
Max interface and menus now work without freezing or delays when working with EPC (for scenes created before EPC 5.0 PRO, you will need to manually enable some Max settings)
Display sun names in the active viewport
Automatically add HDRI, CoronaSky, and OSL HDRI Environment maps when creating an HDRI tab in the Material Editor
Expanded functionality of the camera switcher and EPC sections with many new hotkeys
New global EPC settings
Lists of Layers, Exclude Objects, Lights, and Materials sections can be copied to the entire EPC, eliminating the need to manually add them for each camera
[Shift] click the Override checkbox in the Postprocess block to enable or disable it for the entire EPC
You can now reinstall EPC manually at any time, even after reinstalling Windows (on the same PC for the same EPC user)
Colors for frame resolutions and color groups in The camera switcher has become brighter and more visible
Applying the current frame settings to cameras in the list
When renaming cameras, you can use [Enter] instead of clicking Rename
A color bar inside the Image Size & Camera block improves navigation between cameras within color groups
Tooltips with additional hotkeys on all buttons

Layers section – manage layers for each camera (without using animation keys or Scene States)
Materials section – change the materials of multiple objects for each camera (without using animation keys or Scene States)
Object Control section – change the position, rotation, and scale of objects for each camera (without using animation keys or Scene States)
Global Volume section – set the global Volume material, its depth, and tint for each camera (fog for the entire scene)
Viewport Background section – set a background image for the viewport for each camera (for modelers working with photo references from different angles)
Utilities section – clean up assets and unnecessary paths for renders and render elements, fix batch rendering stalls at startup, and transliterate Cyrillic names of cameras and lightmix channels in one click
EPC Lister panel – all the main EPC parameters from all cameras in one place in table format (more) No need to go into each camera and check EPC settings before rendering.
Global Batch Render & Limits section – all Batch Render settings with render time and noise level settings are located within the camera switcher.
Lock buttons in the camera switcher – lock camera movement (with the ability to lock cameras of a single color group, as well as all cameras at once).
New list management method in the Layers, Exclude Objects, and Lights blocks – each list item can be assigned its own state.
New ON/Visible only for this Camera state in the Layers, Exclude Objects, and Lights blocks – makes a layer/object/light visible only for a specific camera (without having to exclude it in other cameras).
OSL HDRI Environment and CoronaToneMapControl map support.
Control the intensity of HDRI, CoronaSky, and OSL HDRI Environment maps directly in the plugin (even without connecting ColorCorrection and CoronaColorCorrect maps).

New in UI & UX

New sections, panels and elements

Installing & reinstalling EPC

You can now reinstall EPC yourself at any time, even after reinstalling Windows (on the same PC for the same plugin user)

New EPC Lister button (Customize User Interface ► Toolbars ► Category ► HAIKO VISUAL) for the toolbar to open the corresponding panel.
New Add Layers button (Customize User Interface ► Toolbars ► Category ► HAIKO VISUAL) for the toolbar – adds selected layers from the 3DS Max Layers Explorer panel to a new Layers block for the current camera (without having to go to the EPC).

Reinstalling the plugin

New features in plugin installation

Camera switcher
& global settings

Duplicating Cameras ► Fix duplicated Camera height – automatically shifts the duplicated camera and target coordinates by 0.001 system units along the Z axis. Disable this setting only if you always manually duplicate cameras in your scene (without instances) and deliberately avoid camera duplication in the EPC Switcher. Otherwise, simply leave this setting alone (it can lead to unexpected results in rendering and Batch Render, as well as incorrect map switching and other EPC parameters).
Performance ► Maximize Interactive Render Stability – stops interactive rendering before switching to another camera and restarts it after switching. Use only if interactive rendering frequently crashes in complex scenes (if scene optimization doesn't help).
Batch Render ► Save files to folders with camera names – distributes Batch Render files into folders with camera names. Caution! After changing the setting, you must recreate the Batch Render queue!
Viewport ► Display Sun names – displays sun names in the active viewport

New global EPC settings

Press [Alt] + click the file save path button to clear the path for Batch Render files.
If you don't set a save path and send an EPC to Batch Render, the Batch Render list is automatically populated with a path equal to the project folder ► to the EPC_Batch_Render folder ► to the folder with the current date, file format – CXR.
Use the Save files to folders with camera names checkbox in the EPC global settings to automatically distribute Batch Render files into folders with camera names.
Use the Global Render Limits block to quickly set render time and noise level without accessing the render settings.
Move the Global Batch Render & Limits section above the EPC Camera Switcher block for quick access to Batch Render settings when using a large number of cameras.
Caution! When working with the plugin, the values in the Global Batch Render & Limits section take precedence over the values in the render settings. When manually changing render times in the render settings, the time values will be automatically taken from the Global Batch Render & Limits section when switching to any camera. To change render times, now use only the Global Batch Render & Limits section.

[Ctrl] + right-click the camera button – automatically rename all cameras in the current color group
[Ctrl] + [Shift] + camera button – duplicate and rename the camera
[Shift] + T – select the camera and its target together (replaces the removed All button in version 4.2)
New lock button – lock/unlock camera movement
[Shift] + lock button – lock/unlock the entire current camera color group
[Ctrl] + lock button – lock/unlock all cameras
The rename/delete camera window now appears next to the button, rather than in the center of the screen
The colors of frame resolutions and color groups in the camera switcher have become brighter and more visible
When renaming cameras, you can use [Enter] instead of clicking Rename

New section Global Batch Render & Limit

New features in Camera Switcher

Image Size & Camera

Added a color bar to improve navigation between cameras within color groups
Automatically disable FF (Free Frame) mode when locking W and H (and vice versa), as well as when using Set Largest Side for all Cameras
Press [Shift] + Set Largest Side for all EPC and [Shift] + Apply to all EPC to apply the settings only to the entire current camera color group
Press Apply to list to apply the settings to cameras in the list (use [Shift] and [Ctrl] to select cameras in the list that opens)
When using Reverse, the camera remains at the same height along the Z axis

New features in Image Size & Camera section

Corona Sky & HDRI

Added support for OSL HDRI Environment and CoronaToneMapControl maps
Control the intensity of HDRI, CoronaSky, and OSL HDRI Environment maps directly in the plugin (the intensity value is the same for all cameras)
Automatic creation of CoronaBitmap, CoronaSky, and OSL HDRI Environment maps when creating a new HDRI tab in the Material Editor

New features in Corona Sky & HDRI section

Exclude Objects

Give each object in the list its own state (instead of one state for all objects in version 4.2) – Hidden for this Camera, Isolated for this Camera, and the new Visible only for this Camera state (to make the object visible only in the current camera – no longer need to manually exclude objects in other cameras).
Click Get from Camera to transfer excluded objects from the Corona Camera to the EPC list (use only for scenes created before EPC or in previous versions of EPC – and immediately after opening the scene).
Press [Shift] + Remove to clear the entire list.
Press [Alt] + Remove to clear the list for all cameras.
Click the new Copy list to all EPC button to copy the list to the entire EPC (and avoid adding the same objects manually in each camera).
Press [Shift] + Copy list to all EPC to replace all lists in all cameras with the current one.

New features in Exclude Objects section

Layers

When adding EPC to all cameras in a new scene using the Add all EPC to all Cameras button, all hidden layers in the scene will be automatically added to the Layers for this Camera section with the Hidden status.
In a scene with an EPC set for all cameras, click Get All Layers to add all first-level layers (except the default layer) from the 3DS Max Layers Explorer palette to the list.
Leave only the layers you want to manage in the list (select the rest while holding down [Shift] and click Remove).
Select the desired layer in the list and set its display mode for this camera.
To manually add layers (at any nesting level), select the desired layers in the 3DS Max Layers Explorer palette and click the new Add Layers button in the EPC toolbar at the top.
Click Copy list to all EPC to copy the list to the entire EPC (to avoid adding the same layers manually in each camera).
Press [Shift] + Copy list to all EPC to replace all lists in all cameras with the current list.
Click Unhide all Layers to temporarily show all scene layers (without applying the conditions specified in the list). Click a camera button to reapply the conditions specified in the list for that camera.
Press [Shift] + Remove to clear the entire list.
Press [Alt] + Remove to clear the list for all cameras.
Caution! Store cameras only in the default layer to prevent them from disappearing when you turn off layers.
Caution! An empty Layers for this Camera list automatically means that all layers in the scene will be shown for this camera (including manually hidden layers).
Caution! Do not create a separate hidden layer to store unnecessary objects in the scene that «might come in handy». Store unnecessary objects in separate scenes or in Copitor script cells. The EPC is designed exclusively to manage only what is actually needed in the scene. Otherwise, you will have to hide this unnecessary layer in all cameras, thereby creating unnecessary overhead when switching cameras.

New Layers control section

Materials

Add the objects for which you will change materials to the Objects for this Camera list. Click Select from List to select the desired objects from the list, or click + and select the desired objects in the scene.
Click Copy list to all EPC to copy the list to the entire EPC (without manually adding the same objects to each camera).
Press [Shift] + Copy list to all EPC to replace all lists in all cameras with the current one.
Press [Shift] + Remove to clear the entire list.
Click Add MTRLS tab in MEditor in the Materials for these Objects block to create a new MTRLS tab in the Material Editor.
Two empty materials will be automatically created within the MTRLS tab: CoronaLegacyMtl and CoronaPhysicalMtl.
Configure the materials yourself or transfer existing materials from other tabs to the MTRLS tab (go to another tab, right-click on the material, select Move Tree to View, and select MTRLS).
Select an object in the Objects for this Camera list and select its material from the Materials for these Objects list.
Repeat for other objects in the list
Repeat for other cameras
Now object materials change automatically when switching cameras
After setting up objects and their materials, you can click Copy list to all EPC to copy the objects and their material states to the entire EPC – or [Shift] + Copy list to all EPC to replace all objects and their material states in all cameras with the current camera's settings.

New Materials control section

Lights

Set each light in the list to its own state (instead of one state for all lights in version 4.2) – OFF for this Camera, Isolated for this Camera, and the new ON only for this Camera state (to enable the light only in the current camera – no more manually excluding lights in other cameras).
Click Get from Camera to move a light from the Corona Camera exclude list to the EPC list (use only for scenes created before EPC or in previous versions of EPC – and immediately after opening a scene).
Press [Shift] + Remove to clear the entire list.
Press [Alt] + Remove to clear the list for all cameras.
Click the new Copy list to all EPC button to copy the list to the entire EPC (and avoid adding the same lights in each camera manually).
Press [Shift] + Copy list to all EPC to replace all lists in all cameras with the current one.

New features in Lights section

Object Control

Click Select from List in the Control for this Camera block to select the desired objects from the list, or click + and select the desired objects in the scene.
Click Copy list to all EPC to copy the list to the entire EPC (without manually adding the same objects to each camera).
Objects are added to the list with their current state (position, rotation, and scale) automatically saved.
Move to another camera with a different camera angle.
Change the position, rotation, or scale of these objects to suit the new camera angle.
Right-click the camera button with the new camera angle (important!)
Click Save Object State to save the new object state for the new camera angle.
Now the object state (position, rotation, and scale) changes automatically when switching cameras – without using animation frames or Scene States.
Important! Left-clicking the camera button applies the settings specified in the EPC. Right-clicking allows you to edit the EPC settings without applying them. Therefore, before adding a new object to the Control for this Camera list (if there are other objects in the list), first left-click the camera to activate state changes for the objects already added to the list. Only then right-click to save the state of the new object.
Caution! The Object Control section is not compatible with EPC Converter! To transfer a scene for rendering on a PC without EPC, use layers, object exclusion, or frame-by-frame animation to transform objects to suit the angle!

New Object Control section

Global Volume

Click Add VLM tab in MEditor to create a new VLM tab in the Slate Material Editor.
An empty CoronaVolumeMtl material will be automatically created within the VLM tab.
Configure the material yourself or transfer existing CoronaVolumeMtl materials from other tabs to the VLM tab (go to another tab, right-click on the material, select Move Tree to View, and select VLM).
Select the appropriate CoronaVolumeMtl material for this camera in the Volume for this Camera block.
In the Absorption block, set the desired distance and color.
Repeat for other cameras.
Now the Global Volume materials (or the absorption and color of one material) change automatically when you switch cameras.

New Global Volume section (fog for the whole scene)

Time Slider

[Shift] + Enabled – apply to all EPC

New in Time Slider section

Viewport Background

Click Add BCKGRND tab in MEditor to create a new BCKGRND tab in the material editor.
The first CoronaBitmap will be created automatically in the BCKGRND tab.
Upload the desired images for the viewport background.
Go to the Background for this Camera block in the plugin.
Select the desired map from the list.
Click Get resolution from Map to set the current camera's resolution to the selected map's resolution.
Repeat for other cameras.
Now the viewport background and frame size change automatically when switching cameras – use this for modeling based on photo references.

New Viewport Background section

Utilities

Use the Clear & Remove block buttons to clear paths in render settings and render elements, clear assets, and other non-existent paths.
Click Clear All to perform a full clearing of all items in the Clear & Remove block in 1 click.
Click Transliterate & Fix in the Cyrillic & wrong Names block to automatically transliterate camera and render element names and remove characters incompatible with the file system (the action cannot be undone).
Use the Clear & Remove and Cyrillic & wrong Names blocks to fix Batch Render startup and saving errors in two clicks.
Use the Open EPC Panels block buttons to open hidden plugin panels.

New Utilities section

LightMix

The channel rename/delete window now appears next to the button, rather than in the center of the screen

New features in LightMix editor

EPC Lister

Open the EPC Lister panel before the final render to see all EPC settings from all cameras in a list.

New panel for overview of every camera settings

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