download http://corona-renderer.com/stuff/sample_scene.zip. Result : error. 404: Page Not Found. Please fix download link
ok, now I know why it probably did not work for some people 
the link in the first post was wrong, it was to an older version that was eventually removed. I’ve fixed it.
I opened the scene in max 2013 and saved in 2011, it’s attach here. And my test in max 2014! 
_scene_max2011.max (3.79 MB)
Are you comparing exactly the same scene? There are bound to be some differences, because from A4 released 1.5 years ago, a lot have changed. I have tried to keep the shading similar, but some changes did happen. If you just take a scene fine-tuned for A4, it will not look as good in A7, but you should be able to achieve the same look if you made the scene from scratch in A7.
BTW: The scene in benchmark is not the same as .max, the .max has all settings reset to demonstrate that you dont need to change anything, so there is different color mapping
*Nevermind, wrong thread - thought it was the benchmark one. My mistake.
A4 result - from “A4 benchmark”
Build timestamp: Sep 8 2014 result - from this thread. I opened file and click render butoon.
I don’t know precisely, than two scenes can differ. But absolutely not incorrect global illumination, a noisiness and, as a result, the increased time - me confused.
If it is only temporal, I will wait and trust =)
I began to panic because to release not and long it was necessary to wait. And “regress” as it seemed to me, was strongly expressed.
Build timestamp: Aug 6 2014 - working fine, only 09/07 - have a bug with SecGI(but! working fine with HDRI lighting).
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/g4qz1fh98mycjg6/AADYLXbvXE6w6trSU2lSPnaga?dl=0
Testing: same scene (“max” edition) in all versions, no reset, no change any parameters
ok, there was a weird bug. In some of builds it did nothing, in others it made the scene brighter, in others darker (like the one I released as daily build). It is fixed now.
OCTANE and CORONA comparison
Hi! I take the scene and converted to Octane Render, so I can compare the quality and speed of the two renderers.
They are some differences but they are because the values for specular/ glossiness and reflection are very different in Octane.
I had some problem with the portal, because with the version of Octane I have can’t change the environment when use the Sun.
In render time it’s 3 time faster with a gtx 590 in Octane than a i7 2600k in Corona to get similar image quality with the same amount of noise.
In Octane I used Pathtracing with a maxdepth of 1024 to be totally unbiased, but i can get the same quality with faster render times with a maxdepth of 8 or 10.
Can you post your render times and do the Octane test with a 21 ray depth?
Cheers.
Why 21 ray depth? Where you get that number? In my experience with Octane go further than 16 doesn’t make any difference. I had renderer water and fruits with 16 max depth and don’t have any clamp on the reflections.. So, 21 doesn’t make any sense for me… If I want to be sure I go for 1024 that take the same time to render than 21.
The intention of my post wasn’t to compare which renderer was the fastest, but to compare the render quality.. I think they are pretty close.
I don’t know why you talk about the cost and the power consumption. Who cares? You are not buying a Lamborghini… It’s only a few bucks less or more.
I like Corona Render very much.
But as an art director, Actually I prefer Octane because have instant preview and can make a lot of changes very fast to get the style I’m looking for. And that time is much more valuable for me than the final render time.
I can spend a lot of money on a computer or send my Corona renders to a render farm.. but I will not get instant preview anyway.
