Red Planet shader
This shader is part of the 'Space' series of plugins from this site and simulates a red planet similar to the appearance of Mars. Below are some example renders showing what the shaders do. Click the small image to see a larger version. (The star field background is generated using the StarScape shader available on this site.)
- Default appearance
Uses colour only with all default settings.
- Dark patches
The dark patches effect with darkness at 60%.
- Dark patches and dust
The effect of increasing the dust value to obscure surface features. This is the same image as the previous one but with added dust.
- Depressions
Showing the depressions effect in colour and displacement.
- Canals
A higher canals strength to show them better.
- Ash planet
Using a different base colour to get a completely different planet.
- Surface detail
The Surface Detail setting adds fine surface detail (displacement channel only).
- Ice cap
Ice cap variation using extent, coverage and roughness.
- Multicoloured planet
It doesn't have to be a red planet!
The shader interface looks like this:
Availability
The shader is free to download and use, and you can download a copy from the links below.
Compatibility
The two shaders are compatible with the following versions of Cinema 4D:
| Cinema 4D version | Compatible? |
|---|---|
| R2025 | Yes (macOS version requires C4D 2025.2 or later) |
| R2026 | Yes |
Note - there are separate downloads for each compatible version of C4D listed in the above table - make sure you download the correct file!
There are no versions for C4D R2024 or earlier.
Download
Download Red Planet shader for R2025
Download Red Planet shader for R2026
Page last updated April 4th 2026