DevKitchen 2018
Dear Developer Community,
thanks to everybody who pre-registered for our DevKitchen. This really helped us in planning the event.
The DevKitchen 2018 will take place as part of the Cinema 4D Supermeet in Frankfurt am Main on November 1st and 2nd, 2018.
The talks will be held on day one of the Supermeet (November 1st, 2018).
The Menu
| Time | Chef | Course |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | Doors open | |
| 09:30 – 09:45(*) | Entremètier Andreas Block |
Amuse-Gueule Introduction and Welcome |
| 09:45 – 10:45 | Garde-manger Riccardo Gigante |
Potages Demo Porting a Plugin from Cinema 4D R19 to R20 |
| 10:45 – 11:00 | Coffee Break | |
| 11:00 – 12:15 | Garde-manger Riccardo Gigante |
Hors d’œuvre MAXON API – General Concepts The new way to develop plugins
|
| 12:15 – 13:15 | Lunch Break | |
| 13:15 – 14:45 | Entremètier Andreas Block |
Poissons MAXON API – Basic Tools
|
| 14:45 – 15:15 | Coffee Break | |
| 15:15 – 16:15 | Rôtisseur Maxime Adam and Saucier Yannick Puech |
Grosses Pièces Python in Cinema 4D R20
|
| 16:15 – 17:30 | Pâtissier Sebastian Bach |
Petits Fours Features of Cinema 4D R20 and Their APIs
|
(*) Please note: We are starting half an hour earlier than the Supermeet.
The entire SDK Team will be there, leading you through the day. Of course we are available for discussions and Q&A during both days of the Supermeet.
DevKitchen itself is free. As a DevKitchen attendee you will get free access to the entire Supermeet, including food, drinks and the party in the evening of day one. Being registered for DevKitchen, you do not need to acquire a separate ticket for the Supermeet.
You can still register for DevKitchen 2018 via email: sdk_support@maxon.net
For details on location and how to get there, please see the Cinema 4D Supermeet page.
There’s another interesting option:
As a plugin developer you may want to present your plugin to our users. Actually all islands on our “playground” are booked by now. But there will also be an “open stage”, where you could still reserve a time slot to present your plugins during day two of the Supermeet. If this sounds interesting to you, please contact us for further discussion.
Looking forward to meet you,
your SDK Team
Updated c4dpy for Cinema 4D R20 SP1 Hotfix (20.028)
Last week MAXON released a Hotfix for Cinema 4D R20. The accompanying c4dpy executable has been uploaded and is available on the Downloads page.
C++ SDK Project Tool Update
Hello everybody,
the project tool for the Cinema 4D R20 C++ SDK has been updated in the downloads section.
The new version contains a few bug fixes and generally we recommend to use this latest version.
Cheers,
MAXON’s SDK Team
Cinema 4D R20 Released
The new major version R20 of Cinema 4D has been officially released.
Check out the new features of Cinema 4D R20 on maxon.net.
This time there are some major changes to the SDK:
- C++ SDK comes with changed workflows and the new MAXON API (see blow)
- Python SDK got extended by the new features and provides a nicer workflow via c4dpy
- C.O.F.F.E.E. has been removed completely.
Python plugins and scripts should still continue to work (with minor exceptions).
Documentation and Downloads
C++
- Browse C++ SDK Documentation Online
- List of C++ API changes
- Download HTML format
- Download Windows HTML help format
- The latest Project Tool can be found on Downloads page
Python
- Browse Python SDK Documentation Online
- List of Python API changes
- Download HTML format
- The latest c4dpy can be found on Downloads page
DevKitchen 2018
Currently we are planning a DevKitchen embedded into the Cinema 4D SuperMeet 2018 in Frankfurt on November 1st and 2nd.
This will be a great opportunity for plugin developers to get informed about the SDK changes in Cinema 4D R20 and directly discuss with the MAXON’s SDK Team.
There is also the chance to present your plugins at the SuperMeet, please contact us separately via mail to sdk_support@maxon.net, if interested.
Please take a look at the announcement.
We will need a certain number of non-binding pre-registrations until September, 16th for the DevKitchen to happen.
New Support Forum
The new official developer support forum is now online at plugincafe.maxon.net. Please create a new account and use this forum for all future support requests and discussions on Cinema 4D plugin development.
- General information and announcements are found in the “Forum Information & Resources” subforum.
- Questions on Cinema 4D plugin development are discussed in the “Plugin Development” subforum.
- Questions on how to use the Melange library are discussed in the “Melange Development” subforum.
- General questions on programming and development business are welcome in the “General Programming & Plugin Discussions” subforum.
Please make yourself familiar with the rules and procedures in this new forum as described in these threads:
As before, the forum can be used to create new unique plugin IDs. The IDs are created and listed on the “Plugin ID” page.
If you have a user account in the existing support forum, please access your account and store your plugin IDs locally.
New Documentation Online
C++
The documentation of the Cinema 4D R20 C++ SDK is now online. This documentation includes manuals about the new API as well as information on how to port older plugins to the new SDK.
General information on API changes and plugin development is presented on these pages:
- Changes in R20
- SDK Overview
- Getting Started: Introduction.html
- Plugin Development
- Development for Microsoft Windows
- Development for macOS
Information on how to adapt existing plugins can be found on these pages:
Python
The Python documentation has been updated and extended, too.
Project Tool Available
The Project Tool is used to create the necessary project files for Microsoft Visual Studio and Apple Xcode. The tool can be obtained from the Downloads page.
More information on the Project Tool can be found in the documentation: Project Tool.
c4dpy Available
The c4dpy executable can be used as a Python interpreter in conjunction with various IDEs. The latest version is available on the Downloads page.
Example on GitHub
The examples on GitHub have been updated (well, actually by the time of writing this post the update was not complete, yet. The update will follow asap within the next days). All C++ example code can now be found in one repository.
The new repository contains these examples:
- cinema4dsdk: The standard example project that contains code that uses both the “classic” API as well as the new MAXON API.
- maxonsdk.module: A new example project using only the new MAXON API.
- microsdk: A new example project showing a minimal project setup.
Anyone Interested in DevKitchen 2018?
Dear Developer Community,
now, that Cinema 4D R20 has been announced, MAXON is planning an event in Frankfurt am Main on November 1st and 2nd, 2018. Due to the rather large changes inside of the SDK’s, we are thinking about having a DevKitchen in parallel to this event.
The DevKitchen would be a one day event with several presentations targeted at plugin developers. Currently we have the following topics in mind:
- MAXON API – General Concepts
- MAXON API – Basic Tools
- Demo: R19 Plugin Project to R20 Plugin Project
- Python in R20
- R20 Features and their APIs
These topics are not set in stone, yet. If you are interested in other topics or have specific topics for discussions, please let us know.
We may also have the option for a second day, probably used for hands-on workshops, if there’s enough interest.
Of course the SDK Team will be there almost entirely, so there’s also the possibility for additional Q&A and extensive discussions.
DevKitchen itself is free and as a DevKitchen attendee you will also get free access to the entire surrounding event, including free lunch and drinks.
In order for DevKitchen to happen, we would need roughly 15 pre-registrations until September, 28th (edit: pre-registration period prolonged). Please send such via email: sdk_support@maxon.net
There’s another interesting option: As a plugin developer you might want to present your plugins at the event or even do a talk or presentation. If this sounds interesting to you, please contact us for further discussion.
Looking forward to meeting you,
your SDK Team
first time around?
Pick the right API for the right job
The very first thing you will need to do is choose which API will suit your needs.
Cinema 4D has… three APIs, the first two may be used to add functionality and are part of the product’s distribution:
- C++
The C++ SDK is what is used internally by the development team to write all our product’s functionalities. It is robust reliable and the obvious choice for commercial plugins. The C++ SDK offers the most extended capabilities of all APIs. Yet, if you are new in software development the learning curve may be a bit too steep. Then you probably want to have a look at the scripting languages. - Python
Python is a scripting languages. It is a good choice for TDs, easier, more flexible to use than the C++ API, but the feature set exposed is a bit less extended. In general Python provides the means for very rapid development. On the other hand your sources are harder to protect in Python, your algorithms are easily exposed to all for reading. - Mélange
Mélange is a bit different, as it provides means to exchange data with the “outside world”. It can be downloaded on this site.
Find information
All APIs have their own documentation which can be downloaded from this website. That documentation contains two things: articles explaining concepts and a functional documentation of the header files. The later is generated directly from our sources and is written by our development team. We publish relevant articles on our plugin development blog. These articles eventually find their way into the API documentation.
The first place to look is on your chosen API’s page. We will explain how to setup your development environment and get results fast.
Find help
We all need help once in a while. For this we have the Plugin Café forum where all are invited to ask questions and provide answers. Our support engineers will do their best to provide a solution to your problem.