Melange SDK V18.008 Release (Build #189950)
A new Melange SDK for Cinema 4D R18 has been released.
Changes since 18.005 (Build #180051):
- Added: New variation shader support incl. API functions
- Fixed: Missing material parameter defaults (MATERIAL_BUMP_PARALLAX_SAMPLES, …)
- Fixed: melange::GeGetCurrentThreadCount() limitation of 32 cores (vs2013 libs and higher only)
- Fixed: Missing inits for new render data parameter, default resolution updated to 1280×720 at aspect ration 16:9
- Fixed: Texture tag missing defaults for POSITION and ROTATION
- Fixed: Reading complex shader hierarchies shader links lost
- Fixed: Communication issues on OSX 10.12
- Fixed: Missing includes in main c4d.h header
- Changed: Deprecated IDs and unused code/comments removed
- Changed: Updated documentation and quickstart guide
- Fixed: Minor fixes in example projects
Cinema 4D R18 SP2 Released
Today MAXON released SP2 for Cinema 4D R18. For details on bugfixes and changes see the announcement on our homepage.
In parallel we updated the SDK documentations for C++ and Python. Not only did we correct things and integrated changes relevant for the new version, but under Overviews you will find new manual sections on Threading and GUI and User Interaction. Please note, the old information on User Interface was left in there unchanged. This will probably be the case for another one or two releases, so we have some time to gather your feedback.
C++:
Python:
Melange SDK V18.005 Release (Build #180051)
A new Melange SDK has been released. This is the first release for Cinema 4D’s major version R18.
From now on, we plan all upcoming releases to be more or less in sync with Cinema 4D’s major versions.
Feature highlights of the new release:
- Added: Support for Vertex Colors
- Added: Support for Quaternion Rotation
- Added: Support for Take System
- And of course a lot more, see complete changelist
Updated Python Examples on GitHub
Hi everybody,
just a quick note, we have updated the Python examples on GitHub. Quite a bunch of plugins and scripts got added, demonstrating how to use new R18 features as well as some of the new capabilities of our Python integration.
So it might be worth a visit.
Cheers,
your SDK Team
Melange SDK V16.012 Release (Build #174378)
A new Melange SDK for Cinema 4D R16+ has been released.
Changes since 16.010 (Build #169981):
- Fixed: Wrong light type when loading older files (<= version 9)
- Fixed: Fall back cases led to unnecessary critical stops
- Extended command line example: Now prints light type to console
- Change: Disable CRC calculation for all objects when writing if called from SendSceneFile(…, doc) to improve write/transfer speed
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… four APIs, the first three 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 and COFFEE
Python and COFFEE are scripting languages. They are 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 both provide the means for very rapid development. On the other hand your sources are harder to protect in Python and COFFEE, your algorithms are easily exposed to all for reading. Nowadays you will probably prefer Python over COFFEE. - 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 a Q&A 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.