Latest News

Cinema 4D 2023.1.0 Release

Posted on by Ferdinand

On November the 9th, 2022, Maxon Computer released Cinema 4D 2023.1.0. Alongside this release, a new Cinema 4D SDK and SDK documentation have been released, reflecting the API changes for 2023.1.0.

The major changes in this documentation update are in C++ the addition of the Color Management and OpenColorIO manuals. In Python, the documentation of native Python magic methods such as __init__, __iter__, or __getitem__ has been updated and the c4dpy interpreter now supports more of the native CPython command line arguments.

2023.1.0 C++ SDK and API Documentation

2023.1.0 Python++ SDK and API Documentation

The Cinema 4D to Visual Studio Code bindings for 2023.1.0 are accessible under the following links.

2023.1.0 Extended SDKs on GitHub

Cinema 4D 2023.0.0 Release

Posted on by Ferdinand

On September the 7th, 2022, Maxon Computer released Cinema 4D 2023.0.0. Alongside this release, a new Cinema 4D SDK and SDK documentation have been released, reflecting the API changes for 2023.0.0.

The major changes in this documentation update are in C++ exposure of OCIO interfaces and the added legacy plugin type symbols. In Python, minor bug fixes have been carried out and an updated version of the VS Code plugin for Cinema 4D 2023.0.0 has been provided.

Please refer to the Maxon One Fall Update notes for details on the changes of the application itself.

2023.0.0 C++ SDK and API Documentation

2023.0.0 Python++ SDK and API Documentation

The Cinema 4D to Visual Studio Code bindings for 2023.0.0 are accessible under the following links.

Cinema 4D S26 SP1 Release

Posted on by Ferdinand

On June the 29th, 2022, Maxon Computer released Cinema 4D S26 SP1 (S 26.107). Alongside that release, the new SDK and documentation have been released, reflecting the API changes for S26 SP1.

The major changes in this documentation update are in C++ exposure of OCIO interfaces and the added legacy plugin type symbols. In Python, the Python Libraries Manual has been reworked, outlining more clearly how to import custom Python libraries in scripts and plugins.

See the Maxon One Fall Update notes for details on the changes of application itself.

S26 SP1 C++ SDK and API Documentation

S26 SP1 Python++ SDK and API Documentation

The Cinema 4D to Visual Studio Code bindings for S26SP1 are accessible under the following links (no changes were made; these are the same binaries as for S26).

Cinema 4D S26 Release

Posted on by Ferdinand

On April the 20th, 2022, Maxon Computer released Cinema 4D S26. Alongside that release, the new SDK and documentation have been released, reflecting the API changes for S26.

Cinema 4D S26 now provides the ability to integrate Visual Studio Code with the Script Manager of Cinema 4D to load, run, and debug Cinema 4D scripts from VS Code. The features are documented more extensively in the Cinema 4D Connector documentation. Added was also an SDK asset database which contains assets used by the C+ SDK. Please refer to the release notes of S26 for an overview of the newly introduced features of S26 itself.

S26 C++ SDK and API Documentation

S26 Python++ SDK and API Documentation

SDK Asset Database

The SDK asset database is currently only used by the C++ Asset API examples in the C++ SDK. It is therefore only necessary to provide access to that database when the Asset API examples must be run. The C++ SDK can be built without access to that database.

On systems with unrestricted internet access, no further steps are required to run examples that make use of the SDK asset database, as the database will be downloaded and mounted automatically on such machines. On systems with no or restricted internet access, users can download the database and mount it manually to run all SDK examples. The provided database archive must be unpacked, and the contained *.db file must then be mounted in the preferences of the Asset Browser (see Fig. 1).

Fig I: Manually mounting a local SDK Asset database.

Getting Started

Hi,
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.
  • Cineware
    Cineware 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.