Latest News

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Cinema 4D S22.1 Service Release availability

Posted on by Riccardo Gigante

UPDATE: on 10.06.2020 Maxon has released Cinema 4D S22.1 Hot-Fix 1 to solve a severe scene compatibility issue. While the updated version is immediately available via the official channels, we’re not providing updated API documentation since the fix has no impact on its contents.

On 09.06.2020 Maxon released Cinema 4D S22.1 (version 22.114). For details on bugfixes and changes see the official release notes on the Maxon Website.

In parallel, we updated the SDK documentation for C++ and Python.

C++:

Python:

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Cinema 4D S22 released

Posted on by Riccardo Gigante

Cinema 4D S22 released

The new Cinema 4D Subscription Release (S22) has been officially released today and is now available for download. The next generation of Maxon’s 3D application and first subscription-only release affords customers early access to massive performance and interactivity improvements including:

  • UV unwrapping and editing tools,
  • improved modeling tool functionality,
  • organizational licensing for volume customers,
  • updated viewport technology with support for Metal on macOS,
  • improved GLTF export,
  • improved GoZ integration with ZBrush.

With regard to the APIs, the most significant changes are:

  • existing C++ plugins will work in S22,
  • building C++ plugins requires Visual Studio 2019 or Xcode 11,
  • OpenGl-related source files (headers and examples) are deprecated and have been removed,
  • the .CHM Windows-only portable format for the C++ API Documentation is not supported anymore.
  • a fake Python dummy package is shipped with Cinema 4D, to performs auto-completion for the c4d package in external IDE.

With regard to plugins binary compatibility it should be noted that older plug-ins that were built for R21 should work in R22 unless they make use of removed OpenGL APIs. Nevertheless it’s recommended to contact the respective plug-in vendor and check if a newer version specifically released for R22 is available.

Documentation and Downloads

C++

Python

New ProjectTool

The ProjectTool has been updated to deliver IDE-compatible project files.

Examples on GitHub

The examples on GitHub have been updated.

The Custom Error example (made up of .framework, .module and .use shows how to take advantage of the CustomError interface part of the Maxon API.

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.