Current Documentation
* If downloaded CHM file is not browsable see this page
This SDK offers the most powerful toolset. It is the right choice if you need speed, full access to all parts of the application and want to create complex projects.
Development Environments
MAXON supports Xcode for the Mac and Visual Studio for PC. SDK Support can’t offer any support for other compiler or IDEs (e.g. no GCC compiler or Eclipse).
| Release | Windows | OS X |
|---|---|---|
| Cinema 4D R21 | Visual Studio 2017 (see note in docs) | Apple XCode 10 |
| Cinema 4D R20 | Visual Studio 2015 (see note in docs) | Apple XCode 9 |
| Cinema 4D R19 | Visual Studio 2015 | Apple XCode 8 |
| Cinema 4D R18 | Visual Studio 2013 | Apple XCode 7 |
| Cinema 4D R17 | Visual Studio 2013 | Apple XCode 6 |
| Cinema 4D R16 | Visual Studio 2012 | Apple XCode 5.0.2 |
| Cinema 4D R15 | Visual Studio 2012 | Apple XCode 4.6.3 |
| Cinema 4D R14 | Visual Studio 2010 | Apple XCode 4.3.2 |
| Cinema 4D R13 | Visual Studio 2005 | Apple XCode 3.2.6 |
While it is, of course, a good idea to own a CINEMA 4D license for plugin development, the free Demo version is already sufficient, as it includes the complete SDK.
Note that, depending on the C4D edition, parts of the API may not work. For example, you won’t be able to use MoGraph functionality if you only own a Prime or Visualize edition.
C++ Plugin Code Style Guide
In this document, you will find a public version detailing how we write C++ code at MAXON. Using this style guide can prove useful to facilitate collaboration and code sharing.
- Source publication on our community Github repository.
- Improve readability to the SDK support team.
- Establish a common ground to share code snippets on the SDK support forum.
How to get Plugin IDs
Public resources
Latest Relevant Articles
Cinema 4D R21 HF1 Released
MAXON released hot-fix 1 (RC HF1, version 21.026) for Cinema 4D R21. In parallel, we updated the SDK documentation for C++ and Python. C++: Browse C++ SDK Documentation Online Download HTML format Download Windows HTML help format Python: Browse Python… Continue Reading
Recommendations for Building Cinema 4D R21 C++ Plugins
Changes introduced with Cinema 4D R21 make it necessary to recompile C++ plugins. The MSVC settings of the R21 SDK enable support for Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) by default. Clients, that do not support this instruction set, cannot load the… Continue Reading
Cinema 4D R21 Released
The new major version R21 of Cinema 4D has been officially released and is now available for download. Everyone can now create accounts on the new MyMaxon portal (my.maxon.net) and download the latest version of Cinema 4D. The most significant… Continue Reading
C++ SDK Project Tool for Linux Command Line Renderer Client
Hello everybody, the project tool for the Linux CLR Client R20 C++ SDK is available as single archive in the downloads section. Cheers, MAXON’s SDK Team
Cinema 4D R20 SP2 HF1 Released
MAXON released service pack 2 hot-fix 1 (SP2 HF1, version 20.059) for Cinema 4D R20. In parallel, we updated the SDK documentation for C++ and Python. C++: Browse C++ SDK Documentation Online Download HTML format Download Windows HTML help format… Continue Reading