C++

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 macOS
Cinema 4D 2024.0 Visual Studio 2019 and 2022 Xcode 13
Cinema 4D 2023.2 Visual Studio 2019 Xcode 12 (macOS 11) / Xcode 13 (macOS 12)
Cinema 4D S26 Visual Studio 2019 Xcode 11 (Intel) / Apple Xcode 12 (Intel and M1)
Cinema 4D R25 Visual Studio 2019 Xcode 11 (Intel) / Apple Xcode 12 (Intel and M1)
Cinema 4D S24 Visual Studio 2019 Xcode 11 (Intel) / Apple Xcode 12 (Intel and M1)
Cinema 4D R23 Visual Studio 2019 Xcode 11
Cinema 4D S22 Visual Studio 2019 Xcode 11
Cinema 4D R21 Visual Studio 2017 (see note in docs) Xcode 10

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 for the SDK support team.
  • Establish a common ground to share code snippets on the SDK support forum.

How to get Plugin IDs

How to get Plugin IDs

Public resources

Public Resources for Cinema 4D Plugin Development in C++

Latest Relevant Articles