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 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
C++ SDK Project Tool Update
Hello everybody, the project tool for the Cinema 4D R20 C++ SDK has been updated in the downloads section. The new version contains a few bug fixes and generally we recommend to use this latest version. Cheers, MAXON’s SDK Team
Cinema 4D R20 Released
The new major version R20 of Cinema 4D has been officially released. Check out the new features of Cinema 4D R20 on maxon.net. This time there are some major changes to the SDK: C++ SDK comes with changed workflows and… Continue Reading
Plugin Compatibility for Cinema 4D R20
Over the last years we were working on new core technology for Cinema 4D. This new technology will also be available to third party developers in the form of new and extended API. To make the transition as smooth as… Continue Reading
Plugin licensing in a RLM context
We all know that, since release 18, Cinema 4D comes with three different licensing mechanisms to properly respond to our customer base’s licensing needs and to increase license management effectiveness. Standalone, node-locked, permanent Cinema 4D licenses are, since the very… Continue Reading
Cinema 4D R19 SP2 Released
Today MAXON released service pack 2 (SP2) for Cinema 4D R19. For details on bugfixes and changes see the announcement on our homepage. In parallel we updated the SDK documentation for C++ and Python. C++: Browse C++ SDK Documentation Online… Continue Reading