The C++ SDK is part of every distribution of Cinema 4D and is stored in the sdk.zip
file. It can be installed in any location on the file system. For details see SDK Overview.
A new plugin module is created by adding a new folder to the SDK's "plugins" directory. This folder needs to have two sub-folders:
projectdefinition.txt
file and all generated project files.The new project also has to be added to the solution's projectdefinition.txt
file ("plugins/project"). The project files of the new project and the updated solution can be created by running the Project Tool. The tool will create project files for the supported platforms which are currently Microsoft Windows and Apple macOS. See Development for Microsoft Windows, Development for macOS and Development for Linux.
A res folder can contain resources used by the plugin. Such resources are typically dialog and Description resource files. See Resource Files Manual. The plugin path can be obtained with GeGetPluginPath().
The res folder typically has this structure:
Further languages can be supported by creating new languages folders. Such a folder is constructed by using the language code (ISO 639-1) and a region ID. Please note that the region ID must be capitalized.
E.g. French language strings would be stored in a folder named "strings_fr-FR".
Classic plugin hooks are built upon classes derived from BaseData. These classes define a set of virtual functions that are called by Cinema 4D. To create a plugin, simply derive a class from one of the data classes and implement the virtual functions. To register the derived class with Cinema 4D there is a specific "Register" function for each class.
See General Plugin Information Manual and Plugin Types.
MAXON API ALIASES plugins are based on interfaces. A plugin is created by implementing such interfaces and registering these implementations at public registries. See Interface Basics and Registries.
Specific functionality of the MAXON API ALIASES is used by either directly using static functions or creating instances of specific classes. Such classes can either be standard C++ classes or reference classes that represent implementations of virtual interfaces. Such reference classes can also be obtained from extension points. See Entity Creation, Using Interfaces and Registry Usage.
See also Plugin Types.
Every custom component - frameworks, plugins, interfaces, registries, implementations, etc. - must have a unique identifier. The MAXON API ALIASES uses the reverse-domain notation to define such IDs. This means that third parties should use their company domain name to create the ID. E.g. if the company domain is "examplecompany.com" the reverse-domain name of a component would be "com.examplecompany.something".
If no custom domain is available one can construct a custom ID by using the developer's user name used in the support forum in the form of "example.doesnotexist.<forum_username>.something".
Based on its content a plugin may be classified as a "module". Such a "module" is a plugin that only uses the frameworks of the new MAXON API ALIASES and does not use the cinema.framework at all. Such a "module" must use the ".module" suffix in the folder name e.g. "example.module".
A plugin that uses the "classic" API of cinema.framework is typically described as a "hybrid" plugin (since it uses both "classic" and "new" API).
Modules and "hybrid" plugins are loaded in this order:
Typically the source processor manages the dependencies of modules and plugins. One can also define the dependencies of modules using the MAXON_DEPENDENCY_ON_MODULE() attribute in an arbitrary source code file of the dependent module.
E.g. if a module "net.example.module_b" depends on "net.example.module_a" a source code file of "module_b" can simply contain:
This makes sure that "com.examplecompany.module_a" is loaded before "module_b".
DLLs needed by a plugin can be placed in myplugin\res\libs\win64; DYLIBs can be placed in myplugin\res\libs\osx.
All "hybrid" plugin containing the string "config" in the name will be loaded before all other "hybrid" plugins. This allows such "config" plugins to modify the loading queue.
This is typically used to check the environment (library availability, keys, etc.) in order to enable or disable another plugin.
The plugin queue is edited by implementing a QueryStartupOrder() function:
It is possible to install multiple versions of Cinema 4D and multiple versions of the SDK on the same system simultaneously. One has to define the plugin search path to make sure Cinema 4D will load custom plugins. The search path can be configured in the application's preferences or using a command line argument:
For general advice on how to program Cinema 4D plugins and how to debug them see Programming Advice and Debugging.