Free script: convert Redshift scenes back to native C4D materials WITHOUT a Redshift license (R23)

Marite

Hi all,

I'm a designer, not a programmer. I put this together with an AI assistant (Claude) to rescue my own projects, and I'm sharing it as-is in case it helps others in the same spot.

Like a lot of people, I had years of Cinema 4D projects whose materials had been converted to Redshift. After I dropped my Redshift subscription (I'm on a perpetual R23 license), every one of those scenes opened with "plugins are missing" and blank materials.

The approach in this earlier thread (https://developers.maxon.net/forum/post/71728) needs Redshift running to read the node graphs. I didn't have that option, so this script rebuilds the materials from clues that survive without Redshift:

texture images in the project's tex folder named after each material (Redshift's converter usually leaves them that way)
the original native materials in your own library of downloaded models (TurboSquid, Xfrog, etc.), matched by name
otherwise, a sensible stand-in guessed from the name (glass, chrome, rubber, gray %, etc.)

It also replaces Redshift lights with native lights in the same position, rebuilds cameras whose viewport cone disappeared, removes dead Redshift tags and switches Render Settings to Physical. One click per project, one undo step, full report in the Console.

It brought my whole back catalog back, including big scenes full of plants and downloaded assets.

What it can't do: procedural node materials (noise, ramps, no image files) can't be recovered without Redshift, so they become stand-ins that are listed for you to fix by hand. Light intensities and colors can't be read back either.

Please note:

Shared as-is, free to use (MIT license). I can't offer support.
Tested only on C4D R23, macOS.
ALWAYS run it on a copy of your project.
Full instructions and settings are in the included README.

Download: RS_Rescue_R23.zip

Hope it saves someone else the headache it saved me.

ferdinand

Hey @Marite,

Welcome to the Maxon developers forum and its community, it is great to have you with us!

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About your First Posting

Thank you for sharing your project! And please excuse the long wait time in the posting queue, I somehow managed to overlook your posting.

Cheers,
Ferdinand