The number of people using 3D applications for day-to-day, non-Hollywood work has greatly expanded as well. This hashappened as in-camera effects and miniatures have retreated to a very narrow niche in the industry. The myriad of uses (and users) of 3D in motion pictures and motion graphics have exploded. This pressure from below - rapidly developing multipltform desktop tools combined with the explosion of cheap CPU and GPU power - has defined all aspects of post production technology for the last two decades, 3D is no exception. Like Lightwave 3D, C4D has been picked up and used by VFX houses on big budget Hollywood effects films - the measure by which a product is judged “high end” if you go by the product literature. Since then, C4D has expanded to Windows, MacOS and Linux (for Studio only, and only by request, BTW), while also growing and keeping pace with the developments and trends in 3D animation. C4Ds origins are mirrored closely by Newtek’s Lightwave 3D. C4D’s roots run deep in the anti-big iron movement of desktop jockeys and one-person shops. The 1.0 was released for the Commodore Amiga - the early ’90’s DIY video platform of choice. It’s in this crowded, competitive marketplace that a product like Cinema 4D R13 Studio (C4D) has to be evaluated. “High end” isn’t what you own anymore, it’s what you do with what you have. The idea that “high end” 3D capability was something you bought with a pile of money has really gone the way of SGI machines. While the traditionally more budget friendly apps like Lightwave 3D and 3D Studio Max (also an Autodesk product) have seen their toolsets and capabilities grow to challenge the market heavyweights. Names that were once exclusivly for the high end market like, Maya and Softimage, have long since been acquired by Autodesk and been drastically reduced in price. It is an interesting time for the development of 3D animation software packages. HIGH END IS WHAT YOU DO, NOT WHAT YOU BUY
This is a very big update that takes Cinema 4D to a new level. R13 has a whole new Physical Render system for highly photorealistic renders Stereoscopic tools and workflows for S3D 3D an amazing array of new character animation tools and a ton of Modeling, Animation, File I/O and UI improvements.
C4D was really the non-3D artists 3D program and that’s why I was so inspired to go ahead and give it a spin for a few weeks.Įnter 2011 and R13, now C4D is looking a lot like a high-end, Hollywood movie 3D package.
Motion Graphics folks could install the app in the morning and by the end of the day be knocking out elements for use in their existing After Effects-centric workflows. C4D has been a popular platform for Motion Graphics artists for a while now, probably due to it’s ease-of-use, plug-and-play capabilities. The R13 Studio version is their flagship product and it’s loaded with a ton of new stuff. Maxon released it’s latest version of the Cinema 4D (C4D) late in 2011.