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While this is a review
of Maxon's Cinema 4D version
10.5, we'll also
be looking at some of the changes that were introduced
in version 10, which saw the biggest shake-up in Cinema
4D's history. It's also worthwhile stressing
the modular nature of C4D before we continue. The app is
based around a core module -- the Cinema 4D application
itself which retails at $895. Then the user can bolt on
modules to extend the functionality and tailor the program
precisely to their own needs. The additional modules are
Advanced Render ($595, adds Global Illumination and HDRI
rendering, caustics, sub-surface scattering), Dynamics
($395, physics simulation), Hair ($395), MOCCA ($595, Joint-based
IK system and cloth simulation), MoGraph ($395, Motion
Graphics toolbox), NET Unlimited ($395 Network based rendering
and management), Sketch & Toon ($595, Hand-drawn and
Cel-shader rendering) and Thinking Particles ($395, Particle
systems). It's also worth noting that the BodyPaint
3D painting and texturing application that was previously
only available as a module, is now rolled into the core
application.
Interface
For seasoned users, the most obvious change
introduced in version 10 is the whole look of the program:
it has taken on a less-sculpted, slate-grey look with all
the button highlights in orange (somewhat reminiscent of
modo, we have to say). However, interface flexibility has
always been a forte of Cinema, and the old-style looks are
still there lurking under the surface, ready to be called
up from the Edit > Preferences > Common dialog box.
Cinema has also eschewed the collection of printed manuals
of previous versions, with all its documentation now being
searchable hypertext that is shipped on the DVD and opened
from within the program itself. However, the documentation
isn't installed by default, and to install it you actually
have to install the relevant language file that you want
your interface to 'speak'. This caused us some
head-scratching at first.
The
Cinema 4D interface concept also merits an explanation. The
program is really a GUI-within-a-GUI (i.e. neither Mac nor
Widows.) In fact, the Mac version doesn't even use
the Mac Menu Bar – all menus are accessed from within
Cinema 4D windows themselves. This also leads to some problems:
since the interface basically sits in a Mac OS X window,
the three window control buttons don't do what you expect
them to. Clicking the 'x' button doesn't
close the current document -- it quits the whole program.
This had us really confused at first. Also you don't
get the little dot in the Close button to tell you that your
document is unsaved.
But this control over the GUI has allowed the
developers to build in a great deal of flexibility with regards
to screen layout. Basically, every interface element (toolbars,
OpenGL views, Attribute dialogs, and the like) exist as separate
windows. These windows can then be docked with one another--
either vertically or horizontally -- to create a 'flat'
interface. Should you require a little depth to your interface,
any
window or docked 'pane' can be turned into a
tab, and these tabs can then be stacked to allow multiple
panes to reside in the same interface space. Of course, most
of the time, you won't have to think about this, since
Cinema 4D comes complete with ready-to-use interface layouts
for General use, Modeling, Animation, two layouts for BodyPaint
(Maxon's 3D painting solution) and...Architecture.
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- C4D Architecture Edition features exchange plugins
for Allplan, ArchiCAD and VectorWorks, enabling "round-trip"
model editing between C4D and all three BIMs.
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Yes, Architecture. Maxon is taking the field
of architectural visualization rather
seriously (see last section below). The number
of layouts available to the user is essentially unlimited,
and they can be chosen from the Layout drop-down in the standard
interface or from the Window > Layout menu. Careful if
you have you interface stretched across multiple monitors,
though. Choosing a new layout snaps the entire interface
into the monitor carrying the Menu Bar. Even with the interface
split into two windows (one per monitor), both windows still
crowded onto the main monitor when changing the layout. We
hope this is addressed soon.
Another
major interface change introduced in version 10 is Layers.
These do what you would expect them
to -- organize various scene elements into groups that
can be controlled as a whole -- and a bit more besides.
The architectural implications are obvious, in that you can
group structural, service, landscape, entourage, etc. onto
their own layers and hide and show them at will. Although
you can also control visibility in final rendering, hiding
in the Object and Material managers and in the Timeline.
Layers can, of course, be locked and they can
have any deformers or HyperNURBS objects turned on or off
at Layer level. Creating
a new layer can be as easy as selecting some objects in the
Object manager and Right-click > Add to New Layer. Naturally
you can also add them to existing layers. Layers are also
global: any item in a Layer will be affected wherever that
item occurs: simultaneously in the Object manager and Timeline,
for example. Layers also work independently of Groups in
the object manager: the contents of a single layer can be
drawn from members of different groups. We found the new
layers extremely useful in organizing the often-messy hierarchy
of imported model files -- for instance we found them
invaluable for organizing and controlling the visibility
of the tangle of Cameras that seem to come in with our test
SketchUp files.
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01
- Cinema 4D's HUD (head's up display system) provides
remarkable UI flexibility and control by allowing
the user to drag commands into the main window as
a HUD element.
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Finally, we come on to the HUD. (see
image 01)
The HUD increases interface flexibility dramatically, by
letting you simply drag commands from the interface into
the OpenGL Editor (the 3D workspace). The commands then sit
there independent of the view and give you immediate access
to whatever attributes they control. For instance, select
a number of attributes in the Attribute Manager, they become
a collapsible HUD element. You can Command-drag to place
the HUD element anywhere in the workspace. Then dragging
on any of the fields in the HUD element, and the corresponding
parameters update in real-time in the Editor. And in 10.5
the concept has been expanded so that just about anything can
be used as a HUD element. We found that the positions of
HUD elements could get a little 'scrambled' when
changing between views, but luckily this is ameliorated by
the new Auto Fold option.: this collapses any HUD element
down to a single button that pops open when you mouse over
it. The HUD really comes into its own when you want access
to particular commands for a particular project, but don't
want to go to the trouble of designing a custom layout for
the task.
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