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Today I was fooling around in the new release and the possibilites are certainly mind-boggling. Here's a particle stream that drives a volume builder which is displaced at rendertime for super-fine detail. Nothing special, but it was super-fun to make... and it plays in the viewport in the 20-30 fps range, which is very fine 🙂

It is true that you can't drive the creation of particles with map, shader or noise yet. But there are two workarounds. You can either drive a polygon selection with map/shaders/noise and use that to restrict the emission, or you can emit evenly and instantly kill particles based on a map/shader/noise. Here is an example. The shader field drives a vertex color tag which is then used to set the particle colors on emission. Particles are emitted into a first group where there color is checked. If the it is below a certain value the particle is killed right away, if not it is moved to a permanent group where it will happily continue it's particle life. In case you wondering where the animation is coming from, that's set in the Shader Field with the remapping graph to cycle through different grey values of the texture. This is not the most efficient way as the buffers need to be cleaned up more frequently than needed, but you can achieve the intended effect. kill_by_map.c4d

FFS, read what I said. I said that I didn't see the need for Maxon to focus on developing one themselves, and it's not high on the list of stuff Maxon needs to tidy up in C4D, as there are so many areas of C4D that have been left in the cupboard for years. We all know what they are. So I don't think Maxon needs to develop their own real-time renderer like Unreal has. There's a perfectly good real-time renderer available to everyone which I gather is getting a lot of traction and use in the film industry. It's called Unreal Engine and Maxon have a whole page up mentioning how they're continuing to improve C4D's integration with it. https://www.maxon.net/en/cinema-4d/features/unreal-integration I think I'd rather Maxon keep developing C4D, and also keep improving their integration with Unreal Engine, rather than spending their development resources trying to create a separate real-time renderer that competes with Unreal Engine. If I get really keen on real time rendering I'll probably (a) make sure I have a rig that can handle Unreal Engine, and then (b) spend time learning Unreal Engine, plus whatever integration methods work best with C4D (after I resub) rather than waiting around hoping that Maxon will develop their own real-time renderer designed to compete with whatever the Unreal Engine development budget has come up with. Unreal Engine is great and it will keep getting greater in 2025, 2026 and 2027. Meanwhile C4D's character rigging could use improvement, C4D can't do fluids yet, and C4D's Bodypaint is older than some of the women I see in Melbourne pushing around kids in baby strollers. So I think Maxon should probably sort a few of those issues out first before they try to develop a brand new real-time renderer designed to compete with Unreal Engine's place in the film production market.

the problem with real time rendering is that it will never match what unreal engine does. not because c4d isnt capable of doing such thing, it’s just that DCCs arent built the way game engines are built. the reason why unreal engine is so fast is because of the amount of viewport optimizatios it does to get rendering at that speed. these optimizations wouldnt work for a DCC, where accurate data is needed. for example, unreal, just like almost every other game engine of old, does insane amounts of LOD optimizations, eliminating alot of geometry data for performance gains. mesh shading is another use of this… combine with a bunch of other optimizations in the viewport and other areas, unreal can get those speeds. but these types of optimizations dont work well for any DCC because loss of data is not a good thing for a program where data is needed to operate on for modeling/animation/simulations. game engines are always built to look ‘good enough’. DCCs are built to look accurate. therefore, c4d cant truly compete with the real time market. its not its purpose and a market thats not really needed imo… techincally, if maxon wanted, they could make c4d into unreal more than any other DCC. it has directx12. and directx12 supports mesh shading… c4d also has multi instancing, which unreal uses a similar tech to make high geo environments… the tech is there, but the purpose is not…

dear members, we now have 7 videos on Youtube channel! Hop over and subscribe even if you are not into nodes, it will help the channel grow which will help us make more quality content, thank you!

I only watched Chris‘ video about particles so far... my first impression is really good! It's elegantly designed: a limited set of building blocks, but with endless possibilities. I love the shared use of forces, fields, vertex maps, it's so powerful and versatile. And I applaud the simple, visual setup in the object manager. Very well done! 🙂

If we added everything from the start you would have to wait months more. We delivered what we think is a great release that is very usable. Additional features will come.

Regarding Consistency in animation: Here's a test animation using Redshift's new Volume Displacement to add fine detail to a procedural cloud made with C4D's Volume Builder. I'm quite pleased with the outcome! I uploaded the project file here, so you can play around with different noises, etc: 1309818867_ProzeduraleVolume-Builder-WolkemitRS-Volume-Displacement_LY01.mp4

Ok, for anyone else using Octane, I discovered it works only if you select Render Instances in the Cloner settings as follows:

Not sure what currency that is but we haven't raised prices.

Actually they meant to add real sculpting features from Mudbox into Maya but the project was too complex with the DAG. there is even old videos floating around about a tech proof of concept. It was never even put in beta before they dropped it.. subsequently dropping Mudbox development too a couple years after that.

Yeah. No offence but Tbh a real-time renderer is the last thing I'm personally thinking of when I consider the fat list of stuff Maxon need to fix, tidy up, add or redo with C4D to sort out the years of inattention certain areas of the program have suffered from. But they're clearly on the way finally.

I didn't even began to try breaking the next NDA and you've already spilled the beans ! (kidding) Liquid sims for September's release everyone !!! hahhaahahaahahaha ok, enough... Personally I'm good without the liquid sims because with particles and volume displacement I can now fake visualizations like these:

*cough* liquid sim ?? That's one big area we are still 'missing'... CBR

This is an awesome release and I'll be re-subbing after the September release comes out.

The OM is arguably one of Cinema's greatest strengths, and its userbase are rather attached to it, not to mention, used to it, so I think it makes sense to introduce such a powerful new system via an innately familiar interface, and using its workflows and structures. I like having all the particle stuff there in the OM where I can always see it and (mostly) what it is doing without having extra windows floating about. That's not to say I couldn't also see it working in a nodal context, but I have to say I kinda like it where it is... CBR

It's a wonderful release, adding a boatload of functionality to simulation and a solid first step to bringing our particles up to date, and fully integrated with other simulation components - as Chris was at pains to point out the possibilities now are mind-boggling ! I think a lot of people will be very happy with this release, except possibly the guys who make X-Particles; it will be interesting to see where they pivot next. Of course all the attention is rightly focused mainly on the particles, but I was pleased that there have been good updates in other areas, a few of my own suggestions have been added to modelling functionality, and RS got a lot of love and improvements, not least being the toon shader stuff. The new Connectors functionality and workflows are so much easier to work with than the old system, so that is very welcome too. So all in all, I am loving this release... CBR

SOM too:

Yeah, PV = Picture Viewer. You shouldn't actually even NEED an RS tag on the particle group - they should appear in render right out of the box (preusming they have appeared in the scene, lols). Tag only needed if you want additional options there, without it, it defaults to mode 'optimised spheres' I am told... CBR

You gotta cache those puppies to get them out to PV full render... Do this in the Particle Group Cache tab. Or here's Chris, showing the other methods. CBR

Dear members We are happy to announce brand new Youtube channel with focus on C4D node system. In our research we realized that training content for nodes is very sparse and lacking in quality and depth. We already have two lessons available which will be part of ongoing series. Humble request from our side is that, even if you are not into nodes, please subscribe in order that the channel grows which will enable us to monetize it down the road. On longer timeline this can enable us to reduce the subscription period or even remove it alltogether and open up forum for many more artists. https://www.youtube.com/@CORE4D Thank you and enjoy the content! P.S. Any member willing to contribute to the channel is more than welcome - drop us a message : )

I recommend keeping the 2070 and using it just as your display adapter (to drive your monitors). Then only use the 4090 for rendering. You'll enjoy a lot less crashes this way, and will be able to jump around to other programs with more confidence while rendering.

To the realtime discussion as someone who just burned 2K EUR on a Renderfarm with broken renderings. This was 10 years ago: Go figure where it could have been today. Pixelberg was a huge chance Maxon missed back in the day. This is 4-5 years ahead of Eevee. The guy also relesead a normal editing tool a decade ago. He was a game TD who tried to bring realtime workflows to C4D and disappeared with R18 becasue he thought Maxon would go realtime with viewport rendering. Pixelberg needed a lot of work but it also used PBR game maps from Unreal and Unity so you had equal look in all three. Was a cool effort

EJ Hassenfratz just revealed that they are going to add more Tonemap options in RS Toon shader like crosshatch.

That's not the reason Autodesk put the sculpting tools in Maya. It was never meant to compete with Zbrush. They are there for editing Blendshapes for facial animation and Skinning Poses. Don't believe me? Just watch the videos they published when they released those tool. A hint: Both the Shape Editor (for Blendshapes) and the Pose Editor (to fix skinning problems with Pose Space Deformation) are in the Sculpting shelf with all the sculpting tools.

Thank you. I stand corrected. I had no idea D5render was available for C4D. I'll check it out when I have the time. My point was that it's weird that Maxon and Autodesk let Unreal take the lead on this, not that they can take it's place. Anyway, let's agree to disagree here.

Actually there is and I've tested it but I haven't used for a long time because I was too distracted with some other technical stuff and didn't care for renders. https://www.d5render.com/?_sasdk=dMThlZDY1MDAzOTMxM2I5LTAwMGNlYzQzYjQ2ZGQ4M2Y4LTI2MDAxYTUxLTIwNzM2MDAtMThlZDY1MDAzOTRhNTA I like it. But i'd prefer it being more integrated in C4D rather live-linked to D5. Usage of CPU and RAM skyrockets easy dealing with both apps open.

I'm keeping my eye on Chaos Vantage for exactly what you're talking about. It's currently only serving up VRAY, but Corona is supposed to get support and accessibility in it's next release. So I'm hoping this is somewhere between Cinema and Unreal for client walkthroughs and quick animations. I know about Twinmotion, but the appeal of Vantage is not having to do any alterations to your normal Cinema scene in regards to lighting, materials and Cameras. Just waiting for that. I love Unreal, but it's a haul to get full scenes or interiors going properly.

It feels like there is still a long list of stuff C4D really needs to add and sort out but with this release I feel now that the development train is strong on track to get there. Particles must have taken a long time to develop, design, test and everything. Now that it's here they can furthe develop it and also turn their eye to the other areas that require improvement.

I don't think this will work for C4D. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Material_point_method

Dave's trolling powers have also levelled up. https://x.com/dmcgavra/status/1778434672134914467?s=61

Try implementing it. And make sure it runs on CPU, GPU (not just on NVIDIA), ARM processors, all operating system, correctly deals with ACEs,...

You can create a Vertex Color Tag from a texture using scene nodes. The Vertex Color Tag can then be used to control particles in whatever way you want. Image 2 Vertex Colors_0003.c4d It's quicker if you can do without UVs though Position 2 Vertex Colors 01.c4d

This latest Particle addition is a welcomed update. Pretty sure Maxon have probably been working on this for a while , I applaud them for their persistent and hard work. The particle capabilities are very thorough. Though after watching Chris Schmidt's 4hr preview, I noticed a few important aspects were 'missing' so to speak. Maybe I missed them or maybe the functionality is there but not as obvious as it is in X-particles for example. One aspect was the ability to emit from a texture, this is something I'd imagine is easy to implement and also something I use a lot. Very surprised this functionality isn't there from the start. Secondly was the ability for particles to follow a 'flow path'. I'm amazed this wasn't included and I do hope that this functionality will be available in a recent update. While I will use the new particle system wherever I can, I don't think I'll give up on X-particles just yet unfortunately.

sorry, i respectfully disagree. there is simply no way objects in manager can have better overview of all connections and dependencies which are within objects. There is a reason why nodes are used in premium particle apps. don't get me wrong, i love the new stuff just seeing missed opportunity here. i also would want to have fields as nodes too. at the moment it looks like there are two apps within one fighting each other and divide between them is widening.

just finished watching the 4 hour vid by chris. just amazing! congratulations devs and thank you for this amazing release! keep it up maxon!

I wonder how many of the new particle features were inspired from my suggestions to Maxon... But watching so many long-expected mechanics to finally get implemented can only make my eyes water...

Really cool release, with lots of goof stuff! EDIT - Holy S***, this release is even chunkier than usual. Hats off to the devs, they've done a great job with this one. RocketLasso is doing a live stream with some Maxon folk (probably Rick?) later today.

PSU: Youve specced an SFX sized one, thats smaller than a normal ATX size and will been needlessly more expensive, go for a cheaper atx size. ram: it will work, but may I offer an alternative. Ryzen systems love ram speed, it can give 10, 20, 30% more performance. The problem with your 4x32gb 128gb kit is that ryzen cant run 4 slots of double sided ram at full speed, so even if youre buying a 5600mhz kit, the motherboard will run it at 3200mhz. The ideal sweet spot for modern ryzen systems is 6000mhz, thats the fastest 1:1 sync speed you can do with the cpu. What I would suggest is sacrificing a bit of ram capacity and instead go with 2x 48gb sticks for 96gb total. Dont bother with the 2070 gpu, it will be a waste of time, sell it and cash in its value. SLI is dead, ignore it, no consumer gpus are made with the connectors anymore. Multiple gpus can be used, just plug them in, no SLI is needed. However, keep in mind the space and power requirements. Most 4090 cards are 3-4 slots. Does your case choice provide the 8+ slots of vertical space needed? We run dual 4090 cards as render nodes in older corsair 680x cases because theyre one of the few cases with the vertical space needed. 1 large ssd is fine, I would just pair it with a cheap 10+TB hdd for storing archived projects and running system backups in the background. For the case, personally I would go with a simple front to back airflow case. Sheets of glass are not friendly to system temps, nor are 90 degree corners. Im a fan of the corsair 4000d airflow. cheap, looks decent, very nice performance (disclaimer, i work for them) Noctua D15 is a great cooler and will cope with the 7950x perfectly fine. Little point overclocking the cpu as its already running up against power limits by default. AIOS are fine if you want to pick them, but go 280mm or 360mm, Ignore 240mm and lower.

By the way, I'd love to have a centralized manager for caching and baking stuff - either to improve playback performance or to just bake things down for eternity. Right now, the tools and options are scattered across the interface. I know nitrobake, but I'd love to have something native with guaranteed compatibility...

It really isn't a port of any kind, it is a new development from the ground up and any similarities to TP are simply due to it being a particle system as well.

Yeah nothing in the world will matter by 2028.

Teacher goes up to a bunch of students, beginning of the school year for a two or three year course. The class looks at him. "Hey kids, this year we're going to learn Cinema 4D! It's really easy and intuitive and does a lot of cool stuff. it's my personal favourite." The students all look at him. "One thing though, over the life of this two/three year course, the software does have a fee. It's hugely cheaper than buying it and you can use it as much as you want, plus you get lots of other cool software like Zbrush bundled with it. But it's a $100 a year. You pay the $100 and you can chuck all this software on your laptop, it'll be easy and fun to learn, and you should be able to make some amazing stuff." The students all look around at each other. No one says anything. The silence feels like it might go on forever. "Or.." says the teacher "..as an alternative, we can all learn some software that isn't quite suited for career work, and it's a bit less intuitive, and it's not my absolute favourite, but it's free. That one's called Blender." The class as one breaks into an enormous YAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!! People jump up and cheer, papers fly around the room, the kids are dancing arm in and everyone is cheering with joy. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief and sits down to learn Blender. This will be amazing and a happy ending for no doubt everyone but I do kind of wonder how all those kids are going to fare when they're out looking for a job and they tell the recruiters about all the free software they used rather than the paid ones like Photoshop.

the performance is still being boosted with every version. matrix object is now 10x faster.

A particle update would be exciting to be sure so bravo if that is the case as it does point the way to even more exciting simulation possibilities in the future...in particular liquid fluids. So, any guesses as to what his next "cheeky" Twitter post will be? Honestly, he could have a lot of fun with this if his tweets were less obvious. For example, how about pouring himself a cup of coffee? Not CG...a real cup of coffee. No message, No tag, just a cup of coffee. That would definitely leave us all guessing. Nevertheless, like reading the stars in the sky to determine the future, he has successfully cultivated a bunch of "watchers" on his X feed of people trying to figure out what is next at Maxon. Very clever indeed. Dave

nevermind again... sorted by moi self... xP doesn`t like RS motion blur...