srek

The Pro account would help you with what you wrote you don’t want. Why would you even think about the Pro account then?

Yes, Delta is the actual scene time between evaluations, so FPS settings don't matter

You need to use delta time and an initial state definition for this. See attached modified scene. Rew_SpeedRig_solo_01.c4d

If you split it like that then i have to say that neither group has it right. Xpresso and Scene Nodes are two different tools with different purposes, one can't replace the other. Xpresso is easier to use (UI/UX issues aside) since its scope is smaller and it avoids most of the complexity involved since that part is left to the object manager and the (old) scene graph it creates. Scene Nodes are way more complex than Xpresso because they replace what the Object Manager does, they create the (new) scene graph. At this point in development the Scene Manager is just starting to try to enable users to work with the new scene graph on a level that is similar to the Object Manager. The Scene Nodes represent something the users never had direct acces to before, only serious plugin developers faced similar complexity when creating own objects. It is no surprise that not every user is comfortable with this and it is really important to understand that noone expects that every, or even a majority, of users will ever be comfortable working based on Scene Nodes. The current situation is just an artifact of the need to build up a new system from the bottom up and the decission to make this available to users early (Tech Demo). The alternative would have been for Maxon to keep this development under wraps for several more versions until the Scene Manager is in a state to replace the OM, but that would also mean that we at Maxon would not get very valuable feedback from users, something that is of high importance given the nature of these changes. So please everyone, give us feedback, but keep in mind that Scene Nodes are not the final main interface for everyday use by most users. As for the future of Xpresso, i see the need for something very much like Xpresso, but based on Scene Nodes, once the Scene Manager reaches a certain degree of maturity. We might as well call it XPresso 2.0, but it would have to be something completely new that mainly has the purpose in common with old Xpresso. A lot depends on the experience we gain from current development and the feedback we get on it.

These are two setups that should make the difference clearer. The Xpresso setup is something that you actually can not create in scene nodes in this way currently. You can create something that gives a similar effect, but not the exact thing. The scene node example on the other hand can not be replicated within Xpresso, since it includes the creation of new geometry. Even with TP you would not be able to replicate this since you would still need a single original cube from outside of the node system.

I fear there is a bit of a hangup on some important but minor difference in the handling of composite data, while it is a difference between Scene Nodes and Xpresso it is not a functionally or systematically relevant one, but a minor issue that i think will be resolved over time. The real differences are in how they both work. Xpresso is mainly used to control the current state of objects based on previous states and some user added logic. For that it is called an expression system, because it creates dependencies by applying expressions. These expressions can not create objects or geometry, they can only reference and control existing objects, though TP is actually an exception from this rule. Scene nodes on the other hand usually live in a single frame, to make them dependent on previous states you need to employ extra measures like the memory node. Creating things however is at the very heart of scene nodes and they can also directly manipulate the created information, something xpresso does only in a very limited way.

While Sebastian did a lot to support Xpresso, it was developed by someone who left Maxon shortly after for health reasons.

The concept of User Data is inherent to all of Scene Nodes. Every group and every asset can be extended by adding own Controls. You can create pure control objects as well that do nothing else but wire their user defined inputs to various scene nodes.

Sorry, not my area of expertise

I think you are wrong here, from what i can see the bigger issue is that the new material nodes only support Standard and Physical Render at this time, while most users employ Redshift, Octane or other renderengines. There just isn't much demand for the use. I am sure this will change over time though.

Scene Nodes will be the base for a higher level non node based workflow, the beginnings of which you can already see in the new scene manager, so no, you are wrong in assuming Cinema 4D will mimic Houdini. Don't let the similarity of some base technology aspects deceive you. Cinema 4D has it's roots in the ease of use and the power of the objetc manager and we are well aware of that.

As i said, ui improvements are a matter of priorities, that is nothing i can comment on. Scene Nodes are multithreaded to the highest possible degree. Xpresso depends on the old object manager and the old scene graph, both do not lend themselves to multithreading easily. Scene Nodes have been developed as a long term replacement for the old object system for this reason. So sadly no, trying to improve the threading of Xpresso would not address the fundamental problems. A future Xpresso, that would be based on the new core, would by default be multithreaded.

Xpresso draws its power from controlling other features, while some structural improvements might be nice it is more important that new features are supported by it than that it gains new features by itself. Since it’s introduction in R8 Xpresso has always grown in power and it is still relevant.

Thanks for an official clarification from someone at Maxon. But if Scene Nodes are not an expression system like Xpresso, why are you guys ditching Xpresso? Why not update Xpresso with Scene Nodes behind the scenes? Doesn't Maxon realize that killing Xpresso (or just abandoning it) is a good reason for us to NOT learn the Scene Nodes? Why should I learn if it could be abandoned a few years from now? Scene Nodes are much more akin to Max Creation Graph or Softimage's ICE - which is much more complex than the typical Cinema4D user wants. Just gives us a multi-threaded Xpresso, a proper scaling of Xpresso UI. Xpresso has not been ditched and afaik there are no plans to get rid of it any time soon. As long as the old object system has a part to play in Cinema 4D it makes sense to keep Xpresso. Please do not take the unfounded assumptions of some people as actual fact. Anything else regarding the Xpresso interface is mostly a question of priorities. Scene Nodes are actually closest to how Houdini works, max as well as XSI have a core that is not node based, the nodes come on top. With Scene nodes you are really directly working with the scene graph. I would not clamp but remap, that way you avoid visible clustering.

How components are accessed is just ui, nothing fundamental that makes a difference on a structural level. scene nodes controlling lights is currently not possible, except if you use node materiales with luminance for the lights, but even then the control would be per material. I don’t have Cinema in front of me right now, but if you can iterate through all lights using a Hierarchy or List iterator you can change parameters individually by using the current index as a seed for the randomness.

No, they are not. There are similarities, but the differences are fundamental. Xpresso adjusts the parameters of objects in an existing scene graph, scene nodes define the scene graph itself. Where it is easy to reference the same object multiple times in Xpresso, this just doesn’t work in scene nodes since you do not work with references, but the scene graph elements themself. Scene Nodes are NOT an expression system.

I don't know, i am neither an Adobe nor a SideFX employee or intensive user of either application. We did not remove this for fun, but to prevent data loss and other problems for users.

Unfortunately that option had to be removed since changes in Windows and OS X made it difficult to run two instances of the same executable. However you can still run the same version from two, or more, different installations at the same time.

To the best of my knowledge one big reason to not show the upgrade price is that there are quite a few different variations out there where people do own other MAXON products or want upgrades for other than the last version. It is actually easier to clear this up on a per case base than trying to offer all options on a page.

Reflect is not a core modeling function but, as you said, a math function. Extrude etc. are core modeling functions.

Sorry, i have no idea. I was not involved in any discussion on this since my tasks are rather specialized. The current main functions of the geometry nodes in scene nodes reflect the existing functionality of the new modeling core, since that does not include any new symmetry function it is not in the nodes as well.

RS isn’t part of Cinema 4D. Also a very important difference of the new Asset System compared to the old Content Is that single assets can be installed easily at any time. If MAXON decides at any time to make new Assets available it can be done easily.

I can’t remember the command name currently, but yes, you can convert the created geometry into a static standard poly object.

PRS operations on OpNodes/Objects are possible interactively in the viewport.