Maxon will be at Siggraph this year showing the next iteration of its Cinema 4D Release 20 (R20), an update of its 3D design and animation software. Release 20 introduces high-end features for VFX and motion graphics artists including node-based materials, volume modeling, CAD import and an evolution of the MoGraph toolset.
Maxon expects Cinema 4D Release 20 to be available this September for both Mac and Windows operating systems.
Key highlights in Release 20 include:
Node-Based Materials – This feature provides new possibilities for creating materials — from simple references to complex shaders — in a node-based editor. With more than 150 nodes to choose from that perform different functions, artists can combine nodes to easily build complex shading effects. Users new to a node-based material workflow still can rely on Cinema 4D’s standard Material Editor interface to create the corresponding node material in the background automatically. Node-based materials can be packaged into assets with user-defined parameters exposed in a similar interface to Cinema 4D’s Material Editor.
MoGraph Fields – New capabilities in this procedural animation toolset offer an entirely new way to define the strength of effects by combining falloffs — from simple shapes, to shaders or sounds to objects and formulas. Artists can layer Fields atop each other with standard mixing modes and remap their effects. They can also group multiple Fields together and use them to control effectors, deformers, weights and more.
CAD Data Import – Popular CAD formats can be imported into Cinema 4D R20 with a drag and drop. A new scale-based tessellation interface allows users to adjust detail to build amazing visualizations. Step, Solidworks, JT, Catia V5 and IGES formats are supported.
Volume Modeling – Users can create complex models by adding or subtracting basic shapes in Boolean-type operations using Cinema 4D R20’s OpenVDB–based Volume Builder and Mesher. They can also procedurally build organic or hard-surface volumes using any Cinema 4D object, including new Field objects. Volumes can be exported in sequenced .vdb format for use in any application or render engine that supports OpenVDB.
ProRender Enhancements — ProRender in Cinema 4D R20 extends the GPU-rendering toolset with key features including subsurface scattering, motion blur and multipasses. Also included are Metal 2 support, an updated ProRender core, out-of-core textures and other architectural enhancements.
Core Technology Modernization —As part of the transition to a more modern core in Cinema 4D, R20 comes with substantial API enhancements, the new node framework, further development on the new modeling framework and a new UI framework.
During Siggraph, Maxon will have guest artists presenting at their booth each day of the show. Presentations will be live streamed on C4DLive.com.
