An actually good update from C4D this time
Here’s footage of the viewport in action
Video playlist for all new features
[http://www.cineversity.com/vidplaylist/new_in_cinema_4d_r19
https://www.maxon.net/en/products/new-in-release-19/overview/](http://www.cineversity.com/vidplaylist/new_in_cinema_4d_r19)
Maxon seems to have looked at Eevee’s roadmap 
- although Eevee is already at a more advanced stage compared in its current state.
The integration of ProRender would have been a great opportunity to (finally) introduce a nodal based material system, but I suppose C4d users will have to wait another year for this. And ProRender seems to be more/better integrated in Blender.
It’s a good update, which promises for V20 next year and V21.
Considering how Maxon is famous for resisting the inclusion of node-based systems in C4D (perhaps for ease-of-use purposes), I wouldn’t be surprised if Prorender uses the same legacy UI approach as their internal engine.
The problem for Maxon now is that their legacy UI approach for materials (while maximizing possibilities) has lead to a labyrinthine system of buttons and sliders (to the point where it’s actually hard to use as the post linked claims). I wouldn’t be surprised to see their MoGraph stuff wind up like that too (the number of buttons, tabs, fields, and sliders getting so large that nodes would actually make things a lot easier).
See the second half of that post for more details.
Also their latest fracture additions reminds me a lot the work done in Blender by the Fracture Branch
Take a look…
Most definitely that is the case. There are some comments on CGtalk how C4d’s archaic material system is undoing Disney’s original Principal Shader premises of “simplicity first” due to ProRender’s material settings being spread out all over the place in the current material manager.
The more I learn about C4d R19, the more I realize it is very much a “work in progress” release. Neither the PBR viewport implementation, nor the ProRender integration is finished. Either R20 or R21 will probably introduce a node-based material system. As it stands now, the material system is in dire need of an overhaul - it’s hurting ProRender’s integration quite badly (and the PBR as well). Blender’s ProRender integration is way ahead of Maxon right now.
Maxon may have had a look at Blender 2.8 for inspiration, or not, but in the end who cares? Cinema4D r19 will be released next month. I don’t see Blender 2.8 getting anywhere near a stable release before 2018.
While I’m happy for users of Cinema4D, and healthy competition is always a good thing, sometimes I kind of wish the Blender Institute had a dozen more full-time in-house coders. This is going to become a real trial of patience.
Yes, what is fortunate for Blender 2.8 is that team got bigger. Ton described it here.
What I hope for B2.9 and B3.0 is that developement team doubles and triples. Do you know how many developers Maxon have for Cinema ?
Why? Blender has a quite mature ProRender integration right now, while C4d’s ProRender implementation is a work in progress at best. The material system is a mess compared to Blender. And let’s not even mention Cycles compared to Cinema4d’s aging render engine. Most Cinema4d users invest in a third-party render engine (and pay extra on top of an already very expensive upkeep).
Yes, R19 will have a PBR viewport, but before R20 (next year) it is also still a work in progress. It doesn’t play well with external tools at all at this point, and again the PBR materials implementation is very messy - even Maxon’s devs confirm this.
In short, Blender 2.8 and Cinema4D R20 have a year to attain a decent level of “finished”. My guess is that Blender 2.8 will see a release months before R20 is released.
Besides, if anything’s frustrating, it’s Maxon’s wall of silence towards its user base. At least with Blender we may download pre-releases of v2.8, and start tinkering around. Maxon’s non-communicative behaviour towards their customers is friggin’ unnerving and frustrating.
There’s not much info out there about the company itself, but considering they have at least four development studios in different countries all over the world, I’m willing to guess there’s more than two guys working on their new viewport (comparing this to Blender’s Dalai and Clément).
I’ve been using C4D for many years myself, and that’s all very true. Good points. But I wouldn’t like to see Maxon suddenly somehow stealing Blender’s thunder with their half-assed viewport just because they’re better situated financially. Not after all the amazing pioneer work that the Blender devs have been doing over the past couple of months.
It feels like that Maya2017 update all over again when Autodesk introduced their new UV unwrapping features, all of which I had hoped to see in Blender first. Only now are we beginning to slowly catch up again thanks to ambi’s amazing packing addon (while the GSOC 2016 UV project is rotting somewhere on github I believe). deep sigh