Cinema 4D GO

It appears that Cinema 4D GO by Maxon is an extremely powerful 3D app for only $195.USD. This should make it an obvious choice as a low-end/cost 3D choice, right? Am I missing something obvious?

There is a free version too.

It’s on PC PLUS

But don’t write off Blender just yet.

You are right about the free version. Unfortunately, it is only available on cover cd’s in the UK/Ireland and can’t be registered (which means no serial number either) by anyone outside of the UK/Ireland. Same with the Freehand 8 that was given away on cover cd’s recently.

SatoriGFX.

viva the uk :slight_smile:

:S sorry i live here and we just keep getting loads of free software

How does Cinema 4D GO compare to Blender 2.23?

One benefit to have a low-end/cost version of a higher end package is the potential for “satalite” stations supplementing full installs of expensive apps. Students and other types of users can learn general interface & workflow and also produce content which can be “fed” into the production pipeline.

I noticed that the render size is capped at NTSC resolution. I couldn’t find the other handicaps. Anyone know how it differs from the full version of Cinema 4D XL7?

Well, it differs alot. First of all, it is V5 SE. So, forget all of the new features in V6 and V7. It is also missing nurbs, partciles, bones and more from what I have read.

Still, for free it is probably damn nice. It has raytracing and imports Lightwave models and whole scenes too.

SatoriGFX.

Dammit! I was actually planning to buy that mag, just to get Cinema 4D… Seems like I have to move abroad then.

Hiya guys.

Most of what the guys have said here is true. I’ve got the demo myself. It’s not a complete 3D package by any means - the lack of particles is really starting to *&%! me off. But it isn’t misiing so much other stuff - it’s still respectable as packages go. Contrary to what’s been said here, it DOES have limited skeleton capabilites - I set up an IK skeleton after about 1/2 an hour of plugging about. I think it’s also got some basic NURBs stuff, but don’t expect anything advanced there, because it isn’t.

It DOES have geometric intersection, which is really cool (and I frequently use it to perform add/subtract/intersect stuff on my Blender models before bringing them back into Blender for further refinement). It’s material editor is also very nice - much better than Blender’s IMHO (tho’ I’m sure many people will flame me for this in due time!). It’s also got a raytracer, which is something I’ve been after for a VERY long time.

The most useful part of it though is probably the way it can import/export other 3D formats like 3DS and Lightwave completely (you know, UV textures, vertex colours, the lot) which is very handy for finally being able to render models from the likes of TurboSquid.com or import stuff from Poser 3 (you know, the other great free demo being paraded at the moment!) for further refinement before rendering.

One last cool thing its got - you can perform actions like explode, warp, taper, twist, smash on your models in the timeline. This is normally MURDER to do in Blender, even with scripts. With this freeware, it takes all of two minutes. So, with some clever rendering (using alpha, etc. and integrating it with Blender through the sequence editor) you can get some pretty powerful effects. Well worth it, I reckon. All in all, it’s pretty good for a freebee!

LethalSideParting

[message was edited by webmaster]

Hi guys,

before doing any illegal stuff, I’d rather inform you that there is a student’s/teachers version of Cinema 4D XL 7 out there. No technical restrictions (no watermarks or save/export locks), but only for non-commercial use. I’ve seen that offer on www.basis1.com as well as on www.computeruniverse.net for about EURO 150,–. I don’t know whether this applies only for students from Germany (one might check it out), but this offer is hard to beat.

CU

Suricate

Hey guys,

I edited / deleted a few messages here.

Please take notice that distribution of serial numbers for non-free programs is against the law. And it’s not allowed to talk about on this forum.

Greetings,
Timothy Kanters

Does it import/export animations, heiarchies(sp?), and deformations?

And theres more! On this months Digit magazine, a full version of Life Forms 3.5, “as used in movies such as Terminator II and Jurassic Park”

:smiley:

brian

Hi guys. I guess I owe you all an apology. Any of you who saw my earlier post before it got edited will know what I’m talking about.

I didn’t mean to incite illegal stuff in any way or to try to drag down the moral tone of this site at all. I just figured I was doing everyone here a favour because PCFormat were being stingy for no apparent reason (to me anyway).

Yeesh, what a way to get known - one of my first big posts, and it gets edited for legal tones. What does that say about me, eh? Anyway, I’ve apologised to Timothy Kanters, and now it’s your turn. Sorry guys!

A very humble LethalSideParting

PS The demo does import/export animation and deformations. I’m not sure about hierarchies because I haven’t tested anything with hierarchies in it yet. Might do, it would surprise me. It’s surprisingly good for freeware, so expect anything! ;D

I think it’s more of a decision by Maxon that the free version is only released to UK & Ireland, rather than a decision by PC Format or PC Plus.

No need to apologise!

brian

Cinema 4D GO also lacks the full power of the XL 7 rendering engine, doesn’t it? 4D GO has fast raytracing (fast?) but no global illumination or caustics, in addition to lacking the modelling capabilities of XL7 or ART 7. Still, it looks good for the price. It’s cheaper than Bryce, but has modelling functions Bryce lacks, and even some better rendering capabilities. If only I could find the student version…

Condorcet

About the version of Cinema 4D that’s being given away on
PC Plus mag. : I am a US resident, ordered the mag. over the net
to get Cinema 4D because I was told by friends here, in the US,
that they had no problem getting a registration key from Futurenet,
publisher of PC Plus…So there…
I should receive the mag. very soon now and will let you know…
By the way, it was still cheaper ordering it over the net, with postage
fees and all than it is buying it at a bookstore here.

I think there is a free version of Maya available for down load, if you are a Down load junky, I haven’t tried it as I prefer Blender!

Rob.

There is a free version of almost everything or there will be soon the way things are going. Alias has Maya PLE, Avid has Sofitmage XSI 2.0 Experience, Newtek just announced Lightwave Free Discovery Edition. I am sure even more will follow. The problem, compared to getting Cinema 4D SE off of a cover cd, is that you can’t use any of them for commercial work (understandable) and they all have watermarks and/or don’t save and are missing features. They really are all just glorified demos so far. The companies have somehow gotten people all excited about what basically amount to demos. Amazing. The only difference between a demo and what Avid and Alias are offering is that they have no time limits and they come with good learning tools like tutorials etc…

SatoriGFX.

:o

i like this face the best.