Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/6359
W hen I was offered the opportunity to review Maxon's Cinema 4D R11.5, I jumped at the chance. Being a C4D user since Version 9, I knew Maxon was one company that would not re- lease an update just to fix or patch something. I became a huge fan of Cinema 4D years ago when I was searching for a 3D applica- tion that was 1) easy to learn, and 2) power- ful. I always wanted to add things like 3D ti- tles, motion graphics and objects to my work. After spending a ton of money on some other 3D apps and getting nowhere (some seem to be made for rocket scientists) I downloaded a demo of Cinema 4D and have been happy ever since. The C4D user interface is easy to get used to and understand. Animating is very simple to do in this program. Lastly, something I never thought I could do, modeling, is ver y straightforward and with practice I have learned to create anything I want. M O G R A P H 2 & M O S P L I N E A huge reason to upgrade to R11.5 is the introduction of MoGraph 2. For those not fa- miliar with Cinema 4D, the MoGraph mod- ule powers the ar tist with an awesome toolset enabling them to create ever ything they could possibly dream up — from flying logos to cloning effects to abstract visions. MoGraph 2 is MoGraph on steroids.Why? One word: MoDynamics. MoDynamics is the new physics simulation package included in MoGraph 2 that contains more than 40 ani- mated backgrounds, motion graphics mater- ial libraries, over 350MB of royalty-free sound loops and samples, and a massive archive of ready-to-use animations. Need to blow something up? Simple. Mo- Graph 2 now includes PolyFx, which will en- able you to do quick and easy explosion ef- fects. Of course, any presets are highly cus- tomizable as well. There is another huge new feature in Mo- Graph 2: MoSpline. MoSpline enables ar tists to clone existing lines and animate them using forces and effectors. MoSpline will in- crease the speed of your workflow. A N A P P W I T H A V I E W Maxon really outdid itself this time with the new Picture Viewer. Cinema 4D veter- ans will be blown away with this new up- graded and powerful tool. The Picture Viewer in V.11.5 now allows you to com- pare test renders. What's so great about this? Imagine your producer comes in and wants to see the difference in what you're current render's lighting pass looks like with one you did a few hours ago and which works best. All of this information is now stored in the Picture Viewer's new histor y list. Also included is a new A-B compare tool which lets you choose any two of your test renders in your histor y list. This is a huge addition to the workflow. Another awesome feature with the new Picture Viewer is the ability to click on indi- vidual frames as they are being rendered.This will help you find any render problems early. Need to render out HD footage? Will play- ing back your scene while it is still rendering slow down your machine? Possibly, but now in the Picture Viewer there's a tab that will en- able you to play it back at a lower resolution. Lastly, how would you like to fine-tune your multi-pass layers right in the Picture Viewer? Prior to this awesome new feature, if you wanted to tweak something, such as a shadow, you had to switch into an image edit- ing program and then back into Cinema 4D and then render. Now you can fine-tune ever ything from shadows and reflections to blend modes right in the Picture Viewer. Once again the workflow speed is increased. PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS In past versions of Cinema 4D, users have had the ability to expor t their project to var- ious compositing software, such as After Ef- fects, Fusion and Shake. In R11.5, Maxon lis- tened to its users and enabled 3D expor t to Apple's Motion. This is huge in that it now enables animators who are in the Motion/Final Cut Pro workflow to include 3D renders. Now the expor ts will include 3D data and camera data giving Motion even more compositing power. BROADCAST EXTENSION KIT With its rollout of Cinema 4D R11.5 Broadcast Edition, Maxon gives us the Broad- cast Extension Kit.What's so great about that? Well for this user, the fact that I now have hundreds of preset objects and scenes at my disposal is huge.This is perfect for that I-need- this-done-now client. A lot of the preset ob- jects and scenes are pre-animated and highly modifiable, and include camera and lighting. I used a lower-thirds element recently for a client that wanted it to be in 3D. With some minor tweaks in the animation, text changes and material changes, all of which took me only a few minutes, I was able to ex- por t a unique lower-third element and bring that into After Effects. F I N A L T H O U G H T S With all these new features, this upgrade should really be called Cinema 4D R12. The addition of MoGraph 2, the new Picture Viewer, the ability to expor t to Motion my 3D data, and all the goodies that come with the Broadcast Extension Kit, makes this up- grade a no-brainer. And if all that's not enough, R11.5 renders much faster than the previous version. By DAVID BASULTO Producer/Director/Editor Clarity Pictures South Pasadena, CA dave@claritypictures.net V I T A L S T AT S R E V I E W Cinema 4D R11.5 Broadcast Edition PRODUCT: Maxon Cinema 4D R11.5 Broadcast Edition WEBSITE: www.maxon.net PRICING: Broadcast Edition (Includes MoGraph 2): $1,495; Core: $995; MoGraph 2 Module: $595; XL Bundle: $2,495; Studio Bundle: $3,695 (includes MoGraph 2) · allows 3D export to Apple's Motion · faster renders · updates to Picture Viewer & MoGraph With a host of new features, this upgrade should really be called R12. www.postmagazine.com January 2010 • Post 47