maxon cinema 4d vs max?

Mr. Extrude

hallo,
is maxon cinema 4d in any way related to 3ds max? i always thought it cinema 4d was something like an advanced package for max!? is that so? does it offer any significant advantages over max? are there any major disadvantages?

JeffrySG

They are both completely different 3d software packages. They are both full rendering, modeling and animation packages.

Look over the features on each of the websites:
Max
C4D

download demos and try them out...

Jeff

hal

I was a Max and Lightwave user for several years until I came across a 3d software program, introduced to me by a tutor, called Cinema 4d! I found it was just as good as Lightwave and Max but a hell of a lot cheaper (if your a student that is)! It has may more things in common with Lightwave than Max as in you can import Lightwave Models in to C4D and most Lightwave tutorials can be modified slightly for use in it! C4D however does not import Max files! It has an excelent render system and is peferct for animation aswell as modeling, plus with C4D's Bodypaint and a bit of practice texturing becomes a thing of beauty and can look stunning! I'v been using C4D now for 7 years and have found it much easier to use than Max and have never wanted to change back! Though I'm sure if you ask a current Max user they'll tell you different! The only disadvantages, that i'v noticed is that more people go for Max so there is a lot more content on the interweb for it (tutorials, help, forums, models etc)

Jeff though has given you the best idea, download the demo's and see which you prefer.

fluxfire

I was gonna try C4D but i am still learning LW whats the learning curve like in C4D?

hoktar

well.
at the moment, there is no vray available for cinema.
a compatriot of mine is working on this at the moment, but of course it will take a while...
one disadvantage.

but there are also many advantages for cinema like as hal mentioned, bodypaint, the modeling is much easier than in other progs, and i think cinema is also famous for it's character kit (but i am no char animator, so can't really tell you anything about this..)

i am a cinema user, but now i whished i had started in max, because of the simple reason, that it is much more common than cinema in the cg industry!
i only know of humm.. i think 6 movies, done in cinema.

Countdown5

I own Cinema and love it... But my school requires Maya.

Deprite

cinema has a very fast an easy learning time, the interface is very user friendly.
about the whats better question, well thats realy depending on the artist how use it

[Deleted User]

Oh no ... not another 3d app thread

Anyway I love Cinema, it's incredibly powerful and easy to use, and it has a burning fast workflow and renderer. So far there isn't much I've found it can't do.
I just recently bought R10 and It's definitely a big upgrade over R9. Bodypaint is great to, just paint your models in 3D, no switching to a 2D app like photoshop required.

And as the other guy's mentioned the only downside is not as much content on the net as Lightwave and MAX

hal wrote:

C4D however does not import Max files!

Nothing imports MAX files except MAX unfortunately

fluxfire wrote:

I was gonna try C4D but i am still learning LW whats the learning curve like in C4D?

It's soooooooo easy to learn, once you learn the first couple of small things (like having to convert a primitive into an editable object, I've seen so many people get frustrated with that cos they don't know you have to convert it ). And the toolset is amazing, I'm constantly finding new things that the tools can do.
And another thing, apps like lightwave have seperate tools for slice, loop slice, etc. C4D has one: "Knife", and in the tools settings you can switch it to loop, plane, line, etc, I just find it a heck of a lot cleaner and easier to use (and speeds up the workflow)

Man I can go on and on sometimes

Andrew Boulton

C4d is *very* easy to use, renders quickly, and is about as powerful as Max.

Only you can decide which is best *for you* though.

Mr. Extrude

thanks for the replies, strange: i always was convinced max would be somehow connected with cinema 4d, thats why i never really cared too much for it lol, i checked the demo now but the real advantages and shortcomings usually reveal piece by piece in the later process, thats why i ask, so far the interface looks very promising, max has after all (after lw maybe) the most spartanic interface of the softwares, so from the overall feedback i take it that its worse a deeper look, thankyou

Zabiegly

hoktar wrote: »

at the moment, there is no vray available for cinema.

Emphasis on "At the moment". A bridge to vray is currently developed:
lllab_main