PolyPen 'Super-tool' Leads List of Enhancements to Be Demonstrated at SIGGRAPH 2014

Maxon announced Cinema 4D Release 16) C4D R16, the new version of its 3D software for Windows and OS X that will be displayed at SIGGRAPH 2014. Features include the PolyPen — a new "Super-tool" replacement for the Create Polygon tool in previous versions that is billed as a more intuitive 3D modeling and retopologizing tool than has ever been included in C4D — and a new Motion Tracker that allows 3D elements to be manually or automatically tracked into live-action footage.

For more video like this, visit Maxon's New in R16 page.

Other new modeling features on tap include a procedural Bevel Deformer that allows C4D's Bevel tool to be used non-destructively with objects and selection sets. Bevel attributes can be animated and adjusted without baking in the changes. And the Cogwheel spline primitive will allow artists to create different types of gears in order to build complex machinery or individual elements like hubcaps or film reels. (Maxon claims that cogwheels created with C4D are so precisely modeled that they function correctly when 3D printed.)

New sculpting features include a Select tool with symmetry and fill options for defining point and polygon selections, and an Unsubdivide command that imports high-resolution meshes from other applications as low-resolution Cinema 4D objects while retaining all of the needed information to reconstruct the originals. And, with Python support added to C4D sculpting, users can now create custom brushes.

Updates to the rendering workflow include a new Reflectance channel for increased control over reflections and specularity, a new effects render engine that allows Sketch and Toon effects and hair to be rendered faster and at higher quality, and a new client-server architecture for Team Render that allows users to add render jobs via a watch folder or web interface.

A complete list of new features is available at Maxon's website. C4D R16 is scheduled for release in September.

Maxon: www.maxon.net