Cinema 4D R21 - new features and new licensing

Top image by Zigor Zamaniego

Licensing

There will be only one version of Cinema 4D from R21. There will be no more Prime / Visualize / Broadcast / Studio / BodyPaint editions. All functionality is in the one version, no separate editions anymore. Demo and Educational versions are no longer separate downloads. Demo and Educational can be upgraded to a commercial version.  New Maxon License Server runs as service on Windows and daemon on OSX/Linux.

The Cinema 4D subscription includes the current version of Cinema 4D and complete access to the Cineversity training and plugin library. Redshift will not be included in the base Cinema 4D subscription, but a bundle subscription is available for users who wish to use Redshift with Cinema 4D. Redshift will continue to be sold separately for users of Redshift Standalone and Redshift integrations with other applications.

Perpetual licensing for Cinema 4D Studio R20 and R21 will still be available at pricing roughly equivalent to the current pricing of Studio R20. Since the MSA will no longer be available, perpetual licenses do not include subscription benefits (Cineversity and upgrades). Perpetual licensing will be managed by the same activation system as the subscription so perpetual licenses are transportable between computers.

Modeling

Cinema4D R21 has now improved constrained / internal bevels via Straight Skeleton Algorithm. Bevel shape can be user-defined with Spline UI. There is now option to link Start/End Caps. There is now library of Bevel Presets. Additional and more obvious automatic selection sets for Shell, Edges.
Cinema R21 provides now a speedup in migrated commands including Extrude, Extrude Inner, Split, Polygon Group to Object. Migrated Tools (Point Extrude, Weld) preserve surface attributes like UVs and Vertex Colors.
R21 supports Anti-Aliased display of UV lines, UV Component highlighting, UV Transform Gizmo and ruler display. Snapping support for UV points and edges.
Viewport selection automatically updates UV component selection.

Materials and Rendering

Cinema4D R21 now works with Intel Open Image Denoiser. One of new features is interactive Drag and Drop (Ctrl-Drag to Copy Nodes). Otgher changes in materials include Edit Asset mode, Asset protection, Physical Render Nodes, Custom AOVs (Multi-Pass), Line node, Spline Mapper node, Multi-Trace Ray node, Cells Node, 2D Nodes, Average Area, 2D Blur.

Interface Enhancements

Cinema R21 now supports HiDPI monitors on Windows, HiDPI Viewport on Windows and Retina Viewport on macOS. Users will notice improved interface speed (especially in Timeline). There are Modernized Light and Dark schemes, improved menus and minor adjustments to Default layout.

Full list of new features can be found on Maxon Cinema4D R21 site.