Manual Reference
Window menu
Most of the following menu entries activate a window or manager. If the window or manager is already open, the call brings it to the front. Otherwise, the window or manager appears in a new, freestanding window. To dock this into the interface, drag the window’s pin icon and drop it where you want the window to be docked. A black line appears while you drag to indicate the docking position.
Full Screen
Use this option to switch to full screen mode and back.
You can also: Move the cursor over any Manager and press CTRL + Tab – the Manager will switch to full screen mode. The main menu will remain visible. Press CTRL + Tab again to revert the Manager to a normal size.
You can open as many view panels as you wish.
Opens the Object manager, if it is not already open, and brings it to the front if it is hidden behind any other windows. Using this manager, you can select objects (even those that are not visible in the viewport), change the object hierarchy, add tags and expressions and much more.
Opens the Material manager, if it is not already open, and brings it to the front if it is hidden behind any other windows. This holds all of the scene’s materials and textures. You can assign a material to an object using drag-and-drop — drag the material onto the object’s name in the Object manager or directly onto the object in the viewport.
Opens the Timeline, if it is not already open, and brings it to the front if it is hidden behind any other windows.
The Layer Browser can be effectively used to maintain a clear overview of large, complex scenes.
Additional Scene Managers
Up to three additional Objects Managers or Timelines can be opened. Their various filter properties can be used to display a variety of information. For example, two Timelines can be opened, one to display the Key mode, the other to display the F-Curve mode.
Everything in CINEMA 4D revolves around the Attributes Manager. You’ll use this manager frequently. Here you can edit all object and tag properties or even animate without opening the Timeline. You can create your own GUI elements, such as sliders, and you can link parameters (set driven keys) and much more. See Attribute Manager.
Opens the Picture viewer. Most of the time, you won’t need to use this command because the Picture viewer opens automatically when you choose Render > Render To Picture Viewer.
Opens the Coordinate manager, if it is not already open, and brings it to the front if it is hidden behind any other windows. This compact manager is useful for editing the position, scale and rotation of objects.
Opens the Structure manager, if it is not already open, and brings it to the front if it is hidden behind any other windows. Here you can view and edit the numerical data of points, polygons, UVW coordinates and vertex maps.
Opens the Content Browser, if it is not already open (and brings it to the front if it is hidden behind any other windows). Use the Content Browser to manage your project’s libraries and presets. Create catalog files and presets of scenes, audio clips, textures and more, then quickly add them to your project via drag & drop. For example, to add a mug model to the current scene, drag and drop the mug’s thumbnail into the Object manager.
The Console window is used for the output and control of C.O.F.F.E.E. programs. C.O.F.F.E.E. print commands are displayed here, as are errors. In the case of errors, the error number and the position of the error within the script are shown. The most recent commands can be called up using the up and down cursor keys on your keyboard.
The following restrictions apply to the Console window:
- Does not work with Message and filter plugins.
- Affects existing plugins only (new plugins cannot be loaded).
- Registration values are not updated, such as Name, ID and Icon.
This opens the Global Status Bar, which displays information — such as the render time — in a separate window.
By default, this bar is docked at the bottom of the main window.
Displays additional settings pertinent to your scene or your currently selected objects in the Attributes Manager. The Calculate Children option will take into account child objects of the currently selected object(s). A list of the currently selected object(s) is displayed in the top line of the window.
The four available tabs contain the following information:
- Object tab: Number of selected objects and the number of points and polygons they contain will be listed here. Furthermore, the amount of memory required by these objects is also shown. The information displayed in the Cache column reflects the number of internal object copies, the number of which will be much higher when Instance or Array Objects are created.
- Selection tab: Displays information regarding number of selections, total number of selections and number of hidden points, edges, polygons, n-gons and splines contained in the current selection.
- Structure tab: Different information will be displayed, depending on the object(s) selected and current mode (the + and - keys can be used to select or deselect items):
- Polygonal objects in Point mode: All points that are reference (touched) by 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or more polygons will be listed. Points that are not referenced by a polygon are not connected to the object via polygons.
- Polygonal objects in Polygon mode: The number of triangles, quads, non-planar and degenerated polygons will be listed.
- Splines: The total length of the spline and points with uneven (tangents with different lengths or orientations on either side of the point), soft (tangents with equal lengths on either side of the point and that lie in a straight line) and hard (tangent length = 0) will be listed. - Textures
All textures used in the scene as well as missing textures can be listed. Furthermore textures can be easily replaced anywhere in the scene.
The following options are available:
- Use Textures of: If Document is selected, all textures present in the scene will be listed. If Selected Materials is selected, only currently selected materials will be shown. The list of textures in the field below will include each texture’s name and location. Suggested Path is the path that CINEMA 4D expects to find by default; Real Path is the actual path to the a given texture’s location. Click on the Mark Missing Textures button To find out which textures are missing.
If a texture is selected a preview, including a file selection button, will be displayed at the bottom of the dialog window. A texture will be displayed only once, even if it is located in numerous materials (as long as they lie on the same path). This allows the texture to be swapped quite easily. You will be asked for a confirmation before the new texture is applied. Clicking on Edit Texture will open the texture using the image editing application that corresponds to that particular image type. Reload Texture will update the selected texture after it has been edited outside of CINEMA 4D. Clicking on Mark Missing Textures will display a checkmark or an x, depending on whether or not a texture can be located. If a texture is missing, simply type in the correct path in the field available or search for the path manually.
When loading a texture into CINEMA 4D you will be asked if it should be saved to the Document Search Path. If you select no, the texture’s absolute path will be saved and displayed accordingly.
Other Scene Windows
CINEMA 4D allows you to have multiple scenes loaded. At the foot of the Window menu, you’ll find a list of currently opened scenes. To activate one of these scenes, choose the scene’s name from the list. Only one scene may be active and editable at a time (indicated by a check mark next to its name in the list). The order of the list is determined by the order in which you opened the scenes.