Maxon’s huge Fall update overhauls just about, well, everything

From Cinema 4D 2023 to updates for almost every tool in the Red Giant toolbox, Maxon has brought serious game to its Fall update.

It’s really quite difficult to know where to start with the Maxon Fall update. To call it comprehensive is a bit of an injustice, as the wide range of new features and enhancements spans platforms and runs into a very long list indeed. 

So, tl;dr. Cinema 4D 2023 introduces some of the most requested features - including dramatic simulation advancements, modeling with symmetry, improved asset management and native OCIO support. The Redshift team continues its breakneck development pace by adding Stacked Materials. Forger now supports entirely new professional workflows with the addition of Cinema 4D's polygonal modeling engine. Red Giant gains text effects for Universe, new sprites for Trapcode, and performance updates for VFX. Moves by Maxon gets a facelift. And Maxon continues to add value to its Capsules initiative with new assets for Cinema 4D.

It’s a lot to digest. And the sort of thing that bullet points were invented for. 

Cinema 4D

Cinema 4D 2023 introduces new features, including Symmetry modeling as well as enhancements to the Unified Simulation System. Highlights include:

• Cinema 4D’s Unified Simulation System now includes Soft Bodies and new stickiness and mixed animation options. 
• Vertex Maps and Vertex Color tags controlled by Fields now work on most generators, which allows artists to use procedural elements when creating eye-catching effects.
• Modeling with Symmetry allows mirrored changes on the model. Users can define the symmetry using the world grid, the object axis, a custom workplane, or even the topology of the model. 
• OpenColorIO enables artists to take full advantage of cinematic ACEScg color space and a unified color pipeline across all Maxon tools. Redshift OCIO support seamlessly integrates with Cinema 4D’s settings. 
• Watch Folders in the asset browser allows the storage of assets anywhere on the file system.
• The improved GoZ bridge lets artists easily transfer models between C4D and ZBrush, making it simpler than ever to render sculptures with photorealism. 

Redshift

• Rounded Corners for Redshift CPU (previously only Redshift GPU).
• Random Walk mode for better detail, colors and more accurate subsurface scattering. Great for skin, wax and jade.
• Major developments over the last few months to improve volume technology. New blackbody shading controls for recreating realistic looking fire and smoke VDBs with emission colors based on temperature. The introduction of volumetric anisotropy to control how volumes react to the incoming light direction.
• Material Stacking for decals, material blending and texture remapping.

Forger  

Forger now includes Cinema 4D's feature-rich, proven polygonal modeling engine so artists can build highly sophisticated hard-surface models in Forger.   

• Polygonal Modeling Tools for extruding points, edges or polygons, beveling edges, creating insets on faces and bridging parts of a model and more – right inside of Forger. 
• A seamless transition between these new modeling tools and the organic and intuitive 3D Sculpting tools Forger is famous for makes it a powerful tool for any 3D creator.
• On-screen 3D Gizmo supplies useful actions such as moving along an axis, rotation, scaling and transforming.
• Artists can now move their work between Forger and Cinema 4D using the new Sharing feature.

Red Giant 

The new version of Red Giant includes updates for nearly every tool and over 100 new presets for Generators and shiny text effects.

• Trapcode  
  • Trapcode provides over 75 new animated sprites for 2D shapes and bursts. 
  • The loading time for the Particular Designer has been dramatically improved.
• Magic Bullet
  • Magic Bullet 2023 adds the recently released Halation and Diffusion tools to Looks in Cinema 4D.
  • Improved Looks C4D workflow in OCIO mode.
  • Major improvements to the Looks integration in Unreal Engine 5. 
  • Denoiser is now available for Final Cut Pro and compatible with Apple M1 machines.
• VFX  
  • Red Giant VFX 2023 offers enhanced performance and stability.
  • Bug fixes for Supercomp, Primatte, Real Lens Flares and more.

Universe  

• Universe 2023 provides added support for alpha layers in Avid Media Composer. Generate text effects, track mattes and more.
• Universe 2023 comes with over 100 new presets for Generators.  

Moves by Maxon 

The latest update for Moves by Maxon makes it even easier to capture face and body movements – and shines in a brand-new look.

• Updates for capture workflows and stability. 
• Capture objects, lay the work aside and resume capturing at a later point. 
• Captured Face and Body textures can be reviewed in the app. 
• New look for Moves: the product now shines in Maxon’s colors, red and black.

Maxon Capsules

Fnally, as part of Maxon’s ongoing efforts to deliver great value for Maxon One subscribers, the company released a series of eight coffee tables for the Cinema 4D Asset Browser. Also all coffee tables from the classic Cinema 4D asset library have been optimized and retextured for use with Redshift. Maxon One and Cinema 4D subscribers get access to these royalty-free assets for use in their projects.

And in the spirit of a video being worth a thousand bullet points, Maxon has also released a video of the highlights which you can see below.