Cinema 4D

Cinema 4D is Maxon's 3D motion graphics and animation software for motion designers, with the Redshift GPU renderer included in every subscription.

Cinema 4D is a 3D modeling, animation, simulation and motion graphics application for designers and artists working in broadcast, film, advertising, games and architectural visualization. Maxon Computer GmbH develops it in Bad Homburg vor der Hoehe, Germany, and sells it alongside ZBrush, Redshift and Red Giant. It is built around one idea: that a motion designer should be able to move from a storyboard to a final frame without leaving the application or assembling a pipeline first. The current release is Cinema 4D 2026.3. Modeling combines parametric and polygonal tools with generators, deformers, splines and the Polygon Pen, plus sculpting for high-polygon organic shapes and a rebuilt UV Editor. Animation covers keyframe work on a full timeline, character rigging templates, procedural and parametric motion, motion tracking and motion capture data. MoGraph is the procedural motion design layer, where Cloners, Effectors, Fields and distributions drive systematic movement across many objects at once. A unified simulation system handles cloth, rigid bodies, soft bodies, particles, smoke, flames, liquids and dynamic hair in one environment. Rendering runs on Redshift, the GPU renderer included with the subscription, with interactive IPR feedback and Team Render for distributing work across machines. Cinema 4D suits motion designers who need to iterate quickly under deadline, 3D generalists who would rather hold one licence than four, and visual designers moving into 3D from a 2D background. VFX artists use it for title sequences, FUI and simulation shots that do not warrant a full studio pipeline, and architectural visualization specialists use it for walkthroughs and lighting iterations through the Take System. Studios adopt it where predictability matters more than depth in any single discipline. It is licensed by subscription per seat, billed monthly or annually, either on its own or inside the Maxon One bundle with Red Giant, Redshift, Universe and ZBrush. Most Cinema 4D seats work alongside a compositing and editing stack rather than in place of one. Cineware moves Cinema 4D scenes into Adobe applications with live updates, and Red Giant and Universe finish the result in After Effects, Premiere Pro or Autograph. Assets travel out to real-time game engines, and Redshift for Architects extends the renderer into Vectorworks and other design tools. It runs on macOS and Windows, including Windows on Arm devices, ships in eleven interface languages, and an iPad version has been announced. Learning runs through Cineversity, Maxon's training partners and a large independent tutorial community.