- Introduction
- Cloner object
- Effectors - Overview
- Group effector
- Delay effector
- Formula effector
- Inheritance effector
- Random effector
- Shader effector
- Sound effector
- Spline effector
- Step effector
- Target effector
- Time effector
- Linear Clone Tool, Radial Clone Tool & Grid Clone Tool
- Matrix object
- Fracture object
- Instance object
- Text object
- Tracer
- Spline mask
- Displace Deformer
- Extrude deformer
- Spline wrap
- Cache tag / Baking animations
- MoGraph shaders
- Manual and Tutorials
- Goodies / Samples Scenes Etc
- XPresso for MoGraph
- Release 10 and MoGraph
- Conclusion
Conclusion
The more you use MoGraph the more you appreciate the effort that went into it. It really is a great addition to the CINEMA 4D toolset. As an initial version 1, Maxon has produced yet another outstanding module. This review took a lot longer to prepare for and write because of the sheer depth and number of new things in MoGraph. Like our other reviews we wanted cover things in some depth and this has taken time to learn.
The way MoGraph can be combined with Thinking Particles via the Matrix object can only be described as superb. Even if you’re intimidated by Thinking Particles or XPresso some wonderful particle based effects can be achieved with little or no XPresso. However, XPresso isn't that difficult to use and combining it with MoGraph and Thinking Particles some wonderful particle animations can be achieved. MoGraph won’t do away with having to learn Thinking Particles but it may well encourage people to play around with it more.
In our opinion there are several MoGraph objects or functionality that really should be part of the Core version of CINEMA 4D . Those are Spline Mask, a grid array tool / object and the Displacement deformer. These 3 are fairly fundamental to all aspects of modelling and animation and not just for the realm of motion graphics.
MoGraph incorporates the functionality of a number of free and commercial plugins. Some no longer available like Jenna. In most cases the MoGraph equivalent is easier to use, better designed and or has more options plus goes beyond what the 3rd party plugin could do.
MoGraph comes with a pretty good range of goodies like materials, sound clips and scene files. The 7 tutorials are okay but we would have liked to see some longer and more in depth tutorials. There are opportunities here for third party tutorial makers to cater for this.
The 3 reviewers (PC users) encountered no stability problems with MoGraph. A reasonably powerful computer is required to get the most out of MoGraph as it’s very easy to generate thousands of objects and bog down your CPU.
So, following on from the outstanding HAIR module, Maxon has pulled a rabbit out of the hat with MoGraph. It wasn’t expected but it’s a terrific piece of kit. Learning and mastering it will take time, not really because it’s difficult to learn but because of the sheer depth of the module. The 7 tutorials clearly demonstrate that some very cool and clever animations can be made in a very short space of time and this is where MoGraph should gain some converts from other programs. Like most things in business, time is money. If you can produce the same effect or effects not previously possible in a shorter space of time then adding CINEMA 4D and MoGraph to your pipeline is a smart move.
Look out for our in depth review on release 10
Get the review in PDF format
A few people have asked for the review in pdf format. Thanks to Cafe member RantinAl for converting the review. You can download the PDF here (1.4mb)