• Introduction
• Interface
• Bodypaint 3
• Animation Controls
• Timeline
• Enhanced OpenGL
• Interactive Render Region (IRR)
• Character Animation / Mocca 3
• Layers / Layer Manager
• Object Manager
• Documentation
• Tutorials & Goodies
• Miscellaneous
• Conclusion

Introduction

MAXON announced CINEMA 4D Release 10 and Bodypaint 3D Version 3 on 4th October 2006 on the eve of the Company's 20th Anniversary. In the last couple of years they had announced new versions at Siggraph but in 2006 despite the intense anticipation of an announcement at Siggraph there was no announcement. Obviously they wanted to tie the announcement in with their 20th anniversary. Plus Release 10 and Bodypaint 3 probably weren’t finished enough for any kind of announcement or preview at Siggraph.

I have held off releasing the Cafe's Release 10 review until after the 10.1 update came out so that I could really get a good feel for all of the new enhancements and try and cover the major enhancements in some depth. The 10.1 update fixes many bugs and it now runs better on the new Vista operating system.

We’ll have a look at things in more detail further on in the review but the major new features are:

• Character Animation / Mocca 3 – MAXON has taken the bull by the horns and completely rewritten the Mocca module. We now get a joint based character animation system, visual selector, improved morphing and much more.
• Bodypaint 3 – Bodypaint 3 includes some new enhancements like LSCM (Least square conformal mapping) / Pelt mapping. Bodypaint 3 is now in all version of Cinema 4D including the core version.
• Timeline / Animation Controls – Rewritten timeline and enhanced animation controls
• Enhanced OpenGL – Improved real time display. Bump maps, shadows and transparency more accurately displayed
• Advanced Render module – Pyrocluster now part of this module
• Interface enhancements – new default scheme, interface given an overhaul
• Interactive Render Region – Users can define an area that constantly renders changes that you make to your scene. Quality can be adjusted.
• New Help system – The pdf manuals have gone replaced with a html based system.
• Layer system – Object manager enhancements include layer system and layer browser for improved scene management

Before we get into the review here’s what comes in the box. Something that most reviews never mention!!

So what you get is 2 DVD's. The second DVD has the video tutorials and goodies on it. The Quickstart manual is 211 pages long and there's an installation guide. You also get a piece of paper with your temporary serial numbers on. You then have 3 months to register the program and recieve your permanent serial numbers.

It should be noted that Cinema 4D comes on DVD’s now and for PC users includes both a 32 bit and 64 bit version. This makes good sense as virtually everyone has a DVD drive these days and installation is much easier than before. Cleverly if you’ve bought the Studio Bundle and say the HAIR module, the DVD includes all of the modules separately. All you need to do is install the module and enter the serial number when prompted that you would have been provided with.